Greenheart Travel

Author: Olivia von Heydekampf

  • Hello Everyone, Long Time No See

    Hello everybody! I’m sorry I know it’s been awhile since my last post, but I have more to share. So, in this past month, I’ve done a few things.

    So, awhile back, Hunter and I decided to go to the Ueno Zoo together, which is extremely famous over here. We got the chance to see some things that we’ve never seen before.

    I imagine Kayla will be jealous I saw an elephant in real life

    This, the Chinese soft shell turtle, is an abomination

    Hunter Having a staring contest with a turtle

    Hunter having another staring contest with possibly the scariest crocodile on the planet

    After that, We decided to eat dinner in Ueno, and headed to Roppongi the next day.

    These next pictures confused me so much I was forced to post them

    It’s James Harden


    We’ve also gone through Meiji shrine on a different day.

    Thanks for everyone’s support, again sorry this took so long. I’m learning so much and making lots of new friends!　 どうもありがとうございます！

  • Another Fun Week!

    Hello Everyone! I have many more pictures for everyone to see from this past week!

    So, one day when I was by myself, I decided to head to Asakusa station in Japan, where Sensoji Temple can be found. It was incredible, and extremely ancient!

    After that, I went to an aquariam located next to the giant tower you’ve been seeing called “Tokyo Skytree,” which is the tallest tower in Japan.

    I found Dory!

    A few days later, I went to Hunter’s school festival.

    I’ve been having a great time so far, thanks to everyone for their support!
    Hunter’s blog

  • A Fun Weekend in Japan

    Hello Everyone! Life has been great so far, I’ve really been having a great time. This weekend I had a lot of fun, I was with Hunter for most of it and we did quite a few things (Also I apologize in advance for the blurriness of the pictures, I am not a skilled photographer).

    First, I went with my host family to my host sister’s school for a festival they were having. There, I got to see a cool dance that her dance club did.

    My Host Sisters entire dance club

    The dance had a halloween theme

    After that, I met with Hunter and we went to Shibuya and went looking for a Cafe that had to do with a video game that we both like. Here are some photos I took while walking around that area:

    Afterwards, we were disappointed to find out that the cafe we wanted to go to so bad had been turned into an Australian restaurant… Disappointing. So, we walked around some more and stumbled into some things on accident:

    A concert Hunter and I stumbled upon

    Found in an “American” restaurant, as are the next 2 pictures

    They had great pizza, was like returning to America for a small moment

    I just can’t get over how they spelled lounge, HAHA

    My camera was so blurry, I apparently created some new kind of art

    Hunter and I copying the nearby poster

    Street Band, So good!

    The next day, we went with a group of school friends and saw a Japanese movie, and did karaoke.

    Large Blowup head of an anime in the movie theater. Our movie that we watched was on the 13th floor of the building!
    .
    Characters from the movie

    Hunter and I posing

    Karaoke

    Everyone at Karaoke with Hunter and I (We are off to the left).

    Beautiful, huh? (akihabara)

    At this point, Hunter and I had moved to Akihabara, which is also known as Anime town.

    Large collection of older Japanese video games

    Here, we entered an electronics store, they had a 3D printer on display, this was incredible to see. It created all of these objects.

    There were many computers like this one

    Myself trying out the Oculus Rift

    Old weapons on display

    After that day, Hunter and I went to an arcade center and played arcade games and bowled, however my camera died at that point.

    So, this has been my life outside of school so far, hope you all enjoy reading! Don’t forget to take a look at Hunter’s blog! There you can see all of the pictures that I have failed to post on some outings and also see a much better sense of humor!

  • After My First Week of School

    Well, I can say I’ve finally began to start settling in. I’ve had school for about a week now, and while its difficult not understanding most things it has been very interesting!

    Here is my class schedule:

    As far as other things go, I havent been out as much as I went out at first mainly because of school, but I have still been out doing things and having lots of fun! Japan is a very interesting place!

    Some raw octopus that I had

    This is an apartment building… massive

    Alleyway in Akabane, All the alleyways have tons of shops

    Akabane main area

  • My First Week in Japan

    Hey Everyone! Sorry I know its been awhile since my last post, but I’ve been trying to work into the system. So my bad, I’ll try to make sure I make posts more often!

    So, since  I last posted, quite a few things have happened. Also, I’m sorry but I haven’t had my camera on me for most of these things.  (I’ll try to bring it with me more often).

    Since I met my host family, we went to a waterpark/amusement park. It was alot of fun, we went on some waterslides, rollercoasters, and went into the wave pools.

    After that, I’ve since began to learn my area of Tokyo, and become better at riding the train. One night we also went and ate at this Korean restaurant which was very interesting because first off, you sit at a table that isn’t very high off the ground and you sit on cushions instead of chairs. Second off, they would bring you lots of uncooked meat and you would cook it yourself with these small grills in the table. Very interesting!

    Hunter and I also took an adventure to Shinjuku station, which is surrounded by many different stores and buildings and is near the heart of Tokyo. I did take a few pictures on my phone of this, but It’s not letting them add those right now, so I’ll try later. Anyways, we got to see quite a few things while we were there. We headed to Cocoon Tower, which is very interesting. Also, We went to a Cat Cafe. An interesting experience to say the least, there were just cats walking around everywhere and you would order a drink and feed/pet the cats. We also ate some food while we in Shinjuku.

    Also, I’ve had my first 2 days of school, which have been fun. Its been tough to understand the classes, but it should be an interesting year! And yes, I have been making friends.

    As far as other things go, my host family is great, and they help me out a lot since I can’t understand a whole lot. My host mother and I will just start laughing with each other whenever I can’t understand things or say something funny, so its been a great experience so far!

  • Meeting the Host Family

    Today, I went into what is the real Tokyo, took a subway, and got to meet my host family in Japan for the first time. I started at my hotel in outside of Tokyo, and we took a bus over to the main Tokyo station.

    There we ate lunch, and we all had to say goodbye to each other and head to our host families. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to Hunter, but we’ll keep in contact I’m sure. However, since I met my host family,  it has been wonderful! My host family is great, and they are all super nice! I’ve only been with them since noon, and we have gone and done multiple things.  First we headed to the house, which I have to say I like very much. After that, we headed to the local elementary school where I got to meet several people (which were also very nice) and play lots of kickball with the kids and adults. After that, we headed back to the house and soon after went to an extremely interesting festival that was taking place nearby. It was so cool! There were many people all dancing together in the middle to the sound of drums and other Japanese style music. There, I also got to try the food “Takoyaki” for the first time (Unfortunately didn’t have my camera on me for any of this). has been a great day so far, and I can say I already feel my Japanese language skills growing, as I have learned many new words already (Although my Japanese is still pretty poor haha).

  • Orientation

    My first full day in Japan! My day here was spent mainly in the classroom, with a 2 hour excursion to the local mall, which happened to be very large.  It has been an amazing experience so far, and I’ve made many new friends with my program, and have been able to practice my Japanese in multiple situations so far. Tomorrow I will head to my host family’s home and meet them. 😀

    The View on the Drive to the Mall

     The Mall

    Hunter and I examining the books
    The best ramen I have ever had

    Hunter jamming on the drums

  • The Arrival

    The Arrival

    Well, everyone, today I have arrived! Hunter Seglem and I took an 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. It was an extremely long flight! However, we made it, and soon after headed to our hotel. 
    Before the flight, I got to see Nano

    What you see when you arrive

    Hunter and I waiting for the bus

    Morning Television
    I am now here doing the orientation. Should be interesting!

  • The Adventure Begins

    The Adventure Begins!

    I have embarked! Today (8/19/14), I arrived in Las Vegas where I met my friend Hunter Seglem. From here,  I will continue on to Los Angeles (8-20-14), and then fly to Tokyo (Arrival on 8/21/14).
    However, I have had a chance to enjoy my small amount of time in Vegas. This is the first time I’ve been here, so it was quite interesting to see all of the sights Vegas has to offer. When I first arrived, we took a drive down Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip), and continued to our hotel, the Monte Carlo.
    This is the Excaliber, it resembles a castle

    This New York, New York, an attempt to recreate buildings from New York into a hotel/casino
    After unloading at the hotel, Hunter and I took a walk on the strip to see the different shops.
    Seen here is the Hard Rock Cafe, full of music memorabilia 
    After that, we went out to eat at the “Brand” steakhouse located within the Monte Carlo. It was very delicious (#5 rated in all of Vegas). Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it 🙁
    Next, we headed to the Bellagio to see the fountain works, and I managed to capture a few pictures of the nearby scenery!
    Eiffel Tower Restaurant

    View from Bellagio Fountain
    Right after that, We headed over to the Luxor casino/hotel. IT WAS SUPER AMAZING! Here are some photos I snagged:
    Hunter and I

    I loved that hotel. However, the best part of the night, was the last part of the night.
    WE GOT TO SEE CRISS ANGEL LIVE!!!!!!!
    Criss Angel is a very famous magician that can be seen on his TV show. His live show (Believe) was INCREDIBLE! After basically teleporting into the crowd, Hunter and I had the glory of high fiving him! Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, but I managed to snag a cool one outside of the theater:
    Criss Angel’s figurine with myself in front (He is known for standing on top of the Luxor, so this replicates that!)
    And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my trip so far. I will be heading to LA for my flight tomorrow (8-21-14). Wish me luck!
    Sorry if this post seems very cut and dry with no emotion, my computer is nearly dead, so I don’t have a ton of time to type at the moment!

    どうもありがとうございます！

    ケイレブバンウェル

    Caleb Barnwell