WHEW! We made it into and out of China safely! Now in Japan (Hiroshima)!

I know, it`s been nearly an entire month since I last updated my blog, but after arriving in China and finally getting to use the internet after the first 7 days of busy busy work (I will tell you all about it later!) I realized I couldn`t even open my blog. Gillian warned me about that earlier, as she said China screens everything that goes on the internet, and everything that they allow the people to see on the computer. So, unfortunately I was unable to use my blog or check other people`s. I was actually quite surprised that I was able to open and use my facebook, but I suppose that is more widely used, maybe. Anyway, after almost a month of no updates of my trip (and the most fabulous Leg of Offshore, by the way, in terms of places we got to go and explore!) I am back in Japan, now on the mainland, and have great access to high-speed internet, in my own booth, with a huge comfy swivel chair, quiet and clean environment, and free drinks! Oh, how I love this blessed country! But not because of what I just mentioned - there is SO MUCH MORE! I can`t possibly explain and describe it all on my blog, but I hope that my pictures and memory will give Japan justice when I return home! Anyway, for all you diligent readers of my blog who have been eagerly waiting for another post, here goes:

After a safe 3-day passage across the East China Sea from Okinawa to China, we had a very exciting and wonderful entry into Shanghai, including the 7-hour trip down the river with our pilot on board. It was a very cold, but very thrilling experience to approach such a huge port, seeing the Pearl Tower and all the high rises and new buildings going up! There is so much about China that is so incredible and yet very different (obviously), but I don`t think I can really convey what it is like in words. I had a great time, though, and enjoyed seeing a bit of Shanghai (grocery stores, silk markets, side streets, etc...) and got a chance to go to Beijing with Karen, a couple trainees, Jordan, and the Andersons, but I mainly just hung out with Karen - which was fantastic! I cooked for 5 days while Gillian and half the crew went to Beijing for a few days for their little time off, with most of the trainees, and then when they got back we got our break, so us 5 flew to Beijing (about an hour and a half flight), while the Andersons took the 14-hour train; there was absolutely no more room on the trains to Beijing as it was the weekend after China`s Lantern Festival, so it was very busy with everyone trying to get home after that holiday. But we made it to Beijing just fine and had a wonderful stay there in a hotel (Karen and I shared a room that had a huge bathroom with a large shower and we could have hot showers every day! YAY!). Our hotel was really close to the Forbidden City, Tian`anmen Square, and also the night market (where food venders sell crazy, gross things, such as centipedes/cockroaches/snakes/seahorses/seastars/sea urchin/lamb testicles/and many other unidentified "foods"). It was a great experience, altogether, and we got to see a lot in the few short days that we were there. We saw Chairman Mao in his glass coffin, the Monument to the Peoples` Heroes, the Forbidden City, Jinshang Park, The Olympic Park and Countdown Clock (for this year`s summer games, in August), we went out to a fabulous Kung Fu Show (singing, dancing, acting, fighting, acrobatics, cirque du soleil tricks, strength stunts, and even a plot!), eating traditional Chinese foods, and we hiked 8km along one of the most beautiful spots of The Great Wall! That was definitely the highlight of the trip; The Wall! Karen and I had a great time together in Beijing, and in Shanghai, and did a bit of shopping too! But we were very excited to leave China, and get back to Japan! We arrived in Shanghai on Feb. 17th, and left on the 28th, and those 10 or 11 days were well spent (things are really cheap in China)!

We arrived in Hiroshima on March 4th, and we have since done a lot of shopping (Gillian and I had a LOT of food to buy!), laundry, bath house (twice so far and I think I`ll go again tonight - it is such a beautiful onsen, with pools, tubs, and saunas outside!), out for sushi, internet, bank, and most importantly the A-Bomb site and war memorial museum in the heart of Hiroshima. We all went together to the site yesterday and spent the whole day there, and it was incredible! I think everyone should go there just to see it and realize how it affected the people and the whole city here. I can`t express how it truly felt and all the things that went through all of our heads, but just know that it was truly a life changing experience! I will have to tell you more about it when I get home. It was just incredible! Truly amazing, and very disheartening.

So, for now I am just enjoying our time in Hiroshima as we may be leaving tomorrow, or the next day, so I will do one last grocery shop, another trip to the bath house, cooking (I`m making lasagne with a garden salad for tonight`s dinner), and catching up on my journal and letter writing! I am having a great time here in Japan, and enjoying as much as I can. I really do like Japan, and I am really looking forward to getting to go to Osaka, and possibly Kyoto and to the Universal Studios (with Karen and Jeff - who is coming on the 19th! YAY!). The weather is still cold, but not as cold as China, where there was snow! My tan has definitely faded (hopefully I will get a little of it back in Hawaii, in a month) and although my hair has grown a lot, it is very dry, and I am so sick of trying to brush through it - unsuccessfully most of the time - that I am almost ready to chop it off, but I won`t. I`ll wait until I get home and get a nice cut. What else can I say? Thank you everyone for all of your letters, cards, emails, messages on facebook/blog, thoughts, and prayers! I miss you and love you all! Take care of yourselves, and keep safe! I will see you all in 3 months! 99 days left!

Love always, Sailor Katie ;)