Back from Hakone

We had an amazing time in Hakone. We left thursday morning for an adventurous 3-4 hour train and bus ride. It was crazy to see the green emerge as we got farther and farther away from the center of Tokyo. I was thankful to see nature again.

Some of our activities included a sky tram, the Onsen (hot springs), and a crafthouse and garden. The evening we got there we all went on the sky tram. It was quite the experience because the clouds had rolled in so at some points we couldn't see anything but the cable right in front of us. The wind was blowing too so it would whistle in the ventilation slats of the car. On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji in the distance, but the fog made it a little difficult to distinguish anything, even something as large as a mountain.

The Onsen was an interesting cultural experience to say the least. You get a locker and change into your suit and then are given a blue or orange (depending on your gender) tunic that you wear in between pools or even at the buffet lunch. There were tons of options for pools to soak in including Greek baths with the full rotation available, a sake bath, green tea bath, coffee bath...the list goes on. There were water slides and kiddie pools and a pool with fish that nibble the dead skin off your feet! LIterally something for everyone. We spent Friday morning exploring all the options and then enjoyed a buffet lunch. My favorite was the "cool temperature" pool and the smell of the green tea pool. It smelled like jasmine tea, and the cool temperature was just right for relaxing in.

Christine and I had heard about a crafthouse in the area and we decided to go check it out. After a bit of exploration we found it. There were glassblowers and potters in the house. It was cool too because there were gardens around the crafthouse. There was a rose garden, fountain and a lot of native Japanese plants. Hydrangeas thrive here and there were some beautiful ones at the gardens. We wandered about for awhile taking pictures and enjoying the peacefulness before heading back to the hotel.

Last night we had a team encouragement time where we shared for over an hour what we appreciated about other people on the team. It was a cool time of building up and remembering what we like about each person. It was also a cool reminder of how the body of Christ works. Each person has unique characteristics about them that the body, or specifically our team, would not function as well without.

We left Hakone around 11 today, but before leaving we checked out the Hakone Open-Air Museum for an hour or so. There was an abundance of sculptures and random things to climb on and admire. I'll post pictures tomorrow because it's hard to explain all that was there.


Anyways, there is the quick update of our retreat. It was nice to get away to nature and just be with the team. I know I personally needed a break and I think everyone appreciated the time away.
I'll post pictures tomorrow! Love you all