2016

 

We rode by subway to a mall near the aquarium.  The subway was really crowded and it felt like I was being squished.  It was a true memorable train experience. I liked going to the Kaiyukan Aquarium and seeing the whale sharks because the last time I visited they weren't there. They were smaller than I expected, but it was still exciting. My heart melted when I saw the capybara. It was perfect for pictures because it stared at me for minutes. It was eating vegetables at the time. The gift shop had a lot of stuff and my favorite is the sea otter stuffed animal.  I knew that Ms. On liked sea otters so I showed it to her and she squealed with joy. 

 

After that, we rushed down to where we were supposed to meet and said our last goodbyes to the aquarium.  We rode the bus that was parked under the gigantic rainbow Ferris wheel. It took an hour to get to the Aeon shopping mall.  I went with Ms. Ricardo to get ice cream and took pictures in the sunshine.  Then, we headed over to the airport. 

 

See you soon back home in Hawaii!

 

-Jasmine

 

 

 

During our time in Osaka, Japan, my favorite part was home stay.  Kaitlyn and I went to the strawberry farm with our host family and picked our own strawberries.  It was delicious!  We also took pictures in kimonos at Studio Alice.  Lastly, we made takoyaki.  I will always remember these memories that we made in Japan.

 

- Sachi

 

Students all enjoyed their time with their host families.  They were excited and eager to share what they did with us and their friends. Some went to Universal Studios Japan, a sumo match, a zoo, and Lego land.  After dropping off our things, we went on the tour bus and went to the disaster prevention museum.  There, we learned about the big earthquake that occurred in Kobe in 1995.  It was a very sad event to learn about, however, we also learned about how strong the people in Japan are.  They bonded together and rebuilt their city with the courage and kindness of each other.  After our visit to the museum, we went to Chinatown for lunch.  We also had some time to shop around. We ended our day with our farewell dinner with the host families and teachers.  It was a bittersweet event.  We will miss the people that we've bonded so well with, but we are also happy to be flying home tomorrow.

 

 

 

We went to the Nisshin Ramen Factory and I enjoyed working with my partner.  It was a lot of fun making our own ramen!  We had to knead our own dough and I liked cutting the noodles the most. Another favorite part of this activity was drawing our own pictures on the package to hold our ramen.

 

After eating lunch, we went to the Osaka Castle. I liked the third floor the most because I liked seeing the model of how the castle used to look like back in time.  I also liked the view on the top.  It was so beautiful! We can't wait to start our home stay today!

 

-Elilai and Dallas

 

 

 

Today, we had a welcome assembly at the very large gym. We got gifts from our host sisters and brothers.  Then, Mrs. Chung and Principal had a speech and exchanged gifts. Then, we had performances and the Otemon students performed a taiko show for us.  It was amazing! After, we sang Do Na No Bis Pa Chem for the Otemon teachers and students. 

 

When the assembly was done, we learned kendo.  It was cool and interesting.  It was different from other things that use a sword. In kendo, we learned how to sit and stand, and how to hit an opponent.  We didn't use a real katana, but instead a wooden bamboo stick.

 

Next, we visited our host sister or brother's class.  It was a lot of fun! We watched them perform a Momotaro puppet show.  In other classes, they did other things like play fruit basket, kendama, and tops.  Some Otemon students even showed us card magic tricks!  We ate lunch in the classroom and had carrot soup, spinach, Spanish omelette, bread, and milk.

 

After our delicious meal, we went out to recess.  They had a giant slide, playground, and field.  We got to climb on the playground and slide.  Some students played soccer and ride a unicycle!

 

When recess was over, we went to calligraphy class.  We learned that you exercise using the sword and pen.  We learned how to write friend in Japanese.  It was cool, but very hard to hold the paint brush straight with our arm up. We got to paint friend on a fan to take home with us.

 

We will never forget this day! It was amazing, interesting, cool, and fun! We can't wait to start our homestay tomorrow!

 

-Emma and Ceci

 

 

 

Konnichiwa!  Today, we had a breakfast buffet of Japanese and American food.  It was oishii! After, we hopped onto the tour bus and headed to Kinkakuji.  We visited the famous Golden Pavilion that is covered in actual gold! We also saw a 300 year old bonsai tree and various statues.  Then, we went to the Sweets of Ninja restaurant and ate different Japanese and American foods.  The best part came next! We went shopping! We bought many items from the 100 yen store.  But, it got even better when we visited Kiyomizu.  We went to see the various temples and rang a bell for luck.  We also poured water over a statue for even more luck.  Then, we went through the street shops before heading back to the hotel for dinner.  Whew, it was a long and fun-filled day. 

 

We have all made it to Osaka safely at around 6:00 pm (11:00 pm back in Hawaii). As we landed, we saw a beautiful sunset and it stirred our excitement for our stay here in Osaka. After spending over an hour in immigration, we finally got our luggage bags and met two teachers from Otemon Gakuin, Sakai sensei and Matsumoto Sensei, at the airport. The weather was in the mid 50's. We all eagerly boarded the bus for the hour ride to our hotel. At the hotel, we had a dinner, which consisted of sandwiches, pancakes, onigiri, salad, yakkisoba, French fries, and fruit. After dinner, we finally settled into our hotel rooms and went to bed around 11.  We will post pictures soon! We are all excited for our fun-filled day today! We will be going to Kinkakuji and Kiyomizu.

 

 

 

We are excited for our visit to Osaka! We have been learning about Japanese culture and practicing our performances. We hope you check back daily so you can see all of the things that we do!