Kamakura and Enoshima

After a large, but delicious breakfast, I half-awakely made my way to the meeting point for the day's excursion. At Takadanobaba we departed for Kamakura. So far this trip has been our longest one yet, but it went by pretty fast since everyone was playing with their cellphones. When we got to Kamakura we headed as a big group to the Tsurugaoka shrine. We soon split up into smaller groups to explore the area. I really prefer smaller groups, just because one huge group is just...well...huge. Anyway it was supposed to be three JS students to two Waseda students, but my group was more like four (Team members!) to nine lol. Which was fine since I got to talk to some more Niji no Kai members. We marked a lot of places on the map that we wanted to visit, but ended up getting lost and not going to any of them. Even so, just walking around was really nice. Kamakura is a really beautiful place.

For lunch we ate shirasudon (little fish, eggs, etc., on top of rice) which is apparently famous in the Kamakura area. So delicious! All my money goes towards food here! I also bought some Kamakura snacks for my host family as an omiyage. After lunch we meet as a big group again at the daibutsu or Great Buddha.
The buddha statue is beyond amazing. I could probably stare at it for hours. We were also able to go inside of it, which I didn't even know was possible!

A couple of Team members then left to check out Enoshima. Words can't even describe how great it was there. So surreal. It still doesn't feel like I'm in Japan even though I've been here for two weeks. The atmosphere there was amazing. The scenery was beautiful and the air was so fresh. While walking to the island we saw the ocean and mountains in the distance (one of them was Mt. Fuji!). We walked up the island a bit, saw another shrine, and saw a great view. There was so much to do on the island, and we didn't even go all the way up the hill, but what we did experience was truly beautiful. Before heading home we stopped by the beach and rested for a bit. I wish I could have put my feet in the water, but I was wearing tights. It was hard to leave Enoshima, but I hope I can go back again (my host father used to be in a yacht club in college and they would train there so he said he would show me around next time!)

I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back. My host family had already ate but had bento for me. I ended up talking (and drinking) with my host parents for about an hour or so, which made this day even better. They also invited me to go to Okayama (southern Japan) in December! I'm so thankful for my host family! They've really been great! Since the weather was nice we went out on their balcony for a bit. It was lovely out. There was a nice breeze, good drinks and snacks, sounds of the baseball game (stadium near by). Simply amazing.