Today we went to the Mazda plant. After a long night, we all piled into the school bus and headed off for the plant. After spending a short time getting access permissions, we were allowed into the showroom as we waited to go on our tour. Everyone in the Mazda facility was very polite, even after one of our students took the top off one of the engines.
After wandering around the showroom for a bit, we got into another bus and headed out to the Mazda Museum. We were reprimanded for taking photos inside the bus as we travelled through the plant, so I only have a few pictures from that. The plant is HUGE, about 8 kilometers by 6 kilometers. It took about 15 minutes to arrive at the museum. Inside, we saw lots about both the past and future of Mazda, including a portion of the plant (somewhere else I couldn't take pictures).
After visiting Mazda, we headed for the ball game to cheer for the Hiroshima Carp. However, we had a little bit of time first, so we stopped at the underground mall nearby. After wandering for awhile, we decided to have some dessert, and then headed to the field.
The baseball game was awesome! Everyone cheers in unison, led by white-gloved fans who stand on boxes. There's standing cheers, and a song for every player. Absolute craziness! Slyly is the Carp's mascot. I don't know what he's supposed to be, but he certainly gets the crowd going. At the seventh inning stretch, they sing a song then release balloons all of the field. It's a blast! We came back in the 8th and 9th innings, but ended up losing by only one point.
After the game, I went to Karaoke with a lot of my Japanese friends from HIT. We had a great time, and I finally got home much later than I first thought. My homestay family was very understanding though, lending me the housekey so I could come home when I did. All in all, a great day!
