Monday, September 28, 2015

Chiwata Ravine Waterfalls

We have been trying to get out and explore the beautiful natural areas around Sasebo on the weekends. One of our must do's was to go see Ryutosen Falls in the Chiwata Ravine. It took us about 50 minutes to get there, but it was worth it! Chiwata Ravine has a series of four waterfalls as you walk down the riverbed. We hit three of them (one of the falls is above the bridge on the map below, we will go see that one next time), and it was a beautiful hike. If you have little ones you definitely want a baby carrier because the hike would be very difficult without your hands free.
Chiwata Ravine is nestled in between steep cedar covered mountains. The stairs down to the waterfall are small and uneven but it is really pretty walking through the tall trees. We were making fun of how small and short the steps were on the way down, but when we were tired and winded we were thankful for the small steps on the way back up.
The first fall we stopped at was Ryutousen. It is the tallest fall with an awesome deep pool on the bottom. Some people climb and cliff jump but it isn't very safe. There is a better place to jump in further down. 
The next set of falls is Konohaukabazubuchi. It has a nice rope where you can swing into the cool pool below. The hike back up is steep and rocky so you want to make sure you have good water shoes. We didn't so we saved jumping in for our next trip.
This is the path that you follow down the river to the rest of the falls. It gets very narrow and slippy in some places, but there are a lot of great places along the way to stop and enjoy a picnic lunch. 
Lastly is Donkubuchi falls. In the spring after the rains these falls are a lot fuller with the entire rock face covered in white water. 
We were so thankful for the baby carrier on some of the more interesting parts of the trail. We kept joking that this is why we never use a stroller. 
Here's a little video montage of the falls!

Look how pretty this drive is!
From the overpass looking down at the ravine and the falls.

The falls and the whole river valley was so grand and gorgeous it was almost like it was made for a theme park. We loved being able to go explore in nature and get some fresh mountain air! As always Eisley was happy to tag along.
Along the way back we watched the sun set over the coastline and the huge full moon come up! It's always fun to come home and see Huis Ten Bosh all lit up. 
We can't wait to go back again and actually get in the water and play next time! We just have to make sure we give ourselves a full day to do it.

Here's some map locations for those that would like to go on their own. There is a nice campground/sports park right next to the ravine. There is also two ways to go to the falls, you can park at the top and walk down or park at the bottom and walk up. There is a nicer parking lot at the bottom so we will probably go that way next time. 


Friday, September 25, 2015

American Life Club

Today we had the opportunity to host Japanese students for the American Life Club. The purpose is to show them how Americans live and give them the opportunity to practice their English. Eisley and I had these awesome 15 year-old guys to hang out with. They came all the way down from Osaka, Japan, which is about an 8 1/2 hour trip by bus. They didn't speak a lot of English, but we definitely all learned something new from each other today and the creative communication to get our message across made it fun. 
 The first thing we did was take a walking tour around base. I took them to the commissary to practice some English identifying items and also just showing them how different it is from a Japanese grocery store (I will have to do a post on that for you all soon!). I had fun showing them different fruits and veggies that they aren't used to seeing and pointing out Kingsford Charcoal and telling them how it is made in my hometown and showing them on a map where I am from. It is always nice going to a store and being able to find a little bit of home! I think the biggest cultural difference I found at the grocery store is the American obsession with breakfast. Even in our tiny little commissary we have an entire aisle full of cereal and oatmeal, a large portion of our cooler section, and a big chunk of our freezer section all dedicated to different breakfast foods. It was crazy trying to explain that Americans like hot breakfast and cold breakfast. How we eat cereal cold covered in milk or hot oatmeal and scrambled eggs with hash browns, or bagels covered in cream cheese and toaster strudels and cinnamon rolls covered in icing. I was showing them how pancakes are different than waffles, but you cover them both in maple syrup. I realized how weird to concept of a big American breakfast would be to someone whose never had a bowl of cereal. I asked them what they eat for breakfast and their enthusiastic answer was RICE!
We gathered a few items and went through the self checkout which they don't have in their grocery stores. They were fascinated with our kids race car carts.
Next I took them on a tour of our house and we settled in for our "English Lesson" which was just a little worksheet with getting to know you questions and a game of Jenga. They were struggling with the worksheet since they didn't really know that much English so we only did part of it. For Jenga I put word labels on sticky notes on each piece so when they took a piece they had to label the item. It worked out really well and they enjoyed the game. 


Even Eisley got a label :)
We made lunch together so I made homemade crust and had the boys choose their toppings. They were pretty overwhelmed with the choices but they had fun and did a really good job making delicious pizzas!
Three full size pizzas in one oven? No problem!
Seiya
Daiki
Bunta
Matumoto
Rinntaro
Eisley got some pizza too
Eisley loved having some friends today
After lunch we got together with the other home stay families and had a little "Trunk or Treat". We had the kids decorate the trunks as part of the activity. They didn't really get the concept of going from car to car so most of my kids just stuck around and got candy from me, but it was fine. 
Our trunk
Lupita's Trunk

Lupita had them play games for candy
We wanted them to burn some energy before their bus ride so we had them play soccer. Not quite American but it works :)
Eisley loves playing with Finn

Eisley is obsessed with Dogs so she loved seeing Bella today. Bella took her on a walk.



Overall it was a really fun day and I'm glad it went so well. It was my first time so I was a little nervous but I will have a better idea what to expect next time. I feel like I learned just as much from them as they did from me. I'm excited to do it again with new kids!