Travelogue 2013 – Jake Haddock

Friday, July 26

After our departure from the Japanese style inn, we were off to Yoshinji Buddhist temple where we saw a grave for 2 of the sailors from the Cheseborough shipwreck. We lit some incense and and prayed for a few minutes. Afterword we got to explore the temple which was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had. While exploring, I had a very nice conversation with the priest’s wife, even though she spoke little english and I spoke little japanese, we were able to get by and have a very interesting conversation.

Then once we said our thank yous to the priest, we went and got some lunch at local market store with lots of locally grown products. While eating, I failed at cracking my quail egg and instead of just eating it I decided to accept the challenge that was given to me and peel the shell to get to the sack-y membrane (It wasn’t hard boiled) then it was eaten by another traveler as part of a bet for only a dollar.

Then we went to the Tsugaru Karuko Museum and learned all about the Jomon period (13,000-300BC) in Japan and got to see all the neat artifacts that were there. After a little bit of downtown shopping, it was finally time to meet our host families. I was a little bit nervous but as soon as I arrived I loved the family. They are all very nice and I can tell the rest of the days I spend here with them are gonna be awesome!