Nikko - Day 2

On Sunday, we decided to go to Lake Chuzenji. The road going there is crazy. It's so steep and winding. Most of the fall leaves had turned brown near the lake, but the lake was still really pretty. We went to see Kegon Falls first. I really wanted to see monkeys, but we didn't see any that day.

Kegon Falls

Lake Chuzenji

Lake Chuzenji

Our group: Our Japanese Friend, Me, and Carly (Oyama High School's ALT)

Carly at a really nice cafe we ate at for lunch

Nikko - Day 1

Last Friday, I went to Nikko with two friends. One is the ALT at Oyama High School. The other is our Japanese friend that we met in Tokyo. We stayed at a hostel because it was cheap, but the hostel owner was really, really helpful and friendly. On Saturday, we did things around Nikko City. We went to several shrines including Tosho-gu. It was so cheap. I was really surprised. You could buy a pass to 5 shrines for only 1,000 yen. The fall colors were perfect too.

There were lots of interesting buildings in Nikko.

Sacred Bridge- The lighting was always really bad, so it was difficult to get a nice picture.

The fall colors were so pretty. We went at the perfect time.

This is at Tosho-gu.

This was a cool antique shop.

The Three Wise Monkeys at Tosho-gu

Tokyo Tower and Language Exchange Partner

Recently, I visited Tokyo Tower with a friend. Earlier that day, we watched the Australian Football League Championship game. It was the first time I had ever watched Australian football. It was interesting . It's like a mix between soccer and American football. The pub we were at was really close to Tokyo Tower, so we walked there after the game. The view is cool from the tower, but I think there are better places to see the view. Like in Shinjuku, you can go up an observation tower for free, and it is taller than the tower. We got to the tower at a perfect time though. The sun was setting, so the city looked really pretty.

View from Tokyo Tower

Also, recently, my new neighbor and I have been meeting with a language exchange partner. The girl on the left in the picture is my new neighbor. She is from Canada, and she teaches at Gotemba High School. The man in the middle is our language exchange partner. He lives in Gotemba, and he is very interested in learning English. We usually meet about once every week or two. As you can see from the picture, one night we went bowling. Last night, we ate okonomiyaki. It was really fun to make.

Seoul, SoKo

On September 22, I left for Seoul from Haneda Airport with my friend from Oyama High school. I was really excited to go to Seoul because I love Korean dramas and pop music. It was so cool to see so many people on billboards that I recognized. The first day, we headed for Changdeokgung Palace. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We decided to walk through the garden, which actually looks like a forest. It was huge. We were so tired by the time we finished the walk. After this, we ate Korean Style Shabu Shabu. The amount of food we were given was so much. I felt so ill after eating it all.

Changdeokgung Palace

After lunch, we walked up a huge road. It was really pretty though because there was a water fountain and statues in the center of the road. This road led to Gyeongbokyung Palace. This palace is really big, and the grounds are very pretty.

Carly, Oyama High School's ALT

Gyeongbokyung Palace

After going to the palaces, we decided to make our way to N. Seoul Tower. It's really, really pretty. You have to go up this massive hill to get to it. Once you get to the top, you can see the entire city. We went at night, so the lights were beautiful. After going to the tower, we went to Namdaemun Market. Here we bargained for Korean pop star notepads and bought nori (seaweed).

N. Seoul Tower

View from N. Seoul Tower

On Day 2, we went to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) on a tour. We got to see the last railway station in South Korea. Also, we got to go an observation tower where we could look into North Korea. There were lots of South Korean soldiers there. I think they were bored though because they just kept talking to us and wanted us to take lots of pictures with them. The tour was interesting though. We ate Jjigae soup for lunch. I really love kimchi, so Korea was like heaven. I ate so much kimchi.

Us with a soldier during the DMZ tour

View into North Korea

After finishing the DMZ tour, we went to the Korean National Museum. There are three floors, and the building is absolutely massive. You could spend an entire day just in the building.

Korean National Museum

The third day, we went shopping in Myeong-Dong. Shopping in Korea is absolutely amazing. Things are so cheap. Also, I really, really like Korean fashion. Korean girls and boys dress so well, especially boys. Loads of boys wear nice tailored blazers, and some even wear bow ties. I really like bow ties. After shopping, we went to Dongdaemun market and the canal, but unfortunately, everything was closed because it was a holiday.

Canal by Dongdaemun market

That night, we visited Building 63, but it was a bit of a disappointment. However, we did see a Korean drama being filmed in front of a hotel. The final day, we went back to Myeong-Dong for more shopping. We saw a Korean drama being filmed there too. There was a man on a motorcycle. It was intense. I really want to go back to Seoul soon!!

Nihondaira Zoo, Giant Gundam, and Meiji Shrine

Recently, I went to two places. First, I went to Shizuoka to go to Nihondaira Zoo and see the giant gundam. I also went to Tokyo to see Meiji Shrine.

The zoo was a little sad because the cages were so small. However, since the animals' areas were so small, it was so easy to see the animals up close.

This is my FAVORITE animal!!!! It's so cute. It's a meerkat. In America, we have a TV show called Meerkat Manor. It's so cute. The announcer gave all of the meerkats names, and it follows the families.

We got to feed the giraffes leaves. My friend is obsessed with giraffes, so we waited by their cages for 30 minutes in order to feed them.

This was so cool. You took a little ski lift type thing to the top of the mountain. Then, there was this awesome slide you got to ride down. It was so cheesy looking, but it was so fun.

After the zoo, we went to the Giant Gundam. It is so big. I was really surprised at its size.

The weekend after going to the zoo, I went to visit Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. It is a really long walk and the weather was hot, so I was kind of tired by the time I got to the shrine. It's nice that there is so much green area in Tokyo though.

South Dakota - Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore

After leaving the Badlands, we made our way to the far western side of South Dakota. The first thing my family saw here was The Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse was a Native American leader who fought against the U.S. Government at The Battle of Little Bighorn in June 1876. In 1948, Korczak Ziolkowski agreed with Native American tribal leaders to began work on the monument. However, Mr. Ziolkowski refused to take funds from the U.S. Government, so the monument is still uncompleted. Mr. Ziolkowski is now dead, but the project is continued by his family.

Crazy Horse Memorial

After visiting The Crazy Horse Memorial in the morning, we made our way to Custer National Park. This area is full of nature. Specifically, herds of American buffalo are allowed to rome free here, and their numbers are preserved.

American Buffalo at Custer State Park

Also, tame burros are in the park. They hang out by the road hoping to get snacks from tourists.

When we were there, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was taking place. There were hundreds of motorcycles everywhere. People come from all over the world to attend this motorcycle festival. There were lots of interesting people to talk with to say the least.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rider at Custer National Park

After leaving Custer National Park, we drove through the Black Hills National Forest. It was a little scary though because the road is really high up, and it is very narrow. There are some really cool rock formations on the road though. Also, we got to drive through a really tight tunnel. We also visited Lake Sylvan, and walked around the lake. The rock formations here are also really cool.

Bee at Lake Sylvan

The final day, we went to Mt. Rushmore. It was interesting to see because it's so symbolic of America. We are raised seeing this image all the time, so I was glad I go to see it in person. After visiting Mt. Rushmore, we went to Wind Cave National Park. I wasn't very impressed though. It was really wet and moldy, so I started coughing. There are much better caves to visit.

Mt. Rushmore

South Dakota - Sioux Falls, Corn Palace, Badlands

After going to the family reunion, my father, my mother, and I took a road trip to South Dakota. It was my first time going, so I was really excited. I absolutely love road trips.

The first place we stopped was Sioux Falls. This was a key area for the Native Americans. Unfortunately, we were unable to go really close to the falls because there had been lots of flooding. They had to let sewage into the Big Sioux River, so the water was contaminated.

The next place we stopped was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. The first Corn Palace was built in 1892. The entire building is covered with corn. The corn is made into art murals. I think it's absolutely crazy the things they can make with just corn.

These bugs were everywhere at the corn palace. I guess they were attracted to the corn.

The Corn Palace - What you see is all corn.

After going to the Corn Palace, we made our way to the Badlands. These are like crazy land formations made from the eroding of rock. This was my favorite place on the trip. Everything was so desolate. It was so cool to see.

My dad at the Badlands. We went on this really cool trail. You had to climb up this really steep hill. The gravel slides really bad too. We talked to a park ranger, and apparently, when it rains people aren't able to come down from the hill because the ground turns into almost an oil-like substance.

This is at the top of the hill we climbed.

This is a Big Horned Sheep. Park rangers introduced them to the Badlands. All of them are fitted with collars, so they can be tracked.