Esashi Royal Hotel Oshu

So these are the photos from me and Diana's going away parties over the last 2 days in Akita before we went to Tokyo and then went home. I posted them to facebook but I guess I never put them on here. It was a great party where we had yummy Korean food and lots of laughs and then lots of crying. Everyone cried even the boys, they tried to hide it but we could still tell.

... spend a work day. None of my girls placed, but I was very proud of them regardless, just for taking part in the competition and putting so much hard work towards that one day. The top placers were all pretty good with their pronunciation, but what really did it for them was they were loud, animated, and put lots of feeling and emotion into it, rather than be a robot).

Finally the day was over, and it was time to start planning for my big holiday trip to Kyoto!...

... I know) as a right. Thus we were told from the start by JET that sending kids out in the hall or things like that aren't excepted. So essentially kids can just not pay attention and still pass through middle school. The drawback is that they get way behind on the highschool entrance exams, and either do terrible and go to a low level school, or don't go at all (compulsory education is only up until highschool, although Japan has a like 97% highschool attendance ...

... ones that I've seen (along with just general differences in living here that I've found interesting).

The morning started out with preparations, setting up the tents and things like that. All the students and teachers also put on different color headbands corresponding to their classes. The middle school is broken down into 3 grades, and 3 classes in each grade (so class 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-2, etc). Over all the sports festival "competition" was done as class vs class, with ...

... br>
On Monday I had my first big day of real school! Well, sort of. School officially started, so there was an assembly in the gym, all official and stuff, and I gave my introduction-speech, but then took the rest of the day off to take kasumi back to Sendai so she could catch her bus.

The reason I say that school "sort of" started, is that although it officially started, the big school sports festival (undou kai) is at ...

This Golden Week is becoming more tiring than I expected. Mom came Thursday evening, and it's been interesting to say the least. Friday was really stressful because I tried to send money home from the bank. There's some complication with the bank address so I have to do it again. I also left my cell phone on the bus. Luckily the bus driver retrieved it, and Michael W. came by early so we could swing by the station before ...

... things (Japan is so bad for me when it comes to my kawaii obsession). Then again, the fact that I have to pay rent tomorrow lingers on my mind. I did buy a My Neighbor Totoro deck of cards, an owl ornament, and pink and black checkerboard over-the-knee socks. When I got back, I experienced major frustrations with trying to adjust the ...

... treni. Carini! Ora sono a Hiraizumi, domani mi aspetta un'altra mezza giornata in giro per templi e poi ho deciso di non andare nella valle di Tono, dato che per vederla mi servirebbero almeno 2 giorni e forse ci sono altre cose che meritano di piu'. Mi dirigero' invece verso sud alla volta di Nagoya, ceh e' una citta' inutile ma mi permette di andare poi il giorno dopo a Inuyama, dove ci dovrebbe essere un castello molto bello e dove soprattutto la sera ...

Well, this will be a short entry, because if I get started................. I am staying with a family on their beautiful farm in Tono, (northern Japan), and have been working for my supper! It is great work though; feeding horses, cutting firewood, riding horses, harvesting rice, walking horses, mucking stalls, horses, horses ...

... making the stuff next door and a place where dango was sent to us on a string above a river. The second temple we visited was the famous Chuson-ji Temple. We walked about half a mile, most of it uphill, but the trip was worth it. The Golden Hall at the top was breathtakingly gorgeous. The scenery along the way was beautiful here too. I liked how they had an English audio at the Golden Hall display that provided info on the background and symbolism. During the excursion, Shiina ...