I tried to sleep in, but my body always says no. Today started as a lazy day with lots of cleaning catch up. Went to the bakery but they didn’t have my bread. I could probably special order it too if I only knew Japanese. I worked a bit on scanlation stuff and watched tv. I procrastinated on my grocery shopping till tomorrow. I took the train to Takasaki again for a second Halloween party at Pitch. This one was for the Gunma International Club so it’s a mix of foreigners and Japanese. I had invited a friend Y, from Japanese lessons, and was really excited to see her there. We got a drink and some food there as well: salad, fries, pizza. I got to talk to a lot of new people and make some new friends! Y offered to give me a ride back to Tomioka so I didn’t have to worry about the last train either. We left shortly before midnight so I finally got to bed around 1:30 am. The latest I’ve stayed up in a while.

I wore my Hermione costume to school today amidst many squees and cutes. I think it was the combo of the costume and my contacts. I bought a ton of candy at Costco and handed it out to the students in the halls and classrooms between classes if they said trick or treat. So many happy girls. A bunch even gave me candy in return, as did Ichigo-sensei. I baked some pumpkin spice cookies for the staffroom as well. Took four hours on Wednesday with my tiny little toaster oven because I could only bake six cookies at a time.

Then I left early at 1 pm to get a ride to another school in Annaka. No time for lunch as I taught all four morning classes so I ate in his car. I had known it was a private school from the name, but I learned on the ride there that it was a religious school too, with bible recitation and its own chapel. I was judging their speech contest in my costume. I got a lot of stares as I passed through the building to the chapel. Their ALT wasn’t wearing a costume. We judged in the chapel which was really big enough to be a church. Very impressive school building with junior high school and high school combined. After the judging, I had planned to stay in Annaka to meet up with a friend and visit his cat, but it was short so I ended up hanging with the contestants. We gave them tips on how to improve their speeches. They each had written an essay a little over two pages and had it memorized. We talked in a very new building that made me think of my college. So fancy. It was fun chatting with them.



Afterward, I slowly walked and took pictures on my way to S’s apartment. While waiting outside, a young kid came up and started talking away to me in Japanese. We literally talked for 10 minutes without understanding each other, haha. S, another ALT, and I caught the bus to the station to meet up with another ALT and to head to Takasaki for the GAJET (Gunma Association of JETs) Halloween party at Gru. Definitely got a lot of stares! The party was so much fun! All you can drink and eat. There were fries, sandwiches, pizza, and s’mores! I even found out that fuzzy navels exist over here too, so now I know what I can drink! So much good music and dancing. I caught the train back home and got back around 11.

All the Gunma ALTs had a day long conference in Isesaki today. I caught two trains and walked about 30 minutes from the station to the education building. The walk was quite pretty, along the river and the sun was shining. The conference itself was rather meh. Not a lot of new information, but some good speakers at least. It was cool to see a lot of the people I knew again and many new people too! M offered me a ride back since she passes through Tomioka anyway.

We decided to get dinner with a bunch of others at a conveyor belt sushi place. You placed your orders on a tablet, and they were delivered by a car on the belt to your table. Or you could just grab whatever you wanted from the belt. Almost everything was 100 yen unless you ordered something special.

We didn’t have school this past Tuesday, but in exchange we had school yesterday for another open house for the junior high schoolers. And today, Sunday, I also worked. I was a judge at the Rising Cup debate contest in Isesaki. I judged three out of five rounds and was already exhausted. All the active listening takes it out of you. Our girls did their best and I was quite proud. The winning team was really amazing. They had one girl who could really attack the other side with her questions.

We were there all day. My teacher dropped me off at Takasaki station and I grabbed some conbini dinner while waiting for my train. So tired. And school is tomorrow. Wednesday is Gunma Day so at least there’s no classes. Most teachers will take nenkyuu (PTO), but I don’t want to waste it.

I had originally planned to go to Yamanashi this weekend to visit a friend and see a festival, but there was a mix up with dates at my school. I had said I would go on a day trip to Tokyo with the old lady school union (past students). They had already paid for me and reserved things so I had to get a refund for my tickets. On Wednesday I went to Costco, so we were able to stop in Takasaki on the way back to refund them at the station. It was my first time at Costco. Quite impressive! I spent so much money, but was very happy to even get an orange pumpkin! Got a sausage with relish and sauerkraut afterward too, yum yum. I was driven there by A who also had a Costco card.

My morning began with lots of bowing and good mornings and comments about my height. We had two large buses that were leaving at 7:30 am. On the bus, we were given a bottle of green tea and two mandarins. Kyocho-sensei, Kyoto-sensei, two other teachers, and Ichigo-sensei accompanied me. It took a little over two hours to get to our first stop, TenQ, a space museum in Tokyo Dome City. It was right next to Tokyo Dome (baseball stadium) in an entertainment complex. The drive was quite interesting. The hostess on the bus was a hilarious announcer and served tea and coffee, and performed songs. The whole bus had a self introduction time, and sang old school songs together. We stopped once at a rest area and Ichigo-sensei bought some apple tart. She gave me some too! It was very yummy, and made me strongly miss my papa’s apple pie.

Driving around in Tokyo was much different than what I was expecting. The streets were relatively clear and easy to maneuver around in. Completely the opposite of Paris or NYC! So many traffic jams there. I actually feel like I could drive in Tokyo. While on the bus, we passed the Imperial Palace (so many tourists!), the governor’s house, and the British Embassy.

Outside of TenQ we took a group photo. It was drizzling at this time, but luckily the rain stopped! The first part of the museum was two videos. We entered a room that had 3D walls with squares jutting out of the wall. It was a really cool presentation with light effects. Covered from the beginning of time through Egypt, ancient Asia, Galileo, and the astronomical clock in Prague! The second video was my favorite. Even made me cry, the weepy sap I am. We stood around a large circular railing overlooking a huge screen on the floor. The video was called “another point of view” and it took you from the footprints on the moon further and further out into the universe. Absolutely stunning to see throughout the galaxies and different space phenomenon. Reminded me a lot of all the Star Trek I’ve been binge watching. Space is amazing. The rest of the museum had an exhibit about some shuttle explorations on Titan and Mars, very current information, a section with games for kids, and a photo spot!

Afterward, we headed to Shinagawa Prince Hotel for a spectacular lunch buffet. At first we were two chairs short for our reservation, but apparently two random ladies sat down amongst our group so we had to kick them out for Ichigo-sensei’s and my seat. There was so much food! The desserts looked spectacular so I knew I had to save a lot of room. I started with the salad bar and Nepalese food section. Grabbed some stuff from the Japanese section including crab legs! This was my first time trying crab legs. They were very mild and much easier to break apart than lobster. I barely needed the fancy scissors they provided. There even were drink stations where you could get smoothies! You only had to pay extra for alcohol. My next plate was in another line that offered bread (croissants, baguette, tomato, nut, and honey breads), roast beef, spaghetti (why??), some rice pilaf, beef stew, and so much more. Finally I got two plate fulls of dessert, 11 portions of: chocolate cake, pistachio cake, chestnut cake, pumpkin pudding, raspberry mousse, pear cake, orange mascarpone, tiramisu, and glazed sweet potato. The raspberry mousse was heavenly and so was the pumpkin pudding which actually tasted like pumpkin instead of spices. I felt like I was going to explode, but it was so worth it. I think I really impressed Ichigo-sensei, haha.

Next stop was a traditional Japanese garden, Rikugien Gardens. Had we come a little bit later, the fall colors would have been stunning. But I still enjoyed our digestive walk. Very peaceful for being in the middle of the city. Then we were off to the Harajuku for old people, the part of Tokyo that had shops catering to the older generation with canes and rolling grocery bags, Sugamo. In the old days, women would wear red shawls for good luck with their kimonos, but now this district is known for selling red underwear for good luck instead. I got to wash the Togenuki Jizo statue. By pouring water on certain parts, it can relieve ailments or improve things. For example, the head will make you smarter. The same goes for incense so we waved some incense over ourselves. I couldn’t even look at food by this point, but some of the teachers bought famous mochi items. There were selling apples at a stall and the lady said they were Jonagolds, my favorite! I was ready to buy some, but one of my teachers had just bought ten and gave me half. So kind! I was trying to take less, but he insisted. (I tried one that evening and was indeed heavenly.)

On the way back, we ran into K’s school, the all boys school, at a rest stop. They had had a school trip. Ichigo-sensei needed to buy omiyage for her daughter - Tokyo Banana, which is a custard filled, banana shaped pastry. The bus trip home had more singing at the end. When we arrived back at the school, there was a lot more bowing and good jobs and thank yous.