Day 6: Tokyo, Imperial palace, Odaiba

 Since we spend time as a group today, Enjoy our " Group pictures!"

It is very warm day ! After having lunch in Kakurazaga street we visited Yasukuni shrine.

Koby

Today, we went to the Imperial Palace. We walked for a couple of hours around the palace. We saw a lot of cool scenery. One of them was the entrance. I thought that it was very beautiful. 

The Imperial Palace is no longer a standing castle rather a ruins with the walls: 

We also saw the garden. They were various types of flowers and lots of koi fish. One place that I loved was the waterfall. Made me feel calm and peaceful. Everyone really loved the Imperial Palace, and I recommend it if you ever stay in Japan.

at the garden

Tea house.

We are on Yurikamome -train. Luke is driving.

We then looked at Tokyo’s city skyline, we were amazed by the sheer size and beauty of it

When we first arrived at the Tokyo waterfront we saw Japan’s Statue of Liberty. It was, similarly to America’s statue of liberty, gifted to Japan by France. It’s much smaller than the one in New York but it was still cool to see! 

We made our way over to the giant Gundam robot statue which was as tall as the mall next to it! After that, we went into DiverCity Tokyo plaza and were given free time to shop .

At 7:30 we gathered around the Gundam statue and watched the automated light show.

　 　　　　　Overall Tokyo’s waterfront was a delight and I’m so glad we got to go!

Day 5: Middle School Visit

Today we went to Katsushika Junior High School. We went to many classes.

 Natalie: In health class, we went to the gym and played volleyball. I was really bad.

We presented our speeches, we gave gifts to the school Principal, and he gave us a commemorative Kite made in town. 

Stuart: In social studies we were given a worksheet that we used to list pros and cons of using different maps. 

Also, Japanese class was fun, we looked at pictures that look different depending on how you look at them.

Koby: Health Class was fun. We practiced serving for Volleyball.

Natalie: In science we learned how to use a bunsen burner and the girls were scared of the flames.

 Koby: In science, we used matches and a bunsen burner. The fire was very beautiful.

Stuart: English was fun, we began by getting questions from the students. Then we practiced vocabulary. 

Ian: In science we were measuring the potential force of rubber bands, then calculating of the center point by how many newtons the band took.

Eden: science- Science was hard to understand but i was able to follow along with the lab. We calculated newtons. 

english - English was really fun because I got to help kids understand.

math- Math was way to understand. We learned how to multiply roots.

Luke: In social studies we learned the pros and cons of using technology. Then we answered the questions.

Kaiden: Science class was fun, we used force gauges to measure the force from rubber bands.

English class was exciting, I was the first done and got 100%.

Math class was difficult, I was rusty with all of the math we used to do.

Everyone: We had lunch with students. 

We got to play “Sakura” song on Koto instrument.

Aisha: At the middle school, we did some Japanese calligraphy and had the amazing opportunity to play a Japanese Koto. Calligraphy is much harder than it looks and you surprisingly need to work a lot slower than you’d expect to get a good result. Playing the Koto was a wonderful experience and incredibly fun. They taught us how to play song called “Sakura sakura”. I hadn’t realized it would be so hard to quickly find the strings you need to play.

Then we did calligraphy and helped clean the school.

T

The school doesn't have any custodians. The STUDENTS have to clean the classroom and hallways by themself.

Thank you Katsushika school students and staff!

Day 4: Craft day! Samurai Keychain, Rice bowl and grilling rice crackers

Painting ceramic Rice Bowls

Getting to create a design for a bowl and paint it was a lot of fun, the group was pretty quiet and didn’t talk a whole lot but it was fun nevertheless.

Ian:

For lunch our group went to a sushi conveyor restaurant, a sushi conveyor is a type of restaurant where the food delivery is completely autonomous, food goes around a conveyor belt and you get choose what food you want to eat. Or you can order from a menu pad.

Everyone was excited to go to the conveyor restaurant, due to it being so different to the type of restaurants we have back at the states. 

The food was really cheap! Only 1-2 dollars per item! The food was really good, some even tried eel for the first time. Everyone ate so much because of how interesting, and good looking the food was. And the dessert was the best, it was so delicious! 

せんべい

We took a class on how to make senbei, which are fried rice crackers. They came in thin wafers, and we had to carefully cook them over a grill so they expanded, making sure to prevent bubbles with a clay press. Then we brushed them with soy sauce. 

さむらい

A local artisan gave us a tour of their workshop, and we saw very intricate samurai armor sculptures. 

Then we got to make our own keychains using the same weaving techniques. It is said that if you hang the keychain near your chest, it gives you protection.