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

2012 Day 10: Nara big Buddha statue & Osaka castle

We went to Nara, which is known for having many deer roaming its streets. We
ignored them at first and went to the big Buddha. It's sort of a big go-to spot
in Nara, and there were a lot of other foreigners there too. It was very
impressive, and we even got to attempt to squeeze through a hole the size of its
nostril. Earlier that day we went to Osaka castle, which was also very
Impressive. It was exciting to see the inside which had been converted into a
museum. Several of us donned samurai garb and took pictures together. It was a
blast! We went to the high school and chatted with the students for a tad. We
took the train home and spent time with our host families. I went to a kimono
shop and a small sushi restaurant. It was delicious!
-Romannnn

Today we went to Osaka Castle. I was really beautiful and had an amazing view.
We got to try on samurai clothing for only 300 yen and take pictures. Everyone
walking by wanted to take pictures with us as well. I also bought a mini samurai
helmet and pretended to wear it in the museum. We also went to Nara. At the
temple with the Big Buddha, there were tons of adorable deer! I wanted to take
them home with me, but settled for some pictures. The Big Buddha was enormous,
probably taller than my house. We went through "nostril," technically a log with
a hole in it, and if you made it through you were lucky. Next we went to the
high school where we talked with the host brothers and sisters. I went home with
my host brother after we met up with my host sister. We went to a steak
restaurant for dinner and back at the house we did hanabi, sparklers. I stayed
up late talking with my two host sisters about the differences between Japan and
America. It was really fun to practice my Japanese and teach them some more
English. Overall, it was a really fun and interesting day.
--Virginia

2012 Day 9: Shinkansen & Osaka host family

[We said goodbye to our Yokohama host family and got the fast bullet train
(Shinkansen) to Osaka station]
I rode a bullet train for the first time; it was pretty cool. It's really fast
and the scenery was really nice along the way too. The ride to Osaka was on the
bullet train was about two hours. After that, I was finally able to meet my last
host family. It was a large family; five people, plus a relative and their
Grandmother, all lived under the same roof. They were extremely nice and
generous, and I had a lot of fun playing with their youngest son and two other
children. We played Mario on the Wii and the parents made me Yakisoba and
Takoyaki, which was delicious! :)
--Amani

2012 Day 8: Yokohama Host family day

Friday after school we went sightseeing in Kamakura. I ate anmitsu, a sweet ice
creamy type thing. We visited a temple and ate more food and stuff. We went to
the onsen and relaxed. Saturday we walked around for 12 hours and went to
Kamakura and Yokohama... I'll talk more later.
--Roman

Friday after school, Josie, my host sister and I watched the orchestra practice.
Josie's host sister played the bass and my pen pal played the French horn.
After, we went to the mall and ate bread shaped like a fish with chocolate in it
called taiyaki. After we got home we had curry, and looked through the Volume
One with my host mom. On Saturday, we went to Kamakura and saw the Big Buddha
and a temple. Then we went to the mall in Yokohama and saw the Pokemon store and
a book store. We also went to Chinatown to see a temple. After we watched a
movie together, ate pizza and looked at the Volume One I brought. Sunday morning
we watched a Japanese movie and ate breakfast together. It was a lot of fun and
i'm going to miss them.
--Ginny

Best birthday ever! I got to do so many cool things like make a calligraphy fan
and kendo! I got to wear the kendo uniform it had a very "interesting" smell
then I got to battle and I know I sucked at it. I also got to help my host
sister with a mascot poster for her team which was Micky Mouse playhouse
characters. After school my host sister had to go to cram school so me and my
host mom went home and she had bought a cake and flowers for my birthday! Then
she let me try on a yukata, kind of like a kimono but lighter fabric. Yesterday
I went to an onsen or hot spring it was so nice! I would definitely do it
again.Then they took me to Kamakura where we went to a temple and saw an old
fashioned wedding happening. it was cool. my host family wanted to take me to
the Kamakura daibutsu or Buddha so we saw that this morning. I definitely want
to stay in contact with them and send them American foods and I also sent
letters home!
--Hailey

I did a lot of fun things with my Yokohama host family. We first went to a
Sukiyaki restaurant, which was super delicious! I've never had anything like it
before. Then we went to a lot of stores; first we went to a book store, where I
bought two manga in Japanese! Then we went to the mall where they had a lot of
cool stores; I went to the Pokemon Center for starters. There they had
everything and anything you could ever think of related to Pokemon. There were
so many children there! It was a bit chaotic. Then I went to the Shonen Jump
store, where they sold a lot of various anime related items from Naruto, Bleach,
etc. After that I went to a music store and bought a CD. Finally, we bought some
ice cream and headed home by train. It was a pretty busy day!
--Amani

My host family understood and almost overprovided for me. Friday the three host
sisters took me to a summer festival where I played a game where the object was
to catch goldfish. Afterwards we went to a shrine in the dark which was spooky
and awesome! Saturday was really lax, the family went and rented a bunch of
japanese taiga (history) dramas to watch throughout their busy day. Later we
played Wii and went to a Japanese restaurant where I had sashimi and a delicious
green tea and sweet bean dessert. Afterwards they took to my challenge and all
six of us watched The Ring together. I expected it to be more scary but it was
good! After a good card game I said goodbye and now this bullet train is going
too fast for my comfort...
--Bre

So, we went to the landmark tower in Yokohama, there was the Pokemon center. I
have never seen so many kids in all my life. The we had a nice Japanese
McDonald's lunch. Then we went to Kamakura and saw a nice Temple and then the
beach.
--Damien

Saturday morning, I went to the onsen with my host sister and ate at the
restaurant there. Later on in the day, I played Wii with her and we watched
Twilight together with Japanese subtitles. In the evening, I went to the Pokemon
Center with my whole family which was really fun. Did purikura (print club).
Then we went to Chinatown and wandered around for a while. We ate supper there
and ate too much. Went home, ate cream puffs from a French bakery. Bed. Next
morning tried on some beautiful yukata and my host sister's grandma brought us
bamboo covered dango. It was fun.
--Josie

Yesterday we went to a high school's School Festival Day. It was a lot of fun
and really hectic. After that we went to Chinatown, and had lunch. That was
really good. I bought some food from a store in a museum. I wish I could have
gone back because I thought I saw some mushrooms that I was thinking of buying
for my dad. :) Then we went to the mall that had the Pokemon Center. I bought
quite a bit of stuff there. Then there was the Shonin Jump store right across
from there. That was really cool, but it was kind of expensive. Then Yumi, my
host sister, had to find a white skirt, which we thankfully found at the first
store we went to. Then we went home and ate later. Pretty sure we had curry. It
was all really fun! I loved my host family!!!! :D
--Anna

2012 Ikebana lesson pictures

A big thanks to Ms. Okamoto she took a great pictures of Ikemaba Lesson！
<https://plus.google.com/photos/109136633993426984129/albums/5754620397621706209?banner=pwa&authkey=CObghvKI76zJBw>

2012 Day 7: Hakuyo High School in Yokohama

More pictures in Ikebana lesson 
<https://plus.google.com/photos/109136633993426984129/albums/5754620397621706209?banner=pwa&authkey=CObghvKI76zJBw>


Yesterday we got to meet our Hostfamily in Yokohama. I walked home with my host
sister and mom. We stopped at the seven-eleven for ice cream and ate it at their
grandmother's house. Before dinner, my host sister and I went for a walk around
her neighborhood. We rented dvd's and bought some food at the mall. For dinner
we had hamburgers, tofu, rice and miso soup. My host brother showed me his kendo
stick and we watched a tv show. It was really tiring, but it was so fun!
--Virginia

Today we came to school with our host siblings. We met in a designated meeting
room and started our day. I gave a speech to the staff and Virginia so kindly
spoke and offered my gift to the school. We first sat in an English class where
we did the same exercises they did. We were reading about the influences
Japanese animation has on other countries. Then we went to a calligraphy class
and painted kanji on a fan. We also had an ikebana (flower arrangement) class,
which truthfully, not a lot of people really enjoyed. The ending result was
beautiful though! We ate lunch and enjoyed recess with our host siblings. We
have a few hours left, and we're looking forward to it!
-Roman

Today we did the traditional Japanese tea ceremony at the Yokohama high school
today. It was very interesting and cool to watch as they [prepared and served
the tea. This has been the best birthday ever.
--hailey

2012 Day 6: Meiji shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya

So today we went to the Meiji shrine. There were some really tall gates [torii]
at the entrance, and everything was very traditional. We saw the beginning of a
funeral ceremony and the end of a wedding. Then we went to Harajuku, and
traveled down a very weird street with many unique shops. Some of us were
creeped out by it and some of us enjoyed it. We only spent about 40 minutes
there, and then went to Shibuya, which is a very busy city. We toured the shops
and ate lunch, and a few of us made hanko, a traditional Japanese stamp. Now
we're on our way to Yokohama to meet our next host family.
--Roman

Today I went to the Meiji shrine, which was really cool! There was a lot of
pretty scenery and I took a ton of pictures. After that I went to Harajuku,
where I bought an Arashi poster and some nice jewelry. After that I went to
Shibuya and bought some CDs and gifts for my siblings that I'm sure they'll
like. All in all it was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to see what Yokohama has
to offer!
--Amani

The Meiji shrine was really big. Humungo. It's the centennial this July so there
was a lot of cool things that had the history of the shrine. So that was cool.
Then we went to Harajuku which was interesting but it creeped me out. There was
some sketchy Jamaicans. Then there was Shibuya which was a bunch of shops. Now
we're on the longer of the trains we have to take to Yokohama.
-- Anna

At the Meiji shrine we were lucky enough to see a cleansing ceremony as well as
see a newlywed couple wearing traditional wedding kimonos! The shrine was very
neat and we saw people coming from all over to see it. Then we went to Harajuku,
went shopping, and saw some crazy Tokyo fashions. Next we went to Shibuya, and a
few us made hanko, which is a customizable stamp of your name. Virginia and I
went shopping and wandered around the rest of the time. We're now on our way to
Yokohama to meet our high school home stay families. I'm really looking forward
to it!
-Josie

My toe got mysteriously cut and irritated so therefore I didn't do much walking
today. Harajuku was total sketch and Shibuya is only truly enjoyable if you are
not like me and am a shopping deity. It is worth it to see, but I did not do
much aside from people watch on the second floor of a McDonald's. Guys I went to
a McDonald's for the first time in ever. This is all that has happened today as
we have not yet reached Yokohama yet.
-Bre

2012 Day 5: Imperial palace & Odaiba

Today we got to ride the trains. They were very crowded and you have to jump on
them fast, similar to subways in DC. We also got to see the Imperial Palace. It
had beautiful gardens and only the bottom half of the Palace remains, but it was
still really cool to see. We also got to stop for some ice cream in the park
which was fun. :)
--Virginia

2012 Day 4 Elementary School visit

Our Nakanao Elementary School visit on paper!! Click here.
<http://www.saitama-np.co.jp/news06/17/06.html>


I played a really weird game of dodge ball, and all the kids decided to call me
sensei, the school system is very interesting. Then we went to book off and
Anna's host dad bought me some manga so my brother gets a sovnier. And Japanese
McDonald the medium is an American small...
-- Damien

Can I just say that kids are adorable as long as they aren't mine? Or maybe it
was the different culture because the Japanese children were so incredibly nice
and helpful. I am about 99% sure that kids in the USA would not be as involving
as these kids. I was really impressed. Afterwards my Hostfamily took me to the
used media and I just about died when I saw the Japanese drama section. Mom and
dad, be prepared for a lot of that coming your way.
-- Bri

The elementary school was a ton of fun. There was the weird dodge ball. We were
in math class. Yeah long division with weird decimals. It was kind of weird
because we were like celebrities and signed the kids notebooks. The first
graders were really adorable. I kind of adopted two shy kids. The elementary
school was a ton of fun and I wish I could go back.
-- Anna

2012 Day 3 Daruma and Sushi

Today we went to the Daruma factory, and made our own Daruma. The owner taught
us the history of the Daruma, and then took us through the steps of painting the
face. First we painted the small red mouth, next the black mustache and facial
hair, and lastly the golden trim and extra features. The shop had many different
sizes and varieties of Daruma, and some antiques and knick knacks. We paid for
our daruma and took a group photo with the owners. It was really fun and
interesting And awesome and cool and stuff.
-Roman

We just finished the conveyor belt sushi. It was very good. We tried a lot of
different kinds of sushi. Amani has the most plates with 16 plates. Anna had 14
plates and Roman had 13 plates. -- Anna

2012 Day 2 Showa Hostfamily

Here's our experience with our Showa host families!

Did a lot over the weekend! With my host family, I made a lot of Japanese food,
like onigiri, teriyaki chicken, and dango. I also went to the 100 Yen shop,
where I bought a lot of candy! I also toured the neighborhood with my host
family's children, and last night had fun with fire crackers outside of the
house.
-Amani

Well I went to a baptist church yesterday the priest was Italian and everything
was in Japanese because this is Japan it was very interesting I am getting a lot
of cool pictures. Then we came home and ate spaghetti with shrimp instead of
meat then we went to to a 100 yen shop and a second-hand book store and i got
manga then we went home and kaito Sagisa (kids) and me played wii party for 2
hours we all had fun then I stuffed myself on okomomiyaki and yakisoba. It is SO
much food to eat!
-hailey

Yesterday I slept in until 10 and took a short walk with my hostfamily. Then we
ate a huge breakfast and went to the mall. We got to hold the cutest kittens
there and wandered around for a while. When we got home, I played 'football' for
a while with the kids. For supper, we had some grilled meat and vegetables that
was really, really good. After that, we lit off a ton of fireworks; my host
sister and brother were screaming and dancing the whole time! Yesterday was so
fun and can't wait for what's next!
-Josie