Sunrise, Sunrise

Just got in from my two-day adventure up Mt. Fuji. It seems like it was all a dream, so surreal, except the pain keeps reminding me how real it was. I feel every jolt in ways I never imagined. Thoughts from the trip: I loved the parts were you need your hands to scramble over the rocks. I hate lose gravel. And stairs are my new nemesis.

July 30 began with a rocky start. I had over slept and woke up at 6am to Hideki calling to say they were ready to pick me up. Dressed and packed in five minutes. I was so out of it that when I jumped into the car Hideki asked where my glasses were I had totally forgotten them. The rest of the trip only improved. The woman sitting next to me on the bus was a God-sent she is Korean and speaks four languages including Japanese and English so she translated all the information for me. We arrived at Station 5 at 4pm ate supper and started to climb at 6pm. There were a group of Nova teachers also on the group tour so I climbed with them, Yeah for other foreigners! Arrived at station 8 around 10:30. We were suppose to crash for three hours. I couldn’t sleep then there was a mix up over which group was to leave at 12:30 so were got up a whole hour early. To pass the time the Nova boys had a farting contest. 2am we set out for the last leg of the upward journey. My thoughts of that time bitter cold and grueling. So thankful it didn’t rain. Saw a beautiful sunrise and arrived on the top of Fuji around 5:20. Looked around for about 20 minutes before the descend. It was so much faster going down but harder on the knees and joints. And arrived at the bottom at 9am. It was an awesome bang to finish my year in Japan. The next four days will be spent in packing and good-byes. Home is just around the corner.