I woke up today to Lulu knocking on my door. Seems that a few of her friends from UIUC had come from one of the other Japan programs to visit. She wanted me to come with them today on their trip. I quickly agreed, especially after she said it was only a short distance away. Well, a short distance turned into quite a long trip - but it was well worth it. We ended up going to Kintai Bridge in Iwakuni City. Iwakuni is the site of a local military base, relatively close to Hiroshima. This was the most gaijin I had seen in one place since we flew out of San Fransisco.
However, there is a beautiful historical site here, one with a great deal of history - the Kintai Bridge. 5 consecutive bridges, crossing a wide rushing river. Each bridge is constructed in the "Bridge of Heaven" style, with a parabolic form to it completely out of wood and wrought iron. The construction itself is in an extremely historical style - no screws here! Hand driven spikes and careful carpentry is what holds up this bridge. Every 10 years, a section of bridge is knocked down and rebuilt in a year. It was amazing to see the progression from old to new.
Besides the bridge, the Kintai area is well known for its ice cream, especially, it's strange flavors. Lavender, green tea, lychee, and swirls of the above are some of the more tame ones.
After ice cream, we wandered around the area for a while, taking in the sights. A castle in the clouds stands high above the bridge, built on a ridge. The castle itself is shrouded in mists, both strikingly beautiful and well defended. There are fountains and parks and even a wire tram up to the castle!
Tomorrow we go to our homestay families. I hope this all works out. I'm both looking forward to it and very nervous all at the same time.
Talk about homestay!
