Kyushu Special 2: Nature Youth Hostels 自然之家

Our first night was spent in one of these hostels run by the state government. The hostel name can be interpreted as "National Youth Nature/Exchange Hostel". These hostels are wide-spread throughout the nation and are always situated within nature bountiful mountains. They are popular with schools and companies who want to train their people because they are equipped with classrooms, assembly halls, sports and camping facilities. However be warned that there are a lot of taking off shoes and changing to slippers or walk bare footed in Japanese facilities and museums!
我們的初晚在這類國立宿舍渡過。名字可翻譯為"國立青少年交流／自然之家"。這類宿舍遍佈全國，而且通常位於充滿大自然的山上。因為裡面都備有教室，禮堂和其它運動和露營設施，對那些要集訓學生的學校，童子軍，公司等受歡迎。不過在日本的設施和博物館內，得常脫鞋穿鞋，非常麻煩。

Unfortunately since they are not hotels, you'll have to bring your own towels, collect your own bedding, make your own bed, wake up early to return bedding, clean up and attend the morning assembly to see the flag raising and do the Japanese morning exercise. All cleaning will be checked before you can leave! What's more, toilets and baths are located outside and shared with the rest. Private shower rooms are few and we were encouraged to strip naked and join public baths. Needless to say, I prefer hotel rooms with private bath though I joined in eventually due to busy schedule.
遺憾的是，因為不是旅店，所以得帶自己的毛巾，還得自己去拿床具，自己鋪床，早上還得早起還床具，清掃周圍，參加早上的集合，看升旗和做日本的早操。房間得先被檢點才能走！而且廁所和浴室都在外面共用，個人浴室很少。我們都被鼓勵脫光光去公共澡堂洗澡。雖然我比較喜歡個人浴室，但是因為時間緊迫，沒辦法只好加入了。

The reason why we were assigned to stay in such hostels (besides being on a tight budget) was because of the communication exchange with the local Japanese. The Aso National Youth Exchange Hostel welcomed us with lots of great looking food and we watched their video presentation and our independent country performance while eating. We also tried our best to communicate with them with our broken Japanese. Typical conversation content is usually about our studies, family and simple country facts.
我們住宿舍的原因（除了經費有限）是因為獎學金集團鼓勵我們于當地的日本人交流。“國立阿蘇山青少年交流之家”的工作人員都以很棒的美食來歡迎我們。我們邊吃邊看他們的錄像和我們自己各國的表演。我們都盡力以我們的爛日語和他們溝通。內容通常圍繞著學習，家人和簡單的國家介紹。

This seems to be smoked duck sashimi! It was too salty...
這沒聽錯的話是熏鴨子！但是好鹹喔...

This was actually horse sashimi! It was tasty but I will not eat it again because I like horses.
這原來是生馬肉！雖然蠻好吃的，但是因為我喜歡馬，所以不會再吃了。

The final night stay was with the Isahaya Youth Nature Hostel. Although the food was very very very different I felt that the people there were "younger" than the one before.
最後一晚在“國立諫早青少年自然之家”。雖然晚餐和之前的阿蘇家非常非常不一樣，但是我感覺到這裡的人都比前一家更年輕。