Sendai

Back in 2009 I came to Sendai and Shichigahama for a school trip. The trip was ten days and we stayed with a host family. Everyone else stayed in Shichigahama but my family was in Sendai which isn't too far. I have a lovely host mother, a host brother and a host sister.

I knew no Japanese back then, no simple phrases, nothing. I knew absolutely nothing. My host sister knew English but my host mother does not. Yet still, we communicated and enjoyed that week together. I knew I wanted to go back the moment I left Japan and I was sure to always talk to my host family.

But...

In March of 2011, a devastating tsunami destroyed Sendai, flooded it, knocked down buildings and disrupted the lives so a whole city. So many lives were lost and it seemed there wasn't enough aid to go around. To put simply, without any better words, I was also devastated.

Thankfully I got word that my host family was okay, physically speaking. I was encouraged more to learn the language so that I could talk to my host mother. I learned my host sister went to France to marry her fiance. That meant if I visit again, I won't be able to speak English.

Now... how many years ago was that? 5 years. I took Japanese classes, I took my regular college courses, I applied for study abroad, came to Japan and now... I took a bus from Tokyo to Sendai.

I stayed for a weekend and in that weekend we visited a lovely onsen. Even in the heat of the summer, onsen are wonderful to go in. We got a room for the day as well and had lunch.

After that we visited a temple with a beautiful view. The waterfall was huge and beautiful! Sendai and Miyagi prefecture is definitely a beautiful area. Though the best part was that it wasn't nearly as hot as Tokyo was because it's further north.

The rest of the weekend was also spent pleasantly. One of the days we took a drive to Shichigahama. I did not take pictures of this. Maybe, I thought that the differences were best left to memory. The town was... different. It was like walking in a different place. The community center we went to every day was still there. But the view from the back was different. It was flat. The acres of trees were gone and the coast line was wider.

Plymouth and Shichigahama

 Plymouth and Shichigahama are sister cities. We send students there, they send students here. I was so very thankful to go on that trip. I really hope to one day work in this program to see that it always continues.

Community Office/Center

There was lots of temporary housing still. Maybe I was expecting things to be back to the way they were, but they were not. Yet still, I saw students coming back from school activities, or young children with their parents at the playground. Some people were having BBQ at the beach.

This also marks the high light of my study abroad. I had fun in Tokyo and traveling the JR. I had fun going to classes at APU for my first semester. I enjoyed Osaka on QB, I enjoyed eating Japanese food, I enjoyed it all, but this... is why I came to Japan.

I promised I would visit again when I came back to Japan.
Well, I came back to Japan, and I visited.

This is why I am studying abroad.

First stop is Hiroshima. We arrived later than planned on the 6th, therefore we ended up missing the Peace Ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Park. So we went to the hostel, which ended up being close to the station. I definitely recommend it! Hiroshima Peace Hotel. We stayed in the hostel style, cheap lodging, but it was air conditioned, has laundry and clean shower/toilet facilities. The staff is nice and there is a small kitchen we took advantage of. Unfortunately they were only available for one night and we had to switch to a different hostel that morning.

First off, we went to Miyajima, which is an island not too far from Hiroshima. It has a famous red gate sticking out of the water. Being low tide, we could walk out to it. The whole temple is on stilts, as the tide comes far up to make it look like it is floating! Oh, and just like every other random place in Japan there are wild deer that don't care.

That is the boat we took. Maybe 20 minutes.

Baby deer, Mom deer is close by...

Chocolate Chip... maybe

Inside Itsukushima Shrine

So without anything to do today, I headed down to Beppu-shi to walk around and learn the streets. The bus ride downtown isn't very long and takes us on a pretty route. We got dropped off at Beppu Koen (Beppu Park) and we viewed all the sakura blossoms. There are so many! Tulips are also very popular, as you can see from the pictures. There were many people enjoying hanami, which is sakura blossom viewing! You have a picnic and just enjoy yourself.

I then walked to the harbor which reminds me of Boston. It was very warm and sunny out and I got a nasty sunburn, but it's better than being cold! There are many beaches and parks in Beppu which makes it look very natural despite being a city. The Japanese have mastered living in nature very well. I also went up Beppu Tower. There is a tower in pretty much every city, so they aren't anything special. It had a great view though!

View from Beppu Tower

Beppu Station

Beppu Harbor Tsunami Warning

After that we went to dinner at a conveyor belt sushi place. Even the bad sushi here is better than in America. I am not a fan of sushi, but it was pretty cool to go to. If you want to order a particular piece of sushi, it comes out on a tiny shinkansen (bullet train) right to your table. So there are no actual waitresses or anything. It's pretty sweet.

To drink, it's not common to have soda with a meal, or even juice. Tea is the most common thing, green tea in particular. So the little yellow nozzle on the side dispenses hot water and you put in matcha, which is green tea, and you have tea.






To continue the long day, we stayed until nightfall to watch them set Mt. Obu on fire. Why? I have no idea why they do that. It's the start of the onsen (public bath/spa/hot tub) festival. It's a controlled fire, so no one gets hurt.

So in short, welcome to Beppu, we set a mountain on fire because it is fun.