Sunday, March 27, 2016


Happy Easter! We got up at 7:30 am and I set up Easter breakfast with the eggs I had dyed at school on Wednesday with my English club. E and K put their bags directly in my car so we didn’t have to worry about stopping at home to pick them up. Our first destination was Jigokudani Monkey Park about 1 hour and 50 minutes away, but we had to stop at Nagano Station first for the JR passes. It was my first time in Nagano City and it had a stunning overview of the snow capped Nagano alps near where Hakuba is. The station was really nicely designed as well. Sadly I didn’t bring my temple book so I decided not to stop by Zenkoji temple there. We also stopped for gas and supplies, but getting lunch at a typical Japanese chain place, Sukiya. First time for me and it was all right.

We got to the monkey park at about 12:30 pm. It was much less busy than last time and really muddy! So much warmer out! There were almost no monkeys bathing but many grooming on the pathways and running around, playing. The little baby monkeys playing and being groomed were the cutest! I then drove us another 2 hours through the mountains to Kusatsu. Sadly the shortcut road is still closed for winter stuff, but at least I knew where to drive this time! There was still a little snow on the ground and people skiing on the last bits. I parked at the bank in Kusatsu as it’s Sunday and closed - free parking yay - and we walked through the shrine down to the city center. So I got a Shinto shrine visit in for Easter instead of church? The sulfur smelled much less strongly this time and there were many people walking around in their yukatas.

We also tried sesame ice cream, and onsen manju along the way to Sainokawara Park. While we were there, it started snowing! We sat with our feet in the foot bath with snowflakes falling all around us. I thought it especially crazy for E and K because they had just come from Okinawa and the beach life. We started the last leg of the journey, another 2 hours back to Takasaki. We got there shortly before 8 pm and stopped at Kappa Sushi for some conveyor belt sushi for dinner. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. I dropped them off at the station at 9:15 pm so they could catch their shinkansen to Sendai. It was so much fun showing them around even if our time was cut short and we had to do a lot of driving in one day. Plus I got to speak German for a day!

Saturday, March 26, 2016


My friend and her husband were supposed to come visit me for three days yesterday, but they got trapped in Okinawa due to high waves. They couldn’t use the ferry to get back to the main island and had to postpone their flight. I had already taken PTO yesterday so I got to have an extra day off. As their flight was coming in late today, after the last bus and with a small chance to catch the last train, I offered to pick them up at the airport. So I spontaneously ended up in Tokyo for today. This weekend was AnimeJapan, the world’s largest anime convention, at Tokyo Big Sight. Last year about 120,000 people attended. What a jump from my previous cons - Anime Midwest, 3000; MTAC, 9000; Ohayocon, 13,000.

I left at 7 am. Normally it takes a little under two hours to get to Tokyo, but there was a 50 minute delay on the way. All the traffic. I decided to get off the expressway and circumvent it. I parked a bit further away from Big Sight along the same train line so I didn’t have to wait in long lines to park. The station was right next to the parking garage, but it was a bit weird because the building accompanying it was closed so I couldn’t get back outside except by walking up the ramp although there was a no walking sign. Whoops. The trains was super crowded! I just followed the flood of people pouring out of the station and towards the convention center. I walked and walked and walked. They had some staff members manning signs that directed us to basically wind around the whole convention center to the back and then into the East hall. I got off the train at 9:40 am and made it in the convention center at 11:15 am. It wasn’t that bad because we kept moving the whole time, but had I gotten there earlier… Eeek. Definitely the longest line I’ve seen. Even beat Disney at NYE. There was a separate smaller line to buy tickets before the big line up started. I was glad I managed to figure out how to get mine at FamilyMart!


When inside, it felt like less people because everyone spread out. There were only spots where it was difficult to move. It was completely different from the American cons I’ve been too. Huge stands for all the anime companies that often had displays or shows. There was one open stage with events, and three private stages that you had to win lottery tickets to enter as they could only fit about 500-1500 people. The stages were all talk panels with famous creators or voice actors.

Each booth was selling things, but it was mostly shows I wasn’t interested in. Lots of free flyers, goodies, and bags were being handed out. There were two huge food areas as well. I think I missed out a bit on the signs and atmosphere because I can’t understand Japanese. Some things would have been more impressive. Like I think I could have gotten this really cool Kuroshitsuji movie ticket thing, but google translate failed me. I really enjoyed seeing the huge Nyanko-sensei though! It was also cool to see the creator booths where you could watch them draw manga with photoshop and put together animations.

The cosplay stuff was way different too. There was a small indoor cosplayers area that featured a dressing room. The cosplayers came in normal clothes with suitcases and changed there, dropping their suitcases at a “coatroom.” Then most of them were outside staking out a spot with signs with their pro names and twitter handles. Photographers/people would line up to take a picture of the cosplayer posing. The cameras were super intense! People even brought the light reflector boards. The cosplayers didn’t roam free throughout the con. There were some impressive cosplays, but it wasn’t that much better than those in the US. It was exclusively anime characters (and some video games?). I didn’t see the mix of comic, tv, and movie characters that we have. I felt bad though because it was cold! They were standing out where we originally came in, by the windy ocean.

It was a different type of crowd. It’s like one big nerdy party for us and it just seemed like a commercial event here with standard group of people going, although people did end up sitting everywhere on the floors too. I got lunch at a cafe that was okay and not too severely overpriced. At about 4 pm before it closed, I staked out a spot at Starbucks and relaxed. I later got dinner at McD’s but I couldn’t hang out there too long. You were only allowed to stay for 30 minutes and were given a piece of paper with your exit time.

I had some extra time before I could leave for the airport, so I walked over the bridges to the other part of Odaiba to see the giant Gundam statue. Along the way I ran into people doing nighttime cosplay shots, by the big Ferris wheel. I even spotted a Project K shoot between Mikoto and Munakata that suited the atmosphere perfectly! By the statue, tulips were already blooming and two sakura trees! I was pretty cold at this point so I took shelter in the shopping mall. I only wore a fleece jacket because I didn’t want to carry my coat around all day inside the center - although it was actually only semi-warm inside. I got to go shopping at H&M and Forever 21, cries. Big city life with clothes with real sizes. There were a bunch of sales going on for spring. I got three things at F21 for about $15!

I made it back to my car and headed off for the extra hour driving to the airport. It all worked out and I managed to park at the right garage. Following some very confusing signage, I made it to Terminal 3 which is much further from Terminal 2 than I had thought. I managed to get there right before my friends came out at 10:15 pm. Needless to say, we took the bus back to the Terminal 2 ha. After a long drive home with mostly empty roads, I managed to get in my bed at 1:30 am. It was really great talking with E and her husband K though. We made plans to get up early the next day for a drive to Nagano so they could get their JR Rail passes exchanged because there’s no station in Gunma that will do it. The original plan was to do it in Tokyo, but the office closed before their arrival.

Monday, March 21, 2016

 
This morning S, R, and I picked M up at Nagoya station. We were off to Inuyama, about an hour to the north. We ended up parking in a museum parking lot as we didn’t see the signs for the official parking lot for the castle. Inuyama Castle is one of 12 remaining original castles in Japan that survived the ages. It’s the oldest standing castle in Japan and was built in 1440. We arrived right before sakura season so there weren’t too many tourists or lines. There was a beautiful fox shrine at the base of the castle grounds. The Inuyama mascot was taking pictures with people. We walked up old stone paths, passing a horse shrine, to the entrance of the castle gates. Inside, was an omiyage shop/cafe, the castle, and a small courtyard. Near the castle was a huge, old, trimmed tree that was an ancient sakura apparently!

We got in line to enter the castle, and removed our shoes as per usual. The castle definitely felt old! The stone walls were much less even and the wood smoothed and stained. At the top was an outlook where you could see much of the surrounding area. A good vantage point to spot any incoming enemies! I ended up buying Ichigo-sensei some Inuyama omiyage as a thank you for the ETC card and a goodbye present. We won’t be teaching together anymore :( Every school year in Japan, teachers can be reassigned to new schools or duties and have to move to ensure no school gets a stockpile of good teachers. She’s leaving to be a supervisor and will no longer be teaching. I’m quite sad.

After dropping by the car to shed layers - it was getting quite warm - and omiyage, we continued walking through the old castle town. Lots of cute shops and cafes. We ended up getting lunch at a misokatsu place. We ate outside in the sun. Afterward, we drove to the Sweets Castle about 20 minutes away. It’s like a themed “house.” It looks like a European palace, but with a Santa statue in the fountain! You had to pay for entrance and then could pay extra for different activities. The most popular one was where you could rent a dress, stroll around the grounds, and take pictures. A lot of couples were doing this. You could also bake cookies in a class - that was popular with the kids. This place was huge! We wandered through the halls back to a museum of confectionaries. They had famous places built out of sugar. We paid extra for the sweets buffet, but it wasn’t that impressive. Most make your own parfaits. It was really interesting to see this place, but definitely much too expensive.

We dropped M at a station and started the drive home. R took a turn driving the car and drove it halfway. My body was so tired of driving especially from all the driving to Ise. The drive was really pretty! We could see all the mountains this time. We passed through some pretty remote areas and got to see the snowy peaks of the alps in Nagano.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

 
Did all the driving today - a total of over 6 hours. S and I left at 8:30 am to pick up my other OU friend, M, from her apartment. We were driving to Ise to visit the most famous shrines in Japan. There are 125 shrines that cover the same acreage as Paris. The Ise Grand Shrine, both Geku and Naiku, outer and inner, is where they pray for world prosperity and for the Imperial family. Every twenty years the bridge, and the two head shrines are torn down and rebuilt. The grounds have been around since the 5th century! They rebuilt for the 62nd time in 2013 so many years of rebuilding up till now! As it was a holiday weekend, the traffic was insane and took us over an hour longer than usual to drive there. We drove by a huge amusement park and the ocean at the beginning and even saw M’s workplace! She gets to use English on occasion but all about lumber, ha.

After long lines, we finally made it into a parking lot (not as bad lines as the ones in Gotemba or as the ones here for the free parking lot). Parking was super expensive (300 yen per 30 min), but we just didn’t want to wait forever. We walked through Oharaimachi, the old approach to the inner shrine, filled with many traditional buildings. We got some food from the stands for lunch. I tried cold french fries covered with a harden layer of honey and lemon juice, and a Japanese corn dog which was a hot dog covered in sticky rice. Almost everyone was Japanese tourists,and the floods of people never ended. The grounds of the inner shrine were huge! We did a lot of walking amongst the huge, old trees. You could even go down to the river to cleanse yourself. You couldn’t take pictures directly by the shrines as it’s a place of worship, but I got to see the Shinto priests with the really tall hats. The shrines were built very traditionally with thatched roofs. The back buildings even had gold tips. Maybe the buildings weren’t very impressive, but the peacefulness and historical significance impacted me. I did have to wait in a long line to get my stamp for my seal book done. Over 30 minutes, I’d say, the longest I’ve waited for my stamp yet!

On the way out, we stopped by the rest house and got some free tea! We passed back through the bustling shopping street and stopped at a tiny seafood restaurant at the end of the street. The guy called out to us in Japanese telling us to try his delicious oysters. I decided to stop inside and try one! We were in a famous oyster fishing town. I thought I had never had oysters before and it was only 380 yen ($3) for a pair. The guy cooking even spoke English to ask whether I wanted cooked or fresh. I choose fresh. He put some lemon soy sauce on them. They were huge! And I recognized them! I had oysters cooked in nabe twice before and had no idea what it was. I didn’t really like them cooked as they were too chewy, but fresh was yummy!

We drove about 15 minutes to the outer shrine, Geku, and parking in a free lot this time. Much less busy here. There were more of the same buildings but on a smaller scale. We drove further, about 20 minutes, to get to Meoto Iwa, the married couple rocks. They are joined by a heavy rope that weighs over a ton. It gets replaced several times a year in a special ceremony. It was my first frog shrine. The wind was fierce and as I was standing by the entrance torii gate, a wave came up and splashed me! Caused some laughter as it was a dry spot on the ground, but the sea blessed me anyway. We were there at high tide so the rocks were separated by water.

We tried to find something to eat, but all the places were closed and it was so windy. We got back in the car and drove a little further to a teppanyaki place that was hopping. We all had some delish okonomiyaki. The ride back was a little better but still long. My legs and body were sick of driving! I had to stop to get gas at a rest stop on the expressway, but the line was crazy! It was all backed up onto the interstate, because there weren’t enough parking spots for all the traffic. I just wanted to pass through to the far side to get gas. We went returned to Nagoya, we were lucky and could get the cheaper and closer parking lot to our airbnb, whoop.

Saturday, March 19, 2016


I had arranged to meet my Japanese friend who studied abroad at OU at Nakamurakoen station at 10 am. It was wonderful to see her again! Her English got a lot better as she finished school and studied abroad in England. Sadly, she doesn’t get to use English at work and has a very intensive job. We headed off to Nagoya Castle. The original was bombed down by us during WWII so they are currently in the middle of a reconstruction process. I learned about the two golden tiger headed carps, kinshachi. They are featured everywhere: on the sewer covers, in all the tourist shops - you can get stuffed animals or socks with them. I also got to see a huge line of people waiting to take photos with Nobunaga, one of the most famous feudal lords of the castle. I’ve even heard of him from video games - Civilizations and Age of Empires. The inside featured lots of English, some historical artifacts and displays, models, a re-created town, a stunning view of Nagoya, and some interactive displays. You could join in and help pull the sled carrying the stones to build the walls.

We also visited one of the side buildings that had just been completed. Such fresh wood. They even gave us slippers to wear inside. We got to see lots of beautifully painted, golden screens. Afterward, we took the subway to Osu Kannon, a lovely Buddhist temple, and walked through Osu. We visited this cute little Alice themed shop with a tiny doorway that I could barely fit in. H took me to a super famous restaurant called Misokatsu Yabaton Honten where they serve a Nagoya speciality, misokatsu. It was very yummy, but so much food! There’s always a line because it’s renown. We went back to the Osu shopping street area to watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was much bigger than I had expected with bagpipes and many violins. There were even huge Irish wolfhounds and an Irish setter!

We continued the festivities in Yaba Park where they did games, crafts, and face painting. We listened to some music and watched Irish dancing! I didn’t even know they had Irish dancing classes in Japan. It got a bit chilly with the wind picking up so we stopped by the nearby Pokemon Center, my fourth one in Japan. I just wanted a picture of the store sign (which they didn’t have), but ended up buying a cute Easter pin and nanolego kit to make Squirtle aka Zenigame. We hung out in Starbucks for a while, chatting. I bought the new flavour of the month, apricot honey soy. It was delish! I really like soy stuff here. We got dinner at a nearby izakaya since we were still really full from lunch time and just wanted some small things. Thank goodness for traveling with someone who knows Japanese! Nagoya was lacking a lot of English with most places only having Japanese menus unlike Kyoto or Tokyo.

Friday, March 18, 2016

I cleaned up my apartment and had a quick dinner after school before S and R showed up. We were driving down to Nagoya tonight. After rearranging the cars, we set off shortly after 6 pm. I borrowed Ichigo-sensei’s ETC card. It’s like EZ-pass in Japan, but a credit card with a microchip that you stick into a reader that’s installed in your car. You get a much better discount on the expressway tolls. We only made a couple wrong turns. I was finally able to read my first set of kanji for rest stop center, whoop whoop. I drove the whole way and it took us 4 hours and 15 min as I shaved off 15 min of driving time. It rained the whole way from Nagano through Gifu and Aichi. I beat my tunnel record with an 8650 m long tunnel. Finally after arriving in Nagoya at 10:45 pm, we managed to get a parking spot and lug our things to the airbnb. But, of course, google was off with the location so we did have to wander in circles a bit. I was very happy to finally get in bed.

Sunday, March 13, 2016


F, S, and I were visiting the plum blossoms gardens in Annaka today. Luckily the rain had stopped, so it was only gray. S and I got some hash browns at McD’s while we waited for F’s train to arrive. It’d been a long while since the delicious taste of hash browns. We drove in the general direction of the park and then followed the signs. There are about 35,000 trees covering 50 hectares. It was quite chilly so we decided not to have a picnic. We walked around through the trees taking lots of photos of the white, pink, and hot pink blossoms.

We headed back into Annaka and stopped at a cafe to get some hot coffee to warm us up before heading to S’s place to eat lunch where it wasn’t cold. F got to meet his cat. After dropping F at the train station, I took S to the grocery store. It’s really far from his apartment. I was rather shocked. My apartment location is perfect. I managed to find a new kit-kat flavor there - pancake - for Easter. It’s very yummy!

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Winter Hike of Mt. Asama

It was kinda snowing when I left the house at 6:50 am, a bit more like sleet. As I drove to Matsuida station, it changed to snow, already staying on the ground. I picked up the two guys who were accompanying me on today’s hike up Mt. Asama. They both worked for a car company and were from Poland and India. The drive to the trailhead was steep and curvy as per usual. The poor kei car drained gas so quickly. The last bit of road was rough - dirt and covered with snow, but we spotted some wild animal that ran off the road. Not sure what it was. Looked kinda like a serow but had a long skinny tail. Driving slowly, we made our way to the parking lot by the hotel/cabin/rest house where the final guy joining us was waiting. Parking cost 500 yen, but we figured we had to pay before leaving.

The trailhead was through a tori gate accompanied by a bunch of Japanese information about the current volcanic activity of Mt. Asama (浅間山), 2,568 meters (8,425 ft) tall. Mt. Asama, in Joshin'etsukogen National Park, is the most active volcano in all of Honshu with its most recent eruption in 2009. Last June, the alert level was raised to 2 and you aren’t supposed to go within 2 km of the crater. Mt. Asama is actually three volcanoes piled on top of each other. The Kurofu, the Hotokeiwa and the Maekake volcano (前掛山) which is what we were attempting to summit. The start of the trail was at about 1300 m. There was a small box to drop your hiking plans off in. We departed at about 9 am. The pristine snowy trail stretched in front of us. There was already about 4-5 inches of snow on the ground so we put on our mini-spikes and shoe grips.

The weather was all right. It had stopped snowing and was just cloudy, but the sun started peeking through. It wasn’t really windy at all nor that cold. All the physical exertion kept us hot! We got a little confused as to where the trail lead at one point since the roped off way continued straight and the rest of the trail turned around and went back the way we came. We found out that by hopping over the rope and continuing on, we weren’t on the proper trail and cut out part of the actual path. Whoops. That’s what we get for not being able to read kanji on the signs. We made it to the second shrine in about fifty minutes, completely bypassing the first shrine and waterfall with our “shortcut.”

From here on out, the snow got deeper and more and more of it ended up in my shoes. The trail wasn’t really that steep but tromping the path out through the snow took a lot of energy. We took turns leading the the front. The scenery was breathtaking. Mt. Gazan to the right and a cliffline to the left. We got to smell some sulfur as well. An older couple in their sixties passed us at this point. We were surprised to see other people! They were really sweet. I hope they enjoyed the track/trail we made. Our paced had slowed a lot due to the snow and attempts to find the trail. The little ribbon markers were very spaced out and often bleached out by the sun. So hard to spot! By the time we arrived at the volcano shelter and rest house, it was 12:30. We had our picnic lunch here and talked to the caretakers who live in this cabin. The volcano shelter part on the bottom of the house was really decrepit looking. I wouldn’t trust it to protect me! I was very happy to find an outhouse here because I was not looking forward to peeing in the snow and cold, ha. These were wonderfully clean toilets - not squat toilets! Hallelujah.

The next of the trail was very flat and through the woods. It would have been perfect to ski across or use snowshoes. We made it to the sign where the trail “ends” and you have to proceed further at your own risk. This is where we found out, we were underprepared. We had an hour left of hiking time before I thought it’d be a good idea to turn around and make sure we got off the mountain before dark. Although the trail was flat, we really needed snowshoes. Every couple of steps, you’d crash through the snow and while yanking yourself out, sunk your other leg in. My hips really started hurting and my feet were wet. The snow was deep. I fell into to my hip so it was at least 90 cm (36 inches). We pressed forward as we wanted to make it out of the trees but there was no end in sight. After the rest house, we lost service so we couldn’t check how much further we had to go either. We decided to turn around at 1:50 pm. Near the bottom, I took my spikes off as a lot of the snow had melted and I didn’t want to damage them on the rocks. I started slipping a bit more so I definitely think they made a difference even if a lot of wet snow got stuck on the bottom of my shoes!
Afterward, we could see on the gps map that we were so close to breaking through the trees. The Japanese trail map at the rest house said that it takes 2 hours to do the final climb to the peak in good weather so we definitely wouldn’t have made it to the top. Oh well, I had fun and I’d like to try it again in the summer! The descent only took us 2 hours, but this time we stayed on the official trail and got to see the waterfall that was partially frozen. We hiked a total of 10 kilometers in 7 hours. Our legs hurt badly so we stopped at the rest house to use their onsen and get a discount on parking. The onsen was only indoors, but the water was the same iron-orange that we saw while climbing. We didn’t see any animals except for chickadees, but the volcanic rocks and snow were cool!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Eba-chan came and took my car for shaken time today. He said I’d get it back in 10 days and left me a loaner car, but it’s a yellow plate. I miss my white plate! It accelerates so slowly and drops speed quickly.


I finally got to karaoke for my first time tonight! And meet two other ALTs in my town who I only knew via facebook. There were five of us total, all better singers than me but ehhh it doesn’t matter. We went to Manekineko which I had a little trouble finding because they’re building a new one right in front of the old one. You got free drinks and vanilla soft serve (I tried the melon Fanta for the first time too, very St. Patricky).

We had a small room with some benches along two of the walls. You could adjust the temperature and sound, and they even provided maracas and tambourines to play with. We could hear some guy later playing the saxophone - I guess it’s good to practice in a soundproof room? We had two tablets for music selection, one in English, and two microphones for singing. A brought snacks as you can bring your own food in. The song selection was really good, I sang about 7 songs? No singles luckily ha.

Sunday, March 6, 2016


I got to attend my second international baby shower today and my first one in Japan! T got pregnant with twins and decided to stay in Japan for it all. We rented out a Mexican restaurant, Bear’s Foot Ave, in Takasaki and had the place all to ourselves. T had decorated it quite cutely with her theme of Thing 1 and Thing 2. We had delicious food: chips with guac, chimichangas, tacos, and quesadillas. Dessert was fantastic! Homemade cupcakes with strawberry whipped cream and strawberries on top. T even brought cookies. I ate so much! We played some games in between. The hardest was guessing T’s age in different photos. I was off by 5 years sometimes. What a fun afternoon!

Saturday, March 5, 2016

 S and I carpooled over to Niisato about 50 minutes away via the expressway to start our kimono wearing experience! We were renting kimonos from Kimono Factory there. I missed a branch in the expressway (as per usual) so we ended up being a bit late. I tried to take the next exit, but it was an ETC only exit and luckily S can speak Japanese and could tell the guy we made a mistake. We continued in the wrong direction for about eight kilometers before the next proper exit. Again S explained, and the guy stamped my ticket and took down my license plate so that when I drove through the opposite side without taking a ticket again, I wouldn’t get fined. It was really nice not to have to pay extra like I normally do.

After some really rural country roads, we arrived at this cute house. There was even a loom inside along with kimono cloth, bags, and other wonderful decorations. Everyone was already dressed and looking fantastic! I was wearing my wool long underwear, fleece tights and an extra shirt under the kimono. Two older ladies dressed me so quickly! Only 10 or 15 minutes? I was shocked by the amount of layers. I never knew so many things go underneath the kimono. The ladies were so sweet there. They even made a new kimono for P because they don’t carry them in her size anywhere. That was the beginning of the non stop photo tour, ha. I dumbly forgot my camera at home, but everyone else took a ton of photos!

We all piled into cars and drove the short 5 minutes to the train station. It was really hard getting in and out of the car. The other girls and I really hoped we could avoid using the restroom. I felt pretty good because I knew where we had to get on the train and to take the ticket. It pays off always using a non-JR line that has different rules, especially on the weekend. The train was decorated like an aquarium, it was really cool! We got off at Kiryu station, and walked to the main street area and a shrine where there was a flea market going on. Many people commented and asked to take photos of us! So fun. I also got to try some fresh unsweetened soy milk! A hundred times better than the Silk stuff we drink at home.


Then it was time for lunch, trying himokawa udon. It’s udon that is much wider than usual, ours was about 5 cm and a little tricky to eat. Very yummy though! We walked over to this traditional Japanese house that serves matcha. We took some photos outside while others bought jam or honey from a local stand. I had to sit properly while we were served tea, but my legs were not happy. The tea was delicious as well as the sweets we were served. Afterward, they took us on a tour of the house that was quite interesting while S kindly translated for us. We learned about the different staircase shapes, woven wooden ceiling panels, special imported cloth, and the lucky spot in the house that keeps evil out since you can see two mountains at once. Then we hopped onto a little electric bus with a max speed of 20 kmh that took us back to the station.

Back at Kimono Factory more pictures ensued before we could bear to take them off. It was surprisingly easy to remove. Pull a string and the whole obi came undone. Folding it was just like folding the yukata back at Gunma orientation so I remembered how to do it pretty well. S and I took the long back roads on the way to Tomioka and stopped at my Denny’s for dinner. It was my first time ever going to Denny’s (never went in the US), but it was very Japanese - no breakfast items. I had the very Japanese hamburg (hamburger with the bun) with rice for the first time as well. We were both too full for the delicious looking strawberry desserts though.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

School Life

This is all relevant to my all girls SHS in Gunma. Everything differs from school to school.

The special day schedule
I arrive at school and greet any students I see. Some teachers are outside greeting students and ensuring parents don’t cause traffic jams. I trade my outdoor shoes for my indoor shoes at my shoe locker near the main office. I enter the teacher’s staff room and give my good morning greeting to the room. Everything is usually all bustling by the time I get there. Students come in saying excuse me for interrupting and excuse me for having interrupted when they leave. Usually students are already at school around 7 am for club activities or studying. I get out my stamp and stamp the attendance book. At 8:30 am, the school bell rings and all the teachers stand at their desks as well as the staff from the main office, the librarian, gym teachers, nurse and the principal from his office. The vice principal at the head of the desks says good morning and everyone bows and sits down. He then begins the morning teacher’s meeting. Sometimes there are announcements from teachers and clapping if the students were at a competition or a teacher had a baby, etc. Then the teachers break into their individual year group meetings. At 8:40 am to 8:50 am, homeroom is held. All the homeroom teachers leave to conduct homeroom.

If there’s a special class schedule, I’ll find a paper on my desk with that day’s schedule. Sometimes there are 45 minute classes so the homeroom teachers can have their individual student interviews. Special things are also written on the blackboards or marked on the school calendar. My visit school is the only one that tends to switch up when I’m teaching. If it’s business like usual, my schedule looks like the following:

My schedule - 25 classes

The first class starts at 8:55 am. I follow my Japanese teacher of English (JTE) to class, both of us greeting all the students along the way with good mornings or good days, hellos in my case. Class is fifty minutes long. Classroom have large air conditioners in them and a heater near the windows, and fans on the ceilings. Now that it’s colder, the students carry blankets with them and cover their legs. Between classes students can eat, hang out, do whatever, but they aren’t allowed to use their phones or gaming devices at school. Everyone brushes their teeth right after eating at the sinks in the hall just like the teachers do in the staff room. All the windows and doors slide open in the classrooms and hall. The classrooms all have an outer balcony. It helps with regulating the temperature. Almost all the rooms here have chalkboards. Students have a row of drawers and a shelf in the back of the room where they can store their things: gym uniform, outdoor shoes, textbooks, etc. The desks have an open slot to store things during class, and hooks on the side to hang your bags from. The chair is separate.

The yearly schedule

Class starts with the class rep calling out for the class to stand and then bow. The teacher bows back and we both say ‘onegaishimasu.’ Students are usually expected to stand when giving an answer. Each grade level has a different color: blue, green, and red, which can be found on their shoes, and a different color sports uniform. After class, there’s more standing and bowing saying thank you. Between classes, before and after school, the staff room is always full of students working with teachers. It’s rather amazing how available they are for the students no matter if it’s a personal or educational issue. The girls usually move around together, hand in hand or arm in arm, tugging each other around. There’s plenty of giggling.

For lunch, we get 45 minutes. As teachers, we can leave to get lunch or run errands during this time. We have a bread truck that comes by and the teachers can order a lunch that gets delivered. Some teachers eat at their desk and others around the lunch table. Sometimes the teachers make a big pot of soup for everyone or lay out food around the table like homegrown fruit or veggies. Students eat in the classrooms, on the balconies, or anywhere on the school grounds really. They aren’t allowed to leave school during school hours. Two out of three school gates are shut. Some students practice their club activities or get help from the teachers during lunchtime.

After school comes cleaning time. For twenty minutes, all the students are supervised by teachers at different areas to clean. Sweeping, mopping, cleaning toilets, emptying trash - they do it all. It’s amazing! We do also have school caretakers though. Clubs usually meet after school, sometimes during lunch and before school. My school doesn’t require that students participate in a club. I can often hear choir practice and kendo. The intense teams can be here till 10 pm at night! No wonder a lot of students can’t finish their homework on time and drift off to sleep during class. One girl turnt in her summer homework about two months late. In that case they have to apologize profusely and bring it all the way to the staff room, not just hand it off in the hall.

The full teaching schedule for all teachers
The other day I attended an assembly where the new student council member were sworn in. Everyone takes off their indoor shoes and goes shoeless on the gym floor or puts on their gym shoes. They sit down on the floor in rows by classes. There were some speeches and handing over of certificates. They called out all the names of the two student reps per class and all the club presidents. They had all made their appeal to the student council for money and requests. The student council takes it to the principal and he decides. For example, students requested that teachers stop walking around class during exams, it’s distracting. That was rejected haha. They also wanted more choices in the vending machines because we mostly have water and our principal doesn’t allow soda. That was a we’ll see.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016


Yesterday we had the practice ceremony for graduation. All the bowing. Also, the handball team got cheered on for their upcoming nationals game in Kobe. Our handball team is pretty amazing. One of the girls, R, was selected for the Japan national team and played in the world championships in India. She got into a university on a sports scholarship and is aiming for the 2020 Olympic team. She got a lot of awards.

Today was the real thing. Everyone was in their black suits except two of the third year teachers who wore kimonos! I don’t know where the teachers parked because both of our parking lots were empty for the parents. In the gym, the portable heaters were going full blast, but it was still really chilly. There was a board with messages from past teachers and local important people like the mayor and principals from other schools. The chairs were sectioned off with the front portion between for the graduating third years, for the second and first years, for the parents, for the third year teachers, and for the rest of the teachers. On the stage, on either side of the podium, were two tables: one for the principal (who made it despite his illness), vice principal, and head office man, and the other for the alumni group chairperson, a PTA person, and someone else whose sign I couldn’t read ha.

With three other teachers, I sat at the reception tables for each third year class. Basically I had to greet the parents and check off their child’s name. I had to have them point or say the class number though. I can actually read some of the kanji now, but not all ha. The whole ceremony took about two hours. First, the third years walk in with their homeroom teachers in a line, really slowly while music plays. (Not Pomp and Circumstance that they play in the US). Each class had a different color of Gerbera Daisy in their pockets. As each row of five fills, they bow together and then sit. Second, we sang the national anthem with one of the students on the piano. It’s a really pretty song! It was my first time hearing it. All the bowing again. Three times! Once to the flag of Japan, once to one of the tables, and then to the other table. It’s called out when we have to stand and bow too, learned some new vocabulary. I had to be careful not to stand at the wrong time.

The students’ names were called by their homeroom teachers as they said “Hai” (yes, present) and stood up. Each class sat down after the last girl’s name. We also sang the school song. Then there was a speech by the principal, the alumni chairperson, and the PTA head. One of the second year also did a speech and started crying during it. There was another song sung by all the students. A third year student did the next one and there were full out tears and sniffles as all the third years joined it. Being a sympathetic crier, I had already started crying too. A parent also gave a speech to the teachers to thank them. The third years did a final song together.

Between each thing, we had to stand and bow and sit again. At the end, the teachers went over by the entrance and kind of formed a path where the third year students had to walk out through to more music and with everyone clapping. More tears because now I got to stare directly into their crying faces. Some laughed with me together at our tears. Since they turned the heat off before the ceremony, it was so cold in the gym now. I was shivering and trying to suppress my teeth chatters. It’s only about 36 F out plus really strong wind! I was jealous of the parents with their coats, scarves, and lap blankets.

Many teachers handed out snack presents to the other teachers. Students are giving teachers presents and flowers. The bond between teacher and student is really strong here. I even got asked to take a couple photos with the girls.

After work we had our end of the school year enkai at Hotel Amuse in a small banquet hall with the other teachers, school alumni and PTA people. I had gone home and switched my jacket for a sweater which was okay, but I also switched to boots to walk in because I assumed we’d be taking off our shoes. Nope. Oh well, K-sensei had sneakers on so I wasn’t too out of place ha. We started with some speeches. The food was pretty good, and there was a lot. All the courses: sashimi, spring roll thing, salad with ham, dumpling thing, pasta with clams, meat with tater tots, udon, and strawberry mousse for dessert. Plus all you can drink tea, orange, cola, alcohol free beer, and normal beer.

It was my first time experiencing the drink pouring culture. The two youngest teachers started first and it just progressed. I got my tea filled by many different people and went around with Ichigo-sensei to pour drinks for others. I guess you’re supposed to pour with two hands and the label facing up, but I just did whatever ha. It makes it really hard to eat though! She had to stand up and greet the pourers every couple seconds. Quite interesting. Not too many tipsy folks by the end. Then we finished with the school song, and speeches, plus clapping. Not super sure why one of the teachers who started the clapping took a battle stance and said “Ous” (which has a whole bunch of meanings) before counting off the number of clap rounds. It was hilarious though.