Busy days in June

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been really busy at work as well as not doing much on the weekends, so that's why I haven't written.

Lately we've had a lot of events going on at school, or at the schools around the town, so I've been very busy. The students also had testing last week which I thought would make me less busy, but I ended up being asked to help give a speaking test in all classes, so that made me more busy.

One of the events I had to go to was at the other junior high school in my town, Yashiro JHS. It sits atop a hill and therefore biking is not an ideal form of transportation to reach it from my school or apartment. Getting there, my supervisor was able to give me a ride. But coming back I was on my own. I decided to walk, thinking downhill would be better than uphill and that it would only take about 30-35 min to reach my apartment. I didn't take into account that it was a very, very hot day, and I hadn't drank anything for quite some time, so I ended up having to stop at a vending machine and buy some water. Anyway, it turns out there are two ways down the mountain- the long and the short- and, of course, I took the former. -_- In the end, it took me 50 minutes to walk back to my apartment. The one good thing that came out of it was that the second large shrine in my town, Harumiya, was right on the way back, so I stopped in briefly to take some pictures. It was very peaceful and beautiful. I wish I hadn't been so tired and hot, I would have stayed longer. I'll go back again someday!

Let's see, there were two events which I attended that were outside of working hours. One was called "English Cafe" and it was basically a chance for Japanese people to come talk to a few of us foreigners in a relaxed, cafe-like setting for a couple hours. It was very nice and I enjoyed it a lot even though it was at the end of a long day. The other event was mandatory and I call it the "Meet the ALTs." Basically this one was a chance for townspeople to meet the foreign teachers. There are 5 of us ALTs in my town. Anyway, around 30-40 people, mostly elementary school kids and their parents, come to the culture hall for the event, and we played some games. It was a fun time. :)

Can't think of much else to say at the moment. Even though it's the rainy season here in Japan, it hasn't been raining very much lately- maybe one day a week for an hour or so. It's been very hot (it'll only get hotter, though!!). Next weekend I have to go to Tokyo for training. Towards the end of July and through August is festival season, though, which I am very much looking forward to!! I will be posting about any festivals that I attend, so stay tuned for that. :) :) Well, goodbye for now!

Stream on the way to Harumiya Shrine

Harumiya

The main building of Harumiya

Harumiya

Dessert at Denny's, Shiratama: Vanilla ice cream, red beans, and mochi (doughy rice balls)

Another Denny's dessert, Kakigori: Shaved ice with strawberry sauce and a scoop of ice cream

A page in my town's July newsletter about us foreign teachers!! I'm on the top left. :)