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.