Bus Hike

I went on an overnight trip Wednesday with regular Kokugakuin students as well as K-step students. At 8:15 am, we piled onto the bus, each K-step student paired with a Japanese student. We were also assigned hotel rooms at the same time. The bus was very nice, it had cup holders on every seat, little trays and nets on the seats to hold things, as well as overhead compartments for backpacks, curtains, and a large flat screen tv. I got to know the girls around me very well on the trip and they were so nice and patient with me, especially with my limited Japanese. We took so many pictures! On the way, we spotted Mt. Fuji. I didn't get any good pictures, because we were so far away, but here is my best photo. Fuji is the farthest mountain in the picture:

Mt Fuji

We stopped at a rest stop which had various vending machines and many different types of food. I bought strawberry flavored kitkat bars and marveled at all the different breads. The green ones are melon flavored. My friend even bought bread shaped like Mt. Fuji! My friend sitting next to me had packed snacks and offered me a sweet. It had sweet bean paste and was soft, very good!

Melon bread

A sweet

After a long drive, we arrived at the Kamaboko factory. Kamaboko is fish paste. There are many flavors and colors. We wandered around the souvenire shop, which sold fish, seafood sausages, and kamaboko themed items. Then, we went into the Kamaboko museum where we made our own Kamaboko. Mine looked horrible, but the nice lady running the workshop came over and showed me how it was done. You have to smush the paste around and cut it into a square. You then roll the sticky paste onto a bamboo stick with the help of a knife and cook it. It was a bit sweet for me.

The kamaboko I made

We then continued on to the Odawara castle. The tour was entirely in Japanese, but it was really cool to see the castle and the grounds and go through the gates. The museum within the castle was filled with armor, weapons, scrolls, everyday items used in years past, as well as saddles and a souvenir shop. There was a wasp that must have been Japan's giant wasps, it was at least 2in long! It was massive!

Odawara castle

tempura lunch

We then stopped at the hotel. It was very nice, with an outdoor and indoor onsen(hot spring) and across from the sea. There were four of us to a room. It was a traditional style hotel, so the floors were made of tatami mats and we slept on futons. Dinner featured traditional Japanese fare: seafood and rice and soup! There was so much food and they kept bringing out more!Dinner was a lot of fun, as there was a karaoke machine in the room. Students and staff got up to sing their hearts out, including one memorable performance of Gangnam style. Afterward, I went to try the hot springs with my group. I was really nervous, because everyone is naked and bathes before getting in the hot spring. It was easier when I realized that everyone was minding their own business and not staring at me. The water was really hot and relaxing and in the outdoor hotspring, we could see the moon. I got to dress up in a Yukata. Excuse the obi, it was too small for me. I am going to have to buy one before I return home. My friends informed me of a used clothing shop with Yukata and kimono starting at $10!!!

room mates

futons

Dinner

Yukata

traditional Japanese breakfast

The next day, we visited the shrine. The trees were enormous! Everything was so beautiful! We got to go in the shrine and view a prayer and afterward, the priestess and priest handed out candy and holy water. We then went to a different room where we ate sweet bean paste sweets and tea. Still not a fan of tea. Hahaha.

Hakone shrine

We then visited a Hokone village reconstruction, which had several souvenir shops, and ate lunch at a lakeside restaurant. They had many flavors of ice cream, including tea flavor, wasabi, and sesame seed flavor. We played around the lake and I even rented a little swan boat with some friends, which we steered around the lake beneath the shrine. I got some nice pictures of the water gate. Then, it was a long drive home! This was a great and memorable trip. We visited so many sites and ate such grand meals and it was only around $40! Everyone was so nice and friendly and helpful, to use the words of my friends, "I felt like I was Japanese, not a foreigner." Thank you everyone at Kokugakuin for this amazing experience!

lunch, there was rice beneath the toppings