Iwakuni, Kintai + Miyajima

Our last week was spent in the Southern part of Iwakuni, Japan. We stayed at the American Military base and led a week-long soccer camp for the base kids. We visited the Kintai bridge and castle one day and spent the last day in Miyajima, an island near Hiroshima. It was amazing to say the least.

  

                                    

 

              

 

                             

 

 

I almost bought this for ¥2,800, until the guy told me it was actually ¥28,000...

 

                                  

Kyoto + Osaka

Some photos of a touristy stop in Kyoto, and a little taste of Osaka.

More soccer photos to come. Enjoy.

            

 

             

This comes with a story of getting stuck in a 3 man elevator with 7 girls. I'll write about it later.

Aside from soccer...

My team has been beyond blessed this past week not only to play a sport we love, but to spend time with amazing people along the way. And I don't use amazing lightly. Yesterday, for instance, some of us were able to partake in a traditional tea ceremony with a woman named Toshiko in her beautiful home. She is 80 years old, became a Christian when she was 20, went to school in San Diego, and loved practicing her English on us. We also spent time with Kenshan (I think that's how you spell her name), our translator. She has been helping out the team for 10 years now, translating and playing soccer when they are short players.

We also had a little celebration for 4th of July. Next stop: Osaka.