ホームステイ! (Home Stay!)

Today we had a day with our home stay families!

First, I went with my host mother (Hiroko) to a pottery class! We made a bowl and a mug each! In a month the fired product will be sent to APU! I love working with clay so I enjoyed myself! My host mother doesn't speak English, but we are good with communicating. I understand what she is saying most of the time, but I am not good with responding.

After that we went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant... which is nothing like in America. The food was delicious! The dessert was my favorite! Very sweet!

We then went to a お寺 (temple). Renkein Okunoin (Link), home to the largest temple bell! There were many sakura (cherry blossom) trees, but only a few were in bloom, like this one! Very very pretty! In a few weeks more will be in bloom!

To end the day, we went to an onsen! No pictures of course since we were not alone. It's a public bath, like a spa. Very very relaxing! There was a small outdoor section too which was beautiful!

For dinner we made curry and gyoza. I am enjoying sake very much! Hot sake is delicious! A friend of Hiroko's came over later with her adorable dog named Fukumaru! Very sweet shiba inu!