At the end of April, my dad Chris and his wife, Georgia, came to Japan for a visit. Their visit lasted 9 days here in Hiroshima-ken, and then a cruise back from Kobe to Vancouver taking about 18 days. While they were here, Mike and I were able to spend some quality time and do some sight seeing. While they were here, we visited Hiroshima Castle, Miyajima, Kure Port Parade, Kure Maritime Museum, and 100 different coffee shops and bakeries!
Here's a brief recap and some snapshots.
Saturday: Dad and Georgia arrive in Hiroshima in the afternoon. Mike and I meet them at the Shinkansen station and take them to their hotel to check in. Afterwards we have some lunch back at the station and then visit Hiroshima Castle.
Sunday: my memory is fuzzy but I think they came to Kure on Sunday. Mostly we showed them around the city and our apartment.
Monday: I had to go to work, so I think they toured around Hiroshima.
Tuesday: On Tuesdays I teach at an Elementary school. That afternoon, Dad and Georgia came to visit my grade 2 elementary school class. We had a really good time, and my students really enjoyed visiting with them, and practicing, "Hello! How are you?! Nice to meet you!" After class, Dad and Georgia shook hands, gave out little Canadian flags and took pictures. After school we walked back to the station and had some coffee and pastires while deciding what to do with the rest of the week. Afterwards we came back to the apartment, relaxed for a little while, then had some lovely food at the Izakaiya restraunt, Hakenden.
Wednesday: I believe we went to Miyajima on Wednesday. Either way, we met my Dad and Georgia when transferring trains in Hiroshima and then carried on to Miyajima. We could tell when we were on the train that the weather was turning sour and we had been on the island for only about 5 minutes when the sky opened up and rained. I have never experienced being right underneath a thunderclap before and I can't even describe how loud it truly was. The rain that followed was so heavy that all the shop keepers had to close down their metal storm door guards and people crowded in shop doorways every where. Soon after the rain slowed down and we continued on our adventure. We tried many different types of food and snacks there, pet many deer, and even saw a traditional Japanese wedding party come through.
Thursday: I think Dad and Georgia took this day to tour some more of Hiroshima while I made some tarts for Noriko's birthday gathering the next day (though it turns out it was her husband's birthday!)
Friday: This day Dad and Georgia came into Kure for the Kure Port Festival.
The festival was very popular and was attended by thousands of people from Kure, as well as other cities. They were able to meet a few other Kure JETs as well as see a lot of Japanese food stalls with all sorts of interesting dishes, and various grilled things a stick. After visiting the festival, I won some fish (Ponyo is the only one still with us however) and we relaxed at home for a few minutes before heading back out again to watch the darade as we walked down to the station. The parade was quite a fancy affair with lots and lots of dance groups of all ages. I saw a few of my students dancing and even one of my school's marching bands.
After the events, we headed out to Tennoh where we met Noriko and her family. We visited Noriko's lovely house and were all dressed up in Kimonos. The Kimono's were a lot of fun. Somehow, when Georgia and I were choosing our Kimonos, I chose the biggest one, and she chose the smallest. So, we had a bit of trouble getting properly dressed. Afterwards the boys came down and they got dressed up. After photos we got undressed and were invited to stay for dinner. Noriko's husband pulled out their grill and they made yakisoba right there in front of us. It was a very unique Japanese experience, just to be a part of a Japanese family for an evening. Noriko even showed them embarrassing videos of me that were on TV. Noriko's husband sang some entertaining songs (though I gather because it was his birthday he had been sipping Japanese whiskey all day.) Just thinking of this day brings back a lot of happy feelings.
Saturday: I think we did our own things on Saturday.
Sunday: Because it was their last full day in Japan, we decided to keep it simple so they still had time to pack and get a good night's rest. Dad and Georgia came into Kure in the early afternoon and we visited the Yamato maritime museum. Afterwards we decided on trying a Korean BBQ place we had seen a few nights before. The Korean BBQ was very delicious. We ordered a selection of meat and they brought it out nicely sliced and with lots of sauces. They also brought out a charcoal grill for us to cook our meat on. It was a lot of fun, though the smoke left me with a cough for a week or so. (even though there was a huge vent, I guess I was a little overzealous in my watching of the meat.)
And on Monday I went back to work and Dad and Georgia hopped on the shinkansen for Kobe!
I know that this was supposed to be a brief update, but oh well. Click here to see the full album!
