So after a rather slow start to February (I made an ill fated trip to a local mountain called OkuIbuki... not even worth an update it was so crowded) I decided it was time to switch up game plans.
Two weekends ago, I decided to accompany James, my travel buddy from Thailand, to the nearby prefecture of Wakayama. Wakayama is known for it's temple pilgrimages, its beautiful forests and it's scarcity of people. You, however, will not get to see ANY of that because we decided to go ONSEN'ing.
What is an Onsen you might ask? Well for those who forgot, they are Japanese natural hot spring baths. They are usually communal and public (at least every one that I can afford) and segregated by gender. The baths are EXTREMELY hot but very relaxing and supposedly quite good for you.
After touring around Wakayama city proper (notable only for it's ample supply of parking lots and spaces at discount prices) we moved on to Shirahama.
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| From Wakayaba |
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| From Wakayaba |
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| From Wakayaba |
This town is an enigma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirahama,_Wakayama
(it's also sister cities with Honolulu! Who knew?!)
I did not expect anywhere is Japan to have white sand beaches but low and behold, Shirahama does (they import it all from Autralia). I didn't think any town could be so rapturously engaged in tourism that stems from a beach with no waves and no real draws besides fake sand. Again, I guess i was wrong. Here's some pics: (hint: read the photo captions for more info on the city)
So that was my wet and wild adventure to nearby Wakayama. With that trip, I have officially visited all but one of the prefectures in my region. Go me!
Next, I promised another city. Unfortunately for you, it's a city I have already visited! You may remember my video I made of my winter trips and me discussing a trip I took to Hakuba with my old Snowboard team captain. Well this last weekend, I went back to Hakuba. This time, however, I rode in the luxury of a private charter bus and was accompanied by 22 other Shiga (and nearby prefectural) JETs. The trip was amazing! We stayed at an awesome hotel / onsen. They provided food that night (NABE!!! such a fun and delicious meal!), we had a large 10 person room in which I taught everyone to play some old Bruin Woods camp games and... to top it all off, the weather was incredible.
Here's the snowboarding pictures:
We left on a Friday and returned at 5 in the morning on Monday. That means I was just in time for work. While I was sunburned, dehydrated and exhausted, I made it through and actually really enjoyed my week. It was testing week for my middle school and also the last week of instruction for my 3rd graders 三年生. I wish I had known it was going to be my last classes with them before because it was very anti climactic. In fact, we didn't even speak the whole class because they were just taking practice tests!
This week has been going well and my teaching is finally improving. I have taken up a volunteer adult English class on Tuesday evenings as well. I have 5-6 regular students who are very enthralled to have someone to chat and learn English from. I expect to be inquiring with my big sister a lot to figure out how exactly one is supposed to teach a class of adults at extremely different skills levels. No matter! It's free and I enjoy the work.
Anyway, as many of you have heard I will be visiting the states at the end of this month. My momma sprang for a direct and particularly cheap flight from Tokyo to LA. I can tell you I did not expect to be returning this soon but I do miss everyone. Since deciding to stay on another year in Japan, it will be nice to go home and touch base with people as well as packing two suit cases packed to the brim with smuggled items. I can't wait! See you all very soooon!
-Dane
SO excited to see you Dane!
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