First day in Italy! :D

Tuesday, July 24th:

I haven't slept much since Sunday. Monday, we left at 7:30 for Chicago. Arriving at O'Hare around noon, we found out that we couldn't check in until 3:30. Then our flight would finally leave at 7:15. Those seven hours were agonizing.

On the 8-9 hour flight to Zurich, I watched the Hunger Games (which I have not seen before! Loved it!) and attempted to sleep. It wasn't very successful.

We arrived n Zurich at 11:15 AM, their time. We had a one-hour connecting flight to Rome.

I was a little tired when we finally got to Italy, but I had no tme for rest, for we were jumping right into sight-seeing. First we took a walking tour, around the Trevi Fountain, en route to the PANTHEON. I loved the Pantheon, it was amazing. I studied a lot about it in AP Art History last year.

Welcome to Roma :)

Streets of Rome! There was a lot of cool graffiti :)

 

You quickly learned that "saldi" means "Sale" :)

 

Streets of Rome

 

McDonald's sign.

 

The Trevi Fountain! So many tourists, it was unbelieveable.

 

Trevi!!!

 

Walking the streets of Rome :D

 

While we were chilling outside of the Pantheon, we got the famous gelato. I had nutella and raspberry flavors. It was reaaaaally good!

 

The occulus of the Pantheon!!!

 

Aww yeah, definitely not photoshopped

PANTHEON

Errbody's congregatin' 

Then we went to Bennini's 4 river fountain statue (I'm sure there's a more official name). There were a lot of vendors and artists set up around all these tourist spots. Most of them were really good.

Eeeee 

There were tons of artists all around the tourist spots in Italy :) 

My first gelato: Nutella and Raspberry! It was amazing.

Then we finally went for our first Italian dinner. There was salad, and a main course of The Best Lasagna I've Ever Tasted. Then watermelon for dessert. :3 By the time we finished eating, I was almost falling asleep at our table.

Where we ate for dinner :)

 

Real Italian lasagna...soooo good

 

View of our dining area

 

Pretty sunset :) I was sooo beyond jetlagged at this point -.-

We took the bus back to the hotel and checked in. It's a four-person bedroom, with a decent shower. Now that I've taken a cold shower, I am ready to SLEEP. In a real BED.

Going home. Day 13

Saturday, July 21st:

Today, we had free time in the morning, before leaving after lunch. Kayla and I and a few others just walked around Osaka, enjoying our last hours in Japan. We came back to the hotel to have our bags checked into the bus.

While we were waiting around, I saw a mother, and 3 children walk across the lobby by us. One was a baby in a stroller, and the other two were little boys, I would guess about 4 and 2. I could tell that the 4 year old boy was staring at me, and he tugged his mom's hand. He whispered something in her ear, and she chuckled and stopped by me. The little boy looked at me and said, "Hello, what is your name?" in English! I told him, and he started asking me a bunch questions in English, that his mom would whisper how to say in his ear. He asked where we went in Japan, and if we had fun, and I answered in Japanese. The 2 year old looked just as interested, but much more shy.

When they had to go, I asked if I could have a picture with them! :) I tried to say something to the younger boy, but he hid behind his mom! Haha. But he wanted to be in the picture anyway. :)

Me and the little boy who talked with me! :) And the shy boy, and baby on the right!♥

After gathering, we had lunch in the hotel. We had some really tasty chicken, and it was a good last meal in Japan. We got on a bus, and rode to the airport to come home. :(

Our lunch, yum!

WE DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!!!

It has literally been a longer day than usual, and I am extremely tired. It's Saturday now, but I'm leaving for Italy on Monday! Ahh!

Chilling in Osaka. Day 12

Friday, July 20th:

This morning we left Kyoto and headed for Kobe/Osaka. We visted a Kobe Disaster prevention center, like the one in Tokyo. This one was more focused on the earthquake from 1995. It was really interesting!

Then we went to the Osaka Castle, and had たこやき(octopus)!! It was really good!!! We went into the palace, to the 8th floor, and out on a deck. It was really pretty! Such a great view.

Outside of Osaka Castle!

Lunch!! :d

The palace!

A closer view.

Serina and I, at the top!

Panoramic view! 

Another view

Then we checked into our hotel, and went to a Kizuna debriefing meeting. We did a questionnaire, discussion, and presentation. I was on of the presenters again, with Tom. It went really well. :)

The meeting room

Dinner! Curry rice is sooo good!

We ate dinner, and we were free for a couple hours to roam around the area of the hotel before room check. I taged along with Tom, Emily, and Abby, and we found a ferris wheel. We went on, and got a wonderful view of the city. It was super high!

A view of Osaka from the ferris wheel

And again.

Next, we looked for Karaoke, but it was too long of a wait for a room. We were heading back to the hotel, when we happened upon Adam, Tara, Lauren, and SETSUNA!!! She was the Kennedy exchange student last year!

She brought two of her friends, Anna and Kurumi. We walked around and found a Dance Dance Revolution machine outside of an arcade, and I played with Anna! It was so fun! We walked around more before going back to the hotel. We said goodbye to Setsuna and her friends, and took pictures with each other.

Anna and I playing DDR! :)

Setsuna, me, and Anna!

The whole group, minus Kurumi. She had to leave early :/

I wish it wasn't my last night in Japan. But this trip has been wonderful. I am coming back for sure. I have so many friends here, new and old! I will miss Japan!!

Nijojo, Golden Palace! Day 11

Thursday, July 19th:

Today, we had a hotel breakfast, then went to the Nijo Castle. It was very cool, but unfortunately they did not allow photos to be taken on the inside. On the bright side, I finished buying souveniers at the gift shop there!

Nijo Castle! No pictures of the inside :/

A pond outside of the Nijo :)

Then we went to the Golden Palace, which was so pretty! The entire grounds were beautiful too. After that, we had lunch, and went to an outdoor mall and had freetime for a couple hours. Alyssa and I found a store that carries K-POP merchandise! It was so fun, because there's nothing like that in America.

The Golden Palace!!

Our lunch! Sushi and Udon noodles :)

The K-POP store!

Next, we went to a Manga museum, which I enjoyed a lot. I've never read Manga before, but it was still cool. I picked up an English version of 花ゆり団子(Boys over Flowers), and started reading that. It was super good, and now I want to read it when I get back to America!

After that, we returned to the hotel, went to dinner, and then had more freetime in the area. Kayla and I went to a Ramen shop, and then just walked around a big mall.

Cool stairs at the mall!

Movie poster for Brave!!!

Then I did a lot of packing. Tomorrow we leave for Osaka. Tomorrow's our last night in Japan. :(

Leaving Kofu :( Hello Kyoto! Day 10

Wednesday, July 18th:

This morning, I got up for the last time at my host family's house. It was sad! I gave Mio a hug before she had to leave for school. My mom gave Sakina and I a ride to school again, and I said goodbye to her. I said, "きずなとごえんがつづきますよに、” which means, "Let's keep in touch!" We hugged, and she left. :(

Sakina and I went to the library, and waited there and socialized for nearly 30 minutes before the bus arrived. Everyone was sad that we had to leave. We really only had two days with our families, and we wish we had longer. Sakina had been saying she was going to miss me since last night.

We went outside to load our bags on the bus, and I took one more picture with Sakina, and she gave me a hug. Several of us were kinda-sorta-crying, including myself. We finally went on the bus, and waved goodbye to our new friends, until the bus pulled away.

Sakina and I! :) Oh, and a teacher totally photo-bombed us!!

It was really bittersweet, and even Kayla was crying!

After the tearful goodbye, we went to a pretty temple in town. Followed by a tour at a castle. As we made our way back to Tokyo, we ate Bento(lunch) on the bus. We arrived at the Tokyo station, and got on another bullet train to take us to Kyoto.

The temple we visited!

The view from the top of the castle we visited!

Another view!

Our bento! It's basically like a sack lunch.

The first thing we did in Kyoto was see a theater performance, showing several different aspects of Japanese culture. It included tea ceremony, traditional music, a puppet play, acting skit, and more! It was very cool.

Tea ceremony demonstration.

The play skit. It was very funny!

Geisha!

The puppet show!

Then we went to an Italian restaurant for supper. Ironic right?

Kayla, Rebecca, Alyssa and I sat in a booth together, and enjoyed a few different pastas, served family style. We also conversed with a guy and a girl (Japanese locals) who were seated in a booth next to us. We had a long and awesome conversation, where we all spoke Japanese! :D They were so cool and nice! :)

Our dinner!

Tepei and Ayana, the two we talked to! :)

Tomorrow we'll be touring places in Kyoto, and shopping some more! :)