Finishing up Japan

Our final days in Japan (Monday, February 2nd and Tuesday, February 3rd) have yet to be talked about and I'm excited to tell you about them!

On Monday we spent the day with our guide Chieko as she showed us the last remaining sightseeing spots she wanted us to experience in Kyoto. The first was the Golden Palace. Yes, the top two layers are covered with actual gold. Luckily, Chieko said that they have recently refinished the layer of gold so it was extra shiny. :)



From there we made our way to two different palaces/shrines (the names of which have been written down somewhere in all my scrapbooking keepsakes, which are already in a box at home) but I do remember that both of them had really cool history lessons within their walls. We literally looked at paintings that were over 500 years old! And learning about the ways of the Shogun and what they society was like in that part of history was fascinating. We especially liked the nightengale floors that squeaked on purpose when you walk. They were built that way so ninjas couldn't sneak into the palace. It was kind of creepy! But really cool.We even tried to be ninjas ourselves but that didn't turn out so hot, as you can see. We will have to work on that! Haha!



After touring we did some shopping, grabbed dinner and made our way to karaoke, a past time they take very seriously in Japan. You get your own private room and surround sound! Which was great for some of my teammates that could carry a tune, but bad for me!




Once we had sang until our hearts were content, we spent the night (literally) packing and preparing to head home on Tuesday. February 3rd became the longest day of our lives as we flew 12 hours back to the U.S. And I mean LONG as in a full 38 hour day! Talk about messing with your sleep pattern! But we arrived safe and sound and were greeted by the sunrise. :)



We couldn't have asked for a better trip and we are so excited to share all of these experiences with you (and MORE that we didn't have time to write about!) so always feel free to contact all of us via e-mail, FFA Nation, Facebook, etc. Until then...

God Bless!

Hannah