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Missing Japan – Insights from 12 months teaching in Japan (2010)
Published: May 18th 2013Asia » Japan » Hyogo » Himeji
May 18th 2013
Adelaide and Himeji are sister cities, and for more than 20 years there has been a teacher exchange program between them. In 2010 I taught EFL in Kotogaoka Senior High School. Here are some insights from this experience. Bu nen kai is the end of year staff dinner at wedding chapel, small room for 80 on 4th floor, complete with 10 courses, table service, and as much alcohol as could be drunk in 2 ½ hours. Buses picked us up and dropped us back at the station, seating was done by lot and the main entertainment was a Bingo game. Décor – European fantasy castle. The student counselor works here one day a month. She meets with parents and students in a small conference room in the suite of rooms where the Principal works. The students ... read more
May 16th 2013
I took a day trip to Kyoto to re-visit some places that I saw from high school...oh the memories... read more
May 16th 2013
One of the great things about the Kansai region of Japan is that you have Osaka...amazing, vibrant city but then you have Kyoto, Kobe and Nara with 50 minutes by train! So, why not go to Nara for the day? It was the capital of Japan in...ummm....without Googling it I think it was around 700AD... read more
May 11th 2013
It was so nice to visit Manabu and Miyuki again in Osaka. I did not realize how much I missed them. Their wonderful 2 and a half year addition is a pretty cool little guy too. It was great to eat, drink and be able to talk with people on the street, on the train and to ask for simple things like directions! Can't get enough of Osaka... read more
May 10th 2013
Another hiking adventure! Mitake-san is a famous mountain just outside of Tokyo that is popular, like Takao-san, with Tokyoites, but is also a bit different because there is a village nestled up at the top, accessible via both a winding path and a cable car. Approximately 150 people live there, and there are even some accommodations for tourists to stay. I decided to go after my coworker Rani told me about it and showed me some great pictures, but it really did take a long time to get there from me - waiting for infrequent trains (which rarely happens with where I live) caused the transit time one-way to be about 2.5 hours. ;____; That's a long time! I took the bus to the cable car and the cable car up to save time, because what ... read more
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Tokyo – again – the end of the Japanese adventure!
Published: May 8th 2013Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Asakusa
May 8th 2013
Tokyo After saying our farewells to Brian at Matsumoto Backpackers, we head to the train station to catch our Limited Express train back to Tokyo for our final three days in Japan. On the way we have more great views of Mount Fuji – though this time it has much more snow on its peak. The scenery changes from lovely lush hillsides and valleys to flatter land with more settlements and industry. Japan’s countryside is definitely more interesting for us than the cities. We are staying again at Asakusa Toukaisou Ryokan for 1 night (room not quite so nice this time) before moving across to a hostel, Khaosan Tokyo Kabuki, for the last 2 nights, where we have a nice en-suite room on the 4th floor (with a lift thankfully!). The staff are very ... read more
May 7th 2013
Kanazawa – the City with a provincial feel to it. We arrive at Kanazawa ½ hour late - though we are not sure why. It’s quite bright and after visiting the Information desks at the train & bus stations we catch a bus to Kouhrinbo for our stay at the Toyoko-inn hotel for 3 nights. We have opted for the hotel as it provides a lot more by way of services than some hostels do e.g better internet, breakfast, all day coffee or tea free, free printing which we have found very useful and the cost in some cases is less than a hostel; so a no brainer really. There is a convenience store nearby and a supermarket as well. However, as it’s Sunday most of the restaurants that are in the guide book ... read more
April 29th 2013
Kyoto – City of Kimonos and Geishas The trip to Kyoto was one hell of a challenge from Hiroshima. Not because it’s a difficult place to get to – in fact it’s a breeze on 2 Shikansens. However, this is how the day unravelled. Up well in time to go from our Hiroshima Hostel to the station by tram – an easy 20 mins? No way!! The driver seems to think that as it’s a Saturday why rush. He takes about 45 mins for the journey and we get pretty stressed as we might miss our train. We get to the platform with 5 mins to spare. Then OMG – the train is late for the first time ever. They say 5 mins but it rolls in 10 mins late. Phew – we are ... read more
April 22nd 2013
Hey look at that. I've figured out you can save maps on this thing. This is roughly where I've travelled in Japan so far. I say roughly because due to the way the train services run here the route I actually took looks nothing like the map. Spent two days skiing in Hakuba, the snow was actually quite good considering it was the middle of April. The ski area wasn't massive however, and some of the runs to the valley were already closed due to a lack of snow at that level. This meant one day's skiing here would probably have been enough. I'd originally planned to go to one of the other nearby resorts on my second day, but the advertised free shuttle from the hostel wasn't running anymore as I was pretty much the ... read more
April 20th 2013
Nagasaki The journey to Nagasaki from Tokyo involves 2 Shinkansens (bullet trains or super fast express as it’s called here) & 1 Limited Express train – about 7 hours in all. Swapping trains was easy as we had bookings and all we did was show the station staff the tickets and they directed us to the right platform (or station even as the Limited Express & Local trains don’t use the same stations as the Shinkansens). Service on all is simple, helpful and effective. Heading out at speed we suddenly see Mount Fuji in all its glory towering above everything nearby. It is pretty impressive and we can see why it’s such an icon in Japan. Ironic as we had just booked a day out at a park in Hakone (for our return to ... read more
