Tasmania
On February 19, I reached Tasmania and I met my host family. There are two sons in my host family. Pekochan is also in the same family. At first I got nervous and was embarrassed because a lot of new things happened. I didn’t know what I should do.
But now I’m already used to living here. I can go back home on foot from university, I can take a bus from the city. Everything is strange for me! It is so amusing.
In yesterday’s class we went to Bonorong Wildlife Park and Mount Field. There are a lot of Australian animals in the park. I saw wombats, emus, parakeets, koalas, wallabies and so on. The wombat is very cute; it is like a koala, the emu is like an ostrich. The parakeet is also bird, it can say “hello,” which surprised me. I fed wallabies and closed them. I love them.
After that we did a bushwalk in the Mt. Field. We saw an echidna, it’s very sweet. There are nice waterfalls and big trees. I felt comfortable there and although I was too tired I had a good day.
After school we went to the city to window shop and I was just looking.
Comment [3]
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My first homestay
Tomorrow, I’m going to go on a homestay visit to Tasmania. From Feb 18 to Mar 18, I will stay with a family in Tasmania and study English both at home and at Tasmania University. I’ve never lived outside my house for such a long time, and I’m a little anxious about it but rather exited. My host family lives in Sorell, perhaps in the east of Hobart, and there are four people, father, mother, twin sisters and two dogs.
I’m looking forward to meeting them on Sunday.
The twins were born on March 3, the Doll’s festival, so I will bring them Hina-dolls (a doll displayed on the Girl’s festival day) as a souvenir. I hope that they will like it.
Now I’m in a hurry preparing for this trip, and I can’t close my carry case yet. The more clothes and things put in my traveling bag, the more hopes and fears fill my heart.
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I love Australia
In my high school days, I went to Australia on a school trip. In particular Sydney and Keanzu. It was my first travel abroad, but I had more expectation than fear.
When I got on the plane, I had an unfortunate occurrence. Because I had a splitting headache on the plane. I couldn’t think anything. Probably I think it was economy class syndrome. As I had to stay on the plane for a long time, about eight hours, my headache gave me hell. It was really terrible.
We got on with Penris High School in Australia. We sang “Anata no yume wo akiramenaide”. In English it means, “Never give up your dream”. This song was our theme song, and I like it very much. We also made pancakes with them, which were very delicious. A woman who resembled Indu taught me how to wear the apron. In addition We played “drop the handkerchief” with them. It warmed up very much. They called “goose or …”. I forgot it. What’s more, an Asian beauty waved to me, but I didn’t wave wave back. I regret it now.
We went to a zoo. There were many rare butterflies and birds. I asked a worker to take a photograph as I held a koala. He was careless when he took the picture, though, so I looked strange on that photograph. The koala smelled like eucalyptus. Next, I wanted to take a picture with a snake.
It was very good fun and the Australians were very kind. As I have many, many memories, I can’t write everything. There were many things I want to tell them. I thought I’d want to study English more and more, so I belong to the English department now. I study hard and I want to go to Australia again.
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Hirayu and Kamikouchi
I went to Hirayu hot springs in Gifu and Kamikouchi in Nagano with my family on August 8th and 9th this year.
On August 8th we first went to a service area. There we ate rice balls which my grandmother had made.
We reached the waterfall, which is named Hirayu Ootaki, in the early evening. We parked our car in the parking area and walked to the waterfall. The slope from the parking area to the waterfall is long and I was tired. Seen up close, the waterfall is very powerful. I felt refreshed there.
In the evening we arrived at the inn where we stay every time we go to Hirayu. We took a bath and ate dinner. The food served at this inn is gorgeous, and the dinner was one of our pleasures on this trip.
On August 9th we went to Kamikouchi from Hirayu bus terminal
by bus. We walked in Kamikouchi for about 90 minutes and arrived at the lodge, which is named Kamonjigoya. We ate broiled char with salt and buckwheat noodles there.
On the way back to Nagoya we called at Akakabu-no-sato, a souvenir shop. We bought souvenirs there and then went home.
We go to Hirayu and Kamikouchi almost every year. In summer it is very cool in Hirayu and Kamikouchi, and I’m looking forward to going there next summer also.
Comment [3]
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My favorite city, Osaka
I had a chance to go to some cities, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto. I thought Nagoya was a new and sophisticated city. I felt its energy and vitality to grow up. And Kyoto is an old city which has many temples and shrines. We saw a lot of red leaves there. They were very beautiful.
Though these two cities are nice like this, I like the Osaka the best. Osaka is known as the second city in Japan.
First, we went to The Floating Garden Observatory in Umeda Sky Building in Kita-ku, Osaka. The height of the tower is 173 meters. We enjoyed a magnificant panorama of high-rise buildings reflecting the sunshine. We saw a plane landing on Osaka International Airport. It was fine. We were happy. It was wonderful experience.
Next, I had a piece of cake for lunch. Thee strawberries on the cake were very sweet, and its appearance was very cute! It is said that Osaka is the city of Kuidaore. Every food is delicious.
After a lunch, we wandered around the city. Osaka has complicated streets like labyrinths. It was exciting.
What impressed me most was the view from a huge red Ferris wheel in HEP. We saw the gorgeous night view of the entire city. I had never seen such a beautiful night view and was happy to see it.
So, I like Osaka the best. Why don’t you go there? You will have a good day, I think. I want to go there again.
Comment [2]
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Kyoto
I’ve always longed to go to Kyoto and eventually I went there three weeks ago. It was a dream trip for me. Now I want to go to Kyoto again; I like the city even more than before.
When I was a high school student I had to take Japanese history classes. Although I didn’ t like history at first, the classes were very interesting every time. They were like a serial drama on TV. I wanted to know the sequel and became a fan of it. So I took much interest in Japanese history, especially in Kyoto because it is one of the important places in Japanese history. That’s why I wanted to visit the city.
When I went to Kyoto, I felt history permeates there. There are a lot of temples and historic places. I was excited. I went to some places: Gion, Yasaka shrine, Nanzenji and so on.
I was impressed by the red and yellow leaves in Kyoto, Nanzenji particularly. There werea lot of tourists from all over the word in famous temples and places, but it didn’t feel crowded. It’ s very strange. Somehow, I thought so. Maybe this power attracts a lot of people.
To be sure I ate a green tea parfait! Not Tujiri but it was very delicious all the same. Next time I want to eat a bracken rice cake and go to Arashiyama. I was satified with my Kyoto trip. I had a good time.
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Fireworks
During summer vacation I went back home. My best memory is watching the fireworks.
On August 17, I went to watch Kumano fireworks with my friends.
Kumano fireworks are often postponed because of rain and tidal waves, so I worried about the weather. Though there was a light rain, this year the fireworks were not put off, which was very lucky.
A three-feet ball is the highlight of Kumano fireworks. Three feet means about ninety centimeters. I have looked at it; it’s a very big ball! Last year a three-feet ball failed to go off. So this year a lot of people waited to watch for a year. When it did go off, everyone was very surprised at the big blast and the sound, and children began to cry. I felt a strong wind. I wanted to take a picture but couldn’t, which I regret.
Altogether I was satisfied with the fireworks. I will certainly go to see the Kumano fireworks next year.
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Illumination at Nagoya station
Today I went to Nagoya station with a friend after the club. We had dinner and went to the front of the station to see the illumination. There were trees and statues decorated with shining lights, and there were many people, too.
I felt it is better than last year’s. This year’s illumination is so good! Everyone should see it.
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Downtown in Victoria
When I was staying in Victoria, I liked to go donwtown. After I finished the classes at the English school, I often went downtown with my friends, where I enjoyed shopping and chatting with them over tea or coffee.
Every morning before I went to school, I went to Starbucks which is a really famous coffee shop all over the world (of course there are many Starbucks in Japan). After I orderd a cup of coffee, I walked around downtown, sipping my coffee. It was really fun!
I think there are many coffee shops in Victoria which are really nice. Of course I couldn’t go to all of them, but I had a great time in many nice ones.
Victoria is a famous tourist attraction in Canada, so many people visit there every year. The place where I took the picture is downtown Victoria, which has beautiful buildings, flowers, and a view of the sea. I like that scenery the best all over the world.
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Expo 2005
This year’s World Exposition, Expo 2005 was held in Aichi Prefecture for half a year.
I went to the Expo on September 16. That morning, I got up at four o’clock and I took a train at about five thirty. There were many, many people at the Expo, some of them foreigners. I was surprised.
There were many country and business pavilions. For example Germany, France, Toyota and Mitsubishi etc. There were also many fun things.
I went to the Hitachi pavilion, which was very popular, and I had to wait for five hours to enter. Needless to say, the Hitachi pavilion was very good. I experienced 3D, which was great, and I saw endangered species on screen.
Also, I saw a mammoth and visited Malaysia’s pavilion where I experienced a squall. And I ate curry in India’s pavilion, and drank beer in Germany’s pavilion. I thought that all the food at the Expo was very expensive, which worried me. For example, the curry price is one thousand yen, and the beer price is eight hundred yen. I think it is crazy.
I stayed all day long, so I was tired. But it was fun, and I think everyone who went to the Expo felt very happy.
If the Expo is held in Japan again, I want to go.
Comment [5]
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