Today, after being picked up by the bus in Shariki, we went to visit the memorial of those who died in the Chesborogh shipwreck in 1889. The memorial commemorates the wreck as well as the bravery of the villagers that tried to save the drowning sailors.

I was very impressed by the memorial and how much the Japanese really do care about the event and how much of an impact it really had on their community.

After putting flowers on the memorial and seeing the beautiful views of the Japan sea, we headed just down the hill to the Takayama shrine. This Shinto shrine in particular was dedicated to rice and greater agriculture. The priest there showed us around from the correct way to pray in the Shinto religion, to the beautiful ceiling artwork done so intricately.

We learned about how the Japanese people are so closely related to the rice they grow and how important it is to them. After buying a few refreshing drinks we got back on the bus and went to a community center to learn how to make soba noodles. Once we put on our industrial grade rubber boots we walked inside and all the ingredients were ready for us and about 10 enthusiastic teachers were ready to attempt to teach the foreigners how to make soba.

Although our noodles were definitely not up to par, we still had a great time. To wrap it up in the evening we had a welcome party barbecue with our host families. It was a good time to meet more people and bond with the host families. All in all, it was an amazing day.

KENAN VAN VRANKEN, 16, lives in Brunswick.