2012 Japan Trip Thank you very much!!!

１8日間の日本での経験 ! 

高校生が綴った旅日記です。

「ホストファミリーの皆様、

お世話になりました．心より、ありがとうございます．」

２０１２年メモリアル／ノース高校日本旅行一同

Welcome to the Japan trip 2012 journal website.

We had a great experience in Japan! Let us share our insights of Japan.

2012 Trip DVD!!!

Roman, Thank you very much for making a amazing Japan trip 2012 DVD.  He did a wonderful Job!!  Arigato! We got together at Sensei's house to view it. It was very nice to see everyone again.  ( We missed  Haiely and Amani!)  We enjoyed the foods and conversation.   There were pizza, salad, Gyoza, Nugguets, Edamame,chips etc...  Some people plans to keep studying at college!   Ganbattte kudasai !  Please remember that we were in Japan together!  Hope to see you in Japan someday ! 

Having dessert

Hi!

Kent said "Let's play with me ! "

Oishi ne!

Wow this is a cool tool!

2012 Day 17 Coming home

So I totally bought too much stuff at the humungous mall. Overall the trip was
awesome! I was at the point that I didn't really want to come back, but now I'm
comfortable coming home. I'm not looking forward to going back to work. I love
my Showa host family. They're awesome and gave me way too much. Already sick of
being on the plane, and we haven't even taken off.
-- Anna

I had fun with my Showa host family the pachinko and at the onsen. It was almost
a tearful goodbye. The train was a long ride to now, with more sitting. I would
like to come back someday but for now I enjoy returning home and continuing with
my life.
- Damien

It was hard in many ways to leave my host family. Literally because my little
host sisters clung to me like crazy. And, you know, I had grown close to the
Showa host family. The mom and I talked a lot while I was there and when I had
returned with a broken toe they treated me very well since the mother has a
nursing license. They loved the s'mores I made for them and cheered when they
learned I was leaving the ingredients behind. At the station the girls started
to cry which made me cry after we descended the stairs. I will miss them and
will say hi to my kitty for them.
-Bre

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to Japan. I learned a lot and tried a lot. I
also bought a lot of awesome stuff that I would have a hard time purchasing in
the US. I really enjoyed my host families. All of them were very friendly,
helpful, and generous. I'll try to stay in contact with them. Anyhow, Japan was
awesome and I look forward to studying abroad here in a few years. Until then,
bye bye Japan. Looking forward to seeing my family! :)
--Amani

Japan was awesome. I hope my letters that I sent made it to America. I bought so
many fish things! My host family's were really nice and I want to stay in to
stay in touch with them. I am a little homesick for my puppies though. I can't
wait to see how big lulu has gotten! I am also excited to unpack my bags and
give gifts to my friends.
-hailey

I don't want to go home. I love it here too much and I miss my host families who
have all been so nice to me. I want to stay and learn and do more, I really
don't wanna go back. America sucks. Japan was fun, and I sincerely hope I can go
back and see my host families and all the friends I made. Time to rock this
airplane bro.
-Roman

Japan was amazing; returning home is the last thing I want to do right now! Both
me and my Showa host family teared up as I left, but we all promised to meet
again. I love the food here, the history, culture, but especially the people.
Everyone was so welcoming and generous. I don't want to go home to the land of
'the bigger, the better', but I am really excited to show everyone my pictures
and brag about all my cool stuff. Also, I know everyone has been thinking though
maybe not verbalizing their appreciation for the work Sensei has put into this
trip. The whole time when we were messing around around on the trains, Sensei
had been busy planning the next part of the trip. The trip has gone so smoothly,
thank you Sensei and The Zurn for such a wonderful trip. It. Has. Been. FUN. I'm
definitely coming back!
-Josie



I had an amazing week with my host family! I went to the elementary school for four days, went shopping with my host mom, went to a lot of great restaurants, including Kaiten sushi:), and got to participate in my host brothers kendo class. it was really fun to see more of normal life and pick up some more Japanese along the way!
Overall, the Japan trip was AMAZING!!!! I had so much fun seeing everything, meeting and hanging out with everyone, and learning more about Japan. It was definitely the trip of a life time and I am sad to see it end.
-Virginia

2012 Day 14: Akihabara free time, karaoke & Capsule hotel

Tokyo Skytree is opened last month

<http://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/>


Akihabara was a lot of fun there are a ton of shops. They're kind of the same,
but I found a lot of cool stuff. I was supposed to meet up with Damien and
Hailey, but they didn't stay at the meeting spot. Then I got lost a little.
After our free time in Akihabara we went out to eat together, and that was a lot
of fun. I ate a lot. Then we went to karaoke, which was ridiculously
entertaining. After all that good fun we went back to the capsule hotel, which
was small but adequate. I slept pretty well. However, I woke up for the fish
market at 6, which was cool.
-- Anna

Akihabara was fun. Bought a lot of touristy crap. Then went to Harajuku again
and bought a lot of clothes. That night we ate together and sang karaoke. Next
morning woke up early and went to the fish market. It was huge and there were
fish heads everywhere. It was really cool. After that I ate doughnuts. Then went
to Asakusa and shopped a bit more. Now we're on our way to meet our host
families in Showa again. Can't wait!
- Josie ;)

I loved Akihabara to no end, it's a great place to burn a lot of money. I got a
famicom which is the Japanese version of a nintendo. The were shops that had
just about everything and a lot of duty free stuff. I spent 10 bucks alone in
it. Akihabara was the best.
--Damien

Bre and I toured Akihabara and bought things. There were a lot of interesting
and sometimes disgusting shops that we saw. We all met up at six pm and met up
with one of sensei's former students. We all ate at an izakaya restaurant with a
few other guest students. Afterward, all of us went and did karaoke together,
which was quite possibly the best thing we did. I'm very sad that it was our
last outing together, but we had lots of good times and it was a great finale!
-Roman

Remember when I said I wasn't a shopping guru? Yeah apparently I am because I
spent the most here out of any other place here. I found a bunch of gifts for he
samurai warriors series of games which is mine and my best friends favorite
games, so I got enough for the both of us. Afterward sensei took us all out to
dinner with another Japan trip group and we filled our stomachs full. Once that
was accomplished we all we t to karaoke together and all had the times of our
lives.
-Bre

Today, we had free time in Akihabara. Josie and I went to a few different shops
and then traveled back to Harujuku for clothes shopping. That night we met up
with one of sensei's old students and some kids from Madison and went out to
dinner and karaoke. It was really fun and amusing to see everybody singing
along. At night we slept in the capsule hotel which was really interesting,
although the pillow wasn't very comfortable. It was really fun and I want to go
back to karaoke in the future.
-Virginia

2012 Day13 : Hiroshima, Miyajima & Daisho-in

We did a lot today! First we headed off to Hiroshima peace park, and learned all
about the atomic bomb that landed in the area. We visited several museums as
well, and learned a lot of facts and general history surrounding the event. We
then headed off the Miyajima, a little island of Japan. Of all the places we
visited, this was definitely one of the prettiest places to see! I took a lot of
pictures. The various temples were also fun to see. All in all, it was a pretty
cool day.
--Amani

Went to Hiroshima peace park and various museums. Took a ferry to Miyajima and
saw the Torii. Went to a neat temple and then ate maple leaf-shaped sweets. Now
on the way to eat okonomiyaki. After we're gonna do some serious karaoke.
-Josie

I limped through the Hiroshima peace park in the rain. In my personal opinion
this morning had the perfect weather for such a somber subject. The part that
hit me the most was the drawings done by the survivors. Afterwards we went to
Miyajima where I only did half of what the group did because of my broken toe. I
kind of didn't want to walk up the side of the mountain so I stayed behind, took
some pictures, and am now looking forward to Okonomiyaki.
-Bre

2012 Day 12: Kiyomizu-dera and Kyoto free time

Kiyomizu dera was fun. it was fun to drink the waterfall water and do the love
stone, even though I failed to reach the opposite one. After that Anna, Damien,
and I went to the golden temple. It was painted in gold and was really cool to
see but the place was a tourist trap! We spent about 2 hours going to and from
the golden temple. The bus system is a nightmare! It was a very fun day though.
-hailey

Kiyomizu dera was pretty awesome, it would be good to bring a date to some time.
Then we got some as fade water there and I made a mistake and spit it out. The
we road a lot of buses to the golden temple that one was just a big tourist
trap. Then more buses and then dinner.
-Damien

The Kiyomizu temple was super cool and fun. Three of us successfully completed
the task of the love stone, and we all drank the holy water so we can live
longer and have smooth skin. The free time in Kyoto was also fun. I went to a
traditional Japanese market and the golden temple. Finished it off with some
donuts and a Shinkansen ride. It was a very tiring yet fun day.
-Roman

2012 Day 11: Navigate ourselves to Kyoto station & Kyoto Activities

Today I cheated on going to Kyoto because my host bro lives in Kyoto he simply
escorted me to the meeting point. It was a little disappointing. Today also I
found out I may have somehow broken my toe. It's a good day to be bullheaded
because even though I am in pain I don't care because this is my fun time and
the injury is my battle wound.
-Bre

Today me and my host mom took a bus to Kyoto. We went to a manga museum, and
Josie and I took pictures with the clothes they had on display. I also found
$0.61 in change under a toy vending machine when Bre dropped her money. An old
man was laughing at me the whole time, so I think I was the highlight of his
day. After, we went to a national treasure museum [Sanjusangendo] and got to see
all the old statues. We got lost after the taxi we took dropped us off in the
wrong place at the train station, but eventually found our way. We had some free
time at the airport and now we are headed to the meditation.
--Virginia

Today we were supposed to ride the trains to Kyoto by ourselves, but my host mom
insisted on riding with me whole way. Saying goodbye was really sad but she
said their family will come to WI to visit me. Later with the whole group, we
walked in the rain to the Manga Museum. I bought folders. Then we went to the
National Treasure Museum; it was really, really cool. Then I ate udon. Now we're
going to a temple to meditate. Yay.
-Josie

So I was supposed to be riding the trains by myself sometime on this trip, but
that never happened because my host uncle or whatever you want to call him was
going to both of the places I needed to go. A little anti-climactic, but I was
thankful. I will say however in recent situations I have been navigating quite
well. It has only rained one day, which has been very fortunate. However, there
is another typhoon coming which may mean we can't go to the little island, and I
would be ticked off. Since it was raining we did some indoor sightseeing. That
was really cool and interesting.

I went by bus to get to Kyoto, it was a really fast ride. Then I got to the
station and saw Darrel. We walked to the hotel but went around one block too
many. Then the subway, then the manga museum, it was pretty boring. The national
treasure temple was the best part. Then I got whacked with a stick by a monk,
but learned some things about monks. Then came back to the hotel and kinda
stayed up all night.
-Damien