Fukuyama Amusement Park

Fukuyama Amusement Park
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Tara and I were invited to go to an amusement park called Miroku no Sato in Fukayama (one hour away from where we live) with my teachers from Hikari Nursery School. We were not exactly clear on the details; we just knew to bring out swim suits.

It was SO hot by the time we got there and got out of the car. It was like going to Six Flags on the hottest day of the year. I just knew that if I cracked an egg on the pavement, it would fry. As soon as we entered the park, I knew that we were not at Six Flags, nor anything that even resembled it. We ventured across to an area that was full of swimming pools and waterslides. I was so happy to see water. I know that I was about to shrivel up and die if I didn’t get wet fast. We put our stuff down on the grass under some umbrellas that they had rented and headed towards the pools.

There were many different pools in the area. One was small for little children, one was waist deep, and one was a little deeper. One pool had a huge bubble in the middle of it that you could climb on to the top and then bounce down, and then there were three waterslides.

One waterslide was for a huge tube/raft that you sat in. The other two were for you to lie on your back and just slide down feet first. One was covered and the other was not. The covered one was intense! There was a huge drop off and when I got to the bottom, I had to readjust my bathing suit before I could get up! The water had made it change positions! haha The uncovered waterslide was pretty cool. When I got to the bottom I hit the water hard. It was so much fun…so much fun that I didn’t notice the sunburn that was creeping up on my shoulders through the sunscreen.
Places to rent and sit in the shade
Umbrellas to rent and sit

The climbing/bouncing pool

Some of the teachers had brought their children so we played with them and we just hung out and had a great time. One difference between Japan and America is that in America you get to the pool and you take OFF your clothes, get down to your bathing suit, and get in the water. In Japan the people were putting clothes on OVER their bathing suits! They were swimming in their bathing suits, shorts, and long sleeve shirts and lightweight jackets. In Japan it is considered beautiful to be fair skinned while in America everyone wants to be tan.

After awhile we were starving. We had a picture menu and opted for fries and a hotdog looking thing that I knew to be sausage. We were also given octopus. I had eaten once before and it was weird, not my favorite but I tried it again. After Tara tried it we decided to see what was actually inside of this fried little ball. BIG mistake. We both wanted to throw up. You could actually see the suction cups on chopped up tentacles. I have been pretty adventurous so far with my food…but NO MORE octopus. I seriously thought I was going to be sick.
Lunch
Dissection
Gross

After swimming a little bit more, we left the water park and went for the rides. It was about a million degrees and this was no Six Flags. No water rides or anything to cool you off while you walked around or anything. Actually, there wasn’t much walking to do…very few rides. We went on the pirate ship ride that swings the ship back and forth. We sat on the very end so we would go really high. Some little Japanese girls were sitting with us and we got them to put their hands in the air and do it American style. It was cute. Next we went on the roller coaster. It was like a baby rollercoaster though…I sat in the front with Tara and she videoed the ride on the camera. We rode with our hands in the air and the teachers thought we were nuts. They wouldn’t last an hour at our theme parks! The system of riding rides was more like a fair. You paid money for tickets and then each ride was three tickets. We only rode those two rides but that was okay with me. There was no shade left anywhere so we headed off to something new.
Pirate Ship (Tara's favorite)
We wandered over to take a self guided took a tour of what life was like in “old Japan” back before the war. It was pretty cool. They had a big part of the park set up like Japan in the old days…old shops, streets, etc. We walked around and looked at the different “cities.” It looked a lot like it does now, but I can’t read or understand Japanese so I missed a lot while I was walking around.
Old shoe store
Old toy store

After our fun filled day, we headed back to the train station. We were so worn out. I have never been able to sleep on the train before but I almost did today. As we rode for an hour, I smashed my head against the window in a most uncomfortable position and thought about how great it would be to get in my bed as soon as I got home.