Our contingent of 10 from Arizona arrived safely on Friday night in Osaka. We were greeted at the airport by Sari Nakagawa-Sensei and three of our other students. Upon our ferry to Kobe, we experienced a storm, which has actually been a good omen! We made it to the Ariston Hotel slightly damper but in good spirits and connected with the other U of A students who were already overseas visiting various countries.
After recovering from some jet lag and getting some much needed rest we met our hosts at Kobe Gakuin University on Saturday morning. The Kobe Gakuin students had just finished their last exam of the semester and were actually finishing a stretch of 11 straight days of exams. That's right, 11! They graciously welcomed us in their special conference room, which has a beautiful view of the Kobe Port. We exchanged gifts with our Pen Pals, and headed down for a Japanese barbecue. I was very happy to meet my Pen Pal Terumi. He immediately put on the U of A shirt I bought him. Along that note, Jason's Pen Pal Kyoichi did the same. Jason and I were glad to see our Pen Pals were good friends. It could not have worked out better for us.
We had the opportunity to chat with the Kobe Gakuin students at the delicious barbecue. The students were grilling various chicken, beef, and veggies. I must say I think the students here like barbecue sauce more than we do as they were loading us all up with it.
After a short break we traveled to Sannomiya where we were shown around by different professors. My group was led by Sho-Sensei, who is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He was very patient with us as we shopped and looked around. He even bought Green Tea Oreos so we could try them. One funny note is that in Sannomiya there is a Chinatown, which we got to walk through. Being a foreigner I could not really tell the difference, but it was cool to see the Japanese embracing another culture like that.
On Saturday evening we got to watch the fireworks for the annual Kobe Port Fireworks Festival. Despite being very hot due to the humidity, it was well worth toughing it out to watch the show.
I do want to note that Friday was August 6th, which is the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings. Nakagawa-Sensei spoke to us of this and stressed the importance of us as a younger generation promoting peace with one another. I believe this trip is helping us do just that.
On Sunday we woke up to travel to the city of Nara, which is famous for having deer roam many park areas and markets in the city. Although very docile they did get playfully nippy when people bought deer crackers to feed to them. We spent the day walking the shops and traveling to the Todai-ji temple. The temple was gorgeous and I recommend Googling it to see the enormous figures that reside there. To gain intelligence and happiness, many of us crawled through a tiny hole in the wood of the temple. I may or may not have sustained quite a bruise from said crawl. It depends on who you ask :) Nakagawa-Sensei got a good laugh when I showed her the bruise. For dinner we had traditional Japanese ra-men, which was very delicious. At night we visited the Art Aquarium in Osaka. I once again recommend Googling pictures to see what the exhibit is like. There were so many different kinds of Kingyo, or Japanese goldfish. The whole experience was very beautiful. It was cool to see all the varieites of Kingyo.
Today (Monday), we walked to the University and received lectures from Sho-Sensei and Fukushima-Sensei. We learned about physical assessment techniques and how to make oblates, a starch paper that allows for a drug to be dispensed without tasting bad. We also learned an origami technique to help keep powdered drugs from spilling. After that we traveled to a fish market in Akashi. For lunch, we got to try octopus and tamagoyaki (or Akashiyaki), which I can best describe as octopus/egg balls. After lunch we traveled to Himeji and got to see Himeji Castle. It was very convoluted and originally built that way to keep enemies confused. It was quite the hike to go up six steep levels. Nonetheless, we survived and got to enjoy a great view of Himeji. After Himeji I traveled back to the hotel where Terumi (my Pen Pal) picked me up on his motorcycle and took me to what he called "the best ra-men in Osaka." It was indeed very delicious, and I'm glad he shared it with me.
Currently, I'm exhausted from our three days of travel in Japan. But I am looking forward to the week ahead! Everyone here is really nice and we are lucky to have been hosted by awesome Senseis and students. They have been very hospitable and kind to us while sharing with us their culture.
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