Packing!!

       Today was such an exhausting day. All that packing! I had to pack, and then check to make sure I had everything, and then check again. I had finally finished after at least two tiring hours. I have planned my whole trip already!  I am expecting to be leaving Maple Ridge at around 10:00 tomorrow morning, since my plane leaves at 4:00 p.m. I am so fascinated with the whole idea of learning about Japanese religions, and historical events. I am even more thrilled with the idea that my best friend Karli and I are going together! Just us, with no parents at all! I guess I  better get to sleep now, or I will end up missing my flight. And that just can not happen, not tomorrow anyway!

Leaving Maple Ridge!

Wow, what an amazing flight! That Air Canada plane was massive! I think it held close to 400 people. As soon as Karli and I got on the plane, the first thing that caught my eye was how big it was. We couldn't even see to the back! After we got all settled in, and comfortable in our seats, Karli and I started watching movies that I brought on the 12' inch DVD screen right in front of us. Once the movie was over, I took out my book on Japan and started researching all about the neat Historical events that happen in Japan. Out of all the amazing events, my favourite was the dropping of the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I hope to find out more about this event during my travels in Japan! As soon as I put my book away, A very nice lady came up to me and asked us if we would fancy anything to eat or drink. Of course we said yes, I mean how could we turn down a perfectly good meal. The food size was outrageous! I think the cheeseburgers were bigger than the size of my head. And the drinks were at least the size of Karli's hand, times three. Even though it was big, it was delicious! I had only gotten half-way through my meal when the lady that gave us the meals took it away and told us there will be no more meals until morning. We just couldn't believe it was 10:00 p.m already! But, Karli and I went to sleep anyway. I guess we needed the rest for our big day ahead of us. The next morning didn't have much to it. We woke up at around 8:00 a.m, we had breakfast and the plane landed close to 9:00 a.m. Then a Double Decker bus picked us up from the airport and  took us to where we needed to be at the Shelpen Inn & Suites. Now, we are basically resting, and we will start the exploring bright and early tomorrow morning!   

 

The Hiroshima Museum

We had a long rest on Saturday, and today we have been exploring the best Japanese museum in all of Japan, plus the Hiroshima museum is right across the street from the Shelpen Hotel.Surprisingly enough, theHiroshima museum is actually a very popular landmark in Japan. Karli and I went to the 

 museum an learnt a lot of interesting information about Japan. When we first got there we went to an exhibit where the two of us learnt all about Japan's location in the world. We found out that this Country is i

n the Continent of Asia, west of South Korea. Japan 

is a country made up of hundreds of Islands, with four main islands called: Hokkaido, Honshu`, Kyushu, and Shikoku shown to the left. . We also learned

 that Japan is surrounded by the Pacific ocean and the Sea of Japan. Japan is on the northern side of the 

Hemisphere. At the very end of the exhibit was a huge painting of a map of the world, it showed Japan's neighbouring Countries: Russia, North Korea, and South Korea. Next, We started to explore a new exhibit which I have never seen before. We were in a really strange, dark room with black and white 

pictures all over the walls. I wasn't sure what they were of, until I read an article about the dropping of the Atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this article

was laying on the wall right bellow many historical pictures of th

e dropping of

 the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The article read that the bomb was dropped by an American named Enola Gay. This terrible event happened in

early August of 1945. Three days later of the dropping of the bomb in Hiroshima. If there wasn't already enough damage, the Americans dropped another bomb in Nagasaki. According to the U.S, they had many good reasons for dropping the two bombs. First of all, Russia wanted to take over the island of Japan, which would be very embarrassing for the Americans because the U.S.A had been fighting in the war, against Japan, for the longest time, and Russia had only just begun a battle against Japan. Second, the bomb may have turned the Russians against challenging America for the island. Another reason for this dreadful experience was because the American scientists wanted to test the bomb in an actual war. Last, but not least the U.S. had spent over 2 billion dollars on this project and the leaders of the government wanted to see the results. Wow, that is pretty amazing how bad the war was back then! In Canada now nothing like that has happened for the longest time. Before we left the museum both Karli and I grabbed  something to eat at the food court. Surprisingly they had excellent food! After the museum, we just hung out at or hotel pool for the rest of the day!

 

Tsunami!!

WOW!! I have never seen something so dreadful or sad in my life! We started the day off with some breakfast at our hotel. Then, after breakfast a taxi took us to the most amazing beach in all of Japan called, Saku beach. It was literally amazing! It looked just like one of the beaches in the Hollywood movies. Karli went swimming in the ocean with me, we built sand castles, we played beach volleyball, and we even went surfing! Just after we had our picnic, we were about to go and hit the waves again until Karli said that she saw something far out in the ocean and it was coming towards us! At first I didn't believe her, but then it came closer and I saw it too. It looked like a giant wave, and it was heading right for us! One moment the beach was silent, and the next everyone was running around screaming like crazy maniacs! L

uckily, everyone had gotten away quick enough, and know one was injured. Although the city was very badly damaged. It would take months or maybe even years to repair it. As soon as the destruction was over, we got talking with this man named Ron Quenzies, who wa

s also visiting Japan like us. He was from Australia, but he knew a lot more about Japan than we did. He told us that we had just experienced a real live tsunami, and that they were common in Japan mainly because Japan has so many earthquakes. He also said that there has not been a tsunami that huge for centuries in Japan, although they have small ones all the time! We found out that a tsunami is a series o

f big waves started by a body of water. If there is an earthquake beneath the water, instead of shaking the ground, it will form a tsunami. Ron said that tsunamis can also occur because of landslides, volcano eruptions, explosions, and sometimes even meteorites too. He mentioned that it is very rare that people have even the slightest injury at all. After talking to Ron about tsunamis, Karli invited him back to our hotel for a snack, and so we could find out more info about Japan. After we got back to our hotel room, Ron told us about the Climate in Japan. He told us that Hokkaido is the 

coldest island in Japan. And that in Hokkaido, there is lots of snow in the winter. Plus they have fairly mild summers. He mentioned that in Honshu their summers are very warm, and their winters are quite mild. We also found out that the rest of the islands to the south are tropical islands,  they tend to be warm all year round. Like Canada, Spring months in Japan are March, April, and May, and Summer months are June, July, and August. Mr. Quenzies told us that Summers in Japan are usually hot and humid, and that rain only lasts up to 40 days. Ron  described how late

summer is the season for typhoons and violent tropical hurricanes that bring floods and landslides to Japan. Obviously, Autumn months are September, October, and November, and anywhere from August to October is where typhoon season occurs. In the Winter months, December, January, and February it snows a lot on near the Sea of Japan, and it is dryer near the Pacific Ocean. I couldn't believe how much Japan's climate is similar to Canada's! I thought it would way different, but it's really not. Before Ron left, he told us that great times to travel in Japan might be early or mid-April, mid or late-May, and October or early November. The temperatures are mild, and there is not too much rain at that time. Ron Quenzies said he has had an excellent time, then he gave us both presents and left.  

                                                                                           

Customs & Cultures

Today, Karli and I went to a famous Japanese restaurant not to far from our hotel. Their food was amazing! I had yakitori and green tea. While Karli had California rolls and Pokari sweat. Right when we finished our meals, A Japanese woman named Yumiko Yokohama, wearing some kind of fancy dress, sat down right beside us. She started chatting to us all about Japan's customs and cultures. She said that she was wearing a kimono, which are usually worn for special outings or occasions. Yumiko told us about a few other customs in Japan. Like bowing, Japanese people mainly bow because it is respectful instead of shaking hands. Another custom in Japan that Yumiko described to us, was how Japanese always take off their shoes and put on slippers before entering anybody else’s house. They mainly do this because all Japanese think it is respectful as guests to wear slippers in a hosts house. A culture in Japan that I really found interesting was how Japan has a tradition of acting, dancing, singing, performing, and theatre! Yumiko started telling us all about Children's day. Which Karli and I found really interesting. I would love to have a Children's Day back in Canada. It takes part on May 5th every year, since it was once called boy's day. Where only young boys got treated like royalty. The last culture in Japan that Yumiko described were all the festivals that Japan has. Like Lantern Festivals, Ice Festivals, New Years, and Summer Festivals. Before we left the restaurant Yumiko invited us to the Tanabata festival that was going on tonight. The Tanabata festival is held on July 7th which celebrates the love between two celestial stars. For this occasion, people both young and old parade through the city wearing kimonos. They are also carrying lanterns, colourful streamers, or bamboo poles. We agreed to come to this festival on our way out the door.

The Tanabata Festival

Before the Tanabata festival Karli and I went shopping for kimono's. Although when we left, we had no idea how expensive kimonos really are. I don't think there was one kimono under a thousand dollars. We were 

obviously not going to pay that much money, so we decided to just wear waiting there with kimono's for us. She obviously knew we didn't have any. So we got dressed, and then we joined the festival. It was 

amazing! There was dancing, singing, lights, decorations, food and rides, My favourite was the dancing! We got a chance to learn abiout new, interesting dances which we hav’nt learned before, by the end of the night,we were pros! After some fun, we ate an amazing dinner, received tiara's, and then watched some dancing entertainment. it was a long night. We didn't get home until at least midnight. 

Mt.Fuji

Today, we are going to see Mount Fuji in Hiroshima. Supposedly, Mount Fuji is one of the tallest mountains in the world. And the most

famous mountain in all of Japan. Fuji actually means gushing out in the one of the languages in Japan, called Ainu. Mount Fuji has that name, because Ainu witnessed a huge eruption close to ten thousand years ago.