I've a had a little over a week to get my thoughts about my trip to Hiroshima. I had such an amazing trip and I'm so glad I went. Besides a little bit of an uncomfortable ride down and a few showers in the morning of the first day, I had no problems and everyone I met was so nice and welcoming. I highly, highly recommend taking the trip to Hiroshima. For those that are worried it will be too depressing, it can be overwhelming and emotional. But there is soo much more to Hiroshima than the atomic bomb and it is worth the time to explore it. I really could have stayed for a couple more days and still had tons to do.
A few thoughts:
1) Traveling by yourself....well, it kinda sucks! Yeah, yeah I know...it's supposed to be so soul-searching and enriching to your soul, blah, blah, blah.. Ummmm not really!! I mean, if I don't know myself by now after being on my own so often during the day/week for the last 3 years, I'll never know myself. I don't need time away from everyone to listen to my inner voice or whatever traveling by yourself is supposed to give you. Sure, sure it's great that you can travel at your own pace, that you don't have to argue with anyone about where to eat, but then you get there and you're eating by yourself! You do that thing where you take your time, so that you don't look like you're uncomfortable eating alone, but then you really are and you're just waiting for the appropriate amount of time to pass before you can get up and leave. Plus, either you end up with no pictures of yourself or really bad pictures taken by passing people who don't really care what it looks like or you end up taking the single arm picture of yourself...how ever it happens, they aren't ever very good. Maybe I'm just too social, maybe I'm too scared to be alone (right!), but yeah, traveling alone is not all it's cracked up to be!!
2) This one kind of goes with #1- please stop telling me how "brave" and "incredible" it is that I'm a woman traveling by myself!!! Seriously, it's so sexist!! I met at least 4 men who couldn't believe I was traveling by myself, and how amazing and impressive it was. Really??? Would they be saying the same thing to a guy traveling alone? I don't think so. Look- I took the comments as they were meant, as compliments. But really, it's really sexist to think that a woman traveling alone is any different than a guy. I mean, I'm going to be 37 years old...if I can't handle traveling to another state (which is essentially what I did) on my own...um, I'm pretty sad!!! Come on people, it's 2009, women can do anything!!
3) Finally, probably the most important thing I took away from this trip, is the utter uselessness and immorality of nuclear weapons. The dropping of the bombs may or may not have been necessary to end WWII, believe me I know and understand the arguments on both sides, but regardless- too many innocent lives were lost and countless survivors suffered for years, in fact are still suffering. I don't believe that the world needs any nuclear weapons, ever, any country, including the US. I feel very strongly about this. And I really hope that President Obama will travel to Hiroshima and Nagasaki as president to see the damage we inflicted on these cities, and that he will take the steps necessary to be a true leader and lead the world into eliminating ALL nuclear weapons. If nuclear weapons are the only way we as humans can solve our conflicts, humanity is already lost, and I refuse to believe that.
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