From School

So I was walking around the school just now and heard organ music. How come I didn't realize we have a pipe organ in our school? Why do we have one? Who on earth would be playing it and for what purpose? These are all questions I was asking myself just now. And since I have a laptop to use at school, and a connection to the internet I thought I would post these feelings for everyone to know about.

I decided that I don't like organ music. It makes me feel creeped out. I think the only time I've ever heard that music is in my Grandma's church. And usually it is accompanied by 6 or so feeble voices singing their hearts out. I seem to remember few of them being on key. Maybe the style of music of her church and mine was so different that this memory sticks out in my mind as the only time I've ever heard the organ being played. Regarless of that though, I think it's weird to hear such somber music at a high school.

Hello Higashi High School

I transfered schools this year, and I think it was a good decision. I was really sad to leave my old schools, and felt like I was abandoning some of my teachers in an English teaching and motivation battle they could never win.

But, Higashi High School is amazing! So far I've had to work every day quite a bit - planning anywhere from 1 to 4 classes a day. I'm always doing work which was very unusual for me at JHS. The kids I am teaching are really cool. They have their own opinions about the world and Japan, and they can expresses themselves in English. They come up to me (unsolicited) in the halls, teachers' room and before class and engage me in conversation where my opinion is valued. It's unbelievable compared to my previous situation.

Also the teachers are really nice and welcoming. My desk in the teacher's room is surrounded by 5 JTEs and 1 other JET, Toby, who is from the UK. So I can chat with people, and get ideas for classes really easily. Last night was our welcome party. It was a this really fancy place so I thought everyone would be serious and not talk that much. But it turned into this crazy party. I think at least half of the teachers there, about 20, came up and talked to me! This is pretty unusual behavior for teachers towards at ALT. After going to lots of parties where I only talk to the person next to me, and maybe one other person who gets me a drink, and hearing about the same thing happening to lots of ALTs, I was really happy and appreciated their friendliness even more.

I didn't get an invitation to the 2nd party. I feel like if I were really cool I would have. It's a good goal to work towards next time. But it was ok because I planned to go out with friends later anyways. Rob came to pick us up, and it turns out had hit a wild boar inoshishi on his way home from calligraphy lessons. Yikes! It messed up our bumper. So I'm going to look into getting that fixed today while he is at his school's cultural festival.

Lotus Garden

Lotus are so amazing here. I never knew there were so many varieties of the plant. we saw pink, yellow, cream, and white colored ones - all in varring shades and with different patters of color on the leaves.
Here's a field of lotus growing naturally.

After walking around the fields and then gardens we stopped for soft serve icecream that was lotus flavored. It only tasted a bit different than vanilla - but I couldn't say for certain it was lotus flavored as I've never eatten a lotus. Getting different flavors of soft cream for each season is really popular here. I've tasted loads of different ones. My all time favorite was sakura.

After ice cream we soaked our feet in a hot spa bathtub thing with some plastic lotus blossoms, some real ones, and some dried see pods in it. I think there was lotus soap in it as well. Then we took this group picture.

Another year come and gone

In a relatively unusual move for me, I'm going to write on this blog. It's been awhile, ne. We've been super busy if that counts for anything.
We had our last super blow out Tanan sayonara party in July. Man was that a crazy night at karoke. *I appologize to anyone reading this who I called a liar or accused of trying to cheat me... ugh, painful memories, why am I so crazy at karaoke???*

Here's some Tanan manliness for you. We'll miss Joe and his hair.

Hopefully by now everyone who went home is settled into their new life (or still traveling the world). Don't forget about us in Japan. We miss you all and so you know, it's incredibly awkward walking into an apartment where ya'll just seem to be missing - left for a combini run and someone else moved in.