The Holy Mountain

The First day of school ended on a good note. Even though we were all half dead by the time school finished, we eventually got through it.

Me and walking are two thing that do not go together.
Before coming to Japan Mr Ali forewarned us that we should get come practice because in Japan most of our energy is going to be spent on WALKING. Mr Ali's words went into one ear and came out through the other.

​I didn't realise how difficult it was going to be until I actually got here. 
😭😭😭​

After school, we headed for to the bus stop by school. It was cute how as we were waiting, Jishukan students approached us, started talking to us. Getting on the bus, we went to Aiko-isida station where we took the train to Oyama. When we got to Oyama, we were all amazed at the beautiful scenery and the many colourful shops along the way. Oyama is known for it's shrine as it is also referred to as 'The Holy Mountain' by the locals. 

SOOOOO MANYYYYYY STAIRSSSSSSS 
Just looking at the stairs made me say 'nope'. As we were walking up, there was these cute signs that kept saying "you are half way there". That gave me no relief at all. Walk up a few more steps and it says "1200 steps to go" . Finally after 30 mins or so we reached the cable car. The view from the cable car was amazing, the higher we went. 
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Reaching the top, the one thing that went through my mind was WOW! The view from the top was absolutely amazing. I could literally see all of Kanagawa Prefecture. 

I thought 'YAY, no more stairs' . Unfortunately I was wrong. We still need to climb more stairs to get to the shrine. At least it wasn't that long and bad. My buddy and Shareek decided to keep us entertained by having a race to the top. Shareek ended up winning but it was funny to see my buddy struggling to catch up. 😂 Getting to the top, we went to the entrance which was a Tori gate. There was a big circle in the middle, where Ono sensei explained to us that we need to pray they step over the circle to enter the house of the gods. Thankfully Ono sensei was with us to explain to us the rules and make sure that we do not do anything wrong. After looking around, and taking lots of pictures, we decided to head back to the cable car. From there we walked back down to the bus and went to find Memory and Yuki sensei. ​​

​After that LONG AND TIRING WALK, we headed down to a shop which was famous for their shaved ice. As soon as we walked into the shop everyone began to reunite with their buddies. However, for me, my buddy was with me the whole time so it wasn't much of a reunion. I can honestly say this but SHAVED ICE IS NOW ONE OF MY FAVOURITES! 😍 We decided to go for a strawberry flavour and honestly it was the best. No wonder this shop was famous for it's shaved ice!

After enjoying our shaved ice, we caught the bus again to the station. In the bus, we encountered grade 1 Jishukan students. They were soooo cute. Even though they couldn't speak English well, they tried to get into a conversation with us. The bus ride became more enjoyable as the students kept us entertained. Getting off the bus, we all said goodbye and headed our separate ways. My buddy and I caught the train back home. Afterwards I got more relaxed, we watched a movie and I got to know more about my family. I also got to meet her sister who came from Tokyo. 
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Today was the first day of school. Even though I was physically tired, I was always mentally awake. I got to meet new people and experience Japanese culture. I am really grateful to be given this opportunity to be here because this is honestly an opportunity of a life time and I will forever cherish these memories. 
😁😁😁