"Field Trip" with my Adult English Class Students

Ok, ok.  Like I said, I’m tired of my blogs being sad and depressing.  What can I say?  Goodbyes are difficult.  Now it’s time to talk about some wonderful field trips I’ve had (but I haven’t had a chance to write about yet.)  And if you are wondering, I will be writing about the Calgary Home Stay trip once I get the everything organized for my post (photos, names, times, etc.)

So in one of my posts I was talking about how I finished teaching my evening adult English classes.  I was sad that it was over because I met some incredible people and I had a good time every week with them.  We had such a good time that we all decided to go on a daytrip.  I called it a “field trip” and said that it was an important part of the class so everyone should try to attend.  Koba, one of my students, took charge.  He made phone calls, organized where we would go.  He did a great job.

We all met at the Tarui train station at 9:30 Sunday morning and caught the train to Nagahama.  It was about a 40-45 minute ride and only one transfer.  There were about 13 of us all together.  Some people brought their spouses, another person brought her granddaughter, and I even met a student from the beginner English class on Thursdays who wanted to come on this trip (I taught the advanced English course on Wednesdays.) 

When we arrived at Nagahama, we walked to a museum that displayed special cherry/plum trees.  This building had a beautiful garden out front.  Here are some photos:

Once inside, the smell of flowers filled the air.  This museum is only open four to five months of the year because it displays some of Japan’s oldest and most famous Cherry and Plum blossoms.  It was explained to me that in the past, cherry blossoms and plum blossoms were not as common as they are today.  So in the past when a person had a cherry/plum blossom tree, they would take the time to really care for it.  (The people who had cherry/plum blossoms trees were of nobility I think.)  I saw cherry blossoms and plum blossoms that were over 200 years old and 400 years old!  They were smaller than the cherry blossom trees I have seen outside, but the flowers were fantastic!

The following picture is a tree that is over 400 years old!!

At the exit of the exhibit, you could buy a cherry/plum blossom and bring it home.  Talk about the best gift shop, ever!  If you bought a young, small tree, it was cheap.  Like these ones:

The more mature the tree, the higher the price.  Take this tree for example.  Take a guess at how much it is.  It is about 2 feet tall and a foot and a half wide (60 cm tall and 45cm wide).  So it’s really not that big.

Give up?  Here’s the price:

No, it’s not $400,000 dollars!  That’s insane!  It’s 400,000 yen.  That’s over 5000 dollars Canadian.  I still think that’s insane, but that’s just me.

Moving onto lunch.  Now, Koba was worried about me because I don’t eat meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) but I do eat seafood and fish.  I guess Nagahama is known for it’s beef.  So he found a hotel that had a great set meal plan for unagi, tempura, and beef.  Koba found out that it would be a bit cooler on the day of our field trip, so he phoned the hotel ahead of time and mentioned that it would be nice if the hotel could offer a shuttle bus service for our group, considering there were at least 13 of us buying a set meal and we were giving them our business.  So we were picked up from the Museum and dropped off at the hotel, and later we were dropped off to our new destination after lunch.  Talk about service!  All Koba said he had to do was ask!

The restaurant was quite nice.  Here are some photos from lunch:

Like I said, we were dropped off at our next location.  I guess Nagahama has some very old, traditional style shops and buildings.  There are many interesting shops, especially glass-art shops.  

Here are some pictures of the glass art they stores were selling:

We all went though a museum that displayed glass art and old glass items.  Some of the glass items were from around the world.  Here are some pictures:

Part of the museum showcased a Japanese artist, and the artist that was being showcased draws flowers, plants, and trees with nothing but pencil crayons:

Wow!  What detail.

We finished our day with a nice cup of coffee and returned home.

I had a wonderful time with my Adult Class students and their family!  In two weeks, we are going on another day trip.  I look forward to our next adventure together!

Saying goodbye...

Today was the final day of school for the year.  It’s strange because I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and today is the final day of school.  Last week I was in Canada and the week before I was at the other Junior High school, so it feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve been at this school, and yet it’s the final day of school for the 2011/2012 school year. 

First there was an assembly/closing ceremony for the students.  The students sang.  A few students commented on the year.  A few teachers and principals said a few words to the students.  Keep in mind the third grade students were not present.  In fact, they graduated weeks ago and haven’t been to school since.  So this means that the 1^st grade students will now be 2^nd grade students in a couple of weeks and the 2^nd grade students will now become the new graduating 3^rd grade students for the 2012/2013 year.  So this assembly wasn’t sad at all.  Here are some pictures of it:

The students started leaving and I asked a teacher if they were going home now.  “No, they are returning to homeroom.  We will continue at 10:40,” she said. 

I looked at my watch.  10:40 was in an hour.  Hmm, that’s strange, I thought.  What could they possibly be doing in one hour?  Why do we have to have another closing ceremony?

So I returned to my desk at the office and worked.  Suddenly, I looked up and realized it was 10:38!  I almost lost track of time!!  (The Japanese people have a saying that says if you are expected to be somewhere at a certain time, you must be there at least 5 minutes before the expected time.  So in this case, I was already 3 minutes late!)  I stepped out of the office and saw a few (not all) teachers lining up like students in the foyer.  I walked towards a familiar face when I realized I shouldn’t be with these teachers.  I think she could tell I came to this conclusion, but she still kindly said that I could go to the gym before these teachers went there. 

So I rushed to the gym and stood with the other teachers on the side.  The students were already sitting on the gym floor, ready for the closing ceremony…part 2?

Soon, the line of teachers walked to the opposite side of the gym and sat down.  I finally put together what was happening.  The teachers that lined up in the foyer were leaving the school.  This was their final day.  I noticed many friendly faces in the group and I felt my heart tighten.  This was going to be the last time I would see many of these wonderful teachers.  My chest was tight and I was overwhelmed with the same feelings I had during the third grade graduation.  I wished I had gotten to know some of the teachers better.

The teachers were brought up to the stage and they each had a turn to give a goodbye speech to the entire school population (teachers and students).  Some of the teachers (including the male teachers) got emotional during their speeches.  I was tearing up, too.  The surrounding teachers were sniffing as well.  I don’t know how the students were responding because I didn’t look at them.  I didn’t want them to see me tear up. (It is obvious when I tear up…my cheeks go very red and my eyes turn red, too.  I didn’t want the students to see me in this state…)

Then selected students gave each of the teachers flowers, and the teachers left the gym in a line.  Later, the students returned to their homerooms so that they could move their desks to their new homeroom for next year.  By noon, the students left the school and began their “spring” holiday, which lasts for two weeks.  (I put “spring” in quotation marks because it snowed in Tarui last night.  I’ve been told that this winter has been the coldest and longest winter Tarui has seen in a long time, and back home in Canada, my hometown has had a very mild winter.  I live in Japan for a year and expect better weather and instead the weather in my hometown is better.  Go figure!  I must have brought the winter weather with me!)

Three English teachers are leaving this school, one of which I am friends with and have seen outside of school.  She is moving to a town that is a two hour drive away.  At the other school I work with two English teachers.  I am very close to both of them.  Both of them are leaving that school!  But one of them is coming to Fuwa Junior High, the school I am at today.  So I will work with her again!  But the other teacher is going to a different school in a different town…and I never got to properly say goodbye to her.  She is one of the best English teachers I have worked with and I will miss her dearly.  I hate the end of the year.  Actually, I think this year was worse because I never had a chance to say goodbye to many teachers and even the teachers that I am saying goodbye to today seems rushed because I just returned from Calgary a couple of days ago.

I don’t mean to use this blog as my own personal diary, but I am just writing about what I experienced today.  I just realized that I haven’t written much in the last few months because work has been busy, and what I have written lately is sad and depressing.  Well you know what, I am going to try to write a blog every couple of days to make up for it.  And no more sad, depressing, sappy content.  Instead I will write about the wonders, mysteries, and miracles of Japan…like the Japanese toilets!  What a miracle those machines are! 

So until next time, here are some photos I took of the teachers from Fuwa Junior High school.  I’ll see most of them next year, but the ones holding the flowers I will not.  I wish them nothing but the best in the future.