May

This month started off with Golden week, which is a week in Japan where they have a whole heap of public holidays one after the other. During this week my local shrine had a matsuri (festival) on, in which they race horses up a hill and over a high jump, if the horse makes it to the other side then the harvest is good that year. This showed me how important tradition is for the Japanese people as this matsuri has been running for over a thousand years. The riders and their helpers were all dressed in formal traditional dress too, which I thought was really awesome. Like every tradtion in Japan (and probably everywhere) odd little quirks had appeared over the years, stuff like the fact that the riders weren't aloud to touch the ground for the duration of the festival and that they used to get the horses drunk on Sake before they sent them over the jump (something that was banned when animal welfare complained about it). Of course like every other Japanese matsuri there were tones of foods stalls containing a wide range of very yummy Japanese foods, which I had fun eating.

My host family also took me to Nagashima Spaland, which is a theme park just out of Kuwana, which is where I now live. It's home to the tallest roller coaster (or jeto coaster as the Japanese like to call them) in Japan. I had promised a friend that I would go on it with her, but i had to test it out first. Both my host sisters and host mother said that nothing would make them go on it, so me and my host father went on it, both of us terrified. I am now completely in love with roller coasters :) We of course went on all the other rides in Spaland, they were all excellent, except i got sick on the pirate ship. I also explored the huge outlet shopping centre that is also part of spaland. I will gladly go back there when i have more money to spend.

That night I also made dinner for my host family, which I hope they loved. :)

The next weekend the other exchange students from my district, both outbounds and inbounds, spent the night in Gifu city. We watched Cormorant fishing on the Nagara river, a form of traditional Japanese fishing which is done at night. The fishermen tie rope around the Cormorant bird and get it to fish for them as they move up the river with bonfires on the end of their boats to light the way.

The next day we climbed the mountain Kinkazan, which is a mountian that overlooks Gifu city. There was beautiful traditional Japanese castle on top which was built by the samurai who renamed Gifu prefecture. The long walk was fun with all the other exchange students to talk to, but so tiring that I didn't really pay the castle or awesome view much heed when i did get to the top.

The next day I changed host families to the Sato household, they also live in Kuwana although in a different area to my previous host family. They were very welcoming to me and I am enjoying my stay already :D

The weather is slowly getting hotter here, which is excellent. I'm out and enjoying the sun (and sometimes thunder storms :D) before it gets to humid and hot.

Stay awesome.

-Aly

April

The month started off with me going to Kyoto with my host mother, she had timed the trip so that we would be there for the Sakura (cherry blossom) season but they were incredibly late this year due to cold weather. While we were there it rained for the better half of the day and in the afternoon a storm rolled in, which was actually more exciting than bad. We went to see Sanjusangen-do, famous for it's one thousand and one wooden statues of the Buddhist deity Kannon. This was really impressive, made even more so by the fact that no two of the statues are the same and the extreme detail which was put into each of them. We also visited Kiyomizu temple, it over looks the whole of Kyoto up in the hills and underneath it lies hundreds of sakura trees. I also had the chance to make my own sensu (or Japanese fan), being really into Japanese art and art in general this was so cool! It's one of those things that I know i will keep for the rest of my life. Kyoto was full of excellent culture and awesome, I know I will get a chance to go back there on my exchange.

I went to Nagoya with another exchange student later that week to visit the Tokugawa Art museum and see the Hina Matsuri (or doll festival) exhibt that was being held there. It was cool, i like old things :D. We also wandered around one of the shopping distrcits a bit, it was nice being able to see the city on a nice day this time.

That weekend my host club took me with them on a day trip to Osaka (contrasting really well with Kyoto) to see the King Tut exhibtion and have lunch at this super fancy hotel. The exhibtion was amazing and the food, it was Chinese, was delious. I also think it gave me the chance to get to know my club a little better and talk to a few people that I hadn't yet talked to.

The Sakura had also come out by this time and I had a lot of time to go and take tones of pictures of them, i also went to a sakura festival in Yokkaichi with a friend of mine, we ate a lot of the food on sale, including chocolate covered banana's and pineapple. We talked a bit with some of the locals while we sat underneath the trees and watched a group of people play Japanese drums.

I changed host families that Tuesday, a little early due to the fact that my host mother had to go out of town. My new host family is excellent though, it's the first family where i have had host siblings that live in the same house as my host parents which is excellent. They live in the city of Kuwana which is right beside Yokkaichi, a one and a half hour drive from my old host family. It's really pretty here, lot's of bambo covered hills. The landscape sort of reminds me of the Anime Totoro :).

I went back to see my first host family, the Ichikawa's that weekend because they wanted to show me the Sakura trees outside their office, by this time it was nearing the very end of the season. It was nice going back to see the family again and i had lunch with Ichikawa-okasan and my host sister and her family.

The next day I went to a rotary orintation in Gifu, it was awesome seeing all the other exchange students again.

My host family took me to a manga kessa for lunch, which is a café that you go to to read the manga that basicly lines the walls of the place. It was super fun, i'm really enjoying all the manga and anime culture that is avalible here. That afternoon my host dad took me to a nearby tulip festival, the colours were beautiful, the Japanese love flowers and spring in general.

I love this country.

-Aly

March

Sorry I'm a little behind on these things so expect a large amount of posts over the next few days :D

March:

This month started off with me leaving the Ichikawa family which was super sad beans, they are seriously kind people and i miss them very much. Just before i left they took me to the Nabanano sato illumenation festival, which is this big light show that they put on every year. They had shown the lights onto the Ume (plum) blossom trees making them look really beautiful, almost like fireworks. I also celebrated the girls dolls festival with them, i have my own set of little dolls that i was given in Gifu prefecture by one of the Rotary clubs there.

My new host family is really nice and i am enjoying my stay here in Suzuka where they live. I have now started the spring holidays, on the first day of the holidays i went to Nagoya with some of the exchange students from my district as well as those in Nagoya. We went to the Sakae shopping district, taking the subway to get there. It was my first time ever on a subway and maybe riding it in the middle of rush hour wasn't the best idea. Sardines in a can comes to mind.

I went back to stay the weekend with my old host family, it was great seeing them again after two weeks. I also took the train to Tsu city to see the Mie prefectual art museum, it was quite exciting, they keep a Monet and Picaso there. Getting to see them in real life was amazing.

As April starts the cherry blossoms are supposed to start this week, i'm really looking forward to seeing them.

-Aly