Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go see Takeda Castle (aka the inspiration for “Laputa: The Castle in the Sky”) with friends! We drove all night to Hyogo prefecture and then hiked to the top of a mountain for about an hour (starting from about 4 am I
Month: November 2015
Nara Student Scholarship Fund!
Do you remember the t-shirt design contest I entered for Nara AJET (association of JETs)? They have a great scholarship program going for students to study abroad in an English speaking country! I think this is wonderful opportunity for students to experience a new culture and really push their language
Osaka “Halloween Rampage” 2015
We went straight to Osaka from the hiking event in Nara with a suitcase of our costume supplies. We were staying with a group of other ALTs in a swanky airBnB apartment and we stopped there first before having dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant to celebrate our new friend
A Walk through Time: Hike to Heijo Palace!
On Halloween day Josh and I volunteered to join in a walk to the ruins of Heijo Palace with the Japanese community. We met early in the morning and did some group stretching before breaking out into teams. We had to come up with a Halloween themed name, but we
Higanbana Festival
The weekend after the Hasedera Festival, Josh and I got to celebrate the coming of fall at the Higanbana Festival in Asuka (the very first, ancient capital of Japan!). This festival was so special because the residents of Asuka dressed us up in the traditional clothing of the Asuka Era! The
Hasedera Festival
I had a strenuous yet enjoyable experience with traditional Japanese culture at the Hasedera Festival recently. In this festival, we lifted a huge shrine onto our SHOULDERS and carried it throughout the entire village all day! From my knowledge, the shrine we were carrying is now the spiritual home of