Thursday, August 12, 2010

My first trip to Kusatsu Hot Spring



Hello everybody! This is my first ever blog post! So, I thought I would tell you all about my recent trip to Kusatsu Hot Spring.


I was invited by my landlady to join her, her friend and granddaughter on a trip to the onsen. I'd never been to Kusatsu before so i jumped at the chance. We left Takasaki on Monday morning and stopped off at a beautiful soba restaurant perched on a cliff over a river. In Kusatsu we stayed in an eleventh floor apartment owned by a friend of my landlady. The air was so fresh and cool in Kusatsu I felt instantly refreshed and relaxed! Almost as soon as we arrived, we went straight to the hot spring. It was so nice! I stayed in the outdoor bath for a long time. That outdoor pool was exactly my image of what a hot spring should be! In the evening we ate out and had another bath before bed.


The following day we woke early (7am?? crazy!) and enjoyed our final hot spring, followed by breakfast. We left the apartment around 10am and our first stop was the Lily park in Tsumagoi. There were so many beautiful lilies in all kinds of colours. The smell was amazing. The park was situated on a ski slope so we rode the ski lift to the top, and walked back down through the flowers. Of course I had to buy a cabbage while I was there as well!


After the Lily park we went to the Onioshidashi (a stream of solidified lava and rocks thrown out of Mount Asama in an eruption) in Karuizawa. We only had enough time to look at it from a distance though before the rain started. I definitely want to go back when I have more time.

Finally, we had a quick look around Karuizawa outlet mall before returning to Takasaki. I had a really good time on the trip. It was really good to get away from the humidity of Takasaki, even for a little while.





Friday, July 30, 2010

Book Review: Echoes Of The Great Song

Title: Echoes Of The Great Song

Author: David Gemmell

Genre: Fantasy

Recommended E.L.I. 高崎 level: Intermediate plus and above.

Echoes Of The Great Song tells the story of a fantasy world ruled by a race of immortals called Avatar. The Avatar live in great comfort and use the other races on their world as slaves until a great catastrophe destroys their power source. After the disaster, the Avatar struggle to keep their place as the rulers of the world, fighting with other tribes for control of land. Then, a mysterious event happens and the world of the Avatars is invaded by a race that are even more powerful than the Avatar themselves. They must fight together with the other tribes to protect their homeland.

I really enjoyed Echoes Of The Great Song. It's fast-paced and has some great characters. David Gemmell often writes about characters that are neither good nor bad but somewhere in the middle. I always find these types of characters interesting and I've enjoyed several of Gemmell's books. If you enjoy heroic fantasy such as The Lord Of The Rings, then I recommend this book.

Echoes Of The Great Song is available in the E.L.I. lending Library.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

New Location

Hello,

In mid July E.L.I. 高崎 moved to a new location. We have closed the old school and we are now closer to the station. Click here for a map. We are now just a few minutes walk from Takasaki station. The new school is about 5-10 minutes walk from Aramachi car park so we will be using the car park tickets that we had before. Here are some pictures of the new school.








Saturday, February 6, 2010

New Homepage

We have a new homepage. You can now find us at

http://www.eli-takasaki.jp