Van

Plane flight day
Yesterday seemed to never end, I didn't sleep on the plane for 14 hours and then we did money exchange and got our rail passes. For dinner I got onigiri which is a riceball with protein inside and seaweed around it. Man did that taste so good! 100x better than any airplane food ever. The hotel was really nice with a beautiful garden. Showering and sleeping felt wonderful!

Day #2

Today began with a great buffet breakfast and I tried Natto which is fermented beans. It is actually really good with rice and seaweed. it can make a good breakfast. Also there were eggs and udon and lots of stuff it was very tasty. then we traveled to the train station so that we could go to Tokyo to catch our first Shinkansen (The Bullet Trains). From there we went for 3 hours on a Shinkansen to Kyoto. We stopped at out Hostel and dropped our bags off. This was so that we could go sight seeing. From there we went on a local train to a more touristy area of Kyoto. Here we were supposed to go to a temple however we ran out of time and went ontop of a mountain to see monkeys instead since they were something very unique. We were then able to walk through a bamboo forest and also for dinner we went to a traditional monk food restaurant. so it was a lot of tofu. Next we went to a shop filled train station and hung out. Finally after our train ride we went to the top of the main Kyoto train station to see the city. Its really cool since the top of the building is open to the world.

Day #3

Today I became a golden club member in Japan, Well in a flavored honey store. However that is a story for later in the day. It started with a relatively late start of recently 6:30. We walked to the convenience store for breakfast and I know that that sounds awful but trust me convenience stores are no where near the same here as they are in America. You could buy breakfast everyday from convenience store and not get sick but even stay healthy. They have Rice balls with different proteins in them from fish to bean paste. Also they have sushi, juice, yogurt, and breakfast sandwiches. This morning I got an Onigiri (Rice ball), breakfast sandwich, yogurt, 1/2 a liter of Apple Juice, and a desert roll to share, All of this was about 5 dollars. From there we traveled on multiple trains to go to the eastern side of the city. There we went to our first temple where we stayed for an hour and a half. It was beautiful and immersed in nature and it also was nice and quiet there. At every temple in Japan you can purchase a book and then have the priests/monks at the temple do calligraphy specific to the temple in the book. It is definitely one of the best souvenirs from Japan. Today I got 5 Signature stamps in my book. From there we went to another temple which was a 45 min walk to Ginkakuji which was the temple that I did my presentation on. It is an extremely majestic temple. However it is over touristy. There were so many people when we started at the temple, that we couldn't stop moving to get a Bajillion. However I still got 100 pictures at just this one place. Next we did some shopping along the small touristy street and got some street food lunch. I had a fried fish paste with cheese on it. It was delicious! From there we walked for 30 min to Eikando our third temple of the day. This one had some really interesting structures, however my batteries were running out by the time I got here. Then we had to rush for a tea ceremony appointment at 3pm so we walked super fast for 45 min. It was a great experience to have and we got to have delicious Green tea and deserts. Then since for the tea ceremony we had to split into two groups we got to go and see 2 optional temples and get two more stamps for our book. We also got to travel through the main shopping street and see lots of unique shops, like a shop that only sells towels, and has been there for many years. By now we got to go through an are where there are traditional Maiko girls that are apprentices to Geisha. These are people that where traditional kimonos and face make up in order to do arts as entertainment. From there we walked past where we were before to go to dinner, however we got lost on the way and then when we got to the restaurant we were going to eat at they had a reservation for a different group in the near future so we couldn't eat there. By this point we were all starving and tired with limp feet. we continued to walk for 10 minutes more or less until we found a nice restaurant that fed us. We had Sashimi, and rice, with miso soup, and tofu, the most filling part was the baked salmon. Everything tasted so good since we were all so grateful just to have food. Then we got to go to our final Temple which was one that is lit up for a night walk through. It was really cool since it was lit up in different place and the bamboo forest was really pretty at night. Along with the elaborate temple architecture and the scattered ponds it was a fantastic experience. And finally at 9:20 we were on our way to the hostel. Now it is time to sleep since it is Midnight. Goodnight!

 This is Enkouji Temple

 The View From Enkouji

 Ginkakuji Temple

 Tea Ceremony

Night Temple Pond.

I know I still don't have pictures of me but I will try to have some for tomorrow's blog post,

I am excited for Kumamoto in KyuuShu. And Kumamoto  Castle.

Day #3

Today started bright and early even before the sun came up and here that is very early. I was planning to wake up at 5:30 however Atul set his alarm for 5 and we all were awakened by the loud beeps. So I was only able to doze for the next half hour. I woke up, stuffed my last stuff into a bag and we got on our way. Well at least we tried, Max lost his key for his shoe locker where we keep our shoes, so he had to search for it. Finally he found it, but before he could us it to get his shoes Sensei without thinking put the keys in the drop box. So even though we found the keys it was all in vain since Max didn't get his shoes back. However they were nice enough to agree to send the shoes to us here at our current hotel. From there we went to a Convenience store in the Train station and I got a sandwich, a yogurt, a cookie, and Milk Tea. It was pretty good!. Next we we got onto a Shinkansen for 13 min to get to another Shinkansen to take for 3 hours! While on the train that we took for 3 hours to go to Kumamoto. I was able to sit next to a wonderful Old Japanese lady, We talked for the whole train ride which was 3 hours. She didn't know any English whatsoever. It was such a cool experience, and I was able to give her a gift when we were done. I gave her a PB&J bar and a pad of paper. We talked about school and my family, the mountains, Japan, and she helped me do my Japanese homework. Her name was Amiko. Now we were in Kumamoto, a city much smaller than Kyoto and yet extremely bustling and pretty. Deep within the city there is Kumamoto Castle, an ancient castle that has amazing Architecture and at least 50 ft high walls surrounding the whole Castle. It is an extremely expansive area and it has turrets at every corner. It is also surrounded in history. There was a huge revolution there after the man who lived in the castle died. Many of the buildings were burnt down to the ground. So finally in 2008 they finished refurbishing the castle. Now it is beautiful with many new floors. Along with many things displayed within the building as a museum. We could not only see the castle but also the palace where the man lived. It was really cool to see a real life castle. From there we saw a place where Samurais were trained and they had a really simplistic house with great gardens. Now we were all very hungry for dinner and we walked back to a shopping district near our hotel. Where we had the best food ever, Rice with meat, Udon noodles with Spicy soup, fried veggies, soft boiled egg, and finally I got soft served ice cream on corn flakes which helped to balance all of the spiciness from my meal. From there we returned to the Hotel and went straight to the group bath. Which I haven't done yet, It felt amazing. First you wash yourself off and then you get into the bath to relax in very hot water. Once you get past the notion of being butt naked you realize just how great it really feels. I feel so clean right now. 

Once again Good Night!

 Amiko and I on the Train

 Kumamoto Castle

 Max and I with a bad smile :).

 Kumamoto Castle wall from a turret Window.

Bamboo and water at the Samurai Temple.

Looking out of Kumamoto castle to the West.

Day #8

Today was a day of train after train, I was able to get a lot of homework, and work out the kinks of our group presentation. I wanted to sleep but I was too excited to see my host. When we arrived at the station it was 4:45pm and my host student was a few minutes late however it was ok since it helped to relieve some of my nerves.  We had to drive for an hour to get to his house in Kamo.  His dad and Yutaro questioned me the whole time, no one in his family speaks English except for Yutaro. Sometimes he would have to translate something they said to me. I would then answer in Japanese and they were very impressed and it made me happy. I wanted to show them my family however since I lost my photo book I couldn't.  We had curry for dinner and it was fantastic. They were quite impressed with the fact that I knew their customs also. I slept in his oldie brothers room since he is in Tokyo for college. His younger brother was already asleep, and his mom went out after dinner. I never had time to give them their gifts, so I will today. They have Internet at their house however they don't know the password. So I will have to blog through Grant a day late.

Day #9 

Today I woke up at six like I was told to. So ewe had breakfast which consisted of eggs, rice, ham, seaweed, and miso soup. It was pretty good, but much different from an Americawn breakfast. After breakfast we got in his mothers car and she drove us to the train station, it was too early for the man who would let us through so we had to buy a ticket instead of using my train pass. But it wasn't too expensive. We also met Atul and his student at the train station since they live near each other. From there on out we took one normal train that was around 30 min. This took us to a Shinkansen from Nagaoka, to Urasa for close to 15 min, which is where the school is. Then there is about a five minute bus ride to school. So he lives kind of far from school and has to travel almost an hour every day to school we then split up and I went to the American stud net room where everyone else was and he went to study for an hour before school started. Then at 9 o'clock we went and were introduced to the whole school. Sussanah gave a welcome speech, which it helped write, it was really good! Here is where the true learning began I was then able to follow Yutaro through his school day. First was geography and they are learning what agriculture is done where in the us. Which I haven't even learned before. I was also given a worksheet and was able to help my student with some of the questions. Next was math which I had learned all of multiple years ago and I explained some of the exponential equations to him. Which felt really good, afterwards was chemistry which everyone in the class didn't like, and i  didn't remember well enough to help. Next was Japanese class which seemed really hard. Afterwards we went to lunch which his mother packed for me and it was delicious. Then we had one more class which was my favorite. It was called global studies and you weren't allowed to speak in your own language so I had to talk in Japanese and they had to talk in English which was really cool. After that I went to the American room and we practiced our presentation for that after noon saying the numbers was the hardest part. It turned out great and our jeopardy game was fun too. Then we went home and had sashimi with salad. I was able to meet his younger brother today he is very nice. We played wii together, Yutaro isn't very good at wii though :). Then I gave them tier gifts and they were very thankful. They liked the pb and j bars. Afterwards I showed them some family pictures and went to bed. It was a big day.