Kamakura! Trains, The Great Buddha, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine(Shinto Shrine)

Yesterday we headed out with our friends to visit Kamakura...it is a 20-30 minute train ride from Yokosuka.  We headed out into the city and to the train station.  We were armed with our cheat sheets from the Navy and we were able to navigate buying tickets, train cards(Suica), and figure out which side of the platform we needed to be on.  It was pretty simple and this station is used to Americans riding the train...so they've pretty much dummy proofed it.  However when we got to Kamakura we had to switch lines on to their local line.  This station was WAY busier and there were tons more people...and navigating for the first time didn't go as smoothly.  The Japanese nationals knew exactly where they were going and just zoomed past you...to where your almost spinning around in circles as they whoosh past.  We quickly learned it was easier just to stand out to the side until they all passed and then we could figure out where we needed to go.  We got onto the busy train and with the help of the iPhone...we could count the stops as we passed them...ensuring that we didn't miss our stop.  The announcements are made in Japanese followed by a single sentence in English...so we heard blah, blah, blah, and then oh that was English...crap! LOL  We got to the correct station and walked to the Buddhism Temple...The Great Buddha.  The two main religions here in Japan are Buddhism and Shinto.  Buddhist have Temples and Shintos have Shrines.  Seeing the Buddha up close was amazing.  We all just stood there...taking it all in.  We also observed the Japanese nationals around us and how they worshiped and gave homage to their God.  It was a very peaceful place with flowers, water, and trees...we could have easily just sat on one of the benches for most of the day just relaxing and getting out of the bustle of the city.  We then hiked it to a Shinto Shrine...we walked and walked and walked.  Zack kept looking at my face for signs that he needed to find a taxi...our friends also asked if I could make the walk and kept checking on me.  Thankfully there was only a high in the low 80's with low humidity and I had plenty of water...we all made the walk with a few breaks along the way.  Zack and I both agreed that there was no way I could have made that walk when I was pregnant with Noah...how different these pregnancies have been.  This Shrine was amazing and our first up close look at old Japanese architecture.  I mentioned to Zack I never thought that in my lifetime I would see that in person.  He replied that he knew when he joined the Navy that he would have those experiences.  And it was nice to see this together...Zack is having his adventures on port visits around the world and I'm holding down the fort...but this time I got to experience it with him.  We walked up the Shrine(no pictures allowed)...people were saying prayers, giving coins, and then also writing messages/prayers on wooden plaques that were hung around the shrine....then down again.  Noah was out of the stroller and sat down in the gravel to play...a little girl around Noah's age was also leaning over to swipe her hands against the gravel...Noah being Noah had to sit down and get down and dirty.  This encouraged her to also get into it a bit more and encouraged another little boy to rub his hands in the gravel.  Noah then saw the pigeons...he took off running after the pigeons and they just kept running...not taking flight.  This caught the attention of just about everyone...Noah is chasing a bird..yelling at it...and causing Japanese children to stop and join him! (We learned this past week that children are welcomed at these sorts of places because they are considered the safest place for them to "be children"...they are protected by the God or Gods depending on weather it was a Temple or Shrine).  Noah is screaming birds...and this was no different than other occasions..the Japanese nationals repeat the noises or words he makes...laughing!  The children had no idea that they were from different cultures or spoke different languages...the playing in gravel and chasing birds...that's international kid play!  One little girl approached Noah and took him by the hand and they played together for a few minutes.  Through hand gestures I asked the mommas if it was okay to take a picture and they both agreed.  The little girl's mommy got a great picture of the two of them playing together.  The whole day was amazing...seeing sites that I never thought I would see in my lifetime...but for me the highlight was seeing Noah playing at bottom of a Shinto Shrine with Japanese children....now that's why we came to Japan!  We are talking about what train adventure we will be taking next week...down to Kurihama to see more "old Japanese buildings...and culture" or up towards Yokohoma to visit a great zoo?!

Just wanted to add this funny/disturbing tid bit of info...if you loose your purse or wallet here it will be at the next police box(a small building on the street with a few cops inside to give parking tickets and be visable in case someone needs them)...all of your belongings will be in it plus the name, address, and phone number of the person who found it.  You are then expected to give a small gift in thanks...you can leave all your money on the dashboard of your car with the doors open...you come back and the doors are closed and your money is still there.  This isn't the case in America or even on base!

This is a link to the pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.732399753333.2206263.47209158&l=d87dfa91e9