School- I had two elementary school visits this week. I was worried that they were going to be exhausting and a little chaotic, especially as I only received information on what to plan a few days before. But both visits were fantastic fun!! The staff at Kibe Sho and Higashijyogo Sho were very accommodating and friendly. The classes I taught seemed to go well and the kids were very genky and excited and so I felt pretty pleased! At the second school I taught kindergarten children which was really good fun. They were beyond adorable. Tiny, beaming smiles, pig tails for girls or funky crops for boys, cute clothes and such joy and energy! At Sakai my lessons went really pretty well as I was doing fun review games and having a lot more banter with the students, however I did of course have some lessons cancelled, especially coz the students had tests on Thursday and Friday.
But the main news from Sakai JHS is the crime that has broken loose this week!! Over the weekend people got into the school and left trails of spit, cigarettes, gum and graffiti. Then on Monday or Tuesday someone actually got in through a window and turned over a kerosene heater!!! I know I can hear your cries and concern. Will I be safe working in such a school with such horrific stories of crime? Well the school had numerous emergency meetings all week and the grave faces of the staff showed that these events were going to be taken seriously. The police were called and there are talks of new security systems being installed.
On Tuesday I had the tea ceremony class again which was ace. On Wednesday Beata, John, Kim, Sarah, Andy and myself all went to dinner. After disappointment, we ended up in Cocos a Californian style restaurant. I didn’t really eat but the drink bar was worth the money and the food did look pretty damn good. On Thursday I met with Matthew, Jill and Katie in Starbucks. We had a great chat and chill out and then went to Berry’s for delicious milkshakes, Cajun fries and Katie had a dreamy pudding…yum. Monday and Friday were tennis nights, so a pretty busy week really. But an enjoyable one. The only downfall was the shitty weather and the coldness. Apparently snow is coming in the next few days. Jolly good.
This weekend was pretty low key again due to trying to conserve my funds for the Christmas trip… so on Saturday Jordana and I went to Imadate to make Japanese paper (washi). We watched a little old man make some paper by scooping up the runny papyrus giving it a bit of a shake, adding some sparkles, colors and leaves and then sucking out all the water. It was like magic! It was a great experience and I really enjoyed making my own paper using maple leaves and autumn flowers and shrubs. We then looked around the subarashi gift shop!! After this we visited takefu knife village in the attempt to make a funky knife (every girls dream I can imagine) but alas we couldn’t communicate the correct Japanese or understand how we went about doing this. So instead we scooted around the shop and watched a few guys in the factory make some big scary knives that will probably be on their way to sudan or iraq. The weather was ghastly but this didn’t stop our escapades! We drove over to Daianbutsu temple. We were the only people there except for the staff and they looked very scared to see us! But it was a lovely tranquil temple with the fantastic smell of incense and some nice Buddha statues- and also some rather unflattering pictures of a dude. That evening we feasted- or rather ate to the point of sickness, in an Indian buffet restaurant. It was delicious!!! After which we met up with Matthew, Katie and Chris to sing our hearts out at My Pleasure- the karaoke place! It was a really fun evening and I had no problem singing-badly- in front of everyone! It was great!
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Sunday was pretty uneventful. I went running as I had on Saturday and then did a few chores before meeting up with Mayoumi to do a bit of shopping. It was nice seeing her and spending time with her. The weather was awful still which didn’t make driving particularly appealing so we didn’t stay out for too long.. but I had fun nonetheless and returned home to watch tv and drink warm drinks in my igloo.
But the main news from Sakai JHS is the crime that has broken loose this week!! Over the weekend people got into the school and left trails of spit, cigarettes, gum and graffiti. Then on Monday or Tuesday someone actually got in through a window and turned over a kerosene heater!!! I know I can hear your cries and concern. Will I be safe working in such a school with such horrific stories of crime? Well the school had numerous emergency meetings all week and the grave faces of the staff showed that these events were going to be taken seriously. The police were called and there are talks of new security systems being installed.
On Tuesday I had the tea ceremony class again which was ace. On Wednesday Beata, John, Kim, Sarah, Andy and myself all went to dinner. After disappointment, we ended up in Cocos a Californian style restaurant. I didn’t really eat but the drink bar was worth the money and the food did look pretty damn good. On Thursday I met with Matthew, Jill and Katie in Starbucks. We had a great chat and chill out and then went to Berry’s for delicious milkshakes, Cajun fries and Katie had a dreamy pudding…yum. Monday and Friday were tennis nights, so a pretty busy week really. But an enjoyable one. The only downfall was the shitty weather and the coldness. Apparently snow is coming in the next few days. Jolly good.
This weekend was pretty low key again due to trying to conserve my funds for the Christmas trip… so on Saturday Jordana and I went to Imadate to make Japanese paper (washi). We watched a little old man make some paper by scooping up the runny papyrus giving it a bit of a shake, adding some sparkles, colors and leaves and then sucking out all the water. It was like magic! It was a great experience and I really enjoyed making my own paper using maple leaves and autumn flowers and shrubs. We then looked around the subarashi gift shop!! After this we visited takefu knife village in the attempt to make a funky knife (every girls dream I can imagine) but alas we couldn’t communicate the correct Japanese or understand how we went about doing this. So instead we scooted around the shop and watched a few guys in the factory make some big scary knives that will probably be on their way to sudan or iraq. The weather was ghastly but this didn’t stop our escapades! We drove over to Daianbutsu temple. We were the only people there except for the staff and they looked very scared to see us! But it was a lovely tranquil temple with the fantastic smell of incense and some nice Buddha statues- and also some rather unflattering pictures of a dude. That evening we feasted- or rather ate to the point of sickness, in an Indian buffet restaurant. It was delicious!!! After which we met up with Matthew, Katie and Chris to sing our hearts out at My Pleasure- the karaoke place! It was a really fun evening and I had no problem singing-badly- in front of everyone! It was great!
Sunday was pretty uneventful. I went running as I had on Saturday and then did a few chores before meeting up with Mayoumi to do a bit of shopping. It was nice seeing her and spending time with her. The weather was awful still which didn’t make driving particularly appealing so we didn’t stay out for too long.. but I had fun nonetheless and returned home to watch tv and drink warm drinks in my igloo.
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