Mount Fuji!

Starting a blog confirmed just how bad I am in keeping people updated.

It’s been about three weeks since I moved to TCU and I have to say that in this short time I’ve fallen in love with the place. The people are super friendly, the classes are fun, and the cafeteria food is worth it. Of course, homework is also part of it, but it hasn’t been an impossible load so far.

Nana

God blessed me with an awesome roommate, Nana. She is the sweetest person ever and helps me out with phrases all the time when I get things muddled up. It helps having someone around who corrects you when you say something the wrong way or are not sure on how to even start.

 I’ve been to town a few times, gone to a Japanese movie in the theater (with no subs), went to a small festival while wearing a yukata, and gone to a sushi place where every plate of sushi cost only $1 regardless of the type!

At the festival with Nana and Katie

Yesterday I came back from my most recent adventure. A small group of us decided to go and climb Mount Fuji. The craziest part was, that we decided to do the all night climb so that we could watch the sunrise from the top! And yes, I decided to attempt the climb in brand new sneakers. I know, I know, it's not something that is advised. But I did bandage up my feet ahead and even wore two pairs of socks. It seemed to do the trick.

We left on Friday, around 4:50pm to grab a few supplies in town and then took the train and a bus to Fuji. 

Katie and I on our way up

Starting out from the fifth station, we began to climb a bit before 12am. It stared out easily enough, but the further we went the harder it got. At first we paused ever so often at stations, but then around the seventh station we split up and all began to go up at our own pace.

The sky was so clear and I saw at least six shooting stars while climbing. It was almost as though God was putting on a private show :)

It started getting steeper and steeper and soon we were using our hands as well in order to climb up the rocky path. The crazy thing is that there people all along the way climbing too. Therefore, you're never really on your own. We came across Germans, French, Japanese, and even some British along the way.

We were near the top when it started getting light and managed to reach the summit about five minutes before the sun began to peak out (I think it was around 5:15am). It was beautiful watching the sun emerge, and though it was cold (especially if you just stood still) it was well worth it.

 I took the time to walk some way around the crater at the top, both to see it and to keep warm. It was only then that I remembered that Mount Fuji is actually a dormant volcano!

Crater at the top

Below is a picture of the awesome group once we re-united at the top. Everyone was still in high spirits, despite the long climb. After this, most decided to take a nap. I guess not many can say they've slept on the top of mount Fuji. I can't, because I couldn't fall asleep...*sigh*.

The endless road down

After resting, we decided to head back down a different and less steep way. Now, if you think climbing a mountain is difficult, just wait until you have to climb back down! It was hard in its own way and seemed to take forever (though it was a lot shorter than climbing up). At one point I decided that we had somehow ended up in a timeless loop and would be wandering down the mountain side forever. 

Luckily, I wasn’t right.


We soon descended through the clouds, which is the first time we got wet, and finally reached the fifth station.
There we took the time to grab something to eat and I had a wonderful bowl of hot Ramen.

After eating we headed back to TCU. The journey was somewhat more quiet as we were all pretty exhausted. We made it back in one piece and arrived back on campus around 5:30pm with time to take a quick shower before dinner.

Overall, I feel so blessed to have had this experience. Before we started off, I heard so many stories of how hard it would be, how miserable we would feel, and how cold and wet we would get. However, the weather was perfect on the way up, and most of the way down, and not one of us suffered from altitude sickness!

I’ve got to say, seeing God’s creation from the top was a wonderful experience. Without him, the climb would never have been possible. On top of that, I got to know all the awesome people, who went along, a bit better. I love how everyone stayed in high spirits the entire time.

Would I do it again? Yes...in perhaps five years or so :)