The Happiest Place in Japan

It really feels like school is underway now. Japanese homework every night, quizzes everyday, and trying like mad to balance a new job with family time and club activities. It actually feels more like high school than college, since I'm definitely not used to having a family to come home to every night. Asako-san and Shige-san have been great though, and they always use dinner time to talk to Sunny-san and I and try to help our stuttering Japanese along. Since they're both junior high teachers, they're both really busy, and don't spend a lot of time at home. They're usually gone by the time I wake up in the morning, and dinner is usually very late. Which is why its nice that we can take some time on random weekday nights to do something family-esque. Like Wednesday.....















It takes about an hour to get to Disney sea from where we live in Suginami-ku. But the cheapest tickets are after 6pm, and when you add that to the fact that the park is significantly less crowded at night, its really worth the entrance fee to go at least once. Having only been to Disneyland in California, I have a vague set of expectations for all Disney-themed resorts that I figured would be upheld by the trip. After all, it's all one big Disney franchise, right?

Disney Sea, having only been built some six years ago, simply defied most of the things I have come to expect from such tourist attractions. There were no big goofy Disney characters walking around shaking hands and taking pictures. No crowds of people shouting at one another while their children cried or ran around like heathens. No trash sitting around on the streets waiting for someone to come and pick it up at the end of the night. It was clean; it was quiet, and it was HUGE. The park is divided into sections, such as Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront, Mermaid Lagoon, and the Arabian Coast. Each was designed to look like a different part of the world, with different themed rides in each section. In the middle of the park was Mount Prometheus, a huge volcano that occasionally erupts in fireworks. The mountain is surrounded by these huge lakes, which separate the park into the different themes. Shige-san and I are definitely the more adventurous type, and he made sure that we road all the best roller coasters in the park at least once. Asako-san refused to ride most of them though, since she says that she's afraid of the fast rides and the loops. We managed to get Sunny to come on most of the rides along with us, but she mostly clung to my arm the entire time. Very reminiscent of another family I've been to Disneyland with....

Enjoy the pictures, and make sure to take a look at the others that I've added from our CIEE Halloween party. There are some interesting cultural references I'm not entirely certain that everyone will understand, but the hilarity of the situation should transcend these boundaries.

P.S. Fireworks at Disneyland are far superior to those at Disney Sea. I think Americans just like the explosions.