So, this week has been my first full week of school:)
While I'd like to say it's been exciting (which it has in some ways) most of it has consisted of me killing time at my desk until I'm up for time at work :) I have spent a little time studying Japanese and meeting some students, but since school isn't in session it's pretty dead around school.
The one saving grace is that the teachers and students are really great! Yesterday, the Principal took me to the Ikuno Silver Mine, which is 1200 years old! Now closed, the mine has been opened as a museum. We walked through 500 meters of cold tunnels, looking at demonstration puppets that were set up imitating the miners. (Better than Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean I might say). At the end, he bought me ice cream (so so so nice!).
There's also a sweet water fall in Ikuno! In one
place, you can jump off a 7 or 8 foot ledge into a very deep cavern in the rock! Although I was a bit scared--I finally worked up my courage and jumped into the water! It was great to go swimming however, as the temperature here has been from 30-35 every day (around 90-95).Today I hung out with the badminton club (many of them shy to speak with me --they tend to try to hide when I come their direction :)) It was great fun! I think my new plan is just to play as many sports and hang out with as many of the kids as I can. They're super fun---and it makes my day go a bit quicker!
This past weekend has been filled with going away parties ;) My wonderful predecessor, Trevor, left the country, as did a few others. The good news is that these going away parties are great chances to meet people! I met a ton of Jets, as well as some community members which all seem really great! Definitely feeling a bit more connected!
On Saturday, I traveled down to Himeji and met up with a few friends! It was the Himeji Castle Festival, and so we were lucky enough to see dancers, musicians, taiko drummers, and even some Kendo demos (see last week's post if you need to as a reference for kend0!) It was great! Of course, we didn't get out of the city without some karaoke :) In Himeji, the karaoke is not only dirt cheap, you can rent rooms with dinosaurs on the wall!
On other notes, I've also hooked some tickets for the Hanshin Tigers Game on Friday in Osaka (yippeee) and will come back for the Oban festival this weekend here! Their festival for the dead, there'll be dancing, drinking, and they'll put lanterns that represent the dead in the river to escort them out of town! Exciting things to come!
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