Leaver's on the Beach

After walking through the tunnels, more people arrived on the ferries. We let them get settled, and then we all borrowed bikes and headed out to find a beach. As I said, the one right near the cabins wasnt a beach, but just rocks. Erez said, cycle down about 15 minutes, so we did (even in the strong heat!) and we got to the beach. It wasn't really that good, and I think a lot of people were dissapointed, because really, Hagi's beaches were much nicer. Once Erez arrived, he kindly informed up that actually, we had been at the wrong beach and there was another one a bit further down the road. And that onewas good! Soft flat sand, no seaweed, shells, and no trash. (Japanese beaches are full of trash!)It was so much fun. There were a lot of things going on. Quite a lot of people went swimming, because there was a bouy platform for them to hang out on. It didnt seem too cold, but I actually can't rememeber if I actually put my feet in! Then there was a dodgeball game, because the sand was so nice and flat! And then there was the digging! Erez and Sarah discovered these cool little tube things in the sand, which turned out to be some form of sea clam, or tube clam or something of the like. It was pretty fun to watch them, considering how dedicated they were. In the end, they came back and cooked them. Possibly the coolest thing we found in our digging were the sea stars, or starfish. Sadly we found one dead, but another alive, and full of spikes. It seemed that when he was in the water or on the sand, he was quite...gooey and flacid and then when we picked him up, all his spikes came out! It was a lovely orange colour, and it really freaked Emily out! After a while, I made my regulation "word in the sand" thing and took a picture but then I also made Otsunoshima out of the little shells I found. It felt like a real beach because of the sand and the nice shells.

Creepy Tunnels

So this island has quite an interesting history. It was used as a submarine base for the Kamakazie warriors in World War 2. I didn't really understand it, but there were all these secret tunnels so that the fighters could sneak out and launch missiles from the submarines. Now there are just old tunnels with creepy voices telling you about the history! I found them pretty scary to be honest, but the others really enjoyed them!

Leaver's Party

So Emily's and my plans fell through, and inside we decided to head over to the Leaver's Party, which turned out to be a great turn of luck. I headed over to Tokuyama with Amy. I was so excited to see Amy, she lives a bit far from here, and then got the ferry with all the Shimonoseki crew to the little island of Otsunoshima. They had booked these little cottages for us to use and they slept 4 people. It was pretty nice and sunny, so we set off on an adventure to see some more of the island. We found a nearby beach, but it was pretty rocky, so after some more people arrived, we headed out to hear more about the island's history.

4th of July pancake party

Because I had to work on Sunday, I got Wednesday off, so I got Cynthia, Elizabeth and the newest foreigner in town, Sonya to come over for an American themed 4th of July party. I made dozens and dozens of beautiful paper chains, and hung them all over the house. I had so much fun making them, and they were all over the kitchen and the living room. Then, we made pancakes, but of course with strawberries and blueberries! Thankfully, Elizabeth made them, and they were delicious! As much as they were probably a strange 4th of July food, considering it was 10am and a Wednesday morning, and we were in Japan with very little American food, I thought it was the perfect food for my party!

Hello Kitty bowling

We struggled for a while, to figure out what to do in Hiroshima after that. The girls headed back to the hostel for a nap, but the boys and I headed to Tullys for some cake and coffee in an attempt to wake ourselves up. Finding no neko-cafe after all our research on the internet, we decided that maybe bowling was an option, and headed over to the nearest bowling alley.This being Japan and all, of course there were very manly pink Hello Kitty bowling balls. In every size. How crazy.So of course, all the boys and I ignored all the normal coloured balls and bowled with Hello Kitty. Of course! Sometimes, I just love Japan.

Back at the Peace Park

The next morning, we got up very late, after our late night, and headed over to Molly Mulligans, the Irish bar, for a full English/Irish breakfast. I never realised how much I miss baked beans and decent bacon. I have no clue where they get them from, but it felt so much like a Sunday morning at home, it was uncanny. So then, we decided to split up, with Jeremy and Ben heading over to the Art Museum, and I took everyone else to the Peace Museum. I guess they could have gone alone, but the Peace Park is always nice. Well, nice in a way that is interesting. We discovered the Korean monument to the victims, many of whom were working in Hiroshima as forced labour. And the Children's monument of course, which is one of the more popular places with all the cranes made by visiting school children. Then we went on through the museum again. I have done that museum twice, and I think I say the same thing everytime - that it takes a long time. Especially if you are doing it for the first time, it just takes forever to read things, and see things. There isn't anywhere like it in the world (its much better than Nagasaki) and so you want to read everything. And so I waited for everyone for a long time after the museum!

5am at the Atomic Bomb Dome

After the dinner, we were joined by two of the boys friends, girls who were studying in Tokyo! Lucky them! We headed over for Karaoke, and followed out long dinner by about 4 hours of Karaoke. And it was good. Great singing. Really good fun! I love lengthy karaoke sessions. Short ones are never long enough in my opinion!We walked home to the hostel, by way of the Atomic Dome. I think it is one of the most hauntingly beautiful sites in Japan. It is always lit up, and I think maybe it feels more ominous in the dark. We sat, and discussed nuclear war, in the rain at 5am. Maybe we were tired, maybe we were young, but really it was one of those nights I will always remember.