A mini update!

Hi and hello!

We appoligise for not updating as much as we would have hoped, but the reason is no wireless internet at our hostels and temples! Therefore, it is hard to keep both blogs updated when finally getting on a computer :P

Anyway! We are now in Kyoto, and it is extremely hot here! Very damp air, something like when you are in the shower.

Yesterday we were on a exploring trip in Kyoto, which was fun. We walked from 10am to 9pm. WILD! But alot of fun!

The trainsystem is not like in Tokyo, a bit fewer lines, so we have to either take a cab or walk. We have pretty much walked, so our feets are sore! But it is a real nice place! And alot of pretty nature, temples, shrines, and also, vending machines!

We will try to keep the blog updated!

Love Sara and Tage

A real update!

The last update for our blog was pretty poor, and perhaps ment more as giving you guys a sign from us more than a update. The reason we havent had the posibility to update continiously, is as I mentioned earlier that we haven’t got the wireless internet as we hoped we would. We still can borrow computers at the first floor (we live in the third floor), but first of all, it’s Windows XP in japanese, and second, it sometimes begins to write japanese letters. And as if that weren’t enough, there is a third of all aswell; each time I press comma, the letters turned japanese! I’m sure there is some cind of clever and logical solution to the keysetup, but I honestly didn’t get it. There was an australian next to me, saying “ahhh… Where’s the @ at this thing…”, whereas I showed him, because THAT I had at least found out.

At least we had alot of fun so far, and me and Sara has figured out that this is an experience for life, and that Japan is a fantastic country to have a vacation in. Last night we got here, and after alot of help from kind japanese people, we got to our hostel. We went out that night, to look at how it really is in our neighbourhood, and we noticed a couple of things. Every 20-30 meters we walk, we find a vending machine with different kind of sodas. They are always cold and fresh. And those vending machines, the ALWAYS work. We have seen about 50 of them so far, and none of them has been out of order. Amazing! Also, it is like we were told before we left, incredibly clean streets. You will have to look closely to find some trash. And one last thing we experienced… When we walk the street, there is an unwritten rule. I have burnt myself on it, and so has Sara. When you are walking on the sidewalk, you walk on the LEFT side. On the right side, people walk the other way. Me and Sara walked in our own thoughts once, and we had a horde of japanese people rushing against us. Then it is only one thing to do. Get to the LEFT side!

    
A real clean street in our hood              This is our neighbourhood at night

Anyway… Today we had a real blast. First, we got up to eat breakfast. After that, we went to Disney SeaWorld! And that was an experience nothing like any other. We took alot of pictures! Here are a few of them!

   
The globe when we enter                        The Aztek temple in the Indy part

   
Sara with Ariels dad                                Sara with some snail creature
 
The train moving people to the
different parts of the park!

Our last post before we head east!

We just wanted to post one last post before we go to Japan! The time is 12:26 am, and we are just about ready to go. Now it is just the computer that needs to be put in the bag, then we are ready for departure. We are looking AMAZINGLY much forward to the trip, and many thoughts are swirling through our heads. In one way, we are both pretty calm, but I kind of picture that once I get to bed, and get some calm, my thoughts start to run, and I get happy/scared/frightned/geared up, mostly everything…

We will take pictures on our way to Japan aswell, and those will be posted on this blog once we are in Japan.

So then I can announce our travel has begun. When you are reading this, we might be on our way to Japan! YAHOO!!!

Love Sara and Tage

The day before the day…

So we’re back from the planned trip to the town, and Sara has gotten a hairdo with stripes. Not one of those weird stripings, but some kind of natural sunbleach striping. It turned out really nice! Just look at the picture at the top, taken in Torvbyen, the mall in Fredrikstad where Sara got her haircut. It did take longer than Saras claimed 45 minutes, but I guess that’s how it is sometimes. I read Donald Duck meanwhile, and that was more than enough enterntainment for me!

When she had gotten her haircut, we went to look for a luggage-tag for her, and she found a Hello Kitty at H&M, which probably will do it’s job. This is how it looks

 

Is it not beautiful? Sure, maybe childish, but we thought like this; we are going to Japan, and if you are going to Japan and you are a girl, then Hello Kitty is a real must, isn’t it? I would think so yes!

So now we are home, and the sun is shining hard today in Fredrikstad! It’s about 20 degrees outside, and no skies. Lovely! I freaked out today, and put on shorts and a T-Shirt. LOVELY! So now one laudrywash, Saras packing, the rest of my packing, dinner, remains. And tonight, we might take a walk with Saras friend Marit. Perhaps we will watch a movie aswell with Saras brother aswell later… But we can’t be late tonight. After all, we are getting up relativily early tomorrow. The plane leaves 01:00 pm you know… And we won’t take any chances on this trip!

In the end, I thought I’d put on the beautiful song me and Sara has been singing for a longer period of time, the popular Sukiyaki, written by Kyu Sakamoto in 1961. Here is the song, and here is the lyrics:

 

Looking up while walking
Ue wo muite arukou
上を向いて歩こう

So the tears won't fall
Namida ga koborenai youni
涙がこぼれないように

Remebering those spring days
Omoidasu haru no hi
思い出す春の日

All alone at night
Hitoribocchi no yoru
一人ぼっちの夜

Looking up while walking
Ue wo muite arukou
上を向いて歩こう

And counting the scattered stars
Nijinda hoshi wo kazoete
にじんだ星をかぞえて

Remembering those summer days
Omoidasu natsu no hi
思い出す夏の日

All alone at night
Hitoribocchi no yoru
一人ぼっちの夜

Happiness lies above the clouds
Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni
幸せは雲の上に

Happiness lies above the sky
Shiawase wa sora no ue ni
幸せは空の上に

Looking up while walking
Ue wo muite arukou
上を向いて歩こう

So the tears won't fall
Namida ga koborenai youni
涙がこぼれないように

Keep walking on, while crying
Naki nagara aruku
泣きながら歩く

It's a lonely night
Hitoribocchi no yoru
一人ぼっちの夜

Remembering those autumn days
Omoidasu aki no hi
思い出す秋の日

Sadness is in the shadow of the stars
Kanashimi wa hoshi no kage ni
悲しみは星の影に

Sadness is in the shadow of the moon
Kanashimi wa tsuki no kage ni
悲しみは月の影に

Looking up while walking
Ue wo muite arukou
上を向いて歩こう

So the tears won't fall
Namida ga koborenai youni
涙がこぼれないように

Keep walking on, while crying
Naki nagara aruku
泣きながら歩く

It's a lonely night
Hitoribocchi no yoru
一人ぼっちの夜

It's a lonely night
Hitoribocchi no yoru
一人ぼっちの夜

Sniff… Rather sad actually. But here’s a little fun fact! The name, Sukiyaki, comes from the fact that the song became really popular in USA when a disc jockey played it at a arrangement. It became a major hit! But the songs original name, Ue wo muite arukou, was a bit hard for the americans (no offense…). Therefore, the song was called Sukiyaki in USA, one of those japanese words many people has heard before. Directly translated, Sukiyaki means beef stew. Charming? Well…

As I said…

… I was going to update the blog with a post once more tonight, to compensate for the incredibly short post earlier tonight. I blame bad planning of time.

Me and Saras brother Simen went home from the birthdayparty while the madams stayed to talk a bit more. I was prepared to start the packing for Japan, so that I won’t have to do it just in time. I honestly donæt think I would have done that even if I started tomorrow, but if youre all geared up, you are all geared up! After looking alot at the briefcase me and my dad went out to buy before I left Bergen for a long time, and studied how the clothes are lying in it, I have, eventually, undestood that it would be lovely with a bit more space. I’m then thinking about stuff I can bring back from Japan. Saras mom offered me a briefcase that was bigger, and I decided to accept the offer. It was with a slight heavy heart, since mom and dad after all helped me get the first briefcase. But it was a good help from Bergen to Fredrikstad! And it will be used frequently in the future. Don’t worry Fosse (the name of the briefcase), you are much appreciated!

I therefor asked Saras dad when I got home, if he could help me get it from the attick, something he did welwillingly! I then started moving clothes over from the smaller briefcase to the bigger one, as you can see!

… and it did get a bit spacier! Here all kinds of japanese stuff might land! I also repacked the hand luggage, and gathered all the electrical wiers and stuff into the PC bag which is in the hand luggage. So now it is a bit tidier in there! And tidiness, that’s something we all appreciate!

Tomorrow is the last day in Fredrikstad, before we head east! And we have some stuff to do that day aswell. First of all, Sara is getting a haircut! She has complained a bit today about her bangs is falling down in her eyes all the time (“aaaah! crapbangs!”), so at 11:45 am tomorrow the hairdresser will scissor her or his way through Saras hair. I’ve heard ruomors about her striping her hair aswell. Not much, but just some weak lines. I’m kind of excited about that. I am going to stay home, and go to the city so that I’m there when she is done getting her haircut. When I’m there, we will find out if there is any last things we do before we go to Japan, and walk around in town just for the sake of cozyness! Then it’s time for Sara to pack!

I have allready told Sara, I do not think I will get any sleep at all the night before we are going to Japan. In one way, it’s a good thing, because then I can sleep at the plane. In another way, it is not so good, because I  would like to enjoy the travel itself aswell!

I can hear Sara is entering the door now, so now it’s time to learn her a couple of japanese glossery. One I learned today, which I prepared, is “watashabi wa seyko des”… I think that’s it… It means I’m a student, something I am, so that will come in handy. I also learned what Norway is in japanese… “Noruwey”… Exciting? YES! Glossery coming your way Sara!!!

We were out shopping, right…

As I mentioned in the last post which I wrote in the nightly hors, I was going to tell you guys if I dreamt about Japan today. Well, I didn’t, but I have to write anyway!

We are about to go to the birthdayparty for Sara’s grandpa now, but we have been out in the boat before that. Prior to the boattrip, I took a picture of the stuff we bought yesterday! Here’s a picture of Sara from our boattrip today!

We had a lot of fun! But now I must go, because we are a bit short on time for the birthdayparty. There will be an extra post sometime during the night, since thisone got so short. Hey ho!

A couple of Japanfacts in the nightly hours…

 
Japanese gameshows are some of the weirdest things you can check out at TV…

So, here I am, in the night, thinking about Japan again. What can one do? It’s so exciting! Then I came to think… All you people whom we have told that we are going to Japan, and whom we have asked to follow us on our blog… Maybe you would like to know a couple of fun facts about Japan? So that you know somewhat where me and Sara is going? Here they come!

- Japan in japanese is Nippon, and means directly translated to english “Land of the Rising Sun”

- Japan has over 127,000,000 citizens. 12 million of them lives in Tokyo

- The capitol of Japan is Tokyo, the citi me and Sara will live in the first week

- You must never put your eatingsticks in the rice during a meal or after. This is something you do in a funeral, and is looked at as a insult. It is also something the japanese mafia Yakuza does to tell you your days are about to be no more.

- In Japan, they have an emperor, who works in many ways as the king in Norway.

- The currency in Japan is yen, and can be symbolized like this: ¥

- More than 70% of the country is mountains

- The biggest mountain in Japan is in Tokyo, and is named Mount Fuji. This is an active volcano.

- The lifetime to Japans citizens are counted as one of the lonvest in the world

- Whe you eat, slurp. This way, you show that you enjoy the food. If you don’t do it, it can be insulting to the ones who made the food.

- In Japan it is a delicatesse to eat rotten beans for breakfast, with the slime that comes with it…

- The Japanese says the Chinese eat everything

- You never wear shoes inside, only slippers.

- The biggest mall in Akihabara, the electronic quarter in Tokyo, has 6 floors, 600,000 articles… And a golfcourt…

- Fruit is looked upon as luxury in Japan. The reason is that it is extremely expensive! A peach can cost about 4 dollars, as for a watermelon? Up to 100 dollars…

- In Japan you drive on the left side, just like in Britain!

- Small streets have no name in Japan, only the big uns…

- Vandalism is almost non-excistent in Japan, and is absolutely at the bottom world-wise.

- In Japan you can find vendormachines with everything from smoke to hot food, soda to underwear, and squid-snacks to ice cream!

- The japanese are counted as beeing very helpfull! If you need help, they will do anything to help you!

- The red dot in the flag symbolizes the sun

- The japanese rarely use cards as a way of paying. Over there, hard cash is still the king. You can pay with the card at some restaurants, and at hotels.

- The cheapest way of getting a bed in Japan, is the tubes. You crawl into a hole in the wall, which is about the same size as a normal bed.

- If someone sneezes in Japan, ignore it. No God bless you!

- You don’t shake hands in Japan. Bowing works the same way there as handshaking here. Western people visiting japan can have it as a rule to not shake hands unless the other part takes the initiative

- Manga, japanese comic books, about the same size as a pocket book, often black and white, and red backwards, is wildly popular in Japan

- Japan has 4% unemployment

- The japanese has a good sense for TV enterntainment. Just look here

In other words, we have alot to look forward to. Well, now I should go to bed, so that I will get out of bed tomorrow. Japan here we come!