Hilarity at home stay

It was our final night with the Kodo family and we treated with another spectacular meal of sushi and a special type of soup.

Dr Kodo was helping me with my pronunciation of Japanese words however my attempts had the family literally rolling on the floor in laughter with tears rolling down their faces.

Mrs Kodo is a DJ and our adventures have been providing some good material for her show.

We have had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed their warm hospitality.

Osaka at night

We went to see the lights of Osaka.  It was very busy.

Osaka castle

Today we visited Osaka castle.  It was very impressive.

Mayoral visit

This morning we participated in a mayoral signing of intent to support regular teacher exchanges between Lower Hutt and Minoh City.

New Zealand festival

We enjoyed being part of a local festival which celebrated the Minoh/ Hutt relationship.

There was food and drinks, entertainment and festivities.

Special ceremony

Today was a very special day.  We received a formal welcome with cultural displays and a special certificate to each delegate from the mayor acknowledging the 20 year relationship Minoh and the Hutt have shared.

Tempura feast

Tonight we were treated to a wonderful tempura meal at a local restaurant which included a selection of tempura portions of vegetables, prawns and fish.

We then watched Japan beat Samoa.

And another temple

We enjoyed the magnificent sights above Kyoto at another temple. It was most stunning.

Another temple

After a delicious lunch we went to another temple filled with 1000's of statues of Buddhas and deities linked to Buddhism and Hinduism.

Golden temple

We enjoyed the beautiful golden temple this morning.

Shopping and dinner

We went shopping in the afternoon then met with the local friendship club for dinner before heading back to our hosts for sake and snacks and conversation before bed.

Traditional lunch

This morning we had a traditional Japanese breakfast of rice, fish, miso, salad and tea.

For lunch we has seaweed soup, beef and rice. It was delicious.

Temple tour

We enjoyed the temple tour.  We had to paint a small doll as part of a ritual.

Minoh falls

Today we went to visit a beautiful local waterfall.  It was lovely wandering through the bush on a lovely sunny day.

Rotary Club of Mino-o

Tonight we enjoyed a delicious banquet at the local Rotary Club, where Tony gave a 15 minute speech after the mayoral address and Kate received a stunning bouquet of beautiful flowers.

Welcome to Minoh

We were warmly welcomed to Minoh by the local mayor and many of the associations with connections to Hutt City.

Lunch at school

Today we were shown around a local school. We had the same lunch as the children.

Learning Japanese

With much bowing, smiling and laughing we managed to get directions to the toilet.

Luckily, many locals speak much better English than my Japanese. 

High tech toilets

There is so much technology in Japan.  Even going to the toilet nearly requires a manual.

Although some of the symbols are self-explanatory it's hard to work out how to turn it off once it starts!

Here's the house control panel:

Authentic home stay experience

After a bite to eat we were picked up from Osaka airport by our host.  He had done his masters degree in California and his doctorate at Oxford, so his English was impeccable.

My Japanese is very basic and mainly just limited to pleasantries.

After waking up at 4am, we finally got to bed about 10.30pm which was 2:30am NZ time without any sleep.

We were made very welcome and we provided with an authentic experience.

Early start

We stayed in Wellington overnight which meant we enjoyed a sleep in as it was only a 10 minute taxi ride to the airport.

We were checked through to Japan and spent the next hour relaxing in the Koru lounge.