Robin’s blog

Whistle While You Work, 7/16

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:42:10 -0700

This day is Thursday. This was to have been the day for the Asahigaoka baseball team to play in the big tournament, but rain earlier in the week caused this game to be postponed until tomorrow, Friday. This day, Thursday, would have been the pe...

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Goodbye Tamanoyu Hotel and Noboribetsu, 7/15

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:06:07 -0700

I set my alarm to wake up for a shower because I didn’t trust myself in this comfy futon with its freshly laundered pressed linens to wake on my own. It is raining and gray ourside, the mountains are shrouded in foggy, hanging clouds. I go down...

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Splish Splash We Are Taking A Hot Springs Bath, or Welcome to the Hotel Tamanoyu 7/14

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:09:27 -0700

The lovely futon in my room proves comfortable beyond belief and I wake up to see the daylight peeking through my curtains and I am just sure I have slept through my 5:30 alarm clock, or that I haven’t set it properly. That is not the case as I ...

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Arrival at Asahigaoka High School, At Last 7/13

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:07:57 -0700

This day begins with greetings from Nobuyo’s mother and a Japanese shower. Delightful! Upstairs to get myself dressed and ready for the day. Then, I go downstairs to an inviting aroma and a table filled with a delicious breakfast fit for royal...

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Sapporo Bound, At Long Last 7/12/09

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:38:23 -0700

The alarm goes off early, but there is much to do if we’re to leave this hostel by 6:45 and get to the airport on the express train from Asakusa station to Haneda Airport. We cannot be late, because we know our group of friends from Sapporo – st...

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You Can't Always Get What You Want, but if You Try Sometimes, You Get What You Need

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:34:20 -0700

The time in our little Spartan and folksy hostel has given me pause to think about many things. The lobby is communal and much like a college student center with all the young people from all over the world meeting to congregate there until all...

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Electric Town, Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto 7/12/09

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:23:44 -0700

We have arrived at our last day of touring in Tokyo. It seems we have been here at Sakura Hostel, in this city, for more that four nights and three days. Faced with this reality, our little group decides to have breakfast at Family Mart, the ev...

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"I Like Big Buddhas and I Cannot Lie" 7/10/09

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:18:04 -0700

Our group comes together in the hostel’s lobby and the consensus is that we need a proper Japanese breakfast. We know we need to be back at the hostel to meet the guide that will take us to Kamakura for our all day adventure there by 8:30. But...

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What's a gundam? 7/9/09

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:50:34 -0700

I don't believe anyone in our mighty little group slept beyond 4:30AM. I think the sun must officially rise somewhere really soon after 4:30AM, because it didn't seem like long before we were all assembled in the lobby and ready to go find breakf...

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McDonald's is your kind of place...7/9/09

nobody@vox.com(Robin) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:48:25 -0700

I think most of our crew was up and/or had been up since before that because of the time difference/change. Except Greer. She would have slept until tomorrow if someone hadn't turned lights on and started busying themselves with something. Get...

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