Last Day at Shirahama

Today marks the final day at my other elementary school. I really enjoyed going to this school because the kids were always so ‘genki’ (cheerful and happy) and they were always excited to see me and learn English. I had lots of fun teaching these kids and I will miss them a lot.

I also really like the teachers at this school too. They were really welcoming to me and always made the effort to talk to me and get to know me better. This is me with two of the teachers at the school. When I finished my lessons for the day, I sat there with them for a couple of hours talking about the things I have done in Japan and showing them my photos. It was a really nice way to end the day.

Also, one of the classes had prepared a huge present for me to take home. Each student made lots of origami and put it in a big box and a big bag. A couple of other students also made me a poster with little kinoko (mushrooms) on it made of origami which I will frame and stick on my wall as a reminder of the fun times I had at that school.

Nabe at Makoto’s

Makoto invited a group of people from our apartment building to have nabe for dinner at his place the other night, which we gratefully accepted. I had never tried nabe before, so it was an interesting experience. Nabe is similar to sukiyaki, but has a slightly different taste. It was delicious all the same, though and very filling!



Makoto says that he never cooks for people, but he proved himself that night with his excellent cooking skills that I was very impressed with! It was a fun night all in all, with delicious food and good company!

Golden Himeji Castle

As I was riding home from school one day, I took a glance at the Himeji Castle (because I love looking at it) and saw that the sun was shining straight onto it so that it looked golden. It looked so cool that I had to take a photo of it. As I was taking the photo, a huge flock of birds flew past the castle for added effect. It was like they knew that I was about to take a photo and they wanted to pose in front of it to make it look even better! So here you have it, the Himeji Castle looking golden!

Yoyogi Koen

The next day after the Koda Kumi concert, Tina, Lauren, Shinya and I went to Yoyogi Koen. It was a great day to go because the weather was really good and everyone was at the park doing their own thing. The park was full of people having picnics, playing dodge ball, juggling, riding their BMX’s, dancing, playing music, running, playing with their light sabers and all sorts of things! It was really good to watch everybody having fun doing something they enjoy and I like the idea of having such a well-utilised park where everyone can be active and keep fit. If I lived in Tokyo, I would go to Yoyogi Koen every weekend!

This is me and Shinya hanging from the momiji tree.


Tina and I hanging from the momiji tree.


The juggling guys.


As we were leaving, we also saw a group of people who looked like they had just come out of the movie ‘Grease’ with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John!

I have seen them before when I went to Yoyogi Koen another time, so I think they regularly come to this park. They are so funny because they all have really big hair and huge tattoos all over their backs and they crank the old 60’s tunes and start dancing and playing their air guitars! They also have a Chevrolet which they park beside them which is bright pink! It was really interesting to watch them get into their dancing and there was a huge crowd of people surrounding them (both foreigners and Japanese people) all wanting to see and take pictures of them. I think that they like to pose fo the photos, too! They were really fun to watch!

Koda Kumi Concert

On the weekend, Tina, Lauren, Steve, Shinya and I all went to the Koda Kumi concert which was held at the Tokyo Dome.

It was a great concert and Koda Kumi was just amazing. She was so beautiful and such a great singer and the actual performance was really entertaining. I had a great time at the concert watching the dancing and listening to the singing. I am so glad that we were able to get tickets to the concert. It was good to be able to experience a concert in Japan.

Just before the concert, Tina, Shinya and I decided to go on this really BIG roller coaster.

The fastest speed goes 130km/hr. Pretty fast, huh? Well it was heaps of fun going on that roller coaster and I got a really good rush from it. The funniest part was seeing all the girls dressed up in their high heeled shoes and short skirts with caked on make up just to ride on the roller coaster! It was very interesting!

We decided to buy Koda Kumi t-shirts to wear during the concert too.

I am really glad I bought one because the t-shirts looked really cool and I felt like I was apart of it all. I think we were the only foreigners at the concert that night, which was also pretty funny!

Last Day at Itohiki

Today was my last day at one of my elementary schools. I really like this particular school because they invited me to their enkei (teacher’s party) and we went away together to Matsuyama which is in another island of Japan. The teachers are really friendly and one of the teachers at that school showed me around Japan and was really friendly and helpful to me.

On the last day, I went outside to play with the kids and I saw four little kids trying to turn this big rope.

Well they were having a little bit of trouble so I went and helped them and they ended up being really good skippers! These are the kids that I was playing with on my last day. They were so cute!

Just before I was about to leave, Mayumi (one of the teachers I made friends with) asked me to watch the Grade 6's perform their song for their big performance. They were just amazing and they were all in time and sounded fantastic! They could even play musical instruments, too! I was really impressed!


This is the principal of the elementary school I was at.

She was always so nice and kind to me and always made the effort to talk to me and come and join in on some of the classes I taught in.

This is the deputy principal who was also really nice.

One time I missed the bus and the next bus didn’t come for another hour, so he offered to drive me to the station. He also gave me a Beetles CD and a Nelly CD too!

Kyoto – Momiji Viewing

Recently, Tina and I went on a special trip to Kyoto to see the momiji (Autumn leaves).

It was the best day I have had for a long time because the scenery was absolutely beautiful. We couldn’t have picked a better time to go because this week is the most beautiful time of year to see momiji. One week later and it would have been too late. We were really lucky to have been able to witness such beauty.

We visited some temples and shrines we hadn’t yet been to and everywhere we went, the momiji was just spectacular.


The first place we went to was the San-ju-san-Gen-do. This is a particularly unique temple because inside the temple contains one thousand golden statues called Cannons. They are all lined up in perfect lines and they look absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures, but just imagine one thousand golden statues of Gods lined up in perfect rows and columns. I am so glad that we got to see it. I bought a book that contained many different pictures of the statues so that I could have as a keepsake to remind me of the view I got from inside the temple.

This picture is from outside the temple. You can see how big it actually is because it has to be to fit in so many statues! I think the momiji look really beautiful around it too.


After going to the San-ju-san-gen-do Temple, Tina and I went to the park to eat lunch.
We packed our own ham, cheese and avocado sandwiches and sat and ate them under the momiji trees. It was really nice. We took a few photos of ourselves in the park because the view was so spectacular.

We visited the Ginkakuji Temple which was also really beautiful.

Many people believe that the Kinkakuji Temple is more beautiful, and I think that the actual building of Kinkakuji is actually more spectacular to look at, however the landscape surrounding the Ginkakuji Temple during the Autumn period when all the Autumn leaves were out was just amazing!

The Ginkakuji Temple.


Nearby, there was a fantastic display of sand which was perfectly raked and positioned in a smooth, round mound. Surrounding the mound was another area of sand which was also perfectly raked to create an interesting pattern. I have no idea how they were able to create such a perfect mound of sand, but it was really cool to look at.


Moving on from the Ginkakuji Temple, we then found ourselves walking along the Philosopher’s Trail which is a very famous trail that contains various temples you can visit on the way.

It was so beautiful and there are many houses in this area. If I was going to buy a house anywhere in Japan, I would buy one near here because the view is just picturesque. Although, I think that this side of Kyoto would probably be one of the more expensive areas.

At the end of the Philosopher’s Trail, was a temple called Eikando.

This temple was recommended to us by our friend, Yoko because it is so beautiful to see during Autumn. Well she was absolutely right because Tina and I were just blown away by the view presented before us. There was one section where many golden-coloured leaves had fallen off the trees causing the ground to appear golden in colour. We took so many pictures of this!

Tina and I at the Eikando Temple.


The pond in the Eikando Temple.