This is the second week of the trip. So far, we have been to Akihabara and Harajuku and most popular places of Tokyo. I have seen both the crazy and the conservative sides of Tokyo and I love them both. They are so interesting. Tokyo is crazy quiet for a city, especially compared to the US. Harajuku was very colorful and wacky while Akihabara was very cute and maid-like and frilly.
We went up one of the taller buildings in Tokyo to see the sights from the top and it was breathtaking. It was incredible to see the whole of the city just stretch before my eyes. It was almost like a dream. Seeing a city in an island like Japan just stretching for miles ahead of me made me feel so small and made Japan seem so huge. It was awesome. We went to a baseball game and all I can say is that the fans have the most interesting way of cheering for their teams. From waving their shirts around to bobbing umbrellas up and down to the music, their cheer is very unique.
We rode a shinkansen to Gokayama (after moving on from Tokyo), a much more rural part of Japan. We hiked up a mountain and ate like monks and saw a traditional Japanese folk dance complete with folk music. It was aboslutely beautiful over there and seeing sights from the mountain was so incredible and very different from Tokyo. The sakura there were in full bloom and the mountains were still dusted with snow in some spots. It was so amazing to stay at the Inn and try the onsen. I want to go back because it was just so beautiful simply being there.
Following Gokayama, we have arrived in Kyoto. I met my family, a mother, a daughter, and a dog. They have a weiner dog and she is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. She waddles. It is hilarious. My host sister is sixteen and the most adorable thing. She is always laughing and taking snapchats of me and other people. She loves to study together, me in Japanese and her in English. We spent hours this weekend just talking and eating sweets all day and it was awesome. My host mother works in a nursing home and is the sweetest person and always makes great food and is always trying to make sure my sister and I are alright.
School is amazing and people keep calling me cute. It is embarrassing and awesome at the same time. The school is very different and the way these students at this specific school have classes is especially different from BHS and what I am used to. However it has all been lovely. Today was the last day of classes for me and I am sad to stop going to school because I already made a ton of friends at this school.
Tomorrow, we plan on doing meditation among monks and going to a temple and I am so excited. And then, unfortunately, we will be returning to America. It feels like I have been here for so long and not at all as if it flew by. It feels so long but at this moment I feel like I do not want to go back to America and that there is still so much to do. This experience has been so unbelievable. I have definitely learned many things outside of just studying and practicing my language skills that I will be bringing back to America with me. Japan is an incredible place and I am so blessed to be here right now. That is all I can say.
We went up one of the taller buildings in Tokyo to see the sights from the top and it was breathtaking. It was incredible to see the whole of the city just stretch before my eyes. It was almost like a dream. Seeing a city in an island like Japan just stretching for miles ahead of me made me feel so small and made Japan seem so huge. It was awesome. We went to a baseball game and all I can say is that the fans have the most interesting way of cheering for their teams. From waving their shirts around to bobbing umbrellas up and down to the music, their cheer is very unique.
We rode a shinkansen to Gokayama (after moving on from Tokyo), a much more rural part of Japan. We hiked up a mountain and ate like monks and saw a traditional Japanese folk dance complete with folk music. It was aboslutely beautiful over there and seeing sights from the mountain was so incredible and very different from Tokyo. The sakura there were in full bloom and the mountains were still dusted with snow in some spots. It was so amazing to stay at the Inn and try the onsen. I want to go back because it was just so beautiful simply being there.
Following Gokayama, we have arrived in Kyoto. I met my family, a mother, a daughter, and a dog. They have a weiner dog and she is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. She waddles. It is hilarious. My host sister is sixteen and the most adorable thing. She is always laughing and taking snapchats of me and other people. She loves to study together, me in Japanese and her in English. We spent hours this weekend just talking and eating sweets all day and it was awesome. My host mother works in a nursing home and is the sweetest person and always makes great food and is always trying to make sure my sister and I are alright.
School is amazing and people keep calling me cute. It is embarrassing and awesome at the same time. The school is very different and the way these students at this specific school have classes is especially different from BHS and what I am used to. However it has all been lovely. Today was the last day of classes for me and I am sad to stop going to school because I already made a ton of friends at this school.
Tomorrow, we plan on doing meditation among monks and going to a temple and I am so excited. And then, unfortunately, we will be returning to America. It feels like I have been here for so long and not at all as if it flew by. It feels so long but at this moment I feel like I do not want to go back to America and that there is still so much to do. This experience has been so unbelievable. I have definitely learned many things outside of just studying and practicing my language skills that I will be bringing back to America with me. Japan is an incredible place and I am so blessed to be here right now. That is all I can say.