This weekend was amazing!
Thursday: Skipped my afternoon classes and took the train to Ise in Mie prefecture with my host mother (it was a 2 hour train ride). We went to the auxiliary shrine of Ise (Shinto religion) called Geku. Then we went and saw a really old merchant district called Kawasaki. We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Toba City that had 30 public baths in the hotel. It was incredible. Shana (their exchange student from last year) met us at the hotel and we had a fabulous time. The hotel had a Jazz show in the bar, and I managed to go to 8 of the 30 Onsens (public baths).
Friday: Took a bath in a giant clam shell, rather amusing. Okasan and I took a cruise around Toba Bay, stopping at Dolphin Island to see a dolphin show and at Pearl Island. We went on an interesting tour of Mikimoto's Pearl Island. I learned about how they cultivate pearls, and the different sizes, shapes, colors, and qualities of pearls. I even saw a bunch of pearl tiaras. It was fabulous. Then we went to the Toba aquarium which was huge and beautiful. They had every animal you could think of. We finally went to our hotel which was in Shima, and had a Spanish Theme. The whole place was done in tile and stucco. It was kindof strange, because I didn't feel like I was in Japan. But I got to sleep in a bed for the first time since August and I ate Spanish food, so I was happy. We also went to another Onsen attached to the hotel.
Saturday: While Okasan went to another shrine, I went to Parque Espana, a Spanished themed amusement park. They had roller coasters, and it was like a mini-Disneyland only instead of Mickey there was a character called Don Quixote. It was actually a lot of fun, but once again slightly ridiculous because we were in Japan. After the amusement park Okasan and I met up and went back to Ise to visit a museum, a random shrine, and Naiku, the other auxiliary shrine to Ise.
Sunday: Visited Higashiyama Koen to view the changing leaves. It was incredible. Growing up in Reno where we don't have a lot of trees I was not prepared for the way the leaves change. I want to take all the trees home with me. Instead I took a lot of pictures. I learned that there is a cherry blossom that blooms in the fall, and that autumn is called the "bamboo's spring" because that is when bamboo turns green. Rebekah and I found a cute little American style coffee shop that is open until 2am. They actually made good coffee too (which is unusual in this country).
Thursday: Skipped my afternoon classes and took the train to Ise in Mie prefecture with my host mother (it was a 2 hour train ride). We went to the auxiliary shrine of Ise (Shinto religion) called Geku. Then we went and saw a really old merchant district called Kawasaki. We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Toba City that had 30 public baths in the hotel. It was incredible. Shana (their exchange student from last year) met us at the hotel and we had a fabulous time. The hotel had a Jazz show in the bar, and I managed to go to 8 of the 30 Onsens (public baths).
Friday: Took a bath in a giant clam shell, rather amusing. Okasan and I took a cruise around Toba Bay, stopping at Dolphin Island to see a dolphin show and at Pearl Island. We went on an interesting tour of Mikimoto's Pearl Island. I learned about how they cultivate pearls, and the different sizes, shapes, colors, and qualities of pearls. I even saw a bunch of pearl tiaras. It was fabulous. Then we went to the Toba aquarium which was huge and beautiful. They had every animal you could think of. We finally went to our hotel which was in Shima, and had a Spanish Theme. The whole place was done in tile and stucco. It was kindof strange, because I didn't feel like I was in Japan. But I got to sleep in a bed for the first time since August and I ate Spanish food, so I was happy. We also went to another Onsen attached to the hotel.
Saturday: While Okasan went to another shrine, I went to Parque Espana, a Spanished themed amusement park. They had roller coasters, and it was like a mini-Disneyland only instead of Mickey there was a character called Don Quixote. It was actually a lot of fun, but once again slightly ridiculous because we were in Japan. After the amusement park Okasan and I met up and went back to Ise to visit a museum, a random shrine, and Naiku, the other auxiliary shrine to Ise.
Sunday: Visited Higashiyama Koen to view the changing leaves. It was incredible. Growing up in Reno where we don't have a lot of trees I was not prepared for the way the leaves change. I want to take all the trees home with me. Instead I took a lot of pictures. I learned that there is a cherry blossom that blooms in the fall, and that autumn is called the "bamboo's spring" because that is when bamboo turns green. Rebekah and I found a cute little American style coffee shop that is open until 2am. They actually made good coffee too (which is unusual in this country).
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