End of Spring Break, Beginning of New School Year

Spring break is over. I kind of wish I went on a big trip somewhere since I don’t have many long breaks here. I don’t regret not going, but it would have been nice. Alot of my friends went places like Taiwan, South Korea or just drove off west in Japan. I didn’t really have any big plan, but I though that Chris and maybe Halston would be here over my spring break, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Anyways it’s no problem though because I managed to stay pretty busy over the break.

Since the area I live in is pretty boring I’m actually pretty happy that school started again. If I lived in Tokyo I’d want longer breaks but the length of this one was fitting. Being in the classroom and teaching is fun. The only thing I don’t like about going to school is that there are large chunks (2-3 hours) where I do absolutely nothing. Many days I almost fall asleep in the staff room because I’m tired and it’s so boring haha. I usually find something to do in that time, and usually what I do is study Japanese.

WARNING SEMI-LONG POST AHEAD! Lots of pics though! c(^-^)—o PUNCH GUY?

So spring break was like two weeks long…. what did I do?

First I visited my friend Carrie in the hospital after her surgery. The week before she fractured her ankle in 3 places, one of which was severe. Her surgery took longer than expected but she came out ok.

Then I went to a place in Tokyo called Ebisu to meet Hiromi before going to a party in Jiyugaoka (also in Tokyo). In Ebisu there is a place called the Garden Place. I checked this place out alone while I waited for Hiromi to get there. After she got there I looked at it again with her hah. Then we went to the Museum of Photography. Saw tons of old photos, including the original photo of the Meiji Emperor in Japanese and Western style clothing. Pretty interesting. Here's some of the pics I took of Garden Palace.

Later that night Hiromi and I went to Jiyugaoka for a party my friend Marika was hosting. It was at a place called Space Joy. She rented the 2nd floor and the basement. On the second floor was a bar and lounge with darts and projector screens. It looked like a place for people to watch soccer or at least at the time it has a soccer theme. In the basement was virtual golf but no one ended up playing hah. I invited my friend Hiromi to come with me to the party. I met a bunch of new people which is always great. Got some phone numbers and I will definitely try to see some of them again. Thanks to Marika for hosting a cool party!

Bull's EYE!

But I still lost!

Enjoying delicious dessert!
Marika Keeping People in Check

I also had an 宴会 Enkai or Farewell Banquet with the teachers from Tenmyo Elementary. Two of my favorite teachers were leaving so I had to make sure I saw them again before they left to teach at another school. Yagisawa Sensei and Funatogawa Sensei -- You will be missed dearly! Here are some pictures:

Me and Teraoka Sensei (Head of English)
Nakai Sensei and I
(Always have fun in his class ahha)

Me, Yagisawa Sensei, Funatogawa Sensei
NOOO WHY MUST YOU LEAVE!?

This time of year in Japan the Cherry Blossom trees bloom. This happens in America too but it’s not a big deal. Why do Japanese make a big deal out of it? I’m not sure but I’ll find out. During this time a lot of people go under the Cherry blossoms or “sakura”“さくら木“trees and have a picnic. You can bring just a tarp but most people have picnics under the trees for hours. People can barbeque or just bring snacks. A lot of people bring alcohol and just drink all day too. For some reason drinking in public is no problem in Japan, and to my knowledge its perfectly legal.

I did Hanami first in Oyama with Adrian and Yu, where we met some people from this website call couchsurfing.com. It’s a website where you can look for people who offer their house for travelers to stay as opposed to a hostel or hotel. You can offer a bed or a couch, or just a person to talk to if someone is touring your area. It’s a cool concept, but I suppose somewhat dangerous. All the people I have met from the website seem really nice and friendly. Oyama sunset:

The second time I did Hanami was in Utsunomiya. It was a fairly large group but it was a lot of fun. I brought my hacky sack and played with some friends. It was their first time seeing it, but they really liked it. I showed the kids some magic too. One of my friend’s kids wouldn’t stop playing with me. Here’s some pics:

Weird guy dressed as some character from Dragonball Z I guess?

I got my hair cut! At first the guy took off a lot and I was scared, but he managed to make me look sexy again haha! A couple of acquaintances didn’t recognize me since I wore contacts and got my hair cut.What do you think?

The third time I went for Hanami was in Sano. It was from around noon and lasted until 6 or so. I brought a lot of food and my Frisbee and hacky sack. We even brought Carrie in her wheel chair so she could enjoy Hanami too haha.

Taught some kids how to throw the frisbee

The next day Kristine wanted to have Hanami again since it will be her last one before she leaves Japan. So we did Hanami at night.

I went bowling with Billy and Yukari. We played 3 games and I lost of the first two but won the last one with a score of 138! Woot woot!

Near the end of the break I started to get pretty bored. I was thinking of just going to Tokyo and just wandering for about 48 hrs straight, but that didn’t happen because I found out there was Frisbee practice the next day.

On my last day of break I went to Utsunomiya and practiced with the Frisbee team. Practice was a lot of fun and great exercise. After practice they invited me to go with them for 花見(cherry blossom viewing). I got home around 10:30, made some food and went to bed a little early because I knew it would be an early morning tomorrow.

Today I taught only 1 class at Ueno. 4th grade, which totals around 120 students. I taught them all at once in the gym in 1 period haha. Kind of rough, but got it done.

There's a new teacher at Ueno and she's pretty cute! Maybe I'll muster up some courage and ask her on a date! 頑張っています！