7/10/2022 0 Comments Week 13: Hiroshima and FinalsAs we hit July, the weather has stayed the same, and I've received warnings from the people around me that I should be careful to not get a heat stroke. Taking their advice, I've done what I can to ensure I keep cool and hydrated when I'm outside. I've done a few more things these last two semesters to enjoy my time out before I have to head back home. The first thing was a day trip to Moomin Park located in Saitama. To enter the park, I needed to head out pretty far and it took an hour and a half to get there. The admission fee to get into the park was pretty steep at 3000 yen (around $25). The park itself was pretty nice and it is a psuedo-amusement park. There were attractions and events that focus on the story of Moomin. There was a house that represented Moomin's family's house. There was a worker on each floor explaining what each room was and tidbits on the characters. All in all, the place was nice for a day trip if you're interested in taking pictures. The next big thing that I did was going to Hiroshima with a friend for a weekend. My friend wanted to meet up with a their old friends in Hiroshima, so we decided to plan a trip around it. A key thing to note about these friends is that they are Japanese nationals and did not speak much English. As a result, I found it difficult to make conversations with them. As a result, I primarily listened to their conversation in Japanese and didn't add much to it. However, listening to their conversation did help with my listening skills and I think I can understand Japanese a bit better due to it. When looking at how to get to Hiroshima, buying plane tickets were not only faster to get there, it was also cheaper compared to purchasing a tickets for the bullet train. Once we were in Hiroshima, there were already a few things that differed from Tokyo that popped out for me. Firstly, public transportation in Hiroshima was dominated by buses and trams compared to trains. The only trains that run for Hiroshima are to far distance towns. On the first day, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome. It greatly surprised me that after the atomic bomb drop onto the city, the city was able to rebuild into what it is today. The museum was an interesting experience and it made me think about things I don't often contemplate on. For the next two days, we visited the many tourist spots of Hiroshima. This includes Hiroshima castle, a tradtional park, and Miyajima. Miyajima is an island in Hiroshima Bay that has become a tourist spot. The island houses many temples, the famous Itsukushima Shrine, and large Torii Gate. We had the opportunity to eat their local delicacies of oysters, eels, and momiji manju, a dessert that has a soft bread with a filling of many flavors. On the third day, we went to Saijo to meet a friend. Saijo is much smaller than Hiroshima and the architecture looked somewhat older as well. Saijo is known as a place that makes sake, and is known as the capital of sake, Many of their attractions focused on sake breweries and the history of their establishments. Afterwards, the friend I met today happened to have a car and was willing to drive us around for the day. We went to some places that were pretty far from the city that included a ranch. The ranch offered dairy products for sale like milk, yogurt, dairy filled sweets, and ice cream. Afterwards, we headed to a center where you can get a good look at neighboring dam. Once we finished visits, we headed to the airport to go back to Tokyo. Overall, the trip was fun and I enjoyed going to the places. However, moving onward, it is filled with many deadlines as the semester about to come to a close. The amount of projects and papers I must complete is a bit more than what I am normally used to. I have never written so many papers at the same time. It is a time consuming process that I work on for many consecutive days. I hope that once the semester has ended, I can spend the remaining time in Japan stress-free with the friends I have made here.
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