Welcome back to Term 4. It’s a bit sad not having the trip to look forward to this term! We are still sorting through the mountain of photos and videos we took in Japan, and have begun making some compilation videos for us all to look back on and enjoy. Please check in with the google drive from time to time to see new photos as they are updated, and also here on the blog where we will post our video links. Enjoy!
The best part of the trip was……
Disneyland- especially splash mountain
Toyohama Sister School- meeting the students and feeling welcome
Miyajima Island- the cable car in particular
Sumo wrestling
I am most proud of…..
Being confident to try some scary rides and heights
Trying new foods
Mastering the chopstick use
being able to budget
Ordering and talking to people in Japanese
A funny memory was….
-when I accidentally told someone I was 32 years old instead of saying that we had 32 people- Mrs. Cray
-Mr G calling soy sauce “soy soy”
-“Mont Fuji” water
– The deer eating our shaved ice- oh dear!
-The deer trying to get into the shops
-funny signs.eg “10 mins to the top, 7 mins if you run a little”
-Mr G making us tap his hat to teacher up
-When Kirtley said “Ohayou Gozaimasu” instead of goodnight
– The crazy bus parking at Miyajima Island
-Baby monkey backflipping
-Zara’s tissue strategy for blood noses
The best food was….
Cheese pancakes
Okonomiyaki
Takoyaki- or as lou called them…. takoYUMMY!
Ramen
Karage Chicken
Tempura eggplant
Shabushabu
The best way to cool off was…..
People misters
splashing water on ourselves
splash mountain
Air conditioned shops and attractions
shaved ice
Frozen neck rings
Baymax spray fan Misters
Daiso hand held fans
Traditional fans
A Japanese phrase I used a lot was…..
Sumimasen (Excuse me)
Arigatou Gozaimasu (Thanks very much)
Ohayou Gozaimasu (Good morning)
o kudasai (please give to me)
O namae wa nan desu ka (What is you name?)
nan desu ka? (What is it)
A challenge I overcame was….
Being away from my family for so long
learning to walk in two straight lines
Fear of heights
Currency conversion
Riding elevators
Public speaking in a large crowd
Processing emotions in the Peace Museum
Communicating in Japanese
Blood noses from the heat
Being HOT!
Modes of transport we used……
-street car
-shinkansen
-subway
-plane
-chartered bus
-public bus
-monorail
-local train
-cable car
-ferry
-legs
-travelator
-Hello Kitty train
-elevator
-escalator
Today we caught the ferry out to Miyajima Island. As we approached we could see the famous Tori gate in the water which is the logo on our Tshirts that I designed. It was bright red so it stood out from the background and it got bigger as we got closer to Miyajima Island. It is actually huge- WAY bigger than what I expected from looking at it in photos. All around the island there were deer roaming and bowing and they were SO cute. We took lots of photos at the tori gate and then had a chat about what everyone wanted to do. Some people wanted to spend lots of time with nature and also ride the cable car up to the top of the mountain, some wanted to look in all the gift shops, and myself and some other people wanted to go to the aquarium. The aquarium was soooo cool! We saw illuminated jellyfish, turtles, manta rays and lots more and we also got to touch penguins! In the gift shop, there were cool little glass cubes with animals in them. After the aquarium it was lunch time, so my group and I went to an okonomiyaki restaurant together because we loved the okonomiyaki that we had yesterday. I got the vegetarian one and it was the Hiroshima style of cooking that we cooked in our cooking class, not the Tokyo style of Okonomiyaki that yu get in Australia. It was delicious. We had some time left before our ferry so we hurried up the mountain with Mr. G to ride the cable cars to the top. It was very steep and very high and had an AMAZING view. After we got back to the bottom of the mountain, we all met up again at the tori gate because the tide was now out and we were able to walk around underneath it and pick up little crabs. Then we jumped on the ferry and headed back into Hiroshima, where we went out for dinner at a diner where a robot served us our food!
In the morning we had to wake up early for an early 7am breakfast of traditional Japanese food. We got all our stuff tidied up, packed for the day and then we walked (and ran a bit) to the streetcar stop. When we got on it was a bit squishy but we were fine, then the streetcar brought us to the place where the ferry leaves. While we were waiting, we got either water or apple juice from the vending machine for something cold to drink. The ferry finally got there and we got on! When we got to Miyajima we walked to Torii gate that was on land and sat near the water then we saw our first deer! A few actually. Then all the teachers told us out options for where we can go for the day! There was an aquarium visit or explore the island and I chose explore the island because I love nature and animals and photography so much. First we had to walk to the cable cars, that took a long time but on the way we stopped fort ice cream! AND there were huge koi fish In a pond along the way- and I mean really, really huge. I bought some fish food and was able to HAND FEED THEM!!! While we fed the fish, some deer must have smelled the food because they came up to the pond and hopped in. At first we thought they were swimming because it was so hot, but they were actually eating the koi food too. It was a pretty special moment. Then we got to the cable cars, that was very fun and there was an amazing view! When we got off we walked up the hill to a nice place that had a little shelter and binoculars to see closer. We were talking to these people and they where from London! Once we finished up there we went back down the hill on the cable car AND Mrs Morgan was scared of how steep and high it was BUT I told her “it’ll be fine you can sit with me” and she did! She said “ oh this is actually not too scary!”
Once we got back we went shopping for lunch and then we had a look at some souvenir shops. After lunch we saw the tide was lower so we met the other group and went for a walk on the beach and had a look at the Torii gate! It was amazing! Once we finished there we walked back to the ferry and saw some more deer, we saw lots of deer all day, we went on the ferry back home to a place with LOTS OF SHOPS! We got to go to Daiso And I got a bracelet! Then we met the other group again for dinner. There were these little robot waiters and the gave us our food! (They were so cute) once we finished dinner we went back to the hotel on a street car and finally after a long day we called our parents and went to bed.
– Rhylee
Once we finished breakfast, we took a tram that cost me 140 yen to head to the ferry. When we got there where covered me for the 100 yen visitor tax, then we got on the boat to get to Miyajima Island. The boat ride was quite short, I thought it would be a 30-minute boat ride but it was only ten minutes. When we got there, we were greeted by deer so we quickly got out our cameras and we took around 1 or 2 group photos and then split into different groups. One of groups was the aquarium group, but I went in Mrs. Sullivan and Mrs. Morgan’s exploring group. We went on the chair lift, fed koi fish then I lost my coin purse got some yummy lunch with mrs. Morgan while out looking for it, then Mr G found it up on the cable cars and I was happy. Next at about 3pm we met up at the very popular Torii gate and held some wild hermit crabs. We saw some little fishes, then we took our second last group photo before our day at Miyajima Island came to an end. For dinner, we got a few different options but I went to an Italian restaurant and I got a margarita pizza for dinner and then walked for 15 minutes to get back to the hotel and had our last sleep in Japan. THE END! – Sam S
. We travelled to Miyajima Island today. It is an island that has the famous torii gate built into the ocean and we got over there by a 10 minute boat ride. When we first got over there we were greeted by some cute little deer who were out walking around the streets around the station. After we got into the island we decided where we wanted to go, in the end we had 2 groups one for the aquarium and one to go sightseeing. The aquarium group went to the Miyajima aquarium and looked at some animals, whilst the other group went exploring on an adventure up to the cable cars and we stopped at a koi fishpond and a beautiful creek along the way. I was in the exploring group, and when we were halfway up the cable car we saw some fighter jets which move quicker than the speed of sound so you could see them before you could hear them! The cable cars had a great view of the scenery all around the island and out to sea, with lots of mountain-covered islands. We could even see a submarine in the water below! Back at the bottom of the cable car, we decided to go for some lunch and then we went shopping. For lunch we got to choose what we wanted so we enjoyed that. It was then time for the low tide, so we got to walk out next to the torii gate and wade in the little stream underneath. There we saw some little crabs which poked out their heads and nippers in the palms of our hands. After catching the ferry back to the mainland, we explored a shopping area to find somewhere for dinner and ended up choosing a pizza/pasta place with a robot waiter or teppanyaki balls. Lastly, we went back to the hotel and packed for the flight home. – Jeremy
Due to a very busy day, phone calls home tonight and lots of packing to do, we will be writing the final blog entries tomorrow! There will be plenty of time for writing whilst we are travelling tomorrow. Some pics will be uploaded shortly though if you would like to see what we got up to at Miyajima Island! It truly was the most magical place and wonderful way to end our trip. Especially since we got to view the tori gate which is the logo on our trip polo shirts- it seemed like a symbolic ending somehow. It was great to the kids all enjoying nature and feeling very zen amongst the deer, koi fish and stunning views. We look forward to updating you all further tomorrow!
Lunch was sooooooo so fun. So we went to okonomiyaki and listened step by step to cook the best lunch most of us have had. It took us a while to find the place but it was worth it… we sat all around a big silver hot plate. I thought we would just be sitting and watching someone cook in front of us but we got to make our own which made it taste better! The noodles were the best layer. It was pretty hard to flip the okonomiyaki over and keep it neat. I even ate lots of cabbage today and I don’t normally eat it at home. The hot sauce wasn’t very hot though. I think I’ll try to cook what we learned at home. We had lots of choices and I put them all on with the side of jalapeños and hot sauce.
We also got to see some really cool stuff like the Peace Museum and A dome. It made me feel a bit sad for the people that got hit by the atomic bomb and lost all their belongings. There were lots of bits and bobs that were found after the bomb went off to look at. It was a bit hard to look at some of the pictures and read some of the quotes. Then we went to the peace park to see Sadako’s statue and put our school’s paper cranes up. We took some photos for all of us and bought some icecream. Then we all got to ring the peace bell to think about how we will spread peace I actually rang it twice sneakily. I got the drizzled caramel ice cream. At the end of the day we walked back along the river to our hotel. – Linc
Monday the 16 we had a early morning breakfast with the cute little Tarsier. After that with our suitcases in hand we walked to the subway which was challenging but we are getting good at this! The JR line we went on today was a Hello Kitty local train. We stopped at Shin-Osaka and went on the bullet train after the Hello Kitty train. Lots of train changes means lots of lining up and counting the group to make sure we have everyone. We arrived at Hiroshima and put our suitcases at the hotel. We had to head back to near the station though to go to the okonomiaki restaurant. When you went in it, it was a big restaurant and no one guessed that it was that big from the outside! You had to cook your own lunch. IT WAS FUN! We had noodles in the middle and a crepe layer at the bottom with noodles, cabbage and spring onion and bacon next. On the top layer was eggs. It was delicious! Then we moved on to the Peace Memorial Park museum. The museum had some stuff that was burned from the heat and some melted glasses and the clock that stopped at 8:15am. It was a hard time going in there and looking at pictures of burned bodies and other things that were burned in the atomic bomb. It was a sad expression time but we handled it quite well. It is there to make us think about a peaceful future. After the museum, we went outside and went to the Sadako statue. We hung up some paper cranes we made at school-but not 1000 cranes like Sadako made. In the afternoon we all had ice creams and crossed the bridge. It was a long day but a fun journey on a Monday.— Lou
Today we were up early with our suitcases ready to catch the train to Hiroshima. We all walked in 2 very straight lines to the station to find a Hello Kitty train waiting for us! After getting off the Hello Kitty, we caught the shinkansen. Finally, we arrived in Hiroshima!
We jumped off the shinkansen and walked to the okanomiaki restaurant. It was so cool and delicious! We got to cook it ourselves. I had green onion on my one. It was so good! It had crepe, noodles, egg, pork, bean sprout, cabbage and green onion!
After lunch, we walked to the peace museum. It was really interesting but quite confronting. It was a really good experience though. It was so sad looking at the photos of kids and quotes of people who didn’t survive. It really made me sympathize with all the families that had to go through the suffering and pain of the years afterwards. There was this one bit where before the blast a person was sitting on steps of the bank and when the bomb exploded a shadow was left where they were sitting. The hardest part to look at was the quotes of kids that died. To think that happened to real people is really sad. We also got to see Sadako’s paper cranes. They were so small.
Next we went to the peace park to see the A-bomb dome and Sadako’s statue. I got to ring the bell at Sadako’s statue to symbolise peace. We hung our paper cranes in one of the glass cases at the statue. In case you didn’t know Sadako was a girl who was 2 years old when the bomb hit. She wasn’t hurt but developed leukemia 10 years after. After 8 months, she died. We also got to see the A-dome, the flame and building. It was cool how it all lined up together in one straight line. I got a really cool picture. It so amazing that the building is still standing up after all the years and the bomb. It was almost a bit eerie when the sun started going down.
We got 7-11 for dinner because we had a late lunch. It was still good though. All in all, it was a really interesting day.
kirtley
We met the hotel’s pet! His name is Garugaru and he is a Tarsier. He went on our shoulders and he was so kawaii (cute), he had the biggest eyes and he was so soft. He came out the front to wave us off for the day this morning.
While at the bamboo forest it was so pretty and nice. The bamboo stretched up so tall to the sky, you had to lean your head right back to see the tops. There were a lot of people and a lot of mozzies outside but apart from that it was pretty good. Mrs. Sullivan had a special Japanese bug spray for us to put on. The trail we had been following through the bamboo forest then led us down to a river, across a bridge and around a corner to the entrance to the monkey park.
We walked up the steep hill to the monkey park and it took forever and was really tiring in the blasting heat! When we got to the top, there were misters to cool off and there were Japanese snow monkeys EVERYWHERE and they were sooo cute. We got to go inside a caged room where we could feed the monkeys banana, peanuts, and apples. They sometimes took it from our hands, and sometimes we placed it down in front of them to take. The monkeys seemed to hate the peanuts and prefer the banana. We were told not to make eye contact with them because they see it as a challenge but that was tricky because they were right up close through the cage and you are looking at them so it was hard to avoid. One of them hissed at Ruby and Fraser! There were a few babies and the monkeys also swam in a koi pond and swung from the trees. The Koi were HUGE- they must have been ancient! We then had to walk all the way back down which took forever. Ruby rolled her ankle and it hurt sooo bad but she recovered and bounced back in time for lunch.
We had lunch down by the river in a cute little row of food stalls. There were noodles, cheese pancakes shaped like 10 yen pieces, candied fruits, potato and sweet potato sticks and expensive wagyu beef skewers to choose from. Ella had a beef skewer and a sugar-boiled strawberry. It was nice to chill out in the shade and watch the canoes on the river with the pretty mountains in the background.
After that we went back to the Inn. We got to rest for a bit and then we went to Don Quiyote to go on a shopping spree -it was super fun! Then we went to a mall to go and get dinner, The subway was delicious because we are missing fresh salad and fruit a lot. After we got dinner we went to the shops to have a look in Daiso and a game shop with heaps of blind bags! Ruby got a little squishy which was so kawaii. Then we came back to the inn to talk about the next morning and go up to our rooms to have showers and pack up our suitcases because of the early start tomorrow as we head on the shinkansen to Hiroshima. We are about to settle into bed now!
Saturday the 14th was quite a few things, one of these things was Fraser’s birthday, another was the official half way mark of the trip. But as one adventure ends another starts with our first full day in Kyoto. Today was sort of like our rest day as we visited two shrines and a castle traveling in between on a charted bus with our English speaking tour guide, Taka. The first shrine was called Kinkakuji Temple and was absolutely stunning, with a golden roof, a koi fish pond as well as beautiful gardens surrounding the estate. Next we visited a castle which once housed the shogun and his samurai. As an early version of CVCT cameras, the floor boards squeaked when walked on, preventing ninjas from sneaking into the castle. In between we stopped at a food court where we had access to a delicious buffet selection. Once we finished that, we moved onto Kiyomizudera a stunning red, gold and brown temple held together not by any nails or glue but simply pieces of wood slotted together. On its own this is an impressive feat but as this historic temple has stood for many years, surviving storms and earthquakes, yet still coming out the other end in perfect condition. For dinner we had an incredible opportunity to have Shabu Shabu, which is when provided with a variety of meats you cook your own dinner. Towards the end my table went slightly crazy as we steamed the lettuce and a few tooth picks, placing them in the pot meant to cook the meat (not the lettuce).- Edie
My birthday today was amazing! breakfast was my favourite part. I woke up and had breakfast then “apparently” we had to stay to get counted and swap with the other group to make sure that everyone had breakfast. But actually, it had been arranged that Isla was bringing down a cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday and it was THE BEST. Today we went to the golden temple- Kinkakuji. It was totally stunning, like it stunned you for a second. It was awe-inspiring actually. It had the traditional Japanese temple shape which is like a tent that was stacked up high. While we were there, we walked around the nature park that surrounded the temple, watched the koi fish and I got my curried broad beans which I’ve been looking forward to. Totemo Oishii desu!! During that, I felt really zen and cheerful and it was amazing. My favourite part was…. Everything! My least favourite part was… nothing! It was all amazing. Something new I tried today was during dinner. It was shabushabu. I ate a lot and it was delicious! We grabbed a bunch of thinly- sliced meant and vegetables and dunked it into boiling water and then ladled it back into a bowl and added soy sauce. We sat on tatami floors with zabuton cushions to sit on and we put our legs under the table into a hole. Thanks so much for an amazing birthday, students, staff and Japan!
Toyohama Elementary School was an incredible experience and is my favourite one so far. As soon as we arrived at the Toyahama Elementary School, I felt welcomed and appreciated as I walked off the bus. Seeing all the students immediately warmed my heart with their big smiles! It felt amazing being able to share our concert experience with all the students, they did such a good job with the dance and couldn’t have done a better job, and it was amazing sharing it again with our home school on a zoom call. But before we shared that, every student from Buninyong had to do a presentation introducing their names and the events and or classrooms we have at our school.
After the assembly we got split into groups of four or five people plus a teacher and then split into different grades from grade 1 to 6. I was split in a group with Ruby, Jake and Lou with Mr. Georgiou. We got placed with year 4s and they were the best! We ate lunch with our classes and then all the students from Toyahama grade 4’s all did a presentation saying their names and who their buddy was from Buninyong. After all of that, the class I was a part of showed us to a room full of Japan’s history. It was all very interesting and fun to learn about. All the classes played a card game with the students and in my experience, I was very, very confused but I had the best help from Mr. Georgiou and his google translate! Even on the way out of the school I felt the exact same way as I did when I walked in. I had the best time and I wish we could’ve stayed longer!
We woke up bright and early at six o’clock in the morning then had to have our rooms clean and empty ready breakfast breakfast at seven. We packed and stored our bags, getting on a Shinkansen soon after. When we got there, the school students held our hands and walked us to their gym where we then got on to stage to talk about our school and introduce the finale dance. I felt really happy and excited to dance together with them, and I think they did too because they had the biggest smiles and they put heaps of effort into the dance steps. One little girl in a yellow skirt was loving it so much and she was absolutely killing it! They were so kind to us and very respectful, they even showed us how to play taiko drums and other very cool stuff. We went outside to play and they had a zip line! When we went back to class we got the sad news that we had to leave but before we left the students gave us origami. We waved out the window for the last time and then we went on the bus to a train station and went on another Shinkansen similar to this morning. But unlike this morning the trip was split between two trains, an hour and a half in total. After a short walk to our new hotel (Sparkling Dolphins) and a quick briefing, we prepared for tomorrow and finally got to sleep.
– Cooper
Toyahama Primary School was one of the best days so far! I had so much fun for so many different reasons. The assembly was a really fun experience and we had such a warm welcome from the students. After the assembly we went to different grades, myself and 3 others went off to Grade 1, which would be prep, and had the best time! The Grade 1 students and our group ate lunch together and they showed us how to pack our things away. They even brush their teeth straight after linch and they sort all of the lunch things into separate containers to put away. Also, their playground was amazing! Every class played games and made some friends and made lots of special new memories. Overall, today was so fun and I wish we would’ve had more time with them.
At the sister school, Toyohama Elementary School, we were greeted by the principal and some other staff members. When we got inside, we went into the library and we sat down and read a bit of the 150th anniversary book and some information, but I couldn’t understand it because it was written in Japanese. Then we went to the gym for assembly where we were greeted with applause and led in by hand with a buddy students to some chairs at the front next to the stage. To quote Ted, they made us feel so welcome and like we were rockstars or Olympians! To begin with, 4 kids who were dressed up in costumes did a little performance in front of everyone. After that we did our slide show showing Buninyong Primary School and its programs and introducing ourselves, then we all danced our finale dance together and it was really nice of them to have gone to the effort of learning and practising the dance. They looked like they enjoyed doing it too, especially seeing as they wanted to do it again! After they cheered us out of the gym, went back to the library to get lunch. For lunch I got pork, egg, soup, and dessert which was similar to mochies. We split into our groups and followed a guide with our lunch on a tray to different classrooms grade 1-6 to eat then go outside. After a 5-minute break outside we went back inside and then did some origami, a magic trick with a rope, and memory card game. Then we went to the teacher (sensei) and gave her a bag with some Australian souvenirs in it because it’s a Japanese tradition to give presents to your hosts and it was time to take a photo with the entire class. We then went into the library to get our bags and head out but before we left, we said goodbyes and thank-yous and when we got on the bus, they waved at us, and we waved at them for at least 5 minutes and then the bus drove off. On the bus, everyone was talking about how sweet the children were and they were very nice.
Lycan
Today we went to Toyahama Elementary School a.k.a our sister school. When we first arrived, we placed our bags in their library for safe-keeping then we headed down to the assembly. Whilst walking we got escorted by some students, and they held our hands all the way down to the gymnasium. When we arrived at assembly we sat in some chairs at the front and the principal came out to say a few words before some students performed for us. Then we went up for our presentation about Buninyong Primary School and we all had about a sentence to say plus our self-introductions. Once we had done our presentation, we did our concert finale twice along with the Toyohama students who had all rehearsed it too. It was a pretty cool moment! Once assembly finished, we walked back to the library to get our lunch then we walked to our Toyahama class to eat with our buddy classes. I was in a class with the 6th graders and they were super nice! Lunch was broth with tofu, milk, mochi, pork and potato, egg and rice. After we ate lunch we headed outside to get some fresh air and have a play. My highlight of the playground was the flying fox. When we got inside, we sat down and introduced ourselves to the class. Once we had done that we got in a group with some students and they introduced their selves, when we finished that we played a game where there was a paper head and facial features. You must close your eyes then they hand you a feature and tell you what it is then you put it down somewhere then again until there are no features left. After that we did some origami, then a traditional Japanese dance then we said goodbye and headed to the station to get a shinkansen (or in English a bullet train) to Kyoto.
-Bronte
Toyohama primary school was an awesome experience and wish I could’ve stayed for longer. At their assembly, we did a big presentation and also performed our school concert finale song with our whole school and our parents watching in a webex meeting. Today I was with the Grade Two’s, we did kanji and some fun games. When we went outside I played soccer with some kids and they were really kind and smart. When we came inside to the classrooms, we had to play a game where we were blindfolded and we had to try and put the facial features on the right spots. Overall, Toyohama Primary was really fun and wish I could’ve stayed for longer.
-Aidan
