Hotel Sun Hofu

Yamaguchi est une courte etape sur la route de Fukuoka, histoire de passer une derniere nuit dans une "riokan" = auberge japonaise avec repas gastronomique...hmmm ! Cette ville n'est pas vraiment visitee par les etranger ducoup il n'y a pas beaucoup d'indication en anglais, qu'importe maintenant Pauline gere le japonais ;-) Il y a une grande eglise catholique moderne ...

... rice paddle (wood carving) I've ever seen - about 20 feet long! The walkways along the water and in the shrine were all beautiful with flowers, trees and different views of the 'mainland'. It seemed like every spot was a great view and photo op for the O-Tori gate. We entered the shrine, washing our hands and mouths. Mrs. Takamura asked Eve to try one of the 'fortune' stands. She shook a cylinder filled with 100 thin sticks, then shook one out of ...

... geto-geto'. Now we were really done for another very full day. **Mizue estimates this year Labo (Japan) will be sending 600 kids to Canada, US, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand for the one year school exchange. This summer there are 25 students going to Canada and the US for the one month summer "home stay" in North America, from the Yamaguchi prefecture alone. Labo Yamaguchi expects to receive about 10 kids to their prefecture for the summer one month "home stay".

... the Sea. The tide was out, but many people were out clam digging. Mr. Takamura, Eve, Haruna and I, got out of the car and walked the last little way back, stopping to look at the beach, the hospital and the beautiful walkway filled with cherry trees. We are sad to have missed the cherry blossoms season (we missed it by about 3 weeks), as the walk way would have been all pink with blossoms and very fragrant. We made our way back up ...

... Eve and I met Mizue at her Labo meeting for lunch. Tomoko, a fellow Labo tutor with Mizue, was gracious enough to come pick us up. We were delighted to meet all of Mizue's fellow Yamaguchi Labo tutors! Each tutor introduced themselves and told us a little about themselves, their families, their time with Labo and where their Labo travels have taken them. We were surprised to hear several ladies had 20 - 35 years of service with Labo International! The lunch was pot ...

... daughter Maho dropped by. Makiko was Haruna's piano teacher (for about 12 years). Mahkiko and Maho played a few piano pieces for all of us on the piano in the living room then we also had a little sing-along. Haruna was persuaded to play a couple of songs as well, and still plays very well. (A hidden talent we didn't know about!) Soon after that, the party broke up, and we all retired to bed, as we were a bit tired, and Mizue had a 7am appointment.

... nadavali, kolko jazdi v Japonsku aut, tak zase musim povedat, ze vsetko zle je aj na nieco dobre. Mnozstvo aut so sebou nesie aj lepsie sluzby pre vodicov. Vacsina pump tak ma v Japonsku aj pneuservis, umyvacku a tie vacsie dokonca aj plnohodnotny autoservis. Takze ak dostat defekt alebo ak sa ma pokazit auto, tak radsej tu ako kdekolvek inde. Apropo, pumpa. Japonci maju radi pocitace a automatiku uplne vsade, inak to nie je ani na ...

... the cold we*ther. E*ch cl*ss runs seper*tely, tr*ck *nd field style st*rt, *nd then proceed to run * course through the neighborhood. Streets were blocked off by police men *nd p*rents *nd gr*ndp*rents lined the n*rrow streets with cell phone c*me*rs in h*nd. Students were given * pl*ce c*rd upon finishing *nd their times were recorded for their files. Lily r*n with the first gr*ders *nd I r*n with the 2nd gr*ders. It w*s fun, * nice d*y to be outside, *nd I only h*d to te*ch one ...

... for monkeys, and so we decided to revist Itsukushima Shrine. It looked completely different with the lanterns lit in the twilight and the water now rushing underneath. By this point, it was time for us to catch our ferry back, but if I ever return to Japan I definitely want to spend the night at a ryokan on Miyajima rather than just day-tripping, as the shrine and torii are illuminated until late at night after the day-trippers leave.

... of the bombs radiation effect. In the background of this pic you can see many colors housed in storage-like glass structures, well, these colors are actually origami cranes, the symbol of longevity and happiness in Japan. Sadako was convinced that if she could fold 1000 paper cranes she would recover, but she died having completed 644 cranes. The children at her school finished the rest for her and her story ...