Hiroshima

The first week I started working for ECC, I got a call from personnel asking me if I'd like to substitute teach in Hiroshima for a few days. All expenses paid. Huzzah! I got to take the shinkansen (aka "the bullet train") down there, and in between shifts I did a quick tour of the city. My hotel was right next to the Peace Memorial Park, a park commemorating the victims of the atomic bomb dropped on August 6th, 1945. The bomb was dropped directly over what is now the park, a green, floral area with a sparkling river and picnickers.

But the city isn't all about its sad history. It's extremely internationally-minded, and quite bustling, with a population of nearly 1,200,000. I ate at an Argentinian restaurant two nights in a row, where the owner knew me by name and prepared me dishes without charging me. An old man who works for the city of Hiroshima and spoke almost no English insisted on buying me Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (Osaka and Hiroshima have a long-standing feud about who has the better okonomiyaki--similar to New York and Chicago's pizza debate). I loved the relaxed atmosphere of the city and the generosity and openness of the people. I was a little sad to return to the rat race that is Osaka.

See my pictures of Hiroshima here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22892&l=795bf&id=800884170