ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

I woke up pretty late; about 5:30 today. I'm surprised no one tried (or accidently) woke me up. Plus, in the daylight, it seemed a lot more open, as compared to my other spot. Regardless, I got myself up, headed to McDonlad's for a bite and a quick charge up, then make my way to Hiroshima castle. It was still quite early, maybe 7:45, when I got there. I decided to relax today, chill out in various spots around the castle, and take my time (I was going to have a lot of it today).

I took off my shoes and layed out in the sun. It felt nice. I also ended up watching these two crows play tug of war with what seemed like a cord. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it wasn't a cord, but a snake. A live snake. I don't know if the snake was poisonous or anything, but the crows were being cautious. It took the two of them a while to subdue the snake. And then the one crow was a jerk and tried to keep the snake to itself. After the "show", I started to look around the rest of the place. It wasn't actually very big. I went up to the castle, but didnt go inside, because you had to pay (only ￥370), and I was desperately trying to hold onto every single yen at this point. Oh, that's right. I found a nice thick branch to use as a walking stick!
I'm sure it was cut from the tree, because the ends were pretty smooth. It seemed to help out with my knee, at least a little. I also decided to take back the stick as my souvenir. What better souvenir than a branch cut from a tree in Hiroshima castle that will (eventually) be fashioned into a walking stick?

I spent a good hour at the castle grounds, maybe, before I decided to head over to the Peace Memorial Park. At this point I was trying to kill time, so I took my time getting there (the knee helped). By the time I made it to the Atomic Dome, I made the decision to sit for a while where ever I go, watch people, or just appreciate the view. And let me tell you, at the park, there was plenty to appreciate. The park was only a little farther down from the Dome, and the first thing I saw was this one monument. It was a bell, that had three statues of children, two on the sides, and one on the top. The girl on top was holding a giant paper crane. The story behind it is that a girl was exposed to the radiation from the bomb when she was just 2 years old. By the time she was ten, she was diagnosed with leukemia, and died not long after. Her classmates rallied to get a monument in her honor, as well as all the other kids who died as a result of the bomb. Children from many other school districts took part in the cause, and lots of money was raised very quickly for the monument. After reading this, I started tearing up. This apparently really got to me.


(To be concluded!)