today we had an extremely early morning waking at around 6 and meeting at the Shinagawa station at 7:20 and sadly had to say good bye to our awesome host family's and all our amazing new friends :'( but we all hope to see them again someday :) after we said our goodbyes we rode a Shinkansen at 7:50 (bullet train) to Hiroshima then went to miyajima-guchi the and to miyajima island by ferry at miyajima we made momiji manju and toured the island by ourselves :P at 6pm we left the island by the ferry and headed to our hostel (by tram) which we are staying in at the moment which is awesome !!!!!!!!!  I miss my host family :'(
but we are all having the time of our lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     

sorry got to go sleep time bye!!!!

October 1st

Today Janice and I went to Shibuya for the day. We went to a fancy stationery shop first then to a delicious shop for lunch. We ate udon and tempura and it was sooo good. We then went to 109 and after looking around for a while we decided to go to H & M and Forever 22. After that we looked around then went our seperate waves. We then got some food for dinner and on the way we met a shopowner i had met on the first day. We took some photos then walked home. After a tiring day sleep was very welcome!

Today is the last day with our host families. My host family told me that we could go anywhere i wanted to and after hearing how i had a great time at the tokyo dome amusement park they recommended another park to go to. We then went to toshimaen amusement park. I really enjoyed this amusement park as it was very fun riding all the rides with my hostfamily especially the pirate ship which was massive and when it was at the top you could see an amazing view. We then went to ikebukuro where we went to some shops. I bought some cds and then we went to have some lunch. It was then about time to get ready for the party before i went i gave some gifts to my hostfamily as a way of saying thanks for letting me stay at their house for two weeks. At the party there were many laughs and even more photos. Everyone had a great time at they party and i know everyone will miss their hostfamily. After the party my hostfamily and i drove around town and went to a few places before coming home.

Day 8: a belated post

How embarrassing - I completely forgot to post this blog on the day!

Tuesday was the day of our 3rd and final school visit. Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin is a girls school of ~1200 students. This school brings their Year 3 students (all 200 of them) to Auckland every year. They almost need a whole plane for themselves. 

While we were at the school we joined in a PE lesson, participated in a tea ceremony, chatted to some of the girls over lunch, sang 'Let it Go' in Japanese (this has become the theme song for the trip) and helped students write questions in their English class. 

Once again we were really spoiled and more names have been added to our list of 'new friends made'. 

I can't believe that I've been in Japan for more than a week, with the Sayonara Party tomorrow and the second part of our trip about to begin it:s time to accept that this adventure is almost over.

Yesterday I was finally able to go to Shibuya and see the scramble crossing in person. Although I had a great time, my wallet returned empty.

Today we made glass wind chimes, visited a museum and also the Sky Tree. The elevator to the top went so fast that you could feel your ears pop because of the pressure. Although it was cloudy today, the view was still amazing.

holiday with host family

Well it is my turn to post again.
I finally found WiFi somewhere in a restaurant. Right now I am eating pizza with my host family as we are very hungry right now. Today I brought a totoro soft toy for my sister. We are currently in odaiba shopping and eating.

Hopefully everyong is having a good time.

Day 9: School Visit to Shingawa Girls College

Table tennis in PE Class

Breathing exercises in music class

Tea Ceremony

Disneyland - highlights from the Dream Lights Parade

Dusk

Day: 10

Entry: 2

Dusk,

It is around 9 o clock at night while I am publishing this, I'm not tired and it seems the city isn't tired either. In Japan it is hot, but nice in a way. I'm woken up by the sounds of the crows in the morning, and its warm and cosy. For breakfast I usually have cereal and Japanese bread/toast. Oh the bread, New Zealanders, you don't know what your missing out, nice and big, thick slices, so soft, aaaaaaghhh my god so good! We went to Disneyland yesterday, most people think that will be their highlight of their trip, for me, not really much of a big deal :P. I'm in love with the food here, has any of you had melon soda, ohh so good... Also my new favorite flavour of ice cream, mocha (Japanese green tea) flavor, oh its so good, I have had the best ice cream, best ramen (noodles), best drink, best bread, best chocolate (oh yeah did I mention that their chocolate is amazing!) And best time of my life here in Japan! Ahh I don't want to leave. In Japan, they have these awesome hot pools where there is inside and outside pools, and also everyone is naked... It felt weird at first, but it was a lot easier as time went on, also its gender separated (of course). I have worn a Japanese yukata (its an all cotton kimono) and I have gone camping and gone to a huge shopping mall, visited 3 schools, a temple, 2 restaurants and some other stuff I can't remember (lol). Oh I nearly forgot, the barbeque here, ohohoho if you thought nz BBQ was good, you know nothing yet. To them, our BBQ would be a dry, tasteless lump of meat. Oh it was so juicy and delicious and soft and tasty and just amazing! I also had purokoge (Korean BBQ) it was like a saucy and amazingly tasty BBQ. Anyways , enough rambling, I am having a great time here, but we are halfway through the trip, then back to boring old nz :( my host family here accepts me as one of their own. They are so nice and thought full, already I have become great and lifelong friends with each and every one of them. Anyways guys, its dark, I've typed for 10 minutes straight, and I'm tiring out, good bye guys, I miss you all, yes YOU, reading this right now while standing/sitting/lying down. Thank you for reading, this is Rahul, signing off.

DFTBA! (Don't Forget To Be Awesome!)

Half way through our trip - Disneyland

Monday 29th September, a day all of us were looking forward too because we were going to Disneyland! Most of us were going for the first time and we were all so excited for this new experience!
It was a early start today, just so we could make the most of Disneyland! 9 am we reached Disneyland and all around us were people, lots of them!!! We went in and went with our groups!! The lines were really long for the rides and there were so many people there too! Thw first ride was amazing - the splash mountain! Then we went to the space mountain and we had the fast pass for this ride so we were on the ride in no time!! By the time we finished these rides we all went for a feed and then off to the next ride which was the pirates and the carribean one! Then we went shopping inside the castle and Payal and I got a glass heel with our name engraved on it! After this we did more shopping in the other souvenir shops and we bought a lot!! The shops were so amazing!!  We then saw the electronic Cinderella parade!!! Around 8:30 pm the fireworks 🎆 started and it was beautiful!  Following that we watched the castle show which was brilliant!! Finally after a long, fun and tiring 12 hours it was time to head back!!
This Disneyland trip more than an experience for an individual, it was a form of bonding with one another and spending time to get to know one another!!
I really loved today and I can't believe that we are half way to our trip, the experience so far has been fabulous and I'm looking forward to the upcoming days and to share my experiences with my family and friends back home!!!

The images below show us all showing off cool engraved bracelets we got from the woods and craft shop and also of fire from the scene of the castle show
The second image is of us having fun outside the castle!

 Niki Chawla

Having such a great time in Japan

Today we (my host family and i) took the train to Shibuya and pretty much wandered around for a bit . Saw the Hachiko statue as well as the scramble crossing, there was so many people there its nothing like New Zealand . While in Shibuya, we took a stroll through harajuku where there were many people there cosplaying as maids and other characters.
After that we went up this tower and got an amazing view of the city, it is pretty much a concrete jungle out here in Japan, in most cities anyways.
Finally we made our way home by train and bought sushi for dinner, it was delicious.

Last night we lit off some fireworks ( the small sparkling ones ) and had such a blast. So far the experience in Japan is just amazing. I wish i could stay here forever but yeah, gonna be back in New Zealand sooner or later :( There are things here that you will probably never find in New Zealand which is what makes Japan special to me.

27th September - with host families

Went to Akihabara with derek which was very fun but unfortunately no picture to show that but we went to a few shops that sold figures and to sega that had arcade games and claw machines which I tried and failed so many times hahahaha.......

That was pretty annoying but still quite fun. We went to quite a few places but unfortunately  no pokemon center lol.

Me and derek found arian and his host family which was pretty interesting because we made a huge group between my host family and his. Sadly enough we had to part each other and me and derek went back home but instead arrived at a station where we waited for the murakami family which was derek's homestay and we went to a festival called oirandou.

I had a ton of fun and I even saw payal nikki and melissa In kimonos which were pretty cute. Unfortunately my night came to an end afterwards and I went home.

Well until next time. Bye

Steven

Day 5: School Visit to Ono Gakuen

Japanese Activities with Ono Gakuen Students

Lunch with Ono Gakuen Students

Saturday 27th of September 2014

Waking up in the morning to go to the sports day/festival hosted by my homestay's daughter's school.

There are two teams and its
RED VERSUS WHITE
There were many events in this day and that included:

Running

Throwing balls into the hoop before it's time up

Meeting the mascot(the left supports red and the one on the right supports white)

Seeing a tug of war using sticks and dragging the stick to the teams side.

Relays
Red won the first one and then white won the next.

And much more events that I missed due to me going late.

Within this day there were many many people supporting the teams and their children.

After all this I went back home to chill and relax until that moment
Of
Making
T A K O Y A K I
that's right making it and eating it!

Just with my homestay and no one else.

Overall I can gladly say that I've had an enjoyable time watching sports and making Takoyaki.

Extras:

A somewhat view while outside

Day 5: snapshots

Rahul fully engrossed in the first activity at Ono Gakuen

One of the girls at Ono Gakuen was not like the others!

How many can you get in a selfie?

We were all sad to leave but happy to have made so many new friends 

Arian getting a little help from the ikibana expert at SIFA.