Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Summer Homestay 2007 - Mount Fuji
As we carry on to the top of Mount Fuji, the temperature drops to about sub-10 degrees celcius and you start to pile on your sweaters and cold wear. The rest house at each station is a buzz of activities. Oden, hot drinks, coffee are on sale but at cut throat prices and it gets worse as we go up.
The sky is a myraid of stars and constellations and in the distance the small lights of town flicker like stars. You start to feel slightly misearble as tiredness start to wear in. Keep moving to prevent feeling cold.
After the 9th Station, the slope gradient increases to a climb and the pace slows down to a crawl. You can see the line of people lining up to the top stretching all the way down to where you came from. A good few thousand people I think. I wonder how many people climb Mount Fuji per night???
You feel fresh as the coldness hits your face and you don't feel sleepy any more. You feel colder as your movement decreases from the slow pace. You need to move in order to keep warm. A few heat packs would come in useful now. The coffee in the vacuum flask has already turned cold. As you near the top, people start to settle down to get a good place for GORAIKOU, which is sunrise in Japanese. Now you really feel cold because you are not moving at all. Place something under your butt to prevent if from freezing. People start to get preoccupied with meddling with their cameras, tripods etc. People start to much on onigiri, mueslli bars, chocolate bars etc to fill up the empty stomach.
At this time, the horizon starts to brighten up and you get a clearer view of the view around you. You can see the people around you clearer, you start to form the towns far below and the rocky volcanic rocks around you. It seems like eternity for the sun rise to peer out of the horizon. Check your camera equipment and make sure you have loaded in fresh batteries and everything is working for the crucial moment coz you don't want to miss capturing a shot of the sunrise which you spent the whole night climbing for...
At the precise moment that the sun peeks out to greet us (all the people on the mountain), the Japanese cry out "BANZAI!" at the top of their voices. I am sure those staying in the nearby towns below, would be jolted up by the cries of the thousands of crazy people who climb the whole night. Start clicking away to make sure you get that perfect shot! The next time I climb, I will make sure to catch the scene behind and around me, which shows people raising their arms and shouting "BANZAI!" The sun peeks out and rises. A truly beautiful sight. A sight to behold. You are simply awed by the beauty of nature and you think to yourself:" The climb was worth it". As the sun rises, it gets brighter still the glare hurts your eyes. At this time, you can either walk around the crater (takes about one hour), visit and send a postcard from the post office on the top of the crater, take in the majestic view or....just knock out and grab some zzz. As it gets warmer from the sun's rays, tiredness and grogginess sets in. Get some energy and top up on fluids.
It gets so glaring that you decide to make your way down. The way down is faster but do take care as it can get slippery as you slide and brake from the gravel under your feet. Catch a few shots down as you can see clouds and you will feel like on top of the world. There are some weird sign posts with weird english wordings along the way down. Catch these on cameras for your albums to add humour. The way down is faster but take care not to injure yourself or slip / fall. As you look back at the hordes of people behind you and the majestic Mount Fuji, you think to yourself: "What goes up must come down"
~~~There is a Japanese saying: "That you will only climb Mount Fuji once, anything more than that means you are crazy!"~~~ I think I am that crazy!!!
Melchan
22 March 2007
The sky is a myraid of stars and constellations and in the distance the small lights of town flicker like stars. You start to feel slightly misearble as tiredness start to wear in. Keep moving to prevent feeling cold.
After the 9th Station, the slope gradient increases to a climb and the pace slows down to a crawl. You can see the line of people lining up to the top stretching all the way down to where you came from. A good few thousand people I think. I wonder how many people climb Mount Fuji per night???
You feel fresh as the coldness hits your face and you don't feel sleepy any more. You feel colder as your movement decreases from the slow pace. You need to move in order to keep warm. A few heat packs would come in useful now. The coffee in the vacuum flask has already turned cold. As you near the top, people start to settle down to get a good place for GORAIKOU, which is sunrise in Japanese. Now you really feel cold because you are not moving at all. Place something under your butt to prevent if from freezing. People start to get preoccupied with meddling with their cameras, tripods etc. People start to much on onigiri, mueslli bars, chocolate bars etc to fill up the empty stomach.
At this time, the horizon starts to brighten up and you get a clearer view of the view around you. You can see the people around you clearer, you start to form the towns far below and the rocky volcanic rocks around you. It seems like eternity for the sun rise to peer out of the horizon. Check your camera equipment and make sure you have loaded in fresh batteries and everything is working for the crucial moment coz you don't want to miss capturing a shot of the sunrise which you spent the whole night climbing for...
At the precise moment that the sun peeks out to greet us (all the people on the mountain), the Japanese cry out "BANZAI!" at the top of their voices. I am sure those staying in the nearby towns below, would be jolted up by the cries of the thousands of crazy people who climb the whole night. Start clicking away to make sure you get that perfect shot! The next time I climb, I will make sure to catch the scene behind and around me, which shows people raising their arms and shouting "BANZAI!" The sun peeks out and rises. A truly beautiful sight. A sight to behold. You are simply awed by the beauty of nature and you think to yourself:" The climb was worth it". As the sun rises, it gets brighter still the glare hurts your eyes. At this time, you can either walk around the crater (takes about one hour), visit and send a postcard from the post office on the top of the crater, take in the majestic view or....just knock out and grab some zzz. As it gets warmer from the sun's rays, tiredness and grogginess sets in. Get some energy and top up on fluids.
It gets so glaring that you decide to make your way down. The way down is faster but do take care as it can get slippery as you slide and brake from the gravel under your feet. Catch a few shots down as you can see clouds and you will feel like on top of the world. There are some weird sign posts with weird english wordings along the way down. Catch these on cameras for your albums to add humour. The way down is faster but take care not to injure yourself or slip / fall. As you look back at the hordes of people behind you and the majestic Mount Fuji, you think to yourself: "What goes up must come down"
~~~There is a Japanese saying: "That you will only climb Mount Fuji once, anything more than that means you are crazy!"~~~ I think I am that crazy!!!
Melchan
22 March 2007
Labels: Banzai, Goraikou, Mount Fuji
Summer Homestay 2007
We have been receiving pretty encouraging response for this special homestay in August.
We usually organise our homestay during the year end December holidays. That's when our members and general public are clearing leave and thus have the luxury of leaving the country for a longer period.
We had a successful homestay in Hiroshima during December 2006. From the response and feedback collated about 85% of the participants enjoyed the homestay and they really enjoyed the bonding and cultural exhange with their host families. Keep a look out for testimonials from participants and also a first family testimonial as the Koh Family participated in the homestay. Lian Soon, Lee Mee and Tristan is the first full family to participate in our homestay programs in our nine years history. Tristan had a exciting adventure which included a visit to the local A&E department in a Japanese hospital. Stay tuned for that.
This summer homestay is different as we have included a Mount Fuji Expedition. It is something different from our past homestays as we include some interesting activities. Not to mention, July and August is the months of Fireworks where Japanese enjoy summer in their Yukata watching fireworks display. Its quite an exhilarating experience because it is 90mins long! (A COOL six time longer than out NDP fireworks display!!!) I am trying to arrange the schedule such that we do get to catch the Fireworks!
I climbed Mount Fuji in Year 2000 and enjoyed the experience tremendously. It is not strenous but it does require some stamina and the ability to withstand the cold weather. As we get higher, the temperature drops. We also have to be mindful of altitude sickness which will set in if we climb too fast. I have seen dogs, obaasan (old senior citizens), kids, Japanese of all ages climb Mount Fuji. At the seven station, we had to give way to a group of Japanese carrying a person on a sedan. (maybe a handicap person or fractured foot). Even the handicapped climbs Mt Fuji. I talked to an obaasan who was 68 yrs at that time and she does not look a bit her age. She was climbing with her son and daugther. I met a Thai student who asked me to take her picture and learnt some Thai words along the way. Koppunkrap!
To be continued...
22March2007
We usually organise our homestay during the year end December holidays. That's when our members and general public are clearing leave and thus have the luxury of leaving the country for a longer period.
We had a successful homestay in Hiroshima during December 2006. From the response and feedback collated about 85% of the participants enjoyed the homestay and they really enjoyed the bonding and cultural exhange with their host families. Keep a look out for testimonials from participants and also a first family testimonial as the Koh Family participated in the homestay. Lian Soon, Lee Mee and Tristan is the first full family to participate in our homestay programs in our nine years history. Tristan had a exciting adventure which included a visit to the local A&E department in a Japanese hospital. Stay tuned for that.
This summer homestay is different as we have included a Mount Fuji Expedition. It is something different from our past homestays as we include some interesting activities. Not to mention, July and August is the months of Fireworks where Japanese enjoy summer in their Yukata watching fireworks display. Its quite an exhilarating experience because it is 90mins long! (A COOL six time longer than out NDP fireworks display!!!) I am trying to arrange the schedule such that we do get to catch the Fireworks!
I climbed Mount Fuji in Year 2000 and enjoyed the experience tremendously. It is not strenous but it does require some stamina and the ability to withstand the cold weather. As we get higher, the temperature drops. We also have to be mindful of altitude sickness which will set in if we climb too fast. I have seen dogs, obaasan (old senior citizens), kids, Japanese of all ages climb Mount Fuji. At the seven station, we had to give way to a group of Japanese carrying a person on a sedan. (maybe a handicap person or fractured foot). Even the handicapped climbs Mt Fuji. I talked to an obaasan who was 68 yrs at that time and she does not look a bit her age. She was climbing with her son and daugther. I met a Thai student who asked me to take her picture and learnt some Thai words along the way. Koppunkrap!
To be continued...
22March2007
Labels: Fireworks, Homestay, Mount Fuji
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