There's No Place Like HOME

I am coming home!

I am in Tokyo, sitting with my new Canadian friends at the New City Hotel in downtown Tokyo.
I had the best night of my life last night, exploring the coolest place ever, Harajuku!

I am going to be leaving for the airport and my 13 hour flight fairly soon, and I am packing up the last minute items I picked up in Harajuku.

I cannot wait to get home!
I am so excited and I cannot wait to share with everyone the many stories from my trip!

Thank you again for keeping up with my blog!

This will probably be my last blog update, so I wanted to share a few things about my time spent in Japan.

Favorite place: Miya-jima
Favorite trip: Hiroshima
Favorite food: Acorn Squash Tempura

I have had a phenomenal time in Japan. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about a different culture, tasting new foods, and trying lots of new things.
To me, it is amazing to know that 1 month ago I was completely freaking out about getting on a plane to go to another country, halfway around the world, for 1 month, but now, I can see that everything I have done has been worth it.
I am soaking up everything I can in my last 2 days in Japan, so when I come home, I will be able to share it with everyone.
Please feel free to continue to post comments and ask questions.
Thank you so much for following me and my many adventures!

LABO Camp PHOTOS

Tomo was the captain of Deneb 2. She helped my lighting the campfire on the last night of camp.
We (the campers) particiated in several rituals, songs, and chants. The IY group also led a song for everyone.

Deneb 2 group heading to the Camp fire ceremony...

The setting sun was beautiful behind the mountains.

Tomo and I chose this Outdoor Activity... we had to walk a couple of miles in the woods and in the mountains. Most of the time we were in the river, up to our waist in FREEZING cold water. Our guide told us that it was glacial snow from the top of mt. Daisen.

We wore socks over our shoes. I wore my silver crocs and they were a life saver!

I had sooooo much fun!

LABO Camp-Daisen

I have only been in Nara for about and hour and already, Nahomi, my host mom has fed me cheese cake and Belgian waffles...
I had a great time at LABO Camp!
It was a 5 hour bus ride to the mountains, but it passed quickly because I watched Juno (for the 38th time!) on my iPOD...
When Tomo and the rest of Sakamoto Party (my LABO party) made it to Mt. Daisen, we were placed in the group 'Deneb 2'. Each group consists of about 30 kids...there were about 15 groups total!
The camp is run my coaches, college-aged kids who make sure everything is running smoothly. Our groups are directed my Senior Mates, kids around my age who have been in LABO for a while.
We also had 3 Group Mothers, who stayed with our group and helped with the kids.
We stayed in hotels with traditional Japanese futons, food, and public bath.
All of the International Youth (IY) were encouraged to participate in all of the activities,　and that included the public bath. It is not such a big deal because it is just a custom in Japan and is considered a part of the camp routine.

Each camp session has a 'Theme Activity', based from a children's' book. The Theme Activity was The Sign On Rosie's Door.
We had to sing lots of songs and practice acting out the story.
It was difficult to understand what was going on, but I tried my best to just jump in and act like a little kid.

I quickly learned that LABO camp is not accommodating to vegetarians. There was meat everywhere, and most Japanese don't completely understand that being vegetarian means not eating meat in any form. I was stuck with rice and cabbage for every meal until my IY counselor smuggled me a couple of boxes of Calorie Mate, a high-fat, high-protein biscuit.

I was able to communicate with the kids even though they didn't speak English.
I taught them a few 4-H songs and games. They thought I was completely insane and funny, but that is the way you have to be to have fun at LABO camp.

It was a new experience and I had a lot of fun!

Hey Everybody!
I will be away from the computer for a few days. I am going to be going to LABO camp!
just so everybody knows... :)

answer to Scott's question: The man pulling the jinrikshaw pulled us my mostly running
answer to Alexander's question: Yes, I did eat the ENTIRE thing of cotton Candy! Can you believe that?

Love,
Sarahb O.

Nara!

Tomo did not enjoy the deer as much as I did....
you get the picture....

The Great Buddha. It stands at approximatly 49 feet tall! Just one ear is 8 feet tall!

I am standing in front of the largest wooden building in the world. This building houses the Great Buddha which many have come to distinguish as the symbol of Buddhism.

Tomo and Ihad the opportunity to ride on a Jinrikisha! The shafu ('sha' means car and 'fu' means man), or driver, was very chatty. :) He took us all of the way from Nara park to the Buddha Temple. Jinrikishas' are treated like cars in Japan so we had to ride on the road and wait at traffic lights. The ride was fun, except Tomo and I were both worried he was going to drop us!

I LOVED feeding the deer (sheeka) in Nara! The deer are all around Nara park, and Tomo's Dad, Toshikazu, said they are often the cause and victims of traffic accidents. The deer weren't as polite as the Miya-Jima deer (regular bloggers will get this reference :) and they really enjoyed the cookies I bought for them to eat. As soon as the deer saw the food, they came right to me. If you hold your hand high in the air, the deer will bow so you will give them a cookie... it really works!

Kyoto Photos

On top of the temple in Kyoto. It was nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but we made the climb up the mountain to see the beautiful sites.

Kinkaju-ji, the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. I enjoyed this place very much!

The very scary 'ninja' at the Kyoto Movie Park.

Kyoto

I just got back from a trip to Kyoto, the old capital of Japan located about 2 hours away from Nara (which is where I am staying).
I went with Tomo and her Dad, Toshikazu.
First we went to a place where many Japanese movies are filmed. The set is modeled after a typical Japanese village in the 13th century. We watched a show about ninjas, which was exciting, to say the least. I found a vending machine that sold over 10 kinds of ice cream. I got a didn't know which one I had chosen when it came out through the slot, but Tomo said it was Caramel Custard-delicious!
Next on our list was Kinka-ju-ji, the Golden Pavillion.
The walk through the woods was tranquil and calm, despite the immense number of people that came to see the beautiful temple. The temple is made from pure gold and rests on an island in a pond.

Our last stop was another temple, high atop a mountain. We had to make our way through Japanese style streets full of vendors and even monks begging for money!
When we finally reached the top, the view that we saw was terrific!

Fireworks with Haruna and Kazushi.

LABO Youth Gathering: Can you find Sarah and Tomo?

Today, I had to go to Osaka with Tomo to Youth Gathering, a time when the delegates from 4-H and Canada programs get together with LABO kids and play games, sing songs, and have fun.
I was responsible for teaching and leading the songs for the LABO children. There were about 50 kids! I taught them 'The Princess Pat' and 'The Green Frog Song'. I had the opportunity to hang out with my 4-H friends who I traveled with the first couple of days of my trip, so that was nice.
After the gathering, I went home with an 11 year old girl named Haruna, who is in Tomo and Yuri's LABO Party, Sakamoto. We rode the train and Haruna knew exactly when to get off. Children, even younger than Haruna are given a tremendous amount of responsibility and have the trust of their parents from a young age.
I had dinner at her house with her mother, father, and brother, Kazushi. The family spent a year in California because the Dad's works transferred him there for a short time. Haruna's father is also vegetarian (very,very,very unusual in Japan!)
We had all of my favorite Japanese foods for dinner- Maki Zushi (make-your-own roll sushi with avacoda, cucumber and raw fish), Tempura (okra, sweet potato, peppers, eggplant) and Chirashi Zushi.
It was incredibly delicious!
The family spoke near-perfect english, even Haruna!
After dinner we went outside into the small neighborhood street to do fireworks!
When we came back inside, Haruna's mom had yellow watermelon, peaches, and edamame for us to eat :)

Left to Right: Miyuki, me, Isao (holding Ron the dog), Naoki, Fumika

The Kobayashi family, neighbors to the Kanematsu family invited us over to have dinner at their house the last night of my stay in Nagoya. We had corn and tuna on bread, rice with egg, tempura shrimp, and acorn squash spread over bread. Everything was DELICIOUS! Shinobu, the mom, invited her older sister (also named Miyuki) to dinner and she brought Baskin Robbins Ice Cream. I ate ice cream 3 times that day!

Fumika took me to the Port of Nagoya Aquarium. I was able to see Green Sea Turtles and Killer Whales for the first time!

Fumika's LABO group held a welcome party for me! It was exciting, complete with good food, fun games, and many sweet kids.

Bon Dori Festival

On Monday night, Miyuki helped me get ready for the Bon Dori Festival. It took her 30 minutes to fit my Yukata, a kind of summer kimono made with cotton.
After Fumika and I were ready, we walked outside and down the street into the night. We had to cross fields, narrow walk ways, and areas of tall, brushy grass. It was easy to hear the music from the festival blaring from the speakers just behind the patch of houses.

As soon as we turned the corner, I saw hundreds of people, most of which were women, all wearing the same kind of Yukata, dancing around a large metal figure with many red lanterns on it.
It was such a surreal moment, to be wearing a Yukata, surrounded my many, many people and bright Japanese lanterns that glowed in such a manner that it made everything seem magical!
Fumika and I met up with her friends, ate cotton candy, snow cones, and grapefruit popcicles.
We walked up a path lit with lanterns to a shrine. Fumika showed me how to throw coins into a box and show your respect- the Japanese way. It was incredibly interesting!

Nagoya Photos

I was able to spend time with Fumika's friends. At the Bon Dori Festival, they were giving out free grapefruit popcicles! Yum!

I got to wear a Yukata to the Bon Dori Festival.

I

ate the biggest mess of cotton candy ever created...

can you say 'refined sugar'?　：）

I went to a place in Nagoya to learn about the ancient art of traditional Japanese tie dye-Shibori.

the Kanematsu Family held a party in their home to welcome me to Nagoya

Nagoya

I've made it almost to the half-way point in my homestay... I have started to get a little homesick, but I try to keep busy with experiencing new things.

Tomo sent me on a train , bound for Nagoya around 10am yesterday (sunday) morning.
I rode by myself for about an hour and a half to Nagoya where my exchange student from 2004, Fumika met me with her mom. It was really cool to see Fumika after 4 years. We all went out to eat at an udon (noodles in fishy broth) restaurant.
After that, we went to a monstrous sky scraper and took in the big view of Nagoya city on the observation deck.

Fumika's mom, Miyuki, left us at a shopping mall where we looked for almost 3 hours.
I was very excited when I found the stationary store... it was full of my favorite things-pens, notebooks, etc.
We rode the subway and then walked a couple of miles to get to Fumika's house.
Her family planned a party for me to welcome me to Nagoya.
Cousins, aunts, grandparents, and neighbors filled the Japanese style house.
Miyuki bought C.C. Lemon, my new favorite drink, and Kake No Tane, a spicy peanut snack.
We had sushi with raw cuttle fish, cucumber and avocado to eat.
After dinner, Fumika's cousins, Saki and Yuki, as well as Aya, Fumika's neighbor went outside to do fireworks. I was a little hesitant, but enjoyed it just the same.

Today, Fumika, Miyuki, their neighbors and I went to an old town, like a suburb inside of Nagoya. The little community is famous for the ancient art of Japanese Tie-Dye.
I got to make a tie-dyed handkerchief.
It was really interesting!

We went to a traditional Japanese cafe... we had to take off our shoes and sit on the floor! :)
I tried Japanese Yams, baked tofu, and a cuttle fish pancake...

Tonight we will go to a festival with Fumika's friends.

Miya-jima

I named this deer Juno ;) My 'interesting' lunch of rice and conger eel.

It looked and tasted like a snake...ahhhhhh

Toshikazu, Tomo and I went on a ride through the sky on a ropeway in Miya-jima.

Having a conversation with one of the deer in Miya-jima. The deer are said to be messengers of the gods.

Tomo and I in front of the shrine in Miya-jima.

During high tide, the shrine is in the water, but duing low tide, visitors to the island are encouraged to walk out onto the sand to get a closer look.

Fishing boats in the water behind the Miya-jima shrine.

Miya-jima is an island just below Hiroshima. It is a sacred island where there are many shinto shrines and wild animals.

Helping out at the (very) local restaurant

Hiroshima Castle

The famous watch stopped at 8:15am

I am standing in the Hiroshima Peace Park near the statue dedicated to Sadako, the girl of 1000 cranes. The picture behind me is 1000 tiny paper cranes formed into the Japanese characters for Peace

A photo I took of the A-Bomb Dome

I am standing in front of the dome

Hiroshima

I was able to ride on a bullet train again when Otasan (host dad), Toshikazu took Tomo and I to Hiroshima and Miya-jima.
We rode through mountains, valleys, and right beside the ocean before arriving in Hiroshima city at about lunch time on Friday.
We rode on an electric train right to the site of the A-bomb Dome.
It was a somber and slightly eery place despite of the park which was in full bloom with roses.
I was surprised at the size of the dome, much larger than I had imagined.
My mind was hard at work, trying to comprehend the fact that I was standing on the very ground that was obliterated by an atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Japan at 8:15am on August 6th, 1945.

The Peace Memorial Park was across a near by bridge so our little group walked just a little ways until we reached the statue dedicated to Sadako Sasaki, the young girl who, while dying from luekemia (caused by A-bomb radiation), tried to fold 1000 origami cranes to make her wish to live come true. Although she passed away before reaching her goal, her class mates continued folding cranes and got people all over Japan involved in the movement.
At the monument, there are large, clear plastic boxes filled with origami cranes which symbolize hope, peace, and prosperity to people all over the world.

There were many other statues around the park, mostly for people of the Buddhist religion, to pray for the people who suffered in the past due to war.

The Hiroshima Musuem was large, with several buildings filled with various artifacts and exhibits.　The first exhibit was dedicated specifically to the people who died because they didn't have any water or because the water they drank after the bombing was poisoned with radiation. There were first-hand accounts which were all painful to read because they were so sad. There was a room with a panoramic view of the city post-A-bomb.　A fountain was placed in the center of the circular room, bubbling over with cool, fresh spring water.

The rest of the musuem was just as full of sorrow as the first part. I was able to see the watch which was made famous because of the time it was stopped--8:15am, 8/6/45
There was a tiny tricycle completly rusted over. A wooden dresser sported signs of glass which was embedded into the frame.
It was really gross to see the health and medicine exhibit because there was actual examples of singed hair, skin, and finger nails...
The last exhibit was about nuclear weapons but it was also about peace. I learned that Japan is a country which wants to be free of things that may bring fear or harm to people. The country decided to abolish nuclear weapons and through the use of articles, artifacts, and photographs urged other countries to do the same in the final exhibit.

After Hiroshima Park, Toshikazu, Tomo and I went to Hiroshima castle... it was huge! The original castle was demolished, obviously, during the bombing, but an exact replica was built for visitors to see.

After a lot of walking in the HUMID air, Toshikazu led us to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with only enough places for 8 customers. Tomo ordered a dish kind of like a pancake with beansprouts, eggs, and squid on top. It was interesting, but the conversation from the chef and fellow customer (who spoke english!) was even better than my dinner ;)

USJ Photos

Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

JAWS!

Back To The Future car

USJ Hollywood

Universal Studios of Japan!

Yesterday was an extremely busy, exciting day.
Tomo and I woke up early and rushed to the train station just in time to catch one to Osaka.
I was so surpised at how crowded it was. We had to stand up and there was hardly enough room to turn around.
After changing to 3 different trains, we made it to Osaka, the second largest city in Japan.
As soon as we left the station, we walked into Universal Studios of Japan.
It was huge! Tomo said they tried to make it look like different parts of America- Hollywood, NYC, Amity Harbor,etc.
The first show we saw was a 4-D Shrek show. Our seats moved around, we were splashed with water, and sharp bursts of air were supposed to be mimicing baby spider crawling up our legs...ahhh.
Next, we went to ride the famous ET ride. We walked down a path inside of a building (although it was impossible to tell because it looked like a forest), to get on a suspended cart with bikes on it. We hoped on the bikes and set off with ET throught the forest and up, up, into the sky!

After that, Tomo convinced me to do the Spider Man ride, scarier than any ride I have ever done.
The attraction line was coiled through a mock Daily Bugle news room-it was really cool!
The ride was 3D and we were spun, tossed, turned, thrown, and dropped !
I had fun but it was time for something more my style...
That is when we wne to 'The Land of Oz'
I was so excited to see one of my favorite movies as a theme park attraction.
Tomo and I rode the Merry-Go- Round, strolled along the yellow brick road, and visited the Munchkin Market!
We were able to see the last viewing of Wicked, the musical about pre-Dorothy oz.
It was really well done and since I knew most of the songs, it was easy for me to understand even though they spoke entirely in Japanese.

Other attractions we saw...
-Monster Rock Show
-Back to the Future 3D
-JAWS
-Snoopy World

We grabbed some rice balls to eat for dinner as we set back off to Nara.
When we got back home, Nahomi had watermelon and edamame for us to eat ;)

Ｐｕｒｉｋｕｒａ！

(L)Here I am standing on a bridge that leads to a ￥100 store and Purikura! Notice the beautiful mountains in the background!

(R) My yummy lunch today-Tempura friend shrmip, beans, and pumpkin with seaweed rice　ball.

Today we have been very busy! Tomo and I left the house this morning with Nahomi, who dropped us off at the bus station on her way to work. Tomo and I went to a huge shopping mall... it was really cool!
I was surprised at how incredibly expensive things were. Shirts that would've costed $10 in America were 3000 yen ($30)!
Needless to say, I didn't have much luck in the clothes departments, but looking at all of the notebooks, pens, and folders was really fun!
For lunch I experienced a Japanese style food court, similar to ours with better food.
I didn't know exactly what I was getting when I pointed to the picture of tempura on the window.
A few minutes later I had a bowl full of rice, fried beans, fried shrimp, and friend pumpkin.
It was delicious! I also tried a rice ball with slimy, sesame seaweed, but it didn't taste as good as the tempura.
After we ate, Tomo and I went to take Purikura. Purikura means `print club` in Japanese.　It's basically a photo booth except 20 times cooler!
The machine takes your picture then you you get to choose backgrounds on a touch screen. Then you move to the next booth to write and add stamps (electronically) to your photos..
it was soooooo awesome!

It is still very, very hot here... even hotter than NC!

Thank you for reading my entries.
Sorry if my entries are boring... I am going to try harder in the future to make them less mundane ;)

Yummy miso soup. At this kind of cafe, sushi comes around on a conveyer and you are supposed to take a plate. When you are finished, an employee comes and counts the amount of plates/bowls you have. I got an interesting mussel salad, sweet potato and sesame, cucumber zushi, and a yummy parfait with frozen yogurt and frozen mangos!

Raw conger (eel) at the sushi cafe

Eating Dinner: Toshikazu choosing chopsticks.

The room I am sharing with Tomo and Yuri. The Maehana`s front yard.

fun-day on sunday

It is soooooo hot in Nara!!! the humidity level is off the charts as well.
The Maehana's don`t use air conditioning very much in their house. When we do use it, we have to turn it off when we leave the room. We have been relying on Japanese style fans and ice cold green tea to keep us cool. I am sweating just sitting here typing this :(

I was able to experience what the Japanese consider `a　small shopping center`
We had to ride bikes up a hill and then, after I missed the turn, rode into a parkway specifically designed for bikes and walking pedestrians.
The mall was sooo cool! The price of clothes was really high, but I doubt that will stop me from getting one of the awesome Japanese fashionista items...
When we got back from the mall, Tomo`s grandparents came over. I tried to introduce myself in Japanese but it is so hard to do...
We piled into the cars and set off for a Sushi resturant.
We are now getting ready to make brownies and lemonade to take to the LABO welcome party for the little kids to try.

first night with Maehana`s

I am having a great time with the Maehana family. They are so sweet and truly genuine.
Nahomi, my host mom is bubbly and enjoys humming the song `true loves kiss` from Enchanted. Last night, Yuri went to a LABO meeting and Toshikazu, my host dad helped me out by carrying my very heavy luggage.
This morning I had plain yogurt and bread for breakfast. Tomo and I are going to ride bikes up the road to buy a couple of things from the local store, then later, in a couple of hours, Toshikazu`s parents will come to bring corn from their garden.
At 6pm, the LABO party will host a Welcome Party for me!

A view of the Nagoya Valley from　the shinkansen