http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/heatherinjapan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from heatherinjapan en-us Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:11:24 +0000 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:11:24 +0000 It's time to go home. I can't believe it. I've waited until the last possible day to leave and now I'm struggling with saying goodbye. It was a magical year that I would trade nothing for. I learned so much about other cultures and a great deal about myself. I saw many amazing places and met even more incredible people. It's not going to be easy to leave all of this behind. My last few weeks of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-119753.html Summer in Japan is really an endless festival. Actually festivals in general in Japan are endless....but the summer is the peak season.For my last weekend in Innoshima I attended the Habu fireworks. I'd like to think is was a farewell party for me but actually it was the kickoff to summer holidays. Never before have I felt more like a celebrity Cruising down the mainstreet with Dana we were pr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-81704.html Originally I had planned to visit Vietnam this week however because of difficulties with getting a Visa meaning my travel agent just didn't get one I found myself with a week of no job no house and no committments. I decided to head to South Korea.I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. I noticed some similiarities between South Korea and Japan.....mostly in touristy desintations. It could have been th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-81195.html It has been a few months since I left Japan and returned to Canada. In my last few weeks I got so caught up in last minute travels and of course packing up my life that I neglected my blog. Again the same thing happened when I got back home....visiting and unpacking. I've had a few requests to finish everything up so I'm going to jump back in time and complete my year with a few entriesDuring m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-75561.html We arrived at the Kyoto Tourist Information Centre to see a big sign reading ''NO VACANCY IN KYOTO JULY 17'' Uh oh Dana Linda Zoe and I went through every possible scenario and decided the best option would be to stay up all night. It was the Gion Matsuri festival one of the biggest in Japan therefore the city was maxed out with tourists from all over the country. It sounded too good t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/blog-75255.html In April I bought tickets to the Colplay concert in Osaka which seemed like a million years away...but it's has now come and gone. It was a long weekend in Japan so Dana and I planned to visit Osaka and Kyoto. A little while later I found out that my lovely friend Linda was going to be in Japan She and her cousin Zoe from Hong Kong joined us and it was GREATFriday night Dana Linda and I met at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Osaka/blog-75254.html Ishizuchi Mountain was my second mountain climb in Japan. It is the tallest mountain in Shikoku the centralsouth main island of Japan at 1982 meters. It is a holy mountain as climbed by many Japanese as a religious pilgramage. Our group of 20 people spent 24 hours together...we climbed we got wet we prayed and we partied.The invitation for the climb came from my iaido martial art teacher. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-75256.html June is over Where has the time gone This blog is a couple of weeks late because I am just realizing now that it's July. I mean I have known that it is July everyday for the past two weeks however it hasn't really hit me until now. I have less than two weeks until my job is finished and I move from my apartment. I've been too busy to notice the time fly. Here's a few things that I've done in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-65324.html A teacher I used to work with and now one of my closest friends in Innoshima is Hiroka Katayama. I call her Katayama sensei because that's the polite way to address her. She always brings me food and occasionally takes me places. It has been so great having her as a friend. She has introduced me to how a Japanese household works which I wouldn't have experienced otherwise. She has also fed me http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-75401.html With my internal clock totally twisted around of course I wasn't tired after being awake for almost two days It was an absolute MUST to hit the streets of Tokyo as soon as I could. After I found my luggage and room I headed out with a large group of Toronto JETs. Very quickly the group got split up....I think we were all too busy looking around us rather than where we were going I ended up w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/Shinjuku/blog-19868.html On our last day in Beijing we packed in a couple most top sites the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. It was another national holiday so the crowds were huge again. A highlight of the day however was watching the people around us. We passed so many interesting characters a husband and wife singing opera on the lakeshore a man painting Chinese characters on the ground with a mop and wate http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-59754.html At home in Canada I would rarely consider driving five hours to go to a party for one night. However since in Japan I've become used to going the distance....and I totally don't mind. This weekend I went to Tottori Prefecture for a beach party...it was a wild time and a great way to celebrate my birthday Tottori Prefecture is northeast of Hiroshima where I am and is on the Sea of Japan. The S http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-67598.html My free weekends in Japan are rapidly coming to an end. I have a list of things that I want to see and do before I move on so I'm taking all opportunities to do so. This weekend Dana Jenn Ellie and I drove to Shikoku which is one of the four main islands of Japan south of me. To get there you have to cross a series of ridiculously expensive bridges...it helped that there were four of us in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-64205.html It was a very cultural day in Japan...one of the most exciting events I've attended this year. I went to a small town in the northern part of Hiroshima prefecture to plant rice as it used to be done. As I'm sure everyone is aware rice is an extremely important staple in the Japanese diet. It used to be planted by hand however this method has been taken over by machines. Now the only rice that is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-61288.html The Carps are the Hiroshima baseball team. Team colours red and white. Team logo All In. This weekend I had the opportunity to go to a game in Hiroshima city to see the Carps play the Nippon Hams from Hokkaido. The Carps won I am a fan of baseball so I enjoyed watching the game. However the highlight of the day was to see how enthusiastic the fans get at the games Everyone and I mean ever http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-61287.html I climbed the Great Wall of China I can't believe it What an absolutely amazing day it was....I was in awe the entire time. It was a difficult climb at times but I think I was too dumbstruck by the beauty and coolness of it all to notice any painOur hostel offered a trip to the section of the Wall called Simatai built during the Ming Dynasty. It is the furthest section away from Beijing and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-59753.html We joined about 1.5 million other visitors on a Chinese national holiday to explore the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was a blistering hot and insanely busy day but despite it all it was still fascinating to see. Still at times I was confused as to what people were really more interested in seeing the Forbidden City or a group of foreign people. Today we became the subjects of so many family p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-59767.html In the land of national holidays i.e. Japan there are three days off in the first week of May. These days make up Golden Week. With a few extra days of holiday leave I had a week to enjoy yet another Asian adventure. I spent my Golden Week on a whirlwind tour of Beijing and Shanghai with my friends Jennifer Julie and Ellie. It took a day of travel to get from Hiroshima to Beijing. We flew firs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-57890.html Spring has sprung in Japan...and it's beautiful Apparently the nice moderate weather doesn't last too long so I have to enjoy it before it gets hot.It's cherry blossom time and it's a big deal in Japan. Hanami parites are cherry blossom viewing parties where family friends or coworkers gather on large blue tarps under the trees and enjoy looking at the blossoms while having a picnic of be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/blog-52112.html Sumo Japan's traditional and national sport is OH SO exciting On Saturday a bus of English teachers from Hiroshima prefecture drove to Osaka to watch the second last day of a two week tournament. We managed to catch about 5 hours of matches between the best wrestlers. The fights go on all day from 9a.m. and get better as the day progresses. At the beginning I was too excited to sit down so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Osaka/blog-49011.html