Hello! This week we didn’t have a midterm or final exam on Friday so it was more chill. I did calligraphy which was fun, although I was bad at the difficult kanji. My best ones were very simple kanji like 日 and 元. Then, on Wednesday we did an exchange with Seiryo Women’s 2 year college which was very fun. We got to meet Japanese students and talk to them about what they do their lives and share our lives. They were taking business classes and it seemed like good companies hired out of the school. Although when I asked, they said they didn’t like the classes, like they were boring or something. I’m grateful to be able to study stuff I’m interested in, although sometimes anything can feel boring.
Then, on Saturday, we met in the morning and took two coach buses to the Noto peninsula and did all sorts of sightseeing, absolutely incredible. Before getting off the bus each time, a pair would present their prepared speech about what we were about to see (in Japanese) which was very cool. There was a beach that cars drove on like a road, then a historic jinja (shinto shrine) (named kettataisha and I presented it along with Rin-san) then a super cool lava tube tunnel to a rocky beach with volcanic looking islands, then we went to Kagaya Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) which I think was rated the best Ryokan in Japan. It was super crazy nice and probably very expensive, so thank you government of Ishikawa. I loved the onsen and it was my first time in an onsen and we would rotate from onsen to cold bath to sauna to cold bath to onsen and it felt super good. The food was incredible too, all kinds of dishes in front of you and I didn’t know half of what it was, but it was like an exploration. And we wore yukatas everywhere we went (traditional japanese summer clothing). The next day we saw a street market, to art museums, and ate fugu (the pufferfish) in tempura form. I think it tasted a lot like fish and chips fish, but slightly different. Then we came back and I was super tired but had a long conversation with Kuo-san about credit cards. Then Monday (which we have off and is today for me), I went on a 17 mile run in the mountains which were amazing with my host dad. Then we ate cold udon at a popular restaurant because it is hot outside. I have to say, the Noto trip might be the coolest sightseeing trip I’ve ever done, and it makes sense because the Ishikawa department of tourism knows about the places to go.
Ok, see you later.