My last week in Japan was busy and fun! Our Kyoto trip was a lot of fun and the city is so beautiful with all the temples and shrines. It was so hot though! Despite the heat, we managed to see quite a lot. We went Fushimi Inari-taisha, Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion), the Nijo Castle, and the Gion area of town. We saw many people dressed in Kimonos and two Geisha girls.

Tuesday night my friends Jana and Uhura joined me for one last trip to Disney Sea. We enjoyed walking around and looking at the scenery and taking a boat around the park. We got to see the Fantasmic show complete with fireworks and enjoy some wonderful tasting gelato.

The other nights of the week I went souvenir shopping and ate at some of my favorite restaurants again. Friday night all of my coworkers and I ate at a Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) place. It was nice to enjoy each others company one last time and say goodbye to each other. Each person got a Sayonara doll which is a doll that goodbye messages can be written on.

During the last week of camp with kids, we did a space theme. The kids enjoyed learning about the stars, planets, moon, astronauts, rockets, and even aliens! I think their favorite topic was the loss of gravity in space. They thought it was cool that astronauts can "fly" around. Their favorite craft was making a moon with  a mixture of shaving cream and glue. They loved playing with the mixture! I loved teaching them and will really miss seeing them every week!

Saturday we got up early for a bus ride to the airport and a long flight back to the United States. It was kind of interesting how our flight left at 11:30 and got to San Antonio at 12:00 noon on the same day! It was like the trip took only 30 minutes even though it really took over 12 hours!

I have now been back in Texas for a week and have been trying to adjust to being home. The jet lag has been terrible! During the week, I have had lots of time to reflect on the whole Japan experience. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity! I am so blessed to have been able to teach so many wonderful children and work with some great people! I learned a lot about myself that I hope I will continue to develop and made some wonderful memories that I hope will last a lifetime! I'm glad that by writing this blog you all could have just a little taste of what my amazing summer experience was like!

From San Antonio, With Love,
Rachael

Sorry it's been a while since I've shared my adventures. We've been pretty busy!

We had a goodbye dinner and celebration of the summer at an all you can at Yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant. You cook the meat yourself. We had all kinds of meat, rice, and salad. We did paper plate awards for each of the counselors and helpers of camp. I got the Florence Nightingale award. I guess that's because I am always caring for other people. It was sad to say goodbye to those who were leaving, but a fun way to celebrate the summer.
 That night, Uhura spent the night at the hotel with me. We skyped my parents and sister so she got to "meet" them. Then we ate cheesecake and watched We Bought a Zoo. Well, she watched it and I fell asleep! On Saturday we were going to go to a festival, but that didn't work out. Instead we went to Tokyo station and explored character street and other stores in the huge underground mall. That night I did a taste test of my favorite drink in Japan, milk tea. I tried six different kinds and decided I like them all! The Lipton one is the best I think! Sunday I went to church with Uhura and her family and then they took me to the Aeon mall. It was fun to go shopping with her family.

 At camp this week we did a medieval theme. We talked about kings, queens, dragons, castles, knights, and wizards. The kids enjoyed learning and  using there imaginations to pretend to be kings, queens, knights, and wizards! On Friday we watched How to Train Your Dragon. One of the days, one of the girls that speaks mainly only Japanese had fun teaching me basic Japanese words. She got so excited when I got them right!

 During the evenings this week we went to the Tokyo International Forum and the Tokyo SkyTree. The Tokyo International Forum is a convention center and event center. The architecture of the building is amazing! It was fun to walk around and look at the design of the building. The Tokyo SkyTree is the tallest tower in the world! It is a beautiful structure! You can go inside and see the view from several different levels, but it is still so new that the line to enter was miles long and would have taken hours so we just took pictures from the outside and explored the many shops in Tokyo SkyTree Town. We ate at and Indian food restaurant that was very good!

Last night we went to dinner with Yoko at a Thai restaurant and then got dessert from a nearby bakery. We then took  pictures with Yoko and said goodbye as we will not see her again before leaving Japan. She gave us treats for the plane and a postcard with a personal note. She is so sweet! I will definitely miss her!

Today, I explored the electric town of Akihabara again on my own this time. It was fun to see all the amazing electrical things and souvenirs in the stores that I went to. I got some great things to bring home to family and friends.

Only one week left in Japan! This trip sure did go fast! Tomorrow we will go to Kyoto. This week I hope to go back to Tokyo Disney one more time, buy some more souvenirs, and eat at some good places one more time. We have one more week of camp with the theme being space. This will probably be the last post from Tokyo, so look forward to hearing about my final week when I get home!

From Tokyo, With Love,
Rachael