Hellooo!
This weekend I went on a bus tour which was so amazing! Highly recommend! It was an unlimited strawberry picking and eating tour so I was so excited. The tour also went to Ise Jingu, a very popular shrine in Japan that hosts one of the three national treasures. Ise Jingu Shrine was so pretty and the town by it, though crowded, had amazing food and it was so fun to walk around!
After the shrine, we went to the strawberry picking 😈 Let me tell you, I definitely ate my worth of the trip. I had 55 of the softest and sweetest strawberries I've ever had, I felt full for two days 😂.
After strawberries, we went to a new and boujie shopping area in the mountains. It was so cool! I had never seen something like it in Japan so it was cool to see. I, of course, ate more delicious food to fill my heart's happiness. We then returned in the evening and I had dinner with my host family 😊
On Wednesday I went bowling with my language buddy which was really fun! I started off strong with a strike but then it just went downhill from there. My language buddy had the opposite journey, after the first game she was getting strikes left and right. So in the end I lost by about 100 points 😂 nonetheless it was really fun. After bowling, we went to a nearby donut shop and had some donuts, and talked for a little. A fun day 🎳
On Friday, my college friends and I went swimming at a very-obviously-for-kids pool. It was really fun though because everyone missed swimming and the pool had slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, and an actual pool. After playing around for an hour, the last hour I spent doing laps in the big pool and it felt really good to get some exercise in 🏊 After the pool however, we went to an amazing steak restaurant! It was so cheap but soo good! I got 360oz for 17$! It tasted amazing and you get unlimited rice, soup, and sides. America could never 😢
The next weekend, the 15th and 16th, I went to Nagaham to meet up with my old high school Japanese teacher. She lives in Nagahama and that weekend happened to be the weekend of the once-a-year festival called the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival. On Saturday, we participated in festival activities and it was SO much fun! The primary event of the festival is the various floats chosen each year. Usually, four floats, called Yama, are chosen per year but this year was the 450th year anniversary of the festival so all 13 floats were shown! It was truly spectacular. Unfortunately, it was raining so the floats had a cover on them so you couldn't see all of it but they were still really beautiful nonetheless. Also, on the floats are children's kabuki shows. Elementary school boys dress up and act in the kabuki shows as per tradition for 450 years. Each of the four floats has a different play and I was able to see three of them. Let me tell you, those children were absolutely amazing! Their acting skills were astonishing and I was so impressed with each and every play. They were all so entertaining and well done. It was truly amazing to see. We ate delicious festival food and had a great day.
If you want to see some videos of the performances check out my travel Instagram Nagahama highlight at @grace.straughn.travels
The next day, Sunday, was also incredibly fun! I started the day by taking a boat to an island in the largest lake in Japan, Lake Biwa which is filled with temples and shrines. It was such a beautiful place filled with nature and it was so peaceful. The shrines and temples were so pretty and the atmosphere was really nice. From one of the shrines, you can throw a pottery-like disc to try and make it through the tori gate ⛩ to grant your wish, but unfortunately, I did terribly haha.
After the island, we went to a delicious restaurant that served the local specialty food, Mackeral Noodles or Saba soumen. Lunch was so delicious and after my teacher and I treated ourselves to cute and yummy drinks we saw another family drinking.
Next, we went to meet up with one of my teacher's friends who lives further into the countryside. There we took a walk up the hillside to collect herds and edible plants and to enjoy some nature. I saw wild monkeys for the first time too which was really cool! The views were spectacular and it was great to be able to see some of Japan's more rural areas. I also learned a lot about rice fields and harvesting them since my teacher owns one and that's how she gets rice every year. I then took the train and returned back home and had dinner with my host family 😊 It was a great weekend!
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