Friday, June 15, 2007

A Fabulous Friday!

This may be my last post from Japan since we leave Kakuda City tomorrow morning for Tokyo. I've been very lucky to have wireless internet access while I've been in Shoko's home, but I don't think I'll be that lucky in Tokyo. Several of our host families, including Shoko and Azuri, joined us today on our visit to the seaside town of Matsushima. We started with a visit to a temple that is very famous for it's hillside caves where monks used to train. We toured in a light drizzle which made it very interesting when we had to take our shoes off before entering the temple.

After our visit to the temple, we traveled a little north to a smaller coastal area where we hopped on boats and took a tour of some of the 10,000 islands in this area. Some of the cliffs are white much like the white cliffs of Dover. We had a lot of fun feeding the seagulls that followed the boat. Unlike in the U.S. where Americans throw the food into the oceans for the gulls, we actually held the food in our fingers and the gulls took it right from between our fingers! No one lost a finger and we all had fun!

Later in the day, we visited a local aquarium which didn't quite compare to our Indianapolis Zoo, but entertained us just the same. We saw black and white dolphins (really!) and a sting ray that was so big, I can't even begin to describe its size!

Several of the kids took a nap on the bus ride home and we're resting up for the last night activities their host families have planned for them. We all meet tomorrow morning at 9:00 one last time at City Hall before getting on the train for Tokyo. Wish us luck as we begin our big adventure (without an interpreter!)!

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