So We Moved to Yokohama… Day 1

I’m in Japan!!!!!! And it’s fantastic!!!! We got to the port of Yokohama at around 7am on the 12^th. Immigration came on and it took till noon before we could get off the boat. In the meantime, the Port Authority came onboard and had a welcoming ceremony for us. It was so nice! They made a big speech because this is the first time the MV Explorer has been to Yokohama, and it’s our first port of call. They gave us a plaque and flowers and had a traditional band come in and play music for us!

So, when noon came around and they FINALLY cleared the ship, Stacy and I were the FIRST ones off!!!! IT was great! We were freaking out, because we were in JAPAN!!!!!! Yokohama is a beautiful city. You should really visit it if you can. Our first stop was to find the post office, where they have international ATMs. But our directions weren’t clear and we got lost. Luckily, we found a man who spoke English and could point us in the right direction. After that, we went to the Silk Museum. On the way there, Stacy and I ran into 3 schoolgirls who were so excited to meet Americans. They all took pictures with us, making sure we made the “Japanese Peace sign.” At the silk museum, Stacy found out that she’d only taken out 1000yen, or $10, so we had to go back to the post officer to get some actual cash.

Our next stop was Chinatown. It’s really cool, with lots of people and fun shops to look into. We tried on Chinese dresses in one shop, and Stacy almost bought one until she found out it was 40000yen, or about $400!! That was the end of that. After a lunch of McDonalds (cause we never get normal food on the boat, and we had to do it just once!) we went to this really pretty park right next to the harbor. It’s beautiful, very peaceful. And lots of people were there, walking their dogs or just hanging out like us.

Around 6pm, we came back to the ship to clean up, because it had been raining off and on all day and we were pretty gross. Then, Stacy and I hung out with Dean Sophfa and Dean Gladfeller and a group of Japanese men and women who were interested in Semester at Sea. We answered questions and gave tours till close to 9pm. It was really cool to talk to people and get to show off Explorer like that. They seemed to really like the boat; hopefully they’ll be traveling with us in the near future!

After the reception, Stacy, Molly, and I went down to Hard Rock! Drinks and Ice cream accomplished, we took a cab back to Chinatown and the park to enjoy the evening. The weather was great. Just warm enough that you didn’t need a jacket at all. Then we walked down to a little place near the port to have some food before bed. They had AMAZING crepes! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…………………..