Today held an experience that was a first for most of the team – waking up in Japan! The buffet breakfast was also a new adventure, with questions like, ‘what is that?’ and, ‘ooo, can I come back for seconds?’ filling the air. Next came the students’ chance for the first real look at Japan from the comfortable, high tech seat of a bullet train. As scenery flew by, it dawned on many of the students that they were actually in Japan after months of counting down the days. A few of the day’s adventures included navigating some Tokyo crowds and choosing “obento” for lunch. This epic day of travel ended in Kyoto, with the team checked into our hotel “home” for the next three nights. Sore and tired, the ‘ever-ready to explore’ JOE members scoped out the surrounding shopping area and views from the top of the modern Kyoto Station complex. Dinner was a special chance to try some seasonal local cuisine. Delicious!
SPECIAL MESSAGE:
Happy birthday Jet! I am having an amazing time in Japan and it’s only day 2! I hope you had a great day bring a teenager for the 1st time! Sariah xoxo
genesis2japan 
Look at all those smiling faces…and delicious food! Lovely to see. みなさん、 たのしんでね！
Hey Mrs Hatcher, thanks for following our adventures!
Zara – looks like you are all having the time of your life! Enjoy the bento box nom nom!
Zara, you can’t afford to lose weight so eat up and enjoy the experience. Love you 😘
Loved the slideshow. Thank you so much for sharing them with us all. Looks like everyone is having the time of their lives. Can’t wait to hear the story’s from the adventure. From the food, to the scenery and all the happy faces. We are kind of jealous of you all. Can’t wait for day 3 highlights. No need to say “have fun”. You guys are all over it. Love ya Buddy. Mum & Dad.
Food looks delicious. I am sure you trying everything Abz. Jemma says that she hopes you are having a great time and she misses you…….she has taken over your bedroom!!
Hi Noah,
You look great and happy in the pictures and we enjoyed watching the slides. The food looks yummy. Have fun and enjoy the moments. Love you and we misses you so much. God bless you all.
Mama, Papa and Aroha
Yum the food looks amazing! Hope you’re trying it all Sam! Mum x
Hi Shae ! We are loving seeing you so happy – soak up every wonderful moment ! Love you darling girl – Mama & Papa xxx
Thank you for the slideshow. What a wonderful experience for the children to taste new food and learn the culture. Have fun and have an awesome time Nalia.
Michele Fong
Nalia’s grandmother, Fiji
Shae! You are GLOWING 😉
How was the shopping mall?
Bento looked so cuuuuute.
Love you babe 🌙⭐️🌙⭐️
The Kyoto Station steps look amazing, and they are soooo big. So jelly. That’s it, sushi for lunch 😉
Enjoy Kyoto.
Love the slide show. Looks like everyone is having a great time. Lots of smiles.
Looks like a great time!!! Missing y’all! (Especially Caitlin and sariah and Rachel!!)
Much love.
Grace and Beth ❤ 🙂
Looks like Mr Connolly is in his element – all the sushi, hot sauce and coffee he can handle. How are the newbie teachers enjoying things?
Loving it. Tom and Steve fight to sit next to me each meal to steal my seafood!
Looks like a great first day – enjoy and have fun Riley.
Look forward to hearing about all the different foods you’ve tried.
Love Damon and Tara
Looks like a great first day. Enjoy Riley. Look forward to hearing about all the different foods you’ve tried. Love Damon and Tara
Just an awesome slideshow and a lot of happy faces! That food looks great too. Enjoy the experience, and we can’t wait to hear your stories first hand Hayley. Love Dad
Lovely to see you enjoying yourself Baylee…. have a wonderful time love Granny and Grandad
Wow! It looks amazing 😀. The food looks great. Can I come over? 😉. Thanks for the video. You look like you’re having a great time Caitlin xx. We can’t wait to see what happens today. Love you heaps, Mum, Dad and Sarah and of course Grace and Misty
Looks like you are having a great time!
Wow! Beautiful slideshow and it looks like they are all having a great time. Thank you for the video.
We miss you Seiloni.
Love from Mum & Dad
Thank you for the video. Great to see them all
I love seeing your happy face, enjoy the food 😊.
We love you.
Mum,cata, cinni
Shae! You are GLOWING 😉
How was the shopping mall?
Bento looked so cuuuute.
Love ya babe 🌙🌙
We loved the video! Thank you! Looks like a fabulous day. Loved seeing you there Allie xxx
Looks fabulous, thanks for the update. Have a wonderful time, love mum & dad
Lots of happy smiling faces! Food looks great! Please tell Riley that TJ is in the finals today! 😁 Love Mum
Thanks for sharing the video. It really helps us to get a glimpse of their day. Looks like loads of fun.
Looks like you are having a great time….food looks great!!
Looks like you are having an awesome time. Dinya looked amazing! Love you Josh. Love Mum, Dad, Luke and Finn
Wow, loved the slideshow. Makes us feel like we are right there with you. We are all missing you Vrishin, but we can also see that you are having a great time, 😊.
Bye for now
Dad
Looks like an awesome day! Thanks for the slideshow! So nice to see what they’re doing!
Missing you Bagel!
Mum
Can see you’re having an amazing time. I love the video slideshow, Enjoy the food and culture guys. I’m missing you do much Blakey. Have fun, mum 😘😘😘