We took a group of students down to Nagasaki this weekend. It's just a 2-hour drive, so we made it a day trip, leaving at 9am and getting back just before 8pm.
We stopped by the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Memorial first. The museum is understandably a somber place, and an unforgettable experience, if a draining one. They keep a huge collection of artifacts from the day of the blast, as well as recorded testimonials from survivors, that are harrowing to see.
After that, we took one of Nagasaki's famous trams to Chinatown, for a lunch of the local specialty, champon. Nagasaki was the only open port in Japan for more than 200 years, the only place that was allowed to trade with the outside world, and as a result, has a large and thriving Chinatown, and long historic links with other nations, especially Holland.

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A couple of weeks ago, GenkiJACS made our inaugural trip to the conveniently located indoor snowboarding arena Big Air, part of the Bayside Place complex in Hakata Bay. A few students and a few teachers, all beginners, took part in a 90-minute class designed to, well, designed to stop us from falling over and hurting ourselves, mostly. We learned slipping forwards, and zig-zagging. Unfortunately we didn't have time (or ability, to be honest) to learn going backwards, but at least that means there's something waiting for us next time we go. They have a coupon on their website (PDF link) that offers the full pack (equipment rental, entry to the arena, and a teacher for 90 minutes) for just 2,835 yen, instead of the normal 4,200 yen. Not too bad, eh? There's more photos in our gallery.