Japanese flag flying at Peace Park. 

Motorcycle taxi. 

Musician by the river in Hiroshima. 

Boat on river. Note the comparison between the bombed building and the new buildings behind. 

This lady wanted to pray for us & sanctify us because we had been inside the museum. This is her mission in life. 

Blanchards in the water taxi. 

Hiroshima skyline from water taxi. 

View from the water taxi. 

We thought the windows made a cross. 

Blanchards in water taxi. Our driver told us the apartments in the background house more than 3400 people. 

More Hiroshima skyline. 

Our taxi driver. 

Hiroshima Castle 

See the people at the top? That�s where we�re headed. There is no elevator. 

Plaque on tree that grew back from the stump after the A-bomb. 

This is the tree that was lost when the A-bomb fell. Since the trunk was destroyed, the tree regrew in several twisted limbs. 

View from top of Hiroshima Castle. 

Another view from top of Hiroshima Castle. 

Camp Zama Trip

During the first week of October, Stan & Lorri & I traveled by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Zama (up near Tokyo) for an Educational Technologists’ meeting. (Yes, they are ET’s and occasionally they phone home) Lorri is the new ET for the elementary school, and of course, Stan is the ET for the high school on base here in Iwakuni. I tagged along for the ride, since I’d never been to Zama, and you never know what shopping opportunities may arise at a different exchange! Before agreeing to go, I made sure there was an indoor pool and we reserved bikes for getting around. What I didn’t plan on was the weather being cooler up there. Add to that – it rained every day we were there, except for the day we traveled back home, of course. Zama is supposed to have a great view of Mt Fuji, but it was covered in clouds the whole time, so we did not get to enjoy this beautiful sight. I did enjoy biking around the smaller Army base, even in the rain, and bought a few things to back to Iwakuni. Since we traveled by train, we traveled light. This was Lorri’s first long train ride, so it was all new to her.
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Inside the Shinkansen (bullet Train). The red sign tells where we are going. 

Lorri on the Shinkansen (bullet train) 

Outside a great Italian restaurant. 

Inside the restaurant. Note the beautiful hand-painted Italian tiles around the wall. 

This stand-alone flatscreen was our dessert menu which the waiter brought to the table. The ETs were fascinated. 

The kitchen. 

Inside of the restaurant.