Japan Week 11: Spring Break pt. 2

 Let's continue. 

Mount Fuji:

On Sunday, I headed to Yamanashi prefecture to meet up with a Japanese exchange student friend who I met in high school. It was great to see her and I had a great time. I met up with her at the station and together we headed to her apartment near her university. She lives close to Mount Fuji so I spent the night there and in the morning her friend drove us to Fuji-Q Highland, an amusement park with a great view of Fuji! The amusement park was so cute and fun! We didn't ride any of the big rides but went on the ferris wheel and to the Naruto-themed section. I started watching Naruto freshmen year of high school and watched it while studying Japanese so I really love it. My brothers also love it so being able to go to this real-life Naruto theme park was so cool! I got to take pictures with the characters' statues, do a VR in the Naruto world, and go through a Naruto museum which was all awesome! My poor friend hasn't seen Naruto but she still went with me and suffered through my excitement haha. 

After that, we drove closer to Mount Fuji to an old town that had lovely food and souvenirs. There was a pretty river as well that we walked alongside. Finally, we drove around a large lake with a view of Fuji which was beautiful. I'm thankful for my friend for guiding me around. I then headed back home to Nagoya.

 I then had another rest day where I caught up on my homework before going to Handa on Wednesday. 

Handa:

Handa is a small town nearby Nagoya that my friend and I chose to go to for our Japanese project. We chose it because it is known for producing sake and vinegar. So, in Handa, we went to the Mitsukan Museum which is a famous company that produces vinegar and other products. The museum described the history of Mitsukan as well as the way to create vinegar from long ago until now. It was really fascinating and I really learned a lot! I also got a bottle of vinegar as a souvenir so I am excited to try it out. After the museum, we went to a great cafe, a pretty garden, walked along the canal, and went to the old Red Brick Building. The Red Brick Building is another historical museum and is also known for its beer. We bought Handa's famous food which is called Nama Senbei, a raw rice cake, it tasted like mochi kind of. 

I then returned to school for two days and then on the weekend my old Japanese teacher from high school came to Nagoya and I gave her a tour of Nagoya. 

Hanami (Sakura viewing):

On Saturday, my old Japanese teacher came to Nagoya and though she has been to Nagoya plenty of times in the past, I was able to take her to some fun places and we had a good time. We first went to a popular park for Sakura viewing, Hanami, and there were SO many food trucks and lots of beautiful Sakura. I was really excited to experience Hanami because it is an event enjoyed by all Japanese people and foreigners. At the park, we walked around, bought lots of food, took many pictures with the Sakura, and caught up.  

 After that, we went to Osu to do some more shopping and some more eating 😂😋. Lastly, we went to Mirai Tower which is right by my host family's home. The day was a lot of fun and I enjoyed catching up with my teacher. 

Alrighty, that concludes my spring break! Thanks for sticking through my lengthy posts but I hope they were nice to read! Stay tuned for the next week!