Maoris In Japan....

Kia Ora all... Well Paora and Chanel are currently living in Omihachiman, Shiga, Japan. Teaching english to Senior High School students... Read our blog to see what we've been getting up to here in japan and abroad.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Hiroshima & Kyushu


Paora outside Horita Onsen - Beppu






Hiroshima Dome - Atomic Bomb Museum





Us at Miyajima Island Tori (Gate) not the best weather but a great day.

Discovering Japan

Kia Ora all... well its that time again for a blog update.... well good because we got a bit to talk about. Well spring is slowly starting here and school is wrapping up for the year which means two things time to chill and time to get out and about and see more of japan. Yes thats exactly what we been up to. We headed down the island of honshu to check out Hiroshima and then down on to the lower island of Kyushu to beppu to get some r & r and chill in some onsen or hotsprings....

Day one we left home and headed down to Hiroshima on the local trains and did our best to scam the trains ... after about 5 hours we arrived in hiroshima where we intended to visit the Atomic Bomb museum and dome and also check out miyajima island which is famous for its shrine and huge tori or gate. On day two we woke feeling a bit jaded from the journey but nevertheless headed out to discover hiroshima first we checked out the Museum really amazing... in a sad way to learn about the affects of the atomic bomb dropped by the americans on August 6 1945 at 815. It is definitely a site that i would recommend anybody visiting japan to check out just the affects of atomic bombs on people is trully shocking... nevertheless having two bombs dropped. Was also really awesome to see the dome which was one of the remaining buildings today that survived the huge impact....

In order to get over the sad buzz which left us well me having a bit of a tangi we headed out to a island to check out a amazing shirne that is a popluar destination for both japanese and foreigners. Although it rained and we missed high tide we got the opportunity to touch it and get up close. We also ate some awesome curry rice which was probably the best we have eaten in japan.

After leaving hiroshima we headed down to beppu which is a popular place for onsen in japan.... arrived quite late but got settled in and because our hotel had an onsen went for a late night relax. The tikanga around using onsen in japan is pretty tuturu so we was a bit nervous not about being the only naked foreigners but just not really knowing what to do because it was a first time in an onsen. So we headed in acting like we knew what we were doing... paora into the mens and me into the womens. First you strip down to your birth suit and head into the washing room where you wash your self from head to toe... while sitting on these little stools before entering into the hot spring... indoors or outdoors.... while in beppu we tried our best to visit as many different kind of onsen as we could and got to experience the old... new... beach side and up in the mountains.... overall we can say that we pretty clued up about onsen tikanga now.

Overall an awesome trip and we really enjoyed it.... looking forward to the next one where ever it may be... maibara?

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Graduation pics



Hiro,me and Kenta..My Cool Students

English Club Students...final goodbyes


Me and the trendy chicks of the school

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Graduation!!!

Kia ora whanau..well winter is nearly nearing to an end..Man cant wait for the weather to warm up, and start getting out and about more..Winter this year has dragged on, big time!!! School is coming to a end and i have finished classes for this school year until april. Last week we had our 3rd graders Graduation (or 7th formers if in nz).. it was a pretty cool day..it was a big ceremony..heaps of the kids were crying as it was a last chance for them to see each other before most of the kids head to uni...heaps different to the way we finish school..but it was sad to see some of the kids leave as some of them were really cool...all in all it was a cool day..now that the weather is warming up, we are about to prepare for a touch tourney next month...man cant wait to play, should be sweet...well whanau..not much korero but heres a few pics of grad and some of my students...
sweet...
paora
Jaa mata ne!!