Today's group leaders - Brendan, Katie Y, Adrienne and Jen.

After breakfast it was time to check out of our hotel as it was our last day in Japan. 😔

We spent the morning close to the hotel visiting a local shrine ( where we saw another wedding!), the oldest wooden temple in Tokyo - Zoujou-ji and Tokyo Tower. The views were amazing of Tokyo!

Finally, we picked up our hand luggage from the hotel and headed off to Tokyo station to catch the Narita Express to the airport.

Sadly our time in Japan has come to an end.

Mr Miller and I have had a fantastic trip and feel privileged to spend this time in Japan with such an amazing group of students. Their behavior has been impeccable and they are generous, funny and kind young adults.

Thanks for a great 18 days!!

Today's group leaders - Amy, Katie M, Alex, Jono, Kat and Yilan.

This morning we headed out to Asakusa to visit Sensouji - the oldest temple in Tokyo.

After that we went to Shinjuku and Shibuya before heading home. It was another huge day that we finished off with a picture with Hachiko. Home tomorrow!

Today's group leaders - Anika,Steph, Kiordan and Jonathan.

After a massive day at Disneyland yesterday, it was a slower start to the day today!

We first headed to Harajuku to visit the Meiji shrine. It was a hot morning so it was lovely to walk through the the tree lined street to the shrine itself. We were lucky enough to see a Japanese couple heading off to get married.

After Meiji Shrine, we headed to the main street of Harajuku - well known for its teen fashion. After lunch and shopping we headed back to the hotel to pack our bags so then could be sent to the airport.

This evening we headed to Akihabara - electric town - mecca of anime, manga and electronics. Dinner, shopping and lots of comic books later, we headed back to the hotel - all tuckered out!

Today's group leaders -Sylvia, Syah, Tony and Sera.

After settling into our hotel at Tokyo Tower last night, we have headed out for a day at Tokyo Disneyland! Parades, rides, souvenirs and fireworks!! Hooray!!

Tokyo tower greater us all lit up as we dragged ourselves home after a long day!

This morning we woke and walked down to the Hiroshima Peace Park. We first visited the museum which was very moving and opened our eyes to the effects the atomic bomb had on Hiroshima and its people. We saw the eternal flame and the Sadako memorial. Our final destination was the epicentre of where the bomb was dropped and Genbaku Dome which was the only building left standing. A very moving experience for all of us.

A big day out today. After saying goodbye to our wonderful host families, we hopped on a local train first to Himeji and then the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. After a quick change, it was off to Miyajima.

We traveled by ferry to the island of Miyajima where we were greeted by the local (I eat everything) deer. A few hours of shopping and lunch was followed by a visit to the beautiful Itsukushima Shrine. Some of us were even lucky enough to see a Japanese wedding!

Sadly the weather turned bad, so it was back to Hiroshima. After a quick rest in the hotel, we headed of to Okonomimura, 3 floors of oknomiyaki restaurants. Yummy!!

After a quick visit to Daiso, it was Mister Donut for desert. An early night tonight (hopefully) will be followed by a morning of exploring Hiroshima before getting on the Shinkansen to Tokyo.

We said goodbye to our host families today and we are heading to Hiroshima. From today we become tourists!

Today was sports day at Ono, and it was very different from Brentwood! As well as running races, there was marching, dancing, tug of war and skipping.

Brentwood students participated in the skipping event. We had two teams and the aim was to get as many skips in as possible in row. We had 1:30mins per team. Considering we have never done group skipping,we did very well! Team 1 skipped 44 times in a row and team 2 skipped 15! We only had one or two chances to practice so both Mr Miller and I were very proud of both teams!

Tomorrow morning students will say goodbye to their host families. I'm sure there will some tears as they have formed very strong bonds. We are heading to Hiroshima and Miyajima. Then Thursday afternoon, all the way to Tokyo. Time to be tourists!!

Yummy dango all finished!

also, the students we cooked with last week made us a present too! They are hand made cases for tissues, an origami crane and a hand written note for everyone. We are so lucky!!

Today we are back in the kitchen for Japanese confectionary. We are making dango (dumplings) to have with tea!