Visiting Hiroshima and Miyajima

Peace Park, Hiroshima, Japan

Two of the places I've visited last spring vacation were Hiroshima and Miyajima. Both places are in Chuguko Region, east of Japan.

The world knows the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. I knew it and how Japan surrendered because of it. But when you're actually in the Peace Park and see the images in museum, you won't just know. You'll feel the tragedy. Until I saw how a huge city was turned in ruins, I wouldn't realize the impact of the A-bomb. I was holding back tears seeing pictures of real people who suffered. It didn't help that I rented an audio guide. I heard things too! *sobs*

My Last Year as an ALT

And just like that, spring vacation is over. I'm going back to school tomorrow and be an ALT again. Last year, I wrote that last year was going to be my final year in Japan. I wish it was the case but a lot of things have happened. Those things were not so good so I decided to stay in Japan and stay in my job. Staying here gives me a semblance of order. However, I promised myself that this is, REALLY REALLY, my last year as an ALT- at least. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to be here, teaching in Japan. God knows how hard the application process was. I'm grateful but I'm not fulfilled. There's a huge difference. It's like when you're hungry and you ate a nice loaf of bread. You're grateful for that bread but a whole pizza or even a steak would be better. I'm feeling that way towards what I do. Being an ALT is an awesome job. It's relatively easy and it has lots of vacation. The pay is good especially for someone like me who's from a third-world country. However, it's not a job I'd like to do for a long time. It's cool being an ALT for a few years but unless you have a skyrocketing self-motivation, it's hard to do it for a longer period of time. In time, I'll write a post on why this is so.

Princess Festival in Hamamatsu

If you have nothing to do tomorrow, if it doesn't rain and if you live near Hamamatsu, I'm inviting you to see the Princess Festival in Hosoe-cho, Kiga, Hamamatsu,

Kiga is about an hour away from Hamamatsu Station by train or bus.

All the information about the Princess Festival are here:

The Princess Road Procession