Fall Break Trip to Washington DC

Washington DC–My own nation’s capitol. Finally I was able to visit the home of my own government. UT put on a Fall Break trip for a group of 40 of us to go see Washington DC. So, when I saw the advertisement, I knew that I should take the opportunity to go. Definitely, it was a great decision.

We started out the trip at night, on a chartered bus. We drove all night and arrived the next morning in DC. Needless to say, I was really tired, due to my incapability of sleeping on moving transportation (this is not a good thing for a traveler like myself to have). Anyhow, when we arrived, we had to start touring, because the hotel wouldn’t let us check in. So, we went around the capitol building on down to the Holocaust Museum. This was an awesome thing to see, and I am really more interested now to see the House of Anne Frank in Holland.

So, anyhow, after the museum, I received tickets to have a special tour of the Capitol Building. After meeting the Congressman representing Knoxville in his office, we were shown around the different areas in the Capitol Building. The most fascinating thing was all the art and architectural secrets within. Within almost every painting or wall, there seemed to be some type of secret about it. The tomb for Washington that was never filled (George died a little bit too early–before the tomb was finished!), the artists persistently putting their faces in the paintings they painted. How funny.

After the Capitol, we were all beat, so we went back to the hotel, and rested. The next day, we all went and looked at the different monuments because it was such nice weather. We went to the Washington Monument, which was closed for renovations. Then we walked over to the Jefferson Memorial for some pictures. There was so much security everywhere, it was like I was in a different country. I had never seen so many armed personnel in the states before. It was really eerie. We then walked over to the White House, and my first thought was how small it was. I really thought it would be much bigger, and it may be just because of where we were standing, but I thought it was small. After that we stopped by the Red Cross Building, then over to the Lincoln Memorial.

That night was a lot of fun at the hotel with a little party. The next day however was when we had to leave, and we still hadn’t seen the Pentagon, so we made an early trip out to see the damage. It was really sad to see such damage done to a building as important as the Pentagon, and to have been done in vain. After seeing the destruction, we all headed back to the hotel shocked. We then hopped on the bus for another long drive back home.

All in all, this trip was really educational, just for the fact of seeing the United States Capitol and government buildings. If you haven’t been there before, it is a must see for every American.

Spring Break in New York City!

This trip came for my Spring Break of my senior year in college. This was a perfect trip because after all of my around-the-globe travel, I still had not seen Washington DC or New York City, both of which I wanted to see very much. It just so happened that a club on campus was organizing trips by bus to Washington DC and New York during my senior year. This break was perfect timing, as I had just learned of my recent offer from APL Logistics for my job after graduation.

So the trip started out in Knoxville, TN when we boarded a bus at night for the long journey to NYC. After boarding, we quickly met a group of nice people, and enjoyed their company along the way.

After the 14 hour trip, we were unloaded at our hotel right near Times Square. I loved this area specifically with its livlihood and hustle-bustle, that reminded me so much of living in Tokyo. Big cities are definitely where I feel most at home. The night lights and sound really screamed NEW YORK CITY to me, as we spent our first night walking towards the Empire State Building for a view of the city at night.

Of course, as luck has it, my camera (#3) broke some how on the way up in the elevator, so I didn’t get any good pictures of our time at the top of the city. So, the following day, I pulled a small scam which involved me buying a nice camera, using it the week of my trip, and returning it afterwards. I know, bad Ben. But, I definitely wanted nice shots of New York, and after all was said and done, I came home with some great pictures of the city.

So everyday we just spent walking around to museums, shopping, WTC site, clubbing, eating, MTV, and Central Park. I also was able to meet JAYNAP finally, which was a lot of fun, and we went to take pictures of the city and the WTC site together.

This trip was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed finally seeing NYC.. I am excited to see the city again, hopefully in the summer where all the colors are able to be seen.

Vessel Tour along the West Coast

As a trainee in APL, we are able to go aboard one of our vessels to see how the industry works. My voyage went from Seattle, to Vancouver, then down to LA’s grand port. Before boarding the President Polk, we were able to see the city of Seattle. At first glance, it seems like quite a clean city, and a really good sized one at that. It had lots of hills like San Francisco, but the greenery of a much more natural city. It seemed like a nice mix of nature and city to me. However, I don’t think I could live with the weather–Rain is so boring to me, moreso than that though, are the gray skies. The Space needle gave a nice view of the city. It seemed like an easy place to get around, and the people were quite friendly. All in all, I think Seattle was a fun place, though I wish I had been able to spend more time there.

Worst Movie

We saw the worst movie tonight! Sherri is here visiting from NY on her way to move down to Sydney, Australia. So since she was tired, we decided to just head down to the Metreon for a movie–we decided to watch Intolerable Cruelty. The first part of it was funny, and it seemed to be a good movie, but then, it just dragged ON and ON and ON… so, we were tired of it by the end, and didn’t even like the ending of it! So, this is definitely a no go.

Bay Cruise

Sherri and I went to the Bay Cruise today and it was great! The weather was absolutely perfect, and going underneath the Golden Gate Bridge was superb!

Surprise Chattanooga!

So, the whole Maui, Hawaii travel was a big surprise for my mom and dad. Allan and I had planned it since September to surprise Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving. So, I took a hellacious flight from SFO at 11:30pm on Wednesday night, with a 2 hours layover in Atlanta the next morning, continuing on up to Chattanooga, arriving at 9:30am. I called Allan, and he was already on his way to pick me up. I met him outside, and we rushed back to the house, and Allan called Mom to tell him to wait before they go pick up our grandparents. So, they said ok. So, Allan pulled up in the driveway, went into the kitchen, and I got out into the garage. I text messaged them saying, “Happy Thanksgiving, have room for one more?” As Mom got the message, Allan opened the door, and I came in, and she was looking at the cell phone reading the message out loud. She then said, “What’s that mean?! You know he’s not here?!” and then she looked up and I was there! It was a perfectly executed surprise. Dad had been holding some type of cord, and dropped it straight on the floor as we all hugged. Such a great surprise and something we’ll always remember. Then Dad went to go pick up the grandparents, and I felt horrible. I had gotten something from the plane, or just the fact of having traveled so long with no sleep, but I was having sinus congestion, body aches, and a crick in my neck. Not the best condition. When the grandparents arrived, I was sitting in the living room. Papa made his way with his wheeled-walker through the living room, looking around the left side of the room first, where a portrait of myself is framed, and he said, “Well look, there’s Ben just a grinning at me”. He still hadn’t seen me, so I said, “I sure am grinning, Papa”! It was such a shock to everyone that I was there, so it made the visit very fun. I felt much better the afternoon of Friday, and we went to Huntsville to see Allan’s house. It’s gorgeous, and quite accomplishing of him to have such a sweet pad so early in life. I can only wonder when will I find a home of my own. . .and where in the world will it be! So this Thanksgiving was great, and hopefully my family will finally see where I live in San Francisco this spring…

Cirque du Soleil

The night at Cirque du Soleil was amazing! Andrew and I arrived by taking a taxi to the tents, and started our evening. The colors and costumes were so great! Moreover, the music was outstanding! Such a fantastic show!

Apple

I finally got my stuff together–A brilliant cover letter, my r?sum? in both English and Japanese, all nicely printed out, and forwarded them to Apple’s Corporate headquarters in Cupertino, CA for consideration of the Retail Japan Merchandising Manager position. I have now submitted my information via 4 outlets:

a) Online application submittal
b) Personal reference of an Apple Employee
c) FedEx to Hiring Manager
d) e-mail to Steve Jobs, Apple CEO (yes, I got his e-mail address)

So, hopefully I’ll hear something in January for an acceptance for an opportunity to interview.

The New TransPacific Subway

So, today I witnessed something really funny and scary. As Joi, my colleague was on the phone asking someone about having our Transpacific Subway Map posted on the internet. This is a map that looks like a subway of our sailing schedules/routes throughout the Pacific. At that point, a woman was standing in front of me waiting for someone else in an office. She looked at me strangely and whispered,

“we have a transpacific subway now?”

I replied wittingly, “Oh yeah, we do”.

She said, “You mean it doesn’t go over the ocean?”

I smiled and said, “No, that would be the air way”.

Waiting for a chuckle or some type of acknowledgement of my wit and humor, I looked and said, Oh my, are you kidding?

“Kidding about what?”

“I’m so sorry, I thought you were playing with me. There is no transpacific subway. I’m sorry, I thought you were kidding with me.

She then replied, “Oh, well, I was about to say, wow, that’s amazing”.

So, at this point, two things really frightened me:

a) Who at this company would hire a person for a shipping company that thinks there is such a thing as a subway that crosses the spanse of the Pacific Ocean (-Announcement–Thank you for boarding the Transpacific Subway. The next stop is, Tokyo, Japan and we will arrive in 84 hours.)

b) Is this a reflection upon an educational system that didn’t work, someone of the general public, or someone who just doesn’t believe in lifetime learning?

Appalling. Yes. Joi and I have HOWLED over this!

Dinner with John & Joi

So, tonight I went to Joi & John’s house for dinner–a NICE huge t-bone steak, mashed potatoes and asparagus. The meal and company was absolutely fabulous. I ended up staying over there until 10:45! Joi and John have got to be the most perfect everything. Their personalities are amazing, their open-mindedness, wit, and humor all make the time fly by as if nothing could ever be dull. It was great to have a nice home-cooked meal, a glass of a TINY bit of wine, and wonderful conversation with two of the best people I’ve met since moving to California. It’s times like these where I just think, I am so glad to be alive.