Day 13 (last day)

MOM!! DAD!! I’M COMING HOME!!! SEE YOU SOON!!!!

Reporters Malgosia Sikorki, Amy Huang, Amy Luong, and Kelly Zhen reporting on the last day in Japan!! In the morning we had a choice of either eating traditional style Japanese food, or a buffet style breakfast. For the Japanese food, we could either have rice or rice porridge, seaweed, miso soup, soba, salmon, and etc. The buffet had a varity of food but served more Western style food rather than traditional Japanese. After breakfast, we took our suitcases to the second floor where we met at 8:45. We loaded the luggage onto out bus and headed for the Osaka Castle. On our way to the entrance, we got the privilege to see and meet an actual samurai walking around the castle. Inside the castle, there were multiple levels to explore-each with different artifacts and such. The top floor had the view of the entire Osaka city!

After the castle, we went to a restaurant near the castle for lunch. We had takoyaki, udon, and bento. We made the takoyaki (octopus balls) ourselves and it was quite delicious. Although certain students had a difficult time and ate chunky takoyakis, the experience was worth it all. We had a short period of time after lunch to go souvenir shopping next to the restaurant, if you look for NHK News Channel, you might just see us! Next, we visited the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution to learn about the 1995 earthquake in Kobe. We were lead into a room with polygon-shaped screens. There, we were shown the horrific and disastrous scenes of the 1995 earthquake in Kobe. It was something we would have never imagined if we never came to Japan. After witnessing the disastrous shake and damages, we were led into another room to watch another video. But the route to the second room was an actual replica of how the city looked like after the enormous shake, it felt too real to believe. The next video, narrated by a female victim, had everyone in tears (Especially Amy Huang). She led us through her experience and how she overcame the disaster. To have the opportunity to listen to such a touching story was a great experience. After the video, everyone went out to look around the floor and reading about other peoples stories regarding the earthquake. Every story was sad and unique which brought more tears into everyone’s eyes.

After walking around a bit more in the institute, we started heading to the hotel for the final Kizuna Project debriefing! We had a bit of free time before the debrief starts so everyone split up doing their own things. Some stayed in their rooms to sleep while others went exploring. After a while, everyone started heading down together, which caused a lot of crowding in the elevators. At the meeting, we listened to other schools experience in the Tohoku. Since we went to different areas, it was quite interesting learning about their experience. After finishing up, GWHS students gathered around to talk about tomorrows schedule for going home. We have to WAKE UP AT 5:30 ! NOOOO!!!! In the midst of all the complaining, Tim came up to say a special speech for Kaori san, our guide for the entire trip, since today was her last day with us. Kaori has made every part of this trip so much better. Without her, we’re sure that things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as it did. As the speech was given, some of us were tearing up cause we just love her with all of our heart. When she received the gifts we got for her, she started tearing up as well. That was such a touching moment we shared. Another example of the great bonds we formed. After a big group hug and group picture, everyone wanted to take an individual picture with her as well. Without noticing that dinner had already started. We were just having too much fun with Kaori san. WE LOVE YOU KAORI SAN!!!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE FOR US<3. You are the best tour guide we could ever possibly ask for! We are so grateful for the time and effort you’ve put into making sure we had an amazing trip. You made this trip more enjoyable than it would’ve been without you. We’ll miss you, but keep in touch!!