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Peter Hoogenboom and Patricia Hemrich: Our Trip to Japan
Pat and I recently made a trip to Japan. OK, maybe a trip
to Japan isn't worthy of an entire web site, but keep in mind
that Pat had never traveled internationally and I hadn't since
my family spent a year in the Netherlands in 1972. It was a big
deal to us!
Back in February of 1998, my older brother, Dirk, and his
wife, Tomoko, decided to make a trip to Japan to visit her family
this summer. When they suggested we come along and stay with
them at her parents house, we knew this was an opportunity that
might only come along once. This was a chance to visit Japan
and experience life in a Japanese home. Our stay would be long
enough that we could also do some sightseeing in Kyoto.
In searching for the best airfare to Japan, Tomoko found an
agent in Illinois that specializes in travel to the Pacific Rim.
This agency was offering round-trip airfare (Delta Airlines,
Minneapolis-Salt Lake City-Portland-Nagoya) at $772. In comparison,
the Delta-advertised round-trip airfare at the time was $1570.
And there was little difference in price between leaving from
Minneapolis or Salt Lake City. The only catch for us, the agent
told us, was that we had to get our boarding passes in Minneapolis.
Going to Minneapolis didn't really matter to us though--my parents
live in Minnesota. We decided to pay them a visit before our
trip to Japan (and save about $1000 on airfare at the same time).
All this occurred in late-March--about three and a half months
before the actual trip. You'd think that 3 and a half months
would be enough time to get ready for this trip, wouldn't you?
Nope.
Our trip proceeded as follows: |
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Date: |
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Wednesday, July 8, 1998 |
Left Salt Lake City at 4:40PM to go to Minneapolis. My brother
Dirk picked us up at the airport. The plan was to stay at his
place for the night. My parents would drive up from St. Peter
the next morning and pick us up for a quick trip to my parents'
new cabin on Birch Lake, just outside of Hackensack, MN.
After Dirk picked us up and before we got to his place, we
went out for a light dinner at Applebee's. |
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Thursday, July 9, 1998 |
My parents picked us up at about 9:30AM. Dirk was going to
stay in Minneapolis, go to work and make final preparations for
his departure for Japan on July 11.
It was about a 3 hour drive to Hackensack. During the drive,
my parents were very patient and answered a lot of questions
that Pat and I had about what to expect when we arrived in Japan.
Lunch was a picnic that my parents had prepared. We stopped
at a roadside park adjacent to one of Minnesota's thousands of
lakes.
That afternoon, we went for a quick swim in Birch Lake (cool
enough to be refreshing and still clear of a lot of growth).
After dinner, we all went for a boat ride. I grabbed the nearest
rod-and-reel, in hopes of making a few casts as we made our way
down the lakeshore. |
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Friday, July 10, 1998 |
A casual morning. Pat and I washed a few articles of clothing,
in hopes that they would dry before we left for New Hope in the
early afternoon.
Lunch was the breakfast that we didn't have. Pancakes, eggs,
Spam(?). Delicious. I couldn't help but wonder when I would have
a lunch (or breakfast) like this again.
At about 2PM, we left for New Hope. Dirk said he would have
something prepared for us for dinner. I was dubious, thinking
that he had enough on his mind with his preparations for his
trip. But, he proved me wrong. We had a great dinner. After dinner,
while Dirk made his final preparations, my parents, Pat and I
walked down to the local fair that was going on (Duk Duk Daze).
We wandered around for a while, took a ride on a rickety old
ferris wheel, walked home and went to bed early--tomorrow was
going to be a long day, especially for Dirk. |
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Saturday, July 11, 1998 |
At about 7 AM, we left for the airport. Not much traffic,
which was reassuring. At the airport, we parked and walked to
the ticket counter with Dirk. On the ticketing level, the only
airline with a mass of people lined up waiting to be served was
Delta. Why is that?
After about 15 minutes of waiting and moving about 10 feet,
we figured Dirk was going to be OK. Besides, we had places to
go! We said our goodbyes and exchanged a last bit of information
regarding our rendezvous in Nagoya.
On our way to St. Peter, I was content to watch the scenery
go by. After spending 23 years of my life in this area, each
mile of roadway seemed very familiar and at the same time, completely
new.
Upon arriving in St. Peter, it was obvious right away that
something was fundamentally different about the town. The tornado
that ripped through St. Peter had taken something with it. If
nothing else, it had taken most of the trees and at least half
of the roofing shingles.
Pat and I made a more detailed tour through town after dropping
my parents off at the house. We picked up some fresh sweet corn
from a roadside stand made our way back to the house.
We had a relaxing dinner at my parents house, learned some
Japanese (finally, there seemed to be a sense of urgency that
allowed me to hear a Japanese word or phrase and actually remember
it!)
After dinner, we made our way back to Dirk's house. Final
preparations were made for our departure in the morning. |
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Sunday, July 12, 1998 |
Up at 6 AM. Suddenly, there seemed like too much to do in
too little time.
We left the house at about 7 AM. Plenty of time to reach the
airport. My parents were heading for Goshen, Indiana today so
they didn't park and wait to see us onto the airplane. Instead,
they dropped us at the curb and went on their way. It was probably
better this way. I was just getting more nervous as time went
on.
After saying our goodbyes, Pat and I checked in and waited.
Then we got on the airplane, flew to SLC, got off the airplane,
and waited in SLC.
Then we got on the airplane, flew to Portland, got off the
airplane, and waited in Portland.
While waiting in Portland, we got nervous, called our house
sitter in SLC and Pat's sister in Portland, got on the airplane,
and we were finally on our way to Japan! |
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Monday, July 13, 1998 |
We arrived in Nagoya at about 3:30 PM. We made our way through
immigration and customs. We rounded the corner into the passenger
arrival area. Waiting for us there was Kengo (Tomoko's brother)
and Dirk. We said brief konichi-wa's and we were out the door.
Within 5 seconds of leaving the passenger arrival area, we
were on the streets of Nagoya. It was weird in an undefinable
way, but I figured it out now. In a US airport, when you leave
the airport, you aren't downtown; you're somewhere in the suburbs,
requiring some form of alternate transportation to get you to
a place where there might be people walking on the streets. In
Japan, we were out the door, across the sidewalk, and suddenly,
dodging city traffic.
Amidst all of this culture shock, Kengo guided us to his car--a
Jeep Cherokee. It suddenly looked monstrously huge--and I was
thankful for it.
Kengo drove us to Shinshiro. We arrived at about 5:30 PM,
said konichi-wa's to Sumiko-san (Tomoko's mother) and stepped
inside the house. I remembered to remove my shoes which eliminated
a source of constant anxiety for the past 3 months. Within minutes,
Sumiko had beer and dinner out on the table. |
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Tuesday, July 14, 1998 |
Pat and I were up early due to the jet lag. After breakfast
that was a mix of Japanese (rice, sweet corn, green salad) and
American (toast and jam), we (Tatsuhiro-san, Dirk, Tomoko, Sara,
Pat and myself), drove into town to pick up stamps, exchange
some dollars to yen at the local bank and take a hike up a local
mountain trail.
The bank wouldn't exchange any cash until they received the
day's exchange rates (at 10 AM), so we went to pick up some stamps
at the post office. We returned to a different bank. Later, Tomoko
informed us that something in the exchange between the bank teller
and Tatsuhiro-san prevented us from returned to the original
bank.
After stopping at a restaurant that was a long way up a beautiful
and very winding canyon road, we proceeded to the trailhead.
The hike is documented in photos. |
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Wednesday, July 15, 1998 |
We were up early again. This time it was out of necessity
rather than jet lag. We (Dirk, Tomoko, Sara, Pat and myself)
were going to go with Tatsuhiro-san on his commute to Nagoya.
Tatsuhiro-san works in Nagoya and we were catching the Shinkansen
(bullet train) to Kyoto.
After arriving Kyoto, we caught a local train to Nara to see
Todaiji Temple, the location of the
largest bronze statue in the world (also the largest Buddha image
in the world). After this, we returned to Kyoto.
On the train from Nara, Sara made lots of friends on the local
train. We were catching early rush hour commuters as well as
people headed to Kyoto for the Gion Festival. We saw lots of
women dressed in traditional kimonos. |
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Thursday, July 16, 1998 |
Tomoko had arranged for an all-day
bus tour of Kyoto. It seemed like the most efficient way
to see lots of sights of Kyoto without having to worry about
how to get from one place to another.
That evening we had a special Gion Festival dinner at the
hotel we were staying at. There were about a dozen
courses, all of them delicious. |
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Friday, July 17, 1998 |
In the morning, we headed to downtown Kyoto to see the Gion
Festival parade. We had lunch in a restaurant in an outdoor
mall called Techmari (I don't know why I remember the name).
In the afternoon, we saw Tenryuji Temple. |
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Saturday, July 18, 1998 |
Our last day in Kyoto. Actually, all we did in Kyoto today
was head to Kyoto station and catch a train to Himeji to see
Himeji Castle.
After this, we returned to the Himeji train station and caught
the Shinkansen to Nagoya. In Nagoya, we switched to a local train
to Shinshiro. Tatsuhiro-san picked us up at the train station.
Later that evening, Tomoko's sister (Emiko), her husband (Nobuyoshi)
and their children (Lisa and Michilu) arrived. |
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Sunday, July 19, 1998 |
This was a casual morning. Nothing
planned except to head for Gamagori in the early afternoon. In
the morning, we did one last bit of sightseeing
to a shrine near Tomoko's parents house.
That evening, we had an incredible traditional Japanese dinner.
It was such an arrangement of dishes that you wanted to take
pictures instead of eating. So, I did. |
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Monday, July 20, 1998 |
In the morning, we had our last (and largest) Japanese breakfast.
By now, I'm kind of fond of a salad, fish, rice and miso soup
for breakfast.
Before we left, Pat and I took a series of photos of the
view out of our hotel room.
At about noon, we drove to the Gamagori train station and
headed for Nagoya. We had lunch downtown, saw a department store,
passed a memorial to a three-legged guide dog, and caught the
bus to the airport.
Nagoya is about as far from St. Peter, Minnesota (where I
grew up) as you can possibly get without leaving Earth orbit.
As such, it's the place you wouldn't expect to see anyone
else from St. Peter, Minnesota, right? Except that's exactly
what happened. Standing in line in front of us was Tom Bollum
who grew up a half a block from where I grew up. I went to high
school with Mark Bollum, Tom's older brother. Tom teaches English
at Daido High School in Nagoya. He was on his way home to St.
Peter after being in Japan for the past two years.
It really is a small world! |
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