A few hours until we return to Hawaii...

We have now spent 2 full days in Fukuoka.  Yesterday morning was the unloading of the fish.  This is a big deal in Japan and all of the parents and news crews were there.  We then got to see the dormitory where Sean and Mr. Tanaka would be staying for our time on land.  They took us to meet the Mayor yesterday and we also got to see two different temples.  Leolani, Reiko (our translator), and I did a home stay with a wonderful couple by the name of Kawakami.  Today was another very busy day.  We visited Suisan High School and got to experience multiple classes; these included diving, food processing, marine biology, and calligraphy.  We then went back to the dormitory where we had a tea ceremony where we wore kimonos. Tomorrow is a visit to the Governor, another temple, and a museum.  Then we head back to Honolulu tomorrow night.

When we got off the boat there was a wonderful welcoming ceremony.  All the students of the school were there, along with parents and family.  Sean gave a very good speech to the crowd talking about how honored he and Leo are to be in Japan and to have been a part of the trip.

 Unloading fish.

Tea ceremony.

Day 17:  Saying goodbye to the Kaiyu Maru

Today is our last morning aboard the Kaiyu Maru.  We will be unloading
the fish today and then headed towards the welcoming ceremony where Sean
will be giving a speech to represent Leo and himself.  It was a good
trip, and the students especially had a wonderful experience.
Hopefully, we will have access to internet in these next few days so we
will be able to update you on our journey through Fukuoka.  Please enjoy
the photos of the beauty we saw once arriving in Japan.

Leo: 

I am very sad to be leaving tomorrow because we won't be seeing the
students at school. Last night, we had a little party since it was our
last night together. We had orange juice, Japanese cheetos, and other
random candy. It was a great way to end our journey together. Im very
happy that I got to go on this boating adventure:).

Sean: 

Well, Its time to leave the Kaiyu Maru for the last time. Im a bit
sad to leave the ship but as I look back on the experiences that I had
onboard, and the people that Ive met I feel special and glad to have
been a part of this journey across the Pacific. It's my first time
traveling internationally and I finally have a stamp in my passport to
show that I've been away but when I look back on it I think of the
journey I went through to get to Japan. When I went in the bridge to
shake the Captains hand after he parked at the pier and congragulate him
on completing this leg everyone emphasized that "Its been a long and fun
trip" and I think they're all right it really was.

 Sunrise...

...and sunset.

Day 15:  Off the boat tomorrow!

We are now near Japan!  You can see it as we are anchored out to sea a
little ways.  We will be passing under one of the bridges this morning,
and then we will be officially docked as of 9am tomorrow.  Today is a
ship cleaning day and then tomorrow afternoon, after they get us though
customs, the Captain and his wife are going to take us shopping and with
them for dinner.

Day 13:  Almost to Japan

28.44 degrees north, 138.31 degrees east.  Happy Halloween! The boy who
was sick yesterday is fine.  He was back on the boat and we were leaving
the island before 2pm.  The students and crew alike were all very
excited to see the island since nearly all of them had never been there
before.  Watching the Halloween crowd last night was a blast.  The
students had such a good time, and even some members of the crew, the
Captain included, brought the kids some candy when they said "trick or
treat."  The pictures today include a Halloween shot and some shots from
the afternoon of deckwork removing paint from carts.

Leo: 

Yesterday was Halloween aboard the ship and I told several of my
friends to help out.  After Yuwena got her face painted, about a dozen
others got their faces painted too.  In other words, Halloween was a
success!  Yuwena told me it was the best birthday party ever (as it was
also her birthday yesterday).  It was a memorable day.

Sean: 

Yesterday was Halloween and we had a little party on board for
every one.  People were walking up to me asking for candy, but I had non
on me.  That was probably the funniest night on board the ship!

 Deckwork!

 Leo with the needlegun taking paint off some carts.

 Sean doing the same.

Happy Halloween!

On a side note, 1300+ views and no comments!?

Day 12:  Land!  Sort of.

27.01 degrees north, 142.09 degrees east.  Today we are going to be
docked in a bay off of Chi Chi island (chi chi in Japanese means
"Father").  It is quite lovely seeing the rocky desolation within the
vast ocean.  This will not, however, affect our arrival day in Fukuoka.

Sean: 

Hello everyone.  Today is Halloween aboard the ship and I am a
little excited because Leo is planning to give out goodie bags to
everyone.  Yesterday I had watch from 4-8am and 4-8pm.  That was very
tiring but enjoyable because there are many more things to see as we
approach Japan.  Today we are making a stop at an island.  It is nice to
see land even though we can not get off the ship.

Leo: 

I woke up this morning to find out that we were anchored quite
close to Chi Chi Island.  One of the students has been a little sick and
they are going to have him looked at by the island doctor.  Today I get
to pass out Halloween candy.

Day 11: Day 10 takes a break

25.24 degrees north, 144.47 degrees east.  We had some rough seas
yesterday and could not go out on the deck, but today things have mostly
cleared up.  There is still a pretty good wind though.  Tomorrow, Leo
and Sean will share the American Halloween tradition with the students
on board the ship (since we are one day ahead).  We even have some
Halloween makeup, so it should be a good time.  The picture for today
represents some of the beauty we get to experience while out at sea.

Day 9:  We missed day 8!

Emails from the boat, sent via satellite, are getting expensive, so there was no update yesterday.

24.18 degrees North, 156.27 degrees East.  Mr. Tanaka and I continue to
run our English class each morning.  We have our last one tomorrow.  It
has been even better as we added in a new portion where we have the
students write out questions using question words (who, what, when,
where, why, how) and then share then in pairs to give the question and
answer.  The students are able to write English quite well, so giving
them the chance to write first and then speak helps them out.

Leo: 

Yesterday I had deck works from 7-3.  We had to take the buoys and
put reflectors on them.  It took me about 10 minutes for 1 buoy and we
had to go through about 150 of them.  I was quite tired after deck
works, but ended up playing cards with everyone until curfew.

Sean: 

Yesterday I helped teach the English class with the teachers.
Teaching English is very fun, especially since you can feel slightly
good about the mastery of your own language.  I had afternoon deck work
after that.  I did the same thing as Leo, except I also had to throw
buoys up and down between decks.  Today (10/28 aboard the ship), we
should see a Japanese island in the late afternoon (South Bird Island).
I am looking forward to that.  I also signed up for a 4-8 am bridge
watch and will let you know how that goes later.

 Repairing longline fishing floats that can go several hundreds of feet underwater.

Day 7: Sushi!

23.29 degrees north, 168.00 degrees east.  Pictures today are of the
sushi-making process aboard the Kaiyu Maru.

Sean: 

Yesterday for dinner duty we made sushi.  It was fun to make but I
loved eating it even more.  It was very fresh.  I might even say it was
the freshest I have ever had.  On another note, the seas have been a
little more rough.  I changed my seasickness patch in preparation.

Leo: 

Sean pretty much summed it up!

Over half-way to Japan!

Day 6: Open Ocean

23.04 degrees north, 173.55 degrees east.  Yesterday afternoon, Leo,
Sean, Mr. Tanaka, and myself got the special treat of getting to see the
big freezer where they store all of the fish.  It was extremely cold.
They told us -60 degrees Celcius!! Our eyelashes froze within just a
minute or so.  They showed us a room where there is a big fan that blows
the cold air over the fish to freeze them right after they are caught
and gutted, and then they showed us where they stow all of their catch.
There were piles of huge, frozen fish.  Opa, bigeye, swordfish, and blue
marlin were some they pointed out for us.  It was pretty incredible.
Unfortunately we don't have pictures inside the freezer because it was just
too cold, but please enjoy the outfits we had to don to enter!

Day 5:  In the Eastern Hemisphere

22.41 degrees north, 179.17 degrees east.  We crossed the International
Date Line this morning around 5:30 am, so the date for us is officially
10/24 now.

Leo:  

Yesterday I had deck works from 8-3, but from 9-11 I helped with
the English class.  Around noon I finally finished my Japanese and
psychology homework.  For the rest of the day I played cards and shared
stories with the students on board.  Everyone is really friendly!  I
have become particularly close friends with Toyama, Daiki, Miki, Shou,
and Hamasaki.

Sean: 

Today we have a study day, so there is not really much involved.
All we have to do, it seems, is our homework and clean when needed.
When we don't have breakfast duty, we need to do morning exercise and it
is actually quite refreshing.  Not much else to say about today.

Standing watch on the bridge.

 Morning exercise.

Day 4:  Close to the International Date Line

22.22 degrees north, 176.21 degrees west.  Mr. Tanaka and I had our
second English class today.  Leo helped us this time with some necessary
translation.  Pictionary is definitely the best part.  The students seem
to have a good time and it makes us laugh too as they try to guess the
word using English only.  They gave us some amazing sashimi last night
for dinner.  I have been very surprised at the wide variety of foods
they get to eat.  I feel rather spoiled.  The best part is getting to
watch the students interact though.  The Japanese students will come
grab Sean and Leo to do different things (usually play games) and they
all seem to have a really good time together.

Leo: 

Yesterday was watch from noon to 4pm.  Since it was a four hour
shift, I wasn't sure if I could stay up because I felt extremely sleepy
after breakfast.  Luckily, the boat was swaying so I had to keep my
balance when I was on watch.  There was a cute bird that landed on the
boat so I named him Kevin.  Sean told me he was still on the boat this
morning.  After watch, I played cards until curfew.

Sean: 

Im pretty tired today.  I had deck work this morning which means I
had to organize and put away  the fishing lines and buoys.  The sea
looked beautiful yesterday afternoon and it is still beautiful and
cloudless today.  Yesterday, Leo and I had bridge watch and you could
see far off into the distance.  We talked about whatever came to mind as
we watched and admired a bird that seemed to have made the ship its home
for a day or two.  It is still there today.  Im going to go take a nap
now before pm deck duty.

The only picture today is an update of our position, as it is expensive to send images from the ship through our satellite-based internet.

Day 3:  Life at Sea

Our coordinates at this time are 21.56 degrees North and 169.57 degrees
West.  One interesting little tidbit is that we are on Japanese time on
the boat, meaning it is technically the 22nd for us today.  Mr. Tanaka
and myself did our first English lesson today, and it was a lot of fun!
We had the students tell us about themselves, ask us questions, and play
pictionary all in English.

Leo: 

After getting up early for breakfast duty yesterday (5:30am),the
students told me that it is the easiest job because all I have to do is
wipe down tables.  After that, I played cards from 9 in the morning
until 10 at night.  Since everybody had different jobs, the group of
people was always changing.  The students also helped me with my kanji
homework.

Sean: 

We had to get up at 5:30 for breakfast duty and then had the rest
of the day free.  I alternated between naps, walking around the deck,
and playing cards.  As I was walking, a flying fish jumped up on the
deck, and I threw it back into the water.  Before sunset, I visited the
bridge and they told me that the weather for today would be a little
bad.  As I write this, the seas are a little rough, but not too bad yet.
I spent the first hour of lights out singing songs with my roommates.  I
provided Wu Tang while they had some Queen.  We have watch duty later
today.

Students spending free time in the mess hall.

English class pictionary!

Day 2:  Leaving Hawaiian Waters

At time of this typing, we are at 21.25 degrees north, 163.21 degrees
west.  The students seem to be enjoying themselves, and are making an
effort to talk to each other.  The little party the Japanese students
threw was very sweet.  It takes a little bit to get used to the rocking
motion, but I think I was more surprised by this mornings breakfast
which included putting raw egg on top of your rice.  Leo, Sean and Mr.
Tanaka were much more brave than myself.  Mr. Tanaka was more surprised
by how fast everyone on the boat eats!

Sean:

So far I am enjoying the experience aboard. I am not getting very
seasick but I still need to get my sea legs so I stop drifting around
the deck. As I type this in the radio room the deck is rocking. So far
the people aboard are very nice, they even had a party for me and
Leolani and served us chocolate cake. The beginning of this voyage so
far is good. Ill keep everyone posted on what goes on as we press on
westward.

Leo:

As soon as we left Oahu, waves seemed rough and I didn't feel well, so I
left the mess hall and went to bed.  When I woke up, I realized it was
5:30pm and went to eat dinner.  I managed to do some homework after
dinner and was then invited to a welcoming party from the students.
They had cake, and we all introduced ourselves with weird nick names.
We played different card games until curfew.  It was fun.  Today I had
to get up early for breakfast duty.

The boat icon in the upper left shows where we were as of this post!

Day 1:  Leaving Honolulu Harbor

"Getting ready to depart!  We had our morning exercises, breakfast of rice and miso soup.  Then Leo and Sean helped clean the hallways.  Now we are ready to wave goodbye to Honolulu!"

Leo and Sean say "Bon voyage!"

Mr. Tanaka says "Aloha, see you in 3 weeks"