Giappone

Published on: Mar 1, 2008 

I'll be leaving for Japan in a few days, off to see my son Jesse and visit with my friend Haruko, who I also met up with in Bologna last fall. I have a three week break from teaching and scoring essays, and will spend two of them in Japan.

Jesse has planned a week of travels with me. First we'll spend a few days in Tokyo, where both he and Haruko live. They haven't met yet, but are close in age, so I hope they can become friends. Jesse will be working the first two days I'm there, so I'll have time to hang out with Haruko. One of our plans is to take a cruise on the Sumida River in Tokyo. The boat passes under 12 bridges, each painted a different color.

After Tokyo, Jesse and I will head south by train to Hakone, which is famous for its natural hot springs. Then we'll visit Kyoto for several days. I'm not sure what's planned after that. I may be there too early for the cherry blossoms, one of the sights I'd hoped most to see, but Jesse tells me the the plum trees will be in bloom, which he reports to be even more beautiful.

I'll be returning just before the Spring Equinox, a national holiday in Japan. That is also the start of the busy tourist season...Jesse said that when he was making reservations he was told that the week after I leave all accommodations were booked through June, so I definitely chose the right time to come. Lucky me!

One of the great luxuries of this trip is that I didn't have to plan anything....just arranged for the plane ticket and the rail pass. Jesse's dad offered to pay for the airfare (thanks, Larry!) and Jesse is paying for the accommodations, so I'm off the hook for most of the expenses. When I go to Italy, there's always a hectic time of making hotel reservations, figuring out train schedules, making arrangements to meet my friends, etc. Every little thing is up to me to do. This trip will be blessedly free of that. Yippee!

I've been so busy the past few months, I haven't given a great deal of thought to this trip, but I still have this week and 15 hours of flight time to explore the travel guides on Japan that Jesse gave me for Christmas. He also gave me a Japanese phrase book that I need to familiarize myself with. Since I'm always studying Italian, I'm reluctant to give much of my brain power to learning Japanese, but as the time gets closer, I see the benefit of knowing the basics.  All in good time.