more school festival...and sleep!

Forget what I said about posting once a week at the same time...my schedule is still too varied to do that, so I apologize. I will post when I can.

Since my last post we had day two of the school festival. I am so glad that I participated in the teachers presentation. Many of the teachers did spoofs of singers, comedians, and danced so my inauthentic costume was not out of place. Students could choose to go to the performance, and many did. Why would they miss seeing their teachers dressed crazy and acting crazy? (There were more guys with skirts!) When I was announced as the new ALT the students were surprised that I was going to perform. They were very supportive and cheered and clapped the whole way through. The whole thing was a lot of fun getting ready and taking pictures with the teachers...it made me feel like a part of the school instead of just the new ALT so I am glad I did it.

There was also a singing contest. That day I ate onigiri, yakisoba, and ice cream. I participated in the tea ceremony. I walked around the booths again and this time I went into the haunted house that one classroom had created. There was much more...lots of performances and presentations. Some times I didn't know exactly what was going on because it was on in Japanese but I could get the gist of it. Plus, many students and teachers are kind enough to explain what is going on.

On Thursday night I tried my hand at Japanese calligraphy. I started from the basics...after learning the basic strokes I tried yama (mountain) and kawa (river). They look simple but are difficult. My teacher said that if it rained my mountain would fall over (the strokes were too thin). There are many rules such as for one stroke you don't write over it or you shouldn't have to dip your brush in the ink for each stroke. For some strokes you stop and some you just let the bristles slide. So this is something that I want to keep working at...it will be my weekly challenge.

Friday was sports day. I wish we would've had something like this at CCHS! The students marched into the field, had a brief opening ceremony and had a full day of games and relays (and clean-up which they all help with). I was on the red team (I just sat and watched) but am proud that we won sports day!... and the statue creating contest! There were lots of games and the whole thing was very organized and ran very smoothly. One of the most interesting games was three girls would lift up another girl and they had to get the hats off of the other teams head...it was a little dangerous. Or there was a game where each team ran to the center and grabbed as many tires as they could which sometimes resulted in a tug of war of sorts (they played that too). Or the guys ran to capture the flag of the other team...many times jumping up on top of a bunch of people. Or people with baskets on their back running and players from other teams trying to throw balls into the baskets...and many more interesting games. There was also a dance competition (both more modern and traditional).

So from what I was told and could tell, there were four teams (yellow, black, blue and red). The whole school was divided into four teams with a mixture of classes in each. It was amazing over the three days of school festival and sports day to see the students talents and energy. They really supported each other as a school and on their teams. The preparation and all the time they took to plan was incredible...it really paid off. From what I was told, each of the students had a role in these days whether it was to perform, organize the food, create a sculpture, etc. From what I know, the students did most of the work. I can only hope they are just as enthusiastic about English class ;-) He he...

After sports day I passed out at 4:00 p.m., got up for a few hours to eat and then slept again for 12 hours. I have been getting lots of sleep but I can't get too used to that because it will be busy soon.

On Saturday my friend Natasha invited me to go swimming...I was just thinking of going to the pool but we went to the coast on the Sea of Japan! It was very beautiful...me an girl from flat-land Ohio and dirty Maumee River is always impressed by the oceans and mountains. We had a potluck after with lots of yummy food including shrimp-kimchee gyoza and rice pudding. I will learn to cook this year!

On Sunday Natasha invited me again to a bbq some of her colleagues were having. We went to a beautiful park. I will check out that area more before the winter hits.

Today is a substitute holiday since we came into school last Sunday. I am at school to use the computer but some of the teachers are here. I swear, they never stop working. This week is the first week of classes. I am really looking forward to it because I have been out of school since April! I am ready for a busy schedule and routine.

Here is what I am thinking for after school activities.

Sunday - break

Monday - Tea Ceremony Club

Tuesday - Japanese Music Ensemble, Japanese lessons, hip hop class

Wednesday - ESS (English Speaking Society), taiko and hip hop (every other week)

Thursday - Cooking Club, Calligraphy Class

Friday - break

Saturday - break