Nagasaki

It's official - I'm really sick of Japanese food! Honestly, I settled for a handful of almond for dinner tonight, I just couldn't do it. There are a few American chains here, but for the most part, it's rice, fish, and seaweed, even for breakfast.

I'm pretty sure that's why the Japanese live so long.

I had to photogrpah the 'box lunch' we got for our plane ride to Nagasaki. These box lunches, called 'Bento Boxes' are available everywhere. They have a collection of mystery foods in them. It's kind of like a grab bag. Everything is cold in them. Mine had a cold hot dog, egg, 3 french fries, and a collection of sandwiches, egg salad, tuna salad, chicken, and a cucumber sandwich. Thank goodness for Fiber One bars!

We took a large plane to Nagasaki this morning. The flight lasted two hours. After we arrived we took a bus in to the peace park. You can see our group of teachers who will be traveling to Unzen, Nagasaki in the picture.

Our first stop was the Atomic Bomb museum and Peace park. The museum is built on the hypercenter of the atomic bomb impact. There were many monuments to the victims, and there is a large tablet listing all of the dead, 140,000 to date in Nagasaki. Because of the exposure to radiation, people are still dying today from thyroid cancers and leukemia. This can effect 2nd generation citizens, as well. It was a very sobering exhibit on the effects of the atomic bomb. I noted that the Japanese forgot to mention their part in the war - such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese citizens we've talked to consider the A-Bomb a sin of mankind, not a sin of the american people. The hope is that it will never be used again.

The long colorful chains are paper cranes that have been strung together and hung at the peace park. There are millions of them everywhere, sent in from schools all around Japan. One of the teachers in our group brought cranes, as well.

Tomorrow we visit Nagasaki University, and will be greeted by the president of the University. We will take a tour of their facility and have lunch there. Then we will move on to Unzen, our Host City, and meet the mayor at their city hall.

Since we've flown in to Nagasaki, there is much more vegetation. So far I haven't seen any animals, but at least there are beautiful mountains filled with trees. There are also rice farmers who plant their fields in the foot hills. Unzen will be higher in elevation, and it will be less populated - only 50,000 people.

I'll post again on the 27th - unless I get lucky and find a hot spot in Unzen!