Day 14 Hiroshima and Miya-Jima

Pa-Ying Vang:

All I thin about is the word "heavy" to describe the Hiroshima Peace Park. When entering the park, I could feel guilt building up within me because of my nationality and what was done to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I really hope no one will drop any more explosions that is more harmful than the atomic bomb.

Aaron:

Today after visiting the Hiroshima memorials and enjoying lunch together, we all took a ferry to the famous Miya-Jima Island. Like Nara, deer roam the streets. Shops are everywhere and loaded with maple leaf shaped treats. 

First we visited a beautiful temple in the harbor, then made our way to the more  isolated Daisho-in temple which is more in-land from the shore. This place was overflowing with interesting, bizarre, and beautiful sights. We explored multiple temple buildings, a basement pitch-black dark maze, even an upper-story railing with excellent views.

Today's day on Miyajima was one to remember. Now onward to Okonomiyaki for dinner!

The person taking the picture kept moving!

Another guest photographer.

Day 13 Kyoto Free day

Today was a Free Day in Kyoto. 

We started at 8:30 when Nagai-sensei explained how to go to Golden Temple, Nijyo castle, and Sanjusangen-do where no pictures are allowed. The bus routes were explained and maps with route suggestions were given to all students. Nagai-sensei told them to be back by 5:30 PM. Nagai-sensei and Zurn-sensei wanted them to see the areas unique to Kyoto.

Here's their reports:

Grant, Raymond and Aaron went to see a movie and ate at McDonalds.

Tami, Mallissa and Pa-Ying went to foot massage, shopping and ate lunch at a convenience store. They enjoyed their time.

Khalil and Evan went to the Golden Temple following the route suggestions, then  they went to Nijyo castle. Then Khalil went to a Mall and ate at McDonalds. 

After Nijyo castle, by himself, Evan found a bus and train route to Arashi-yama, one of the most beautiful sights in Kyoto where monkeys are running around. He even took a cable car train to go up the mountain.

Alex and Tyler went to the Kyoto aquarium and enjoyed the dolphin show, then went to a temple near Kyoto station (the Higashi-Honganji temple).

Everyone got back on time with their dinner, and we took the bullet train to Hiroshima. Hopefully the weather will hold off for tomorrow like it did today!

Day 12 Kyoto: Temple, shrine and meditation

Evan:

    Everyone in Japan has been so nice thus far, & my second host-family is also like that. My host mom, host dad & host twin brothers are so generous & kind, even when I mix up the names of my host-brothers. They let me help make Tako-yaki & gave us some umeboshi (pickled plums) to try. Even their dog チーズ ("Cheese") is so nice! I'm getting sick of waving goodbye to such nice people, but today I had to do it one more time. 

Grant is staying with the same host family, so my host dad took Grant, me and my host mom to the train station, and my host mom led us all the way to Osaka station.

From there Grant and I took the train ourselves to Kyoto. It wasn't as difficult as I had imagined, everyone in the group made it to Kyoto okay, we were even 5 minutes early.

After dropping off out large packs at the traditional Japanese inn in Kyoto, we headed to Kiyomizu-dera, which has the "love" temple inside. It was high up on the hill, but the long trek uphill was worth the view of Kyoto we got to see! Inside, we drew Omikugi (fortune-telling sticks). I got no luck. Sensei said the fortune said I might die! (Not really I'm sure). We saw heavy traditional poles & did the walk between the love stones. 

 The Love stones are 2 rocks about 30 feet apart from each other. You have to walk from one stone to the other with your eyes closed. If you did it, you would find love. It was a lot harder than it seemed. We drank from the clear-water mountain waterfall (the Kiyomizu part) so we would live long. 

After Kiyomizu-dera, we had lunch (sukiya restaurant) & headed for the Inari shrine. It was phenomenal! There were thousands of 10-foot tall red-painted torii gates. Some of us walked up hundreds of steps to the top of the mountain. It was a 30-minute, leg-breaking challenge to climb to the top. It was such a beautiful shrine. There was so much to see, I wish we would have had more time, though after that climb I'm glad to be headed to meditation now!

Tami:

    We just finished meditating and it was a very unique experience. We all sat on top of たん (tans) and had to sit up straight, have our hands placed in a certain way, breathe, and try to forget everything. 

The monk leading the meditation also mentioned that we might get hit. Nagai-sensei explained to us that this may happen if our breathing is off, or we need to being our focus back on our meditation. It's not really punishment. Evan volunteered before we started to show how to get ready for the hit, but it turned out that Evan didn't really get hit like we thought. During the third and final session of our meditating, the monk went over to Mr. Zurn. We heard six loud slaps and then it went quiet again. Nobody else volunteered except Mr. Zurn.

I don't remember how long we were meditating in total, but I think everyone was able to find a little peace within themselves at the end.

Now we are on the train headed back to our Japanese traditional inn. From there, we get free time to eat dinner and do whatever we want. Our curfew is 11 PM so we get quite a bit of time. Today was a busy but fun day. I can't wait till tomorrow when we get the entire day to ourselves!

Day 11 Osaka Castle and Nara "Big Buddha" Temple

Grant:

We went to Osaka Castle in Osaka. The walls and moats surrounding the castle were beautiful and we went to the castle itself, which was huge and amazing. 

The entire castle was a museum, so we learned a lot about the City of Osaka’s history and about the construction of Osaka castle.

The first floor was really nothing, but the second floor was about Osaka history, and how much it’s advanced since then.

The 3rd and 4th floors you were unable to take pictures, it was artifacts from that age. The 5th and 6th floors had displays about a famous battle for Osaka, and the 7th floor was the observation deck.

It was a lot of stairs, but it was so worth it!

Raymond:

On our way out of Osaka, Grant and I were stopped by this old grungy dude and really all I need to say about him is that he asked Khalil (our African-American companion) if he was a Confederate. So, there it was.

Then we went to Nara, but Pa-Ying showed up a little late. So while we were waiting, Evan bought some deer food, but his shirt was apparently very tasty as the deer took some nips. After Evan "de-deered” his shirt, we went into the giant and amazing wooden temple building.

One of the big draws of this temple is the huge statue of Buddha. [One column has a hole cut into it the same size as Buddha’s nostril, that people can try to fit through.] I don’t know which nostril, but I assume the left one. Everyone made it through except for Tyler and me. I guess the other people just have nostril luck. 

According to the fortune from my Omikuji, I have “no luck” and “shouldn’t travel”. Whatever, the temple still looked awesome!

Afterwards we went to the Jyoko Technical High School, where the students are also volunteer "employees" of their own companies in the school. They repair toys, engage with local residents, and manufacture some items.

They had made some interesting pencil cases and pass cases, which they gave to us! They even had a little tag showing their "company" name!

We gave them Starburst, Skittles, and Sour Patch Kids candy.