Blogs from Hiroshima, Japan, Asia - page 46

As English teachers employed by the Japanese government we were required to attend a 5-day Culture and Language Training program. In reality, it was a five day party, and I am really glad we were required to attend! From the 22nd to the 26th of August, 40 or so new English teachers were sent to the "Hiroshima International Plaza" in Saijo-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture. It was a lot of fun because we spent our mornings in Japanese classes (which were anything but stressful), and then we spent our afternoons doing "cultural activities," such as scavenger hunts. For the big scavenger hunt our bus dropped us off at this mall where we were to take pictures of various Japanese products. However, within the first 10 minutes of being there we had security after us and were basically ... read more

Since I've been here, I've been to three orientations....in Tokyo, Hiroshima city and Saijo. They're not very interesting to write about, since they mostly consisted of seminars for our jobs here...but I thought I would post some pics of the people that I've met during the evenings filled with parties! Actually, one evening in Saijo they had a karate demonstration. The kids were seriously amazing....and the cutest things in the world! When they finished we all played around together. ... read more

I went to a place called Onomichi today which is on the southern coast of Honshu the main island in Japan. It took me a good hour and a quarter to get there by the local train again, but it was actually good to see the rural Japan that was in between Hiroshima and Onomichi. I haven't seen much of that. Onomichi is only a small town and doesn't have much infrastructure set up for tourists, there is a very helpful map you can get just outside the station but thats about it. The main reason its a good place to visit is because it has lots of beautiful scenery and also has lots of temples and shrines. The map that I got has a specific route to take where you can see all the temples ... read more

All righty, so the last couple of nights have been wonderful. There have been festivals everywhere and lots and lots of fireworks. And wow, they’re a 100 times better than the fireworks that we have in the states. Just incredible. They’re bigger, louder and much more complex that any I’ve ever seen. Some exploded into a heart shaped pattern. And others rained gold droplets like weeping willows from about a quarter of a mile high almost to the ground. They also had fireworks that released sets of lanterns with parachutes. I’ve never seen the likes of fireworks like that. And then they had fireworks that exploded into a big circle, then something within them exploded into a larger circle, then a bigger circle. I wish that I was a writer so I could describe these things ... read more

I know, I know, I shouldn’t have called this entry that but I’ve heard it so many times since I’ve told people that I was coming to Hiroshima so I had to include it. OK I hope it works this time, I wrote an entry yesterday but for some reason when I tried to submit it there said there was an error and my entry was erased, I didn’t have time to write another one so I’m including it in today’s one. Hopefully I’ll be able to update this fairly regularly as I don’t want to be writing a whole weeks worth of experiences at one time, it would be too long! And I’m a poor backpacker in an expensive country, so time is money! I left my new hometown of Hakodate on Friday 5th Aug ... read more