Author: kas219

The host family was definitely an interesting one. Having not heard anything from my family, I soon learned exactly why. Our host ‘family’ was a single elderly woman living in Kamakura. She had two daughters, who didn’t live with her and a deceased husband. Apart from little phrases that she knew in English like ‘You look pretty,’ ‘How many sisters do you have?,’ and my favorite ‘DANGER,’ she spoke entirely Japanese, to which Amara and I had to figure out everything as to what she was saying (Amara mostly, haha). It wasn’t so much of a culture shock as it was just very interesting. It was exactly how I thought a Japanese household was. She treated us like we were a part of the family. Although she pampered us with many foods and comfy beds, she expected us to help around as well. We helped with cleaning the kitchen after dinner and helping put things away. In the morning she took us on a wonderful trip to her friend’s home, who we later learned to be her ‘kimono teacher.’ They helped us into beautiful yukatas (casual summer kimonos) and we spent the morning trying to figure out how to walk in extremely uncomfortable wooden sandals. I wished we could have spent more time with her – she was an exceedingly wonderful woman and it would have been nice to get to know her a little more.

Karaoke was a blast! I didn’t think I would have as much fun as I did. I normally hate singing, but I have no problem acting and being in front of other people. So dancing around and singing was hilarious for me. Of course I only chose Disney songs for the majority of it because I don’t know many songs to begin with – it was hilarious hearing myself and everyone around me sing along. It was a bonding experience between everyone that was there, definitely. I could tell that the people on the trip who were normally very quiet broke out of their shells and sang as well! It was a great way for all of us to laugh and bond with one another. The social interaction was amazing, especially when the Sophia students came and finally joined us! They were so nice! I talked mostly to Izumi, who I learned was studying English and wanted to come to America in a few years to study. But also, I learned a lot about Rise as well. She was studying nursing and was hoping to graduate in a few years. She was much more outgoing than Izumi, but they both sang on a few songs, which made the experience amazing. They were both so nice. I found them both on Facebook and they told me if I came back to Japan that they would love to hang out again!

In watching the sumo wrestlers’ training, I think I noticed more Shudan Ishiki than anything. It is a Japanese Group Consciousness. Like everything in Japan, it is basically the epicenter of their culture, everyone is very solidified into one group. Though in that vast one group, there are smaller ones – in this case, the sumo wrestlers. They worked as a team, even while the coach was not even present in the area – knowing exactly what to do and with whom to do it. It was very precise, everything they did. We learned that you have to start doing this at a younger age – many start around 16 and go from there. At training, at 6, they work together and then after that, they feast on a large diet and then take a nap. It seems like everything they do, they do together. Not everyone in Japan can be a sumo wrestler, so this group of men seems to be in its own sub group of Japanese people.

There was a lot of Wabi-Sabi represented in the city of Nara. One of them is the many traditional, rustic styled gardens. The gardens are so beautiful, especially the one we visited. Inside were many traditional Japanese plants, like the Japanese maple. And everything seemed to have a story within the garden. Like the back building —one had to duck into a small door to get inside. The reasoning why this was so was because everyone entering the tea room would be on the same level, no one higher than anyone else. This is still used today in the building.

I absolutely love how nice everyone in japan is, but especially the children! Three times now I have been asked by school children if I would answer questions for their English class. They are just learning, but already they sound so great! It is wonderful how brave they are, going up to random strangers, and it makes me so happy that they seem excited for me to help. It was not the group pictured, but rather for one later on that I answered a question for and they gave me an orange origami crane as a thank you for helping. They are all so nice!

There are so many differences between Kyoto and Nara, one of which being the deer. The deer living in Nara have been living in this area for a very long time and every year they have 300 babies, keeping their population very high. They are accustomed to being around people and are not at all afraid, seeing as they bite people’s butts and take papers as snacks. In Kyoto, there are very few wild animals. In my two days in the city, I have seen a multitude of crows, bats, storks and one cat. Besides that, there don’t seem to be very many wild animals in Kyoto, especially in comparison to the 3,000 deer living in Nara.

The most moving thing at the Hiroshima Peace Park was the museum where the objects recovered from the families of the victims who died from the atomic bomb blast or later from complications were housed on display. Especially though, the belongings of the children. Many of the artifacts in the museum belonged to children, like wallets, school uniforms, and lunch boxes. The most moving for me, however, was the metal bike and helmet belonging to a little boy. It said the boy loved his bike tremendously and would ride it all the time. He was a very happy child. Unfortunately, he died during the blast and the family couldn’t handle burying their son in a graveyard so they buried him in the family backyard with his precious bike. It was donated to the museum by his father in later years, but remained buried with the boy for a number of years. War is horrible for everyone and it’s horrible that people had to endure these tragedies, but it’s very fortunate that there are these belongings in the museum so people may remember their lives and who they were.

I think President Obama visiting is very good for the country. However, the ideas he speaks of are very unrealistic in my opinion. I don’t think any country that has atomic bombs will ever get rid of that kind of power. They don’t want anyone ahead of them and they like being on top. I think that countries believe that getting rid of that power will make them weaker in a world view and put them at a risk, although having bombs in the first place is a risk.

Religion is in every aspect of their daily lives, so it is no wonder it would be included in such a memorable place as Hiroshima. The Do Spirit of Japan is relevant in Hiroshima. There are so many religious monuments, whether Shinto or Buddhist in the area, commemorating the victims of the atomic blast. It is a reminder to people to keep their spirit alive through something as important as religion.