Day 12 Kyoto: Temple, shrine and meditation

Ryan:

Last night me and Dayne ate with our Osaka host family, we had tempura, some chicken and various fruits.

Then in the morning we had to take a packed train by ourselves from Osaka to Kyoto which took about an hour and we have to switch trains a few times. Then we arrived in Kyoto checked into our hotel and went to Kiyomizu ("Clear Water") temple...

Then we took a train to go to another temple, which we meditated. If you requested, you were hit on the back with a long wooden paddle to keep your mind off the pain of keeping a straight back or keep from falling asleep.

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After lunch we went to Inari temple with thousands of orange gates (torii) lining the path up Mount Inari.

Day 11 Osaka Castle and Nara "Big Buddha" Temple

Cory:

Yesterday we arrived at our Osaka host family. For this host family we were paired up. I was paired up with Zach. We ate supper in their home, it was sushi, fried chicken, and a drink called Calpis. We also had a late night snack of candy that is like high chew and various kinds of chips. 

In the morning we took the train to meet up with everyone to go to Osaka castle. 

 The castle was very cool looking and we started by exploring the inside. Most of us took the stairs up to the top instead of the elevator (get ripped, Japan). It was 8 flights high but the view was great. On the way down each floor had various things about history. The upper floors were videos about the past of the castle whereas the lower floors had artifacts. It was very interesting to see various helmets important people used to wear. 

There were also some very weird things that don't seem useful in battle, like a faint Pom Pom or a war fan. It's interesting that it wasn't just fighting it was also about looking good (at least in that era). 

After the museum we got ice cream/ shaved ice. We also played some gatcha. I got a pikachu pin and clan emblem whereas Zach spent about $8 on clan emblems. It was very interesting to see and I'm glad it's [reconstructed unlike] the imperial palace ruins.

After Osaka castle we went on a train to Nara. 

At Nara we went to see the big Buddha statue in a huge wooden hall. We took pictures and climbed through a hole in the pillar the size of the big Buddha nostril. Everyone that tried to climb through was successful! 

After that we got some free time. With that free time, myself and others decided to play with the large deer population outside the shrine. Zach, Diane, and Dayne bought crackers to feed the deer. The deer there are very tame and you can pet them if you want. The deer swarmed those who had crackers but stayed away from those selling the crackers. The deer bite you, trying to get you to drop the crackers or at least give them more. 

After that we had time to eat lunch. For lunch myself and 4 others ate tonkatsu. It's was grilled meat with some rice, salad, and a soup. It was very delicious. After that we went to the dollar store, bought some stuff there, and then headed to the station to meet up with sensei.

(Then we went to our host family's high school and gave our presentation on Eau Claire for the last time.)

Day 9 and 10 Yokohama hostfamily

Everyone had an amazing time with their host family in Yokohama! Here is their top-three activity report.

Diane:  

• Had yaki-niku (grilled meat) at Restaurant.
• Went on a huge ferris wheel together
• Hang out with family (with Grandmother,too)

Yaki-niku

Hannah: 

• Went to the Pokemon Center which was a lot of fun! I bought a lot.
• Did print club with Hitomi and Mizuki.
• Went to ocean for the first time and played volleyball with Miyuki

Dayne:

• Cat Cafe, very cute!
• Cup Noodle Museum
• Night view of Yokohama

Jack:

• I helped make dumplings (gyoza) and sushi
• We went to Kamakura to see temples
• We went to Odawara Castle

Keith:

• Toured Yokohama and went to 3 big malls including Pokemon center and Jump Shot
• Went to Chinatown and ate ice cream, then ran to the port to catch a river tour boat
• Then yaki-niku and an onsen (Japanese bath)

Ryan:

• Went to Disney Sea
• Went shopping in Tokyo
• Explored old waterfront buildings in Yokohama

Cory:

• Went to the top of Landmark Tower in Yokohama
• Made okonomiyaki (savory pancake with cabbage)
• Went to the Pokemon Center

Zach

• Spending 12 hours at Kamakura and Enoshima
• Eating sukiyaki for the first time
• Exploring Yokohama at night, seeing many beautiful sights.

Day 8 Hakuyo (Yokohama) High School visit

Today we visited Hakuyo High School in Yokohama. It took several trains to get here from Tokyo with our big backpacks! Everyone is doing great so far.

Our second host families all have high school students who attend this school. It's a tough school to get into!

Our host families made us our own bento lunch. Lots of great food in it, sensei asked us to show them.

We went to two English classes, did a Physics experiment, and a Math class. Then lunch, Calligraphy, Tea Ceremony, and Kendo. What a full day!

We helped with English Conversation class

We all tried Calligraphy. It's very hard to do right!

Competition for high-speed card-slapping game!

The Tea Ceremony club gave us a nice authentic Tea Ceremony

We get a Japanese sweet to enjoy before the tea

Now we can try Kendo with bamboo practice swords

This is Zack (our names are written in chalk on the belt area) 

We will spend Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning with this host family 

We have an entire day to see what Japanese High School students like to do!

Already we made friends!

Don't forget to visit our online photo album with over 400 of our photos as of today:

https://goo.gl/photos/bWHQvjMRPwXDctPn6

And also feel free to leave us a comment!