Japan Highlight video

It's been about one month since we got back from our trip to Japan and time has really gone by fast. It seems like it was so long ago when we were eating miso soup for breakfast every day and trying to survive the hot days at Kamogaoka High School. I think we all really enjoyed our experience while we were there and learned a lot about the Japanese culture. Here is the the video I put together of our trip. I hope you enjoy it.

http://youtu.be/fKK4tQWBwsU

San Francisco

We've all safely arrived in San Francisco and are now awaiting our flight to Redmond. Some of the students are already enjoying the familiar tastes of an American meal. 

Tsukiji fish market

Today is our last day in Tokyo and to cap it off I went to tsukiji fish market. I left the hostel around 8:00 and checked in with the students to see if anyone wanted to join me, but there were no takers as everyone was tired from yesterday. Now we're hanging out at the hostel before we meet our guide to take us to the airport. It's been a very fun trip but after long days of walking many of the students are ready to head home and sleep in there own beds.

Tokyo 2

We had a full day of sight seeing around Tokyo today. A group decided to venture out on there own stopping at different places along the JR line. The rest went with the guide to the Tokyo metropolitan government building to see the city from the 45th floor. We then went to the shibuya shopping area. The students then went with the guide to the Pokemon center and the Tokyo aquarium, while we took the water bus over to see another area called odaiba. Some of the students wanted to eat there final Japanese dinner at McDonald's. 

Tokyo

We have all arrived safely in tokyo after  a fast, two hour ride on the Shinkansen (bullet train). Everyone is settling in at the hotel and making plans for what they want to see in Tokyo. 

Kyoto station

Waiting for the Shinkansen. 

Kyoto day 2

We had another full day of visiting the sights. The heat and long day was definitely affecting everyone's attitudes but we still managed to survive. We visited kinkakuji temple (golden temple), ryoanji temple and the bamboo forest at arashiyama. 

Kyoto tour day 1

Our guide met us today at nine in the morning at our hostel. He took us to kiyomizudera temple, gion district (geisha district) and ginkakuji temple. By the end of the day everyone was very tired from walking and the heat.

Onward Kyoto

Today was our last day at kamogaoka high school. After saying our goodbyes we got on the bus for Nagoya station. We were sent off on the Shinkansen (bullet train) for Kyoto. Everyone made it safely and now we are at the ryokan in Kyoto relaxing.

Japanese food and fun.

Today the students are back at Kamogaoka high school for their final day of classes. It is another half day today due to parent teacher conferences. Everyone had a very fun weekend with their host families. Activities that were mentioned include; going to an amusement park with roller coasters, attending summer festival, shopping, visitng other cities, bbqs, sailing and Karaoke. Tomorrow we will all meet at Kamogaoka before getting on the bus to go the train station to continue our adventure to Kyoto. Our time with our host families has been a really great experience, learning what life is like as a part of a Japanese family. A part of Japanese life that has been fun to experience is all the different foods. We all have been enjoying trying the different foods that we do not normally have in the U.S.

 

Matsumoto City

 

Today was a very fun day, as our host family took us on an excursion to Matsumoto city. Matsumoto city is in the Nagano prefecture and it is best known for Matsumoto castle and soba noodles. We first went to the castle, it is one of four national monuments in Japan. There are six levels to the castle with very steep stairs.  After visiting Matsumoto castle and the city museum we went to a nearby restaurant for soba noodles. We then went to another part of the city that is known for its architecture and white buildings.

Inabu volleyball tournament

Today we particpated in the annual Inabu Volleyball tournament. The whole town gets together to play in the games. We started the day with opening ceremonies and stretching. The stretching routine is the same one they do growing up so everyone is very familiar with it. Our team did very well and lost only one game that was against one of the teams that ended up in the championship game. At the end there was an award ceremony and I was given an award for being the MVP...or maybe it was rookie of the year...or I am not totally sure what it was for, but I did win a rice pot for it.

 

After the volleyball tournament we went home to take a quick shower before meeting up with the team at a local restaurant; where we ate a traditional Japanese meal in a tatmi room. It was a fun evening of hanging out, trying new foods, karaoke and arm wrestling. We even got to share some some traditional American food (jelly bellies) with them. They really enjoyed trying the differnt flavors.

 

 

Ise

Yesterday we were away from school and everyone was doing activities with their host families. Our host family really wanted to take us to Ise, where there is an old theme park based on Samurai. While we were there we watched three different plays about Samurai, walked around through haunted houses and played some carnival type games.