Today, my roommates Kayla, Serina, and Savannah got up at 6:30, and walked around the lake to take pictures. We had our temperatures taken, and we ate breakfast.
Exploring the lake around the hotel!
A cool deck, with all of my roommates! (Serina and Savannah in the back)
I tried なと(Nato), which is famous in our classroom for Sensei's great hatred for it. Nato is refried beans. Although I didn't love it, I could've finished a serving if I had to. Although, given the choice, I wouldn't pick it again.
Yummy breakfast! I love having Miso soup and rice at every meal. :)
We stopped at the convenience store in the hotel, and I bought Pocky(yum!) and a stuffed rabbit, the mascot for the Regina no Mori. It is the same bunny that welcomed us when we first arrived! ^^We left at 8:45 for the Tenei village. We toured around and saw Japanese style homes, gardens, farmlands, and Buddhist and Shinto temples. The village had definitely not seen the likes of tourists before. Nonetheless, everyone was super kind and welcoming.
Some hand-painted flags around the path to the temple.
A Shinto temple!
A cemetery on the same grounds as the temples.
Me ringing the bell at the temple! Awkwardly sideways, sorry :P
Katayama-Sensei by the hand/foot-washing thing!
Our tour guide and his grandmother, hahaha.
Farmland!
Pretty flowers, and a farmer!
After that, we went to a building with a gym, and we watched the making of rice cakes, where I volunteered to try and pound the rice myself. We ate soup poured over a rice cake, and two other dishes, one consisting of a red bean based sause. とてもおいしかった＾＾
The soup/rice cake! It was good!
More rice cake dishes.
The bean paste one. This was my favorite!
Next, we went to a town with temporary shelters with residents who had to evacuate because of the tsunami. We listened to speakers who had their own personal stories of the tsunami. It was very sad.
Then we had discussion groups where we could ask a victim questions. The woman we had was 80 years old, and lost her farmhouse. She is completely separated from her family, who she last saw on New Year's. I specifically remember her tearing up as she said we remind her of her niece, who is our age. She told us to value life, and not take anything for granted.
After that, we came back to the Regina (the bunny was there again!) and we tried out the あしゆ, or foot onsen. It's an outdoor heated bath for your feet. It was hot and relaxing. :)
Then we went to dinner, shich was especially fancy compared to other meals we've had so far. It was delicious!
Yumyumyum. I even tried the raw shrimp on the right!
Then I went for a walk around the lake with Kayla, where we encountered many frogs. After a turn in the foot onsen one more time, we returned to our hotel room, and watched football(soccer) on the Japanese television. It was really cool seeing how much we could understand things they said!
Today was very hot and tiring, but we learned a lot about the GEJE. Tomorrow is the school visit, so I am really looking forward to that! :D
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