学校のやすみ (School holidays)

Hi everyone,

It's been school holidays for the last few days and i've done heaps(!) of stuff. I'll start from the 20th....

Sunday, September 20

Today I went sightseeing with my host parents. We left Iwamura at about 2pm and drove about 30 mins to 小里川ダム (Origawa Dam). Origawa Dam a huge dam between Iwamura and Akechi, and a really popular tourist spot (apparently). There was a live band and heaps of tourist shop - a really nice place. The landmark attraction, though, was the massive water-mill surrounded by water fountains.

Monday, September 21

Today i went to so many places it was hard to take it all in! First, my host father and I drove to the top of a mountain about 20 mins from Iwamura. It was a really windy, narrow (only one car could fit at a time which led to some scary 'near misses') road that seemed to go on for ever. It was worth the wait though. At the top was a spectacular lookout over Iwamura and the surrounding cities. There was also a temple and probably the tallest tree i've ever seen!

Around the other side of the mountain there were 10-15 giant windmills that were part of an electricity plant. We then followed the track down the mountain and came to a river.

After lunch (天丼 - tempura on rice),　my host father took me to Jibuzaka Plateu. It was amazing! In winter it is a ski resort, but during summer it is a garden and putt-putt golf course. The photos describe this place better than i can...

Tuesday, September 22 (Happy Birthday Mum!)

Today I met Alex and his host family in Nagoya. I had so much fun! We watched Nagoya Grampus 8 train, got Josh Kennedy's signature, went to the Toyota Museum (apparently i saw the "car of the future") and had a boat tour of Enakyo.

Alex's host family were really nice. His host mother spoke really good English and they were all very kind to me. As well as meeting his HF, it was good to catch up and compare our experiences so far. I'm hoping that some time in December-January i can go to Sanda and meet up with some of my old friends there. Fingers crossed...

Anyway, i'd like to write a lot more but i'm really tired. I'll try and write some more as soon as i can.

Until next time...