May 21 2014 - Today we left Japan

Today we left Japan. It was an absolutely unforgettable trip. I loved every minute of it. The people there taught me so much. They taught me not take food for granted. Eat whatever you are given without complaining and eat all of it. Even within our group, some people complained about the food, but if all the kids ate the food without complaining I believe all the adults should be able to do the same.

I also had a very uplifting experience at the base. My grandparents have served in the army and air force, but nobody that is close to me has in recent years. It made me see all the true sacrifices these families give all for other people’s freedom. These soldiers aren’t afraid of anything. It was very humbling to see what they as well as their families go through.

Another thing I was so grateful I was able to learn was how to cook some different Japanese foods. I can look at so many different Japanese recipes and find some good ones but I would be making them with my own technique and not the Japanese techniques. I also wouldn’t know if they are real Japanese recipes or not. I will never forget how giving and respectful everyone is in Japan. It is very admirable. To be able to not worry about being pick-pocketed was such a relief. I was also so grateful our group got along so well because I truly believe that would have made or ruined the trip.

May 20 2014 - U.S. Naval Base

Today was the earliest morning yet. We had to train to the U.S. Naval Base. This base is in its own suburb area, on the side of town. I had never been on a base before so it was a new experience. Everyone is so friendly with you. Even though we were in Japan everything was extremely Americanized. The first place we went to was a preschool. It was a pretty big room for the school but you could tell it was a tight fit.

The children were pretty happy there. I feel like it is a good place for them to be happy. As we got to the other elementary school I noticed the kids especially the older they got, the more aware of things they were. The U.S. and Japanese have very different education styles. The U.S. has more of a welcoming environment. They want the kids to discover themselves more than anything. However, the kids in Japan take school extremely serious. There is no messing around. I believe that both Japan and the U.S. can learn from each other.

The lunch in the U.S. was very different compared to the Japanese lunch. We ate with the preschool kids. Some kids at my table only ate spaghetti with water. Where others drank milk and ate vegetables as well as spaghetti. The American children could waste their food and not feel bad about it. Where the Japanese kids wouldn't even think about wasting their food. I think the U.S. should probably discipline the kids a little bit more because it is true, Americans waste so much and it isn't fair to the rest of the world.

The base itself was very plain and formal. I just hope the families there are happy because they deserve to be. They serve our country with their whole hearts and give their lives so I can have my freedom. It was an eye opening experience to me. I was talking to one lady who is from California and she said that she get to go home in a couple of weeks and see her family that she hasn’t seen in 2.5 years. My family means the world to me and I don’t think I could not see them for that long especially if I had a family of my own.

After the base we went to a big tourist town. We were able to see some temples and shrines here. Temples and shrines are very important to the people in japan. We went to this huge shrine. We knew it was a shrine because it has the big arch way that leads to it. They are also very well kept. We went to a shrine that people still go to for worship and it was interesting to see how they would pray. They would also leave prayers everywhere. They would tie them up on strings and throw coins into a bin a pray by bowing back and forth. At this shrine I was able to see the chairs that soldiers would carry their leader on over their shoulders. Each of the chairs was very intricately designed. They had tons of nitpicky details and a large variety of colors. There were tons of different place to go in this shrine as well. A lot of side buildings and grounds around the main shrine allowed for a lot of people to go at once. The main part of the shrine was on a hill. I believe they did this so that it was closer to the heavens. After the shrine we went to a temple. The temple was in a more reserved and quiet part of town. It was in the outskirts of the city. We knew this was a temple by looking at how it was built. It was more basic and bland. It had a bell tower on the ground and well-kept grounds.

Another place where there was a big shrine was right outside our hostel. This shrine was absolutely unbelievable. It took up so much space. The buildings were in so much color with a lot of detail. They really made it stand out. I feel like the people put tons of time and effort into these buildings. They really care for them and want their god to be proud or whoever they worship. Each of the different buildings contained a big worship room and pictures on the walls. The pictures made me think of the emperor’s palace in Mulan. Just a place for people to feel welcome and gather together. It makes me wonder how often these buildings are taken care of. I see how nice they still are and so many people still go there to worship.

May 19 2014 - Tokyo

Tokyo has a much disciplined education system. As we visited the kids at the elementary school I noticed so many things. First of all, the kids are very happy at school. I was so surprised at how well the kids even new English. The kids I visited were only 6 graders and though it was a little more difficult to carry on a conversation, we were still able to talk.

The school itself was beautiful. It was nice and open, with a lot of windows. I think the extra lighting and windows allow the students to focus better.  Each grade was on a different floor in the school. All the classrooms were somehow connected together.

We ate lunch with them. The children serve lunch to each other. They also all eat all the food no matter what it is and whether or not they like it. When I say they eat everything. I mean they eat everything. Including every single grain of Rice. This absolutely blows my mind. This school has almost a 0% waste production. They each drink all the milk and stack them inside each other to reduce the empty waste. After talking to some of the people we asked them what the kids do when they don’t like the food. I found out that no matter what, they eat all their food anyways. Starting when they are in kindergarten they are required to at least try and chew all the food that is on their plate. This way they will start acquiring the taste for it even if they don’t like the food. They do this until the child likes it. If they don’t like it they have to try it and then they can spit it out.

This system must be working for them because all the kids eat everything on their plate by second grade. I imagine the kids feel pressured to eat everything. I know when I went I felt pressured to eat everything on my plate. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t like it because I would’ve felt so bad. If I didn’t eat all of the food. I even ate every grain of rice from my bowl.

The children are also very polite and obedient. They do what they are told. For lunch we ate rice with a whole fist stuffed with caviar and rolled in sesame seeds. Then on the side potatoes with a sauce on them and a milk. The whole meal was around 600 kcal. They had a good source of protein, carbohydrates and calcium. The calories in this lunch were more than the U.S. elementary school lunches, but the Japanese children do not snack on food like Americans do.

After eating lunch with the kids we left and went to Sumo wrestling. Apparently sumo is still dying out. It isn’t as popular, but it was very interesting to watch. Generally, when I think of sumo wrestling I think of huge fat guys. Don’t get me wrong these guys are huge, but they have tons of muscle on them. They definitely know how to use their weight to their advantage. I liked that they still did thing the traditional way. Each time the ref changed they would chant something and bow. Japanese people were very respective in that manner.

Later that night we all went to dinner. We had some kind of all you can eat style food. I believe it was called suaki. We all got vegetables and meat and sautéed them. Then you were supposed to dip it in raw egg. That part I definitely could not do. The whole raw egg thing got to me. We met a boy there named Soma. He was Japanese, but spoke very good English and did not look very Asian. He was really nice. He told us about his family and how he grew up learning English and Japanese. He is also planning to study abroad in Ohio for his NBA. He told us how many of the food in Japan he did not like which surprised me because in the schools we went to it seemed like the kids were forced to eat. Whatever they were given. Later we went to Karaoke I loved it! It was great just to sit, relax and just be Americans for a night. I learned that Brenden likes to dance and Chelsee knows every song! It was good to see other people characteristics and personalities come out.

 

May 18 2014 - Tokyo 1st Ward

Today I was given the opportunity to go to church in Tokyo 1^st ward. This was an English ward with a lot of Americans. I believe most of them had family working at the embassy in Tokyo. I definitely was not expecting this. During sacrament meeting one of the kids who spoke told about all the places he had lived. It amazed me that he was okay to live in Japan. I’m sure he has picked up on a little bit of the language, but the culture shock would be incredible.

Church was excellent. The spirit I felt was incredible. The people all just show how blessed they are and the gratitude they have for the church. To see them all living somewhere far from their families for such long periods of time would be so difficult. Also, to raise their children in Japan or even just abroad would be so very different. This church was a far ride away from where we are staying and I can’t imagine leaving an hour early to go to church each Sunday.  After church a Charlie, Markie, Lacie and I al went to get crepes. They were delicious! Again the proportions are smaller here than in the states, but the quality of the food is amazing!

So far my favorite part of this trip was tonight at the cooking class with Mari. Mari is the cute little Asian girl that was born and raised in Japan. She lived in California for 6 months. She is married and living in a very nice home. She taught us all about Japanese cooking. I don’t understand how they cook with very few seasonings. She said they only use about 5 different flavorings. One thing they don’t use as much here are herbs and salt like we do. I love using seasonings because they bring so much flavor and they can either make or break the dish. Japanese people cook with very mind flavors.

One of there favorite things to use as seasoning is seaweed. She taught us the different varieties of seaweed and told us that the bold variety of flavors come from different location along the shore. It also depends on how long they have been fermenting. The same with the Amasaki paste. Amasaki is a sweet flavoring that has also been fermented. It is where they get the majority of their flavoring. We made a few different things with her.

The first thing we made was Gyoza. This is just like a pot sticker. They were probably the best kind of pot sticker I have ever eaten. Each thing was very thinly chopped and hand mixed together. I learned how to fan the dumpling when sealing it and when cooking them cook the bottom with a very small amount of oil and spread then after browning it add a little bit of water and cover with a lid until it becomes a see through dough. She told us to absolutely not flip. Then we made Tempera. Tempura is just any vegetable or meat you want dipped in the chunky not mixed very well, batter. Then dipped in oil. To know if the oil is hot enough, but not too hot put a wooden utensil in. If bubbles rise it is 180 degrees Celsius and hot enough. Let it cook in the oil for a few minutes to cook it. The last thing we made was miso soup. I have only liked a couple of miso soup that I tried but this was actually pretty good. It was interesting to see how they made it. The broth is boiled seaweed. The seaweed is cut with slits to allow the flavoring to seep out. After boiling the seaweed for a few minutes you remove it and boil in fish flakes for about 1 minute and pull them out. Then you add vegetable to it. Depending on the vegetables you want cooked or crunchy depends on when you add them. Texture in foods is vital to the. I noticed they care very much about taste texture and presentation all the same. I love this because presentation of food is also very important to me. When I cook and it doesn't look pretty I won’t serve it. One reason is because it is extremely embarrassing.

I feel like I learned so much more about Japanese culture by cooking with Mari. She was an excellent teacher. We were also able to see how she and her husband interact. Even when they were just talking you could see the love they had for each other. I would love to come back to Japan just to cook with her and learn more about their cooking styles.

May 17 2014 - Very eventful day - Miki

Today was a very eventful day. We went to our home visit in the morning.  We were supposed to have a guy and a girl come and pick us up, but the guy ended up having to go into work. So instead just the girl Miki picked us up. She was waiting at the train station for us. She was very cute. We walked to her house which was about a 10 minute walk and just talked with her as we went. Her house was a two room house. It was extremely small. Miki and Mel (the other guy that was supposed to pick us up.) live together, but aren’t dating and aren’t married. This confuses me because I don’t understand why they don’t date or date other people. Miki had prepared a nice little meal for us. She made a salad with pork and a really delicious dressing. Then there was a seafood seaweed salad. Which I didn’t like, but still ate it and a rice ball. It was a pretty good meal. All of it was homemade too.

 

Miki was a little bit harder to talk to. Instead of eating with us she just drank a beer. Then every few minutes she would leave to take a smoke. This just made conversation hard because it would always be interrupted or it almost felt like we were prying all the questions out of her. She told us that she loved to cook, but wouldn’t give us any examples of what she liked to cook. She showed us an interesting book that gave examples of what a well-rounded Japanese meal consisted of.

 

She told us about her travels and where in the world she had traveled. She said her favorite place she had traveled to was the Netherland because of all the incredible views. We all tried to talk about where we all have traveled, but she wasn’t very interested.

 

Miki is an accountant and works Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m... I think those hours are great! In her house there were a few things I noticed. The first thing I noticed was that she only had one stove top burner and a little microwave oven. I guess this is very common in Japan because there just isn’t room anywhere. I think if that was my house I would just feel extremely claustrophobic.

After the home visit we left to the soccer game. I absolutely love Soccer! The Japanese soccer teams won so all the fans were extremely happy. The team had so much support from their fans. I think they had the biggest diehard fan section I have ever seen. All the people were extremely supportive and respectful of each other at the game. Even inside the stadium there were no garbage cans but of course it was extremely clean. I believe that is just their way of life and how the people were raised.

 

We all went to dinner later that night. One thing I love about all the restaurants is they have plastic food to show what their food looks like. I find this to be really effective because if your food looks good, more people are likely to come to your restaurant. I also believe that an actual diagram is more effective than advertising with pictures.

 

May 16 2014 - Fuji Amusement Park

Fuji Amusement Park was today. This park is a world renowned park. It has broken a few different records. This park houses the tallest rollercoaster in the world! It also has the fastest rollercoaster in the world. One thing that amazed me about this park was how clean it was. There was no garbage anywhere but there were also no garbage cans. That just doesn’t make much since. Usually, especially in America, people get tired of holding trash so they just drop it everywhere which makes the place dirty. In Japan, I didn’t see one person liter which is absolutely incredible. A couple other things I noticed was the layout of the park were awful. Usually in parks they connect all over so that you can just go where ever you please. In this park though it was pretty much just one circle with dead ends everywhere, so some places weren’t very accessible. Secondly, there were no drinking fountains to be found. I think this is a good and a bad idea. No drinking fountains mean people get dehydrated a lot quicker because no one wants to buy water bottles, but if you have to buy a water bottle then that company makes a lot more money.  Another thing that was very different was how people order food. Many vendors in the park had automatic stations that you would order your food and then take the ticket to the counter. So the lines were much shorter and to me it seemed like the food came faster.

I feel like the Japanese people put a lot of trust in each other in order for their society to work out the way it does. They believe in each other and want to make their world a better place.

May 15 2014 - Kurashiki Gardens

Today was such an early morning. We woke up and went to Kurashiki Gardens. They were absolutely beautiful. Yes, it was raining which was not the best, but I was still able to take some amazing pictures. I loved how well kept the gardens were. They keep all the weeds away. Its cleanliness reminded me of Temple square. It was a really peaceful place to be. A nice place to just go and relax.

We then went to Fuji. Fuji is known for the huge volcanic mountain. When we got there that evening we all went to dinner at a very traditional restaurant. I feel like eating out is a lot more expensive here for small amounts of food compared to the states. This is a good example of why all the food is in small proportions, they really don’t eat very much. All the food is eaten very sparingly. I tried tempura here and it was very delicious. It is just a deep fried food with vegetables and meat. Usually I don’t like deep fried foods, but I didn't feel like this was to greasy and fatty like I usually do. After dinner we all went to the store and got Ice cream. I got a frozen ice cream in a waffle cone. It was so good, very different though.

May 14, 2014 - Jr. College

Today we went to the Jr. College to see all of our student friends. When we arrived they took us up to the room where the English classes were held. Everyone was so excited we were there. It makes me feel like a celebrity. They make such a big deal when we come to visit and they make such a big deal of taking pictures.  We talked with the girls and they asked us about our families. I told/showed them my family and said all their names. I have the biggest family by far which is so surprising… not really. But everyone thinks it is so incredible. The director of the English department talked to us and welcomed us to the school. Then two second year girls did presentations about their home towns. The cities they showed us were extremely pretty. One of them was Matsue but the other one was closer to the ocean. All the students as well as the professors were very giving to us. They gave us some Japanese orange and apple juice and crackers. Both of them were very delicious. I feel like they all have been raised as a giving community and people. I think America would be so much different if they did that. All of the girls were extremely knowledgeable and wanted to continue learning. Something I learned is that they never have breaks. They all go to school 24/7.

After we finished visiting with them we all went to play dodge ball. Dodge ball here is a very big sport. They play it differently than we do in the states. Generally, they only play with one ball. People run around the outside of the court and can hit out there too. It definitely is an extremely fun game. Everyone gets very into the game and the competition of it. After the games we all took pictures. Here in Japan they love pictures and they always hold up the peace sign. It almost makes you feel like you have to hold up the peace sign in order to fit in. Multiple people commented on how much they loved my hair. It made me realize that they don’t see very many naturally blonde haired people. All the girls in my group told me that they envied my hair. I guess it would be much harder to die their dark hair blonde because it is so dark. 

After dodge ball we all went to the cafeteria and ate lunch together. It was so good! I absolutely loved it. I had some meat on rice and a salad. One thing I hate is that they don’t eat very much meat and they only eat very small proportions of it when they do.  I love my meat so that is one thing that was really hard. I also noticed that most girls bought lunch at the school, but a few did bring lunch to the school. After that we went to the park to play on the playground. It was like an adult sized playground. The slide was like one on an airport belt. As we were leaving all the girls wanted to add us as friends on Facebook so they could communicate with us again. They were extremely sad to let their American friends leave. It was so nice to meet them I learned a lot about their lifestyles and I do believe a lot of them are a very reserved people, but some of them wouldn't fit the typical lifestyle of Japanese people.

Later that night when we got to the new hotel we were able to go to a bath house. It was a really great experience. At first we all were a bit skeptical, but when we got there it was great. I think that bath houses are just a way of their culture. To go to a public bath is what they would consider the normal. 

May 13, 2014 - Yakumo

After a long night of people being sick we finally got to bed and woke up nice and early to get on the road again. This time we are headed to Yakumo. Last night both Kendra and Chelsee were sick. I’m just hoping no one else gets the wonderful privilege of getting sick. The train ride was extremely crazy and there was no air conditioning this time around. We arrived at a hotel this time, but when we got there we found out that there wasn't a check in till three se we went out and explored until we got to go to our rooms. We went to the bank and exchanged money. Then we ate lunch at McDonald's. I usually hate McDonald's, but it was so delicious. The food was slightly different at this McDonald's compared to the ones in the states. Then we just went shopping at the mall for a bit. After that we went back and got settled in our room. There were only two people per room so Amber and I were able to room together. This was the best hotel so far because it was actually a hotel. It was pretty nice inside. We all had our own showers and rooms. They even provided robes for us. We went over to the Matsue castle. We met up with some girls from the Jr. College here. They were very excited to meet us and visit. We rode some nice little boats around the castle while talking to the girls. There professor told us that we had to talk to the girls as much as possible because it would give them a good opportunity to use their English. They spoke English very well. They told us good places to eat and pretty places to see. They told us what they were studying in school, what grade they were in and if they’d ever been to the states. I was very surprised about how many of them had actually been to the states.

The girls told us that most of them live pretty close around to Matsue, but many of them live quite far. One of the girls told us that she lived all alone in an apartment. This was surprising because what it sounded like was that they don’t have roommates like we do in the states. They either live with their families or alone. Even though it was sometimes hard to know what they were saying they tried to make sure we understood them.

After the boat ride we went and ate Soba. Soba is like cold spaghetti with soy sauce. It was good, but I think I would've enjoyed it more if it was warm. Then we went to watch the sunset over the lake. The lake was half salt, half fresh water. A large variety of fish can be found in this lake. One interesting thing I found was around here people either have hobbies or they don’t do much with their lives. I feel like they don’t try very many new things. At the lake we took a lot of pictures. The best part about the lake was that a Japanese man asked to take our picture on his camera. He was just enjoying it so much. He even got a good picture of everyone jumping and took it while lying down on his back to get a good angle.

May 12, 2014 - Peace Museum in Hiroshima

The Peace Museum in Hiroshima is a very humbling experience. We walked over to the now called A-bomb site where the bomb dropped. The damage on this building and even the whole city is quite incredible. I’m not sure how I feel about Nuclear weapons. I can understand both sides of the story. I don’t think that dropping the Atomic bomb was necessary, but then again how unwilling to compromise were the Japanese? I think it is extremely sad how many innocent people were killed. Was it really a necessary step in order to end world war two? I think nuclear weapons should not be made, but since everyone is making them what else are we supposed to do? I think the world could use a better debate team. I learned a lot about what happen in Hiroshima that day. It was very sobering. I believe there are good people in the world and things were done back then, but I hope that things like the A-bomb won’t happen again. It has ruined so many lives even after the attacks. The radiation has given off to so many different cancers and birth defects to people. These life changing things shouldn't have to affect people their whole lives and they shouldn't have to deal with them.

After the peace museum we went to an island called Miyajima. It had been pouring rain all day. Everything was so wet and muddy. I ended up leaving the camera at home. This was actually a very good call. All of us were soaking wet. The island had some memorials around it and shrines. Many people were on the island even in the rain. They all stopped and paid respect at all the temples and shrines. The island was very pretty. There were deer everywhere. I loved that the deer would come down and just walk around like they owned the place. You could walk right up to the deer and they would not even run away.

May 11, 2014 - Sunday

Today is Sunday. We were able to go to an LDS ward, but it was all in Japanese. I absolutely love going to foreign wards. I feel the spirit in a very different way. We walked to church which took us around 30 minutes. The ward was extremely friendly with us and they seemed excited to have white Americans there. We met two different companionships there. One set of missionaries were sister and the others were elders. I give props the all the missionaries because not only do they leave their families for two years, but they leave all their comforts as well. They learn a completely knew language in such a short time and then get let on the loose when they hardly know anything at all. I know it would be easier to get around Japan if I knew Japanese, but even with the accents it can be hard to understand their English.

After church we went back to the hostel and rode the train to Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a more modern town. It is also the place where the U.S. dropped the first Atomic bomb. We arrived in Hiroshima that evening and took our stuff home. Then Shawn took us all out to dinner. The place we went to reminded me of Teppanyaki. The grill that dinner was cooked on was directly in front of us. Two ladies made our dinner. The food was very delicious. They made us these noodle patties. The bottom was made with a crepe batter and then layered with noodles, sprouts, cabbage and green onions. After they cooked that they flipped it onto an egg with bacon stacked on it with a sauce. I found it to be a weird combination of food, but it tasted really good. After dinner we walked around to different shops and then went bowling. The bowling alley is just like the one in the states except the lanes are a little bit smaller. Getting everything settled at the bowling alley and finding the bowling alley was a tricky task because no one spoke English.

May 10, 2014 - Komomoto Castle

Today we went to the Komomoto Castle. This castle was huge. It had very steep walls all around it. It was up on a big “mountain” or what we would call a nice hill. I think they put it on the hill so soldiers can see all around the castle. It was also in the center of the grounds. So it was easily protected. The castle was very well built. I really like looking at all the architecture and detail. The architecture is what made it really look Japanese. One thing that I have learned while being in Japan is that the Japanese people never do things half way. They always put their 100% into everything. They take very good care of everything too. I believe they chose an excellent spot to build this castle because they knew they would need water so they built it close to a river and they wanted it on high grounds.

 Later in the evening we went to Karate. I knew that people here participated in karate, but I didn’t realize how serious they actually take it. In the class we had a sensei which is the teacher with great respect. They treat it very much like a dance class here in the U.S. You start by warming up. You follow the teacher and his helpers to know what is going on. Just like in dance, there is no laughing or talking. This shows respect not only to everyone else in the class but to the teacher. The Karate class was two hours long. We learned a lot of self-defense techniques and how to punch well. One thing I noticed was that this class was all different ages and levels. They aren’t all split up. There was also only one girl in the class. All the children were extremely well behaved and good at karate. They did a lot of things that helped you relax and reach deep into the soul. One of my favorite parts in this class was punching the bags. I thought it was a good way to relieve stress and found it quite fun. At the end of Karate the sensei gave us gifts. The gifts were just little thoughtful gifts that I really appreciated. One of the boys in the class made us all an origami box. It just shows how much these people truly love to give.

After the karate class we went to a family dinner and visited with other families as well as sister missionaries. This group we visited was Shawn’s really good friends. They were extremely nice to us. The mother in this family was extremely outgoing and loved to be the center of attention. This isn’t the norm for Japanese people.

 

May 9 2014 -- Schools



At the school. 

Today we went to Oda Junior High school. This school was about an hour away by train. It was very small part of town. More like the country it was so much fun I loved it! This town was very much like what you would see in a movie. When going to the school we pretty much walked straight up the mountain. It had its own separate area away from everything else. The poor kids get a work out walking to school 7 days a week! (Yes they go to school everyday.) As we arrived at the top of the mountain towards the school all the children were outside training for what they call sports day. Sports day is a very exciting time for these children because they get to show their parents some of their own talents that they have. These are like running, dancing, cheering, soccer, baseball etc. But as we arrived all the children started to wave at us and got extremely excited. We went inside the school which means we had to take off her shoes. Japan is really weird like that. They like to keep everything clean so a large variety of places don't allow shoes.

 

So they have ones for us to borrow. They introduced who they were to us and told us that we would be meeting with three classes today and they were very pleased that we came and cannot wait to see what we had in store for them. When I told the first class who I was I told them that I had 13 people in my family and they all gasped and giggled! Because having a family that big is crazy! the best part was after they looked at their teacher to make sure that they understood correctly. As time went on after all the introductions they taught us how to build origami. I never realize how hard and intricate origami was until I actually tried to build something like they do out of paper. And these kids do it like it's their job!! They can build everything and anything!

 

The second class we went to were older kids. They knew a lot more English and so it was easier to communicate with them. They did the same thing when I told them how many people were in my family. This time instead of building origami, they taught us how to write Japanese characters. I was at a table with this one girl and she was incredibly good at her penmanship. She had to demonstrate to the class because she was so good and then when she taught us how to write things she did it like perfectly.  And it was with a freaking paintbrush!! ridiculous.

 

After that we went and had lunch with them. Lunch here is very interesting. The kids take the lunch back to the home room and serve it to each other. The lunch we ate was some kind of soup with rice, some fish and milk. It was actually really tasty and all the kids ate everything nothing was wasted. I was very full and I barely finished. So it was a large amount of food.  The last group of kids were the youngest, so there english struggled but they were very cute. We played dodge ball with them and they absolutely loved it. 

Then we went to the ocean where we saw jelly fishes and a dolphin!! 



This is at the ocean!





Waiting for the train after the school. 

May 8, 2014 -- Today was just a big travel day

Today was just a big travel day. We left early in the morning and packed all our stuff. We traveled by train for 8 hours. Ya know when they say Japanese people squish everyone on the train? We'll it is true.

 

Yesterday Shawn one of my professors told us we were at one of the busiest train stations so when we get on the train if we don't fit on the first one just get on the second one and to stay with a partner but if anything happens We just get off at the Tokyo station. So that's what we did.  

 

We are now in a place called Kumamoto. This is more country side. It is super pretty here. Later we went to dinner at a Ramen shop. It was pretty good, they gave us huge proportion sizes. 

Just keeping the tradition alive! Hard Rock Tokyo!!

 

May7, 2014 -- Tsukiji Market or in other words the fish market

Yesterday we went to the Tsukiji Market or in other words the fish market. There were thousands of different kinds of fish. Some including squid, octopus, shrimp, clam and even shark. This market is just at the dock. All the fishers meet together each day and clean, gut and fillet the fish.  I find it very interesting that they all sell the fish in the same market, I think that it probably is a lot more competitive this way. The people go to these markets and by their fish each day. We met a really nice man at the fish market. He stopped us because, well let's be honest we stick out like a sore thumbs. He spoke very little English but he was very proud of his big fish and wanted to show us. It was a very big fat fish, probably around oh 4 foot long. He also had these awesome knives. They kind of looked like samari swords. Tiffany would have hated the market because it was super fishy. Plus there were guts everywhere.

 

After the market we went and wandered around. Found like a random place of worship and took lots of pictures. Then we went to an all you can eat buffet. It reminded me of tepinkayki. They had very little cooked food.  So when you went over to the buffet you got all your raw meat and took it and cooked it yourself. It was really delicious. Then we went to Asakusa which pretty much is a huge drumming class. Heck it was so much fun!! We learned how to drum the correct Japanese way. The last thing we did was went to the temple. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to go because of the English barrier but luckily when we got there multiple people spoke English! So we were able to do baptisms. Our friEnd Charlie was able to baptize us. Fun fact for all y'all. Japanese people are shorter than me. Shocker I know. This also means all their temple clothing was extremely short so like nice little capris. After the temple we went to dinner and home. It was one amazing day!! I will send pictures soon but I have to upload them to the computer. 

Everything here is very much "fun size". This is a storage truck, also known as a pretty big truck.

This is the fish the man showed us.

Just a random shrine at the fish market. With Markie and Lacie

 

Japan Itinerary 2014

Date	Itinerary
May 5th  Monday	Leave for Japan
May 6th  Tuesday	Arrive in Tokyo – Exchange money. Visit grocery store – tour of Asakusa.
May 7th  Wednesday	Meet at 8:30 am to go to Tsukiji Market. Meet at 10:40 to go to Lunch. Walk through Ginza - 12:00-1:15. Go to Ueno to get train passes and tickets, shopping (Ameyoko) - 1:30-3:30. Go to Asakusa – Drumming from 4:30-5:30. Evening Free time. Akihabara, LDS Temple.
May 8th  Thursday	Go to Okayama – meet at 7:30 am. Visit Korakuen. Put luggage in locker at train station. Go to Kumamoto - Grocery Store.
May 9th  Friday	Meet at 7:50 to catch train to Oda Jr. High School. Free Time - YSA Activity.
May 10th Saturday	Free time in the morning for Dyeing Activity or Shopping. Afternoon Kumamoto Castle. Evening = Karate, Acupuncture demonstration, Dinner.
May 11th Sunday	Free time in the morning or Church. Meet at 1:00 pm to leave for Hiroshima. Go to Okonomiyaki town, Explore downtown Hiroshima.
May 12th Monday	Peace Museum in the morning – meet at 9:00 am. Afternoon = Miyajima. Evening = Free time.
May 13th  Tuesday	Leave for Matsue - meet at 7:30 am. Visit the Adachi Museum. Meet students at 4:00 pm at the Horikawa Boat tour. Castle. Eat Soba. Sunset walk to Lake Shinji. Evening Free Time.
May 14th  Wednesday	Meet at 7:45 am. Visit The University of Shimane Jr. College. Go to Kurashiki.
May 15th  Thursday	Explore Kurashiki. Go to Fuji.
May 16th  Friday	Explore Fuji. Go to Tokyo in the evening.
May 17th  Saturday	Morning – Free time - Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa. Lunch - Home Visit. Soccer Game – FC Tokyo.
May 18th Sunday	Morning free time - Sanja Matsuri/Church. Cooking class split into two groups. Morning group = Kendra, McCall, Brendan, Trisha, Wayne, Shawn, and Matt. Evening group = Ethan, Amber, Chelsee, Lacie, Markie, Paige, and Charles. When you are not at the cooking class it is free time.
May 19th Monday	School Visit Tokyo. Meet at 9:45 am. Sumo Match 3-6. Sukiyaki Dinner. Karaoke.
May 20th Tuesday	School Visit – Ikego Elementary School (Need to bring own sack lunch). Bring Passport and second form of ID (driver's license) to get on base. Kamakura, Yokohama, Ramen Museum, Pier.
May 21st Wednesday	Free Day in Tokyo. Fly home.