9/28/07

Return from Hiroshima

Friday night and we're safely back in Minoh with our respective and respected host families. We have been so well looked after it is overwhelming. Our journey to Hiroshima was great fun with a wide range of transport methods used to get us there and back. These included:



  • The Bus these can get quite crowded and you get on through the back door

  • The Train, This view was shot through one of the hand hold rings.




  • The Bullet train or Shinkasen which looks like some kind of snakelike fish from the front, and also the rear. It travels like a smooth, fast horozontal rocket through the country.


  • Inside the Bullet train it is roomy and comfortable.




  • We have all become vending machine junkies during the trip both to maintain a health hydration level with the high temperatures but also to decrease the coinage that seems to accumulate. This shot was taken in the shiny surface of a freshly cleaned vending machine.

  • Speaking of vending machines, the range of drinks is impressive and interesting the one that has taken me the most courage to try is the "Pokari Sweat" visions of wild bear like animal living in the bamboo forest sweating profusely in the "Indian Summer" heat. The precious liquid is then harvested deodorised and bottled to become the vending machine staple. Not a bad drop.








  • Of course there was some solemn business to attend to in Hiroshima. Since leaving Auckland our group had been folding paper cranes in order to have an offering of 1000 neatly strung to accompany our prayer for world peace. We felt a little like beauty pageant contestants but we did our bit.

  • The banks of the Hiroshima river were littered with dead fish on the day we visited and this crow was making the most of the situation. I made a mental note to avoid fish if it was on the menu that night.


    Have you ever wondered what a Traditional Japanese bride wears on her feet for her wedding ceremony. Well wonder no more as we reveal the golden platform jandal worn with white socks. Should ba a big hit in the comming southern hemisphere summer.

Good night from me.







Hiroshima

Thursday and we've made it to Hiroshima. The management at the Youth hostel should be about ready to tell our group to stop the noise. Today had us at Himeiji castle, two trips on the Shinkansen (Rail Star - Hikari) The second one in the "Silence Car" . Then to the Peace Museum for some shock treatment. The kids then unwound by harassing the homeless.

Photos to come.....

9/27/07

The Last Wednesday In Osaka

Time is going quickly it is already the last Wednesday of the Japan trip. This time next week we will be home in New Zealand. We have not been idle however some of things we have done today include:












We have discovered the answer to the marking of attendance at schools. You simply have all students remove their shoes when they arrive, the gaps in the shoe locker will quickly show students who have not arrived. These shoes belong to the students at the first Minoh Junior High school where we were guests this afternoon.



Returning from the Junior high school we passed by the local KFC outlet. The Colonel's secret recipe includes a generous dose of seaweed flakes in Japan!

There are many variations of the public clock around the world but have you one with a digital fountain display?

They may not be as big as the Kiwi kids but they are obviously strong as one of students discovered in an arm wrestle.








You never know who you will bump into on an overseas trip this young softball expert travelled all the way from Lower Hutt to play Minoh High School Softball club. They seemed pretty happy with themselves at the end of the game. I guess they won.










Last but not least there was that wonderful time of the day when you get to open your Obento and saviour the culinary delights within.
Tomorrow it's off to Hiroshima for what will probably be quite a different sort of a day. Good Night From Me






















9/26/07

I Love My Obento







An Obento is a Japanese lunch box.
My one comes wrapped in a yellow bandanna.









These are something else. Gone are the days where a couple of marmite sandwiches and an apple would be lunch.

Now each day is different Triangular Rice balls (can a ball be triangular?) wrapped in seaweed and deep inside some tuna fish or a pickled sour plum.




Each morsel comes in an individual tinfoil muffin cup with appropriate sauces and chopsticks for clean fingered consumption. The highlight of today's Obento was a chicken croquet with a sweet tamari sauce.



Thank you, "Takami San," for your hard work in preparing my Obento!



Other people's Obento look pretty good to.









Since 9.30 Osaka time on the 25th September people have looked at this blog.
Good night from Me.

9/25/07

Spell Two

The students are watching a Physics class while we quickly prepare a bingo sheet and check some emails. Sorting out problems with air tickets. The Computing class we are in is disturbingly quiet with just the slightest sounds of life coming from the almost 40 students in the class.

Back At School


This morning we are at Minoh High School observing and participating in lessons. It is totally refreshing to see that problems with technology are universal. We spent 30 minutes trying to get the data projector to work so we could show our carefully made power point presentations.

9/24/07

Five days in




It`s night five of the Japan trip and we`re having a ball. Japan is very cool and everything is interesting. My Japanese language skills are an embarassment but I am trying to do my good morning`s thank you`s and good bye`s when I can.


I have seen:



  • Shiny Blue/black crows sitting on roof tops and telegraph poles

  • Thousands of sculpted Holywood Junipers (hinoki trees)

  • Cute little streets with even cuter houses and shops lining their sides

  • Heaps of Japanese gardens and temples

  • Deer, Bats, Koi Carp and Tutles

I have eaten:



  • Sushi

  • Sashimi

  • Tempura

  • Miso Soup

  • Octopus balls (no, not their testicles)

  • Tepenyaki

I have also:



  • Ridden a bike without getting lost

  • Taken some train rides

  • Slept on a futon in a tatami room

  • Taken a public bath

  • Done some Origami

9/20/07

Morning Walk

I went for a walk around the youth hostel at 6.45am it was really warm but nice and bright. Osaka seems very similar to Frankfurt, Germany. It is very organised and calm but still crowded and busy. The apartments and houses all seem to make some effort at a garden even if it is just apotted Orchid or palm on the sidewalk in front of the house. On everycorner there is a small convenience store and vending machines are everywhere. The main difference is the absence of litter.

Thursday Morning

Wednesday began at 5.00am at Wellington Airport 19 out of the 20 students were already waiting with their various parents brothers, sisters and friends. We made the Wellington- Auckland- Tokyo- Osaka flights without incident. The personal inflight entertainment systems and folding 1000 paper cranes for our Hiroshima visit made the long flight very tolerable. It was 11pm local time when we visited the local 7/11 for our evening meal and 30 degrees out side. Three cheers for Air conditioning.

9/17/07

Departure Minus 2 days


All those things left to pack, purchase or forget to take. The jobs that must be done before 5.00am Wednesday morning. I get the feeling that travel equals stress.

It will be a comfort to be on the plane and have all my life and death decisions being made by, hopefully, mentally stable pilots.

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