Sakura Pictures

Just posted some pictures of the Sakura which lasted about 1 week and is now about finished.

Check them out using this link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/dilloko/

Dillon Steele

Hohhot

Chengdu To Xian 16 Hour Train Ride

Overnight Train Ride to Xian

It was very similar to the overnight bus from Okayama to Tokyo that I have taken a few times now. Except for the fact that the I had a bed, ate lunch, and experienced a much bumpier ride on the train. My brother Muir and I had two Chinese roommates on the train who were probably in their 50s and could not speak any English. I spent most of my time reading a book called The Tipping Point that I just finished today and started about 1 week ago. Almost everyday I have time to read and study Japanese. The train had both western style and squatty toilets which I made good use of. I probably woke up about 8 times to some the loud rattling of the train running on not so smooth tracks. Overall I enjoyed the train ride experience and would probably try it again in the future.

much love,

Steele

One Week In Chengdu

It is my last day here in Chengdu and I stayed at the lazybones hostel with my brother Muir Adams. We decided to move towards the center of the city for one night out of the hostel in our good friend Ryan’s dorm. All of you Americans who are used to having things done for you in English, even in other countries, China is a bit different. When we order food much of the time people do not know any English and the menus are often only in Chinese without pictures. This makes life a little bit more difficult for us, but allows to experience what many non native English speaking foreigners have to face every time they leave there country.

I have enjoyed the food quite a bit here in Chengdu. When I first arrived in Chengdu and had a few meals with my friend Ryan, I told him that I would trade Japanese food for Chinese food any day. This could be true for different parts of China still, but probably not Chengdu. Almost all of the Chinese food we have had in Chengdu has been very oily and very spicy. Eating this a few times is good and fun, but eating it for every meal gets old pretty quick. I am happy to have my own kitchen in Japan to allow me to learn how to be a better chef and eat the food I want to eat. I’m not saying trying new food is bad, because I love trying new food. I just don’t care so much to try new food that tastes almost the exact same a million times.

Hanging out with my good friend Ryan has been a blast. When I look back on it, I have known Ryan since elementary school. I once told Ryan a story about me being a bully at Grant Elementary school. I was on top of the playground and there was a kid who wouldn’t go down the slide, so I shoved him down. Then when I got to the bottom he started crying and I got a pink slip (says I am in trouble). I quickly figured out that was Ryan after we had become good friends in high school. Spending time with him here in China has been great. He has taken my brother Muir and I to many different places around Chengdu and to try lots of his favorite restaurants with him. I have been impressed by his ability to get around and communicate with his Chinese after only 6 months of studying a very difficult language.

To give an idea of how prices of things here compare to your country:

Bus Fare: 1 - 2 YUAN (20 - 40 cents)

Eating Out Local: 1 - 2 USD

Eating Out Nice: 4 - 7 USD

Magnum Ice Cream Bar: 5 YUAN (80 cents)

Hostel, One Night, Two People: 127 YUAN (20 dollars)

Tomorrow night we will be taking a 13 hour train from about 9PM to 10AM from Chengdu to Xian. We bought the most expensive ticket to be in a sleeper car which cost us about 45 dollars each.

It is definitely nice being in a country where things are much cheaper. I would recommend traveling to a country that is cheaper for you as your money will go much further.

much love,

Steele

Japan Earthquake

Hello Friends and Family,

I just got off a 16 hour overnight train ride from Chengdu to Xian in China. I arrived at the hostel, got situated, and then came downstairs to check my e-mail while brother Muir is taking a nap in our room. I looked at my inbox and saw that I had 20 e-mails and was a little surprised. I had not heard anything about the earthquake until I read the first e-mail and then looked up the news. My brother and I are both in CHINA, so we are okay. So please focus your prayers on the people of Japan and in Japan right now. When I looked at some of the videos and read the articles it was very scary for me to see this as I have many good friends all across Japan. I just sent out an e-mail like you did for me to see how they are doing. The area my school is at is very far south and should not be affected physically, but I am sure the people are very scared and distressed right now. Please pray for the nations safety and most importantly the people to come to know our good Lord. Pray that this would be a time where people can be united in serving with one another. Pray for the Japanese Christians, that they would be able to care for those hurt, suffering, and in need. Pray that those still stranded or hurt would be rescued. Pray that our good Lord would comfort those who need comforting. I appreciate all of you checking up on me.

much love,

Dillon

Hong Kong and China

My brother and I flew into Hong Kong a few days ago and are leaving today to go to mainland China to explore and visit our friend Ryan Knight who is studying abroad there. We are going to a city called Chengdu which I did not hear of until Ryan told me where he was going to study this year. Our trip so far has been pretty relaxing, with a few late nights our around Hong Kong.

My favorite thing that we have had the chance to do is meet up with my friend Jason Lam. I met him at San Jose State in a class we had together. We were both sitting near each other in my class and he was singing a song. I asked him what he was singing, and he said a hymn. After that we started to talk more and then ended up becoming good friends. A few nights ago we went over to his house for dinner and met his sister, dad, and mom. Dad and mom could not speak any English, so there was a lot of pointing and smiling. They made a great meal with fish, shrimp, soup, some different vegetables, beef, and a few other things. We also had the chance to meet with him for a few other meals. I am starting to realize more that the most important thing for me on a trip is to be able to spend time with friends and the people I am with, not to do the most amazing sightseeing. I like to travel differently than most, so if you ever have the chance to travel with me make sure you know me well first.

We were going to take a train to Chengdu from Hong Kong which would take a total of 36 hours, but we decided that we would fly instead and save the train for a shorter trip. We found that buying the flights from an American website would cost around $200-$300 dollars one way, while purchasing the tickets through a Chinese website would cost under a $100. Next time you travel make sure to look into buying flights through a website used by the people in the country your going to.

Will try to put up some pics soon of Hong Kong and keep you amazing people updated with Chengdu.

peace,

Steele

Onsen and Brother Muir

2010/02/25

Recently I went to a public bath for the second time here in Japan. By now I have created an onsen team which includes William (British), Ivan (Chinese), Hiro (Japanese), and Steele (American). This time we had a special guest joining us, Tomaki. This was actually the first time I met Tomaki and what better way to meet someone than sit naked next to each other with about 10 other men.

When I walked into this onsen, the first thing that I observed was how many woman were in the men’s side of the onsen. They all worked at the onsen, but it did not feel right having them in there. I asked my friend Hiro (just like I asked him last time we were at a different onsen) about why there were women in the men’s side of the onsen. He gave me the same answer as last time, which explained that they probably are cleaning just because they want to see naked men. This made sense, because if I was a women and wanted to see naked men all the time what better place than a public bath to do so.

This onsen had two great things about it that the other one did not have. The first one was called the “freedom bed.” Basically, people would lay down on a few inches of water in a very flat pool naked. This was pretty revealing, but somehow it was comfortable. The water wasn’t to hot and my onsen team could fit perfectly in the five spots the “freedom bed” allowed for us to lay in. The second thing was at the end they had a drink machine with fresh cold milk. When I say fresh, I mean fresh. I even had William (the British man) confirm this for me, because he claims British milk is much fresher than American milk. Although my British friends have been wrong about many things here, like which English words should used in everyday conversation, he was right about this.

Muir arrived 2 days ago and it has been good so far. We have done a lot of bicycle riding and are planning to go to a big graveyard and garden today. I will try and update you with some pictures soon about the places we are exploring. Also, make sure to check out his blog when you have a chance.

http://travel.muiradams.com/

much love,

Steele