3rd Day of School in Japan & Ako's Visit

School in Japan is obviously different than that from America. The schedules are a weekly schedule (so every day is different in a week). Teachers switch for the period, not students (except in cases like P.E. and Chemistry) which is good because we can stay in for the air conditioning. Students here have a lot more freedom than we do, and usually fool around. But what comes with this freedom is a sense of responsibility in which they are responsible for their own education.

There's nothing really to talk about since because school is, well, school. Pictures will tell the story more than words this time.

Yuuto gets whacked by someone's fan. This is what I mean by fooling around :)

Yuuto and Yuuta having a battle to see who can blow a metal ring to the other side of the desk (this was DURING a teacher's lecture [during Japanese Composition class--think of it like Japanese class like we have English class in the US])

Japanese Math Textbook

Suugaku! (Math!)

-During P.E., I didn't swim so I went to the library to study Japanese.

There's a choir class in Japan! Can you believe that? Except everyone participates. You do not get a choice to choose your classes. Ahh, reminds me of my middle school years and freshman year in high school.

Choir Class

We sang a traditional Japanese song called "Furusato"--Yes I can read and sing the song piece, did I understand? Most of it, no. :)

Some girls sitting next to me made a crane (origami) with their towel/handkerchief


- We return to homeroom to clean the class again, like everyday.


Keichi messing around with Shouta's fan. He's talking into it! Another one of the funny moments in the classroom...

I took a picture with some San-nen students in the staff room after school :) (3rd year students--turns out we're friends on the first day)

After school, I finally was able to participate with the tennis club in Miyako High. Unfortunately, I brang two T-shirts and neeed to borrow some shorts. A guy from the club was nice enough to lend me one for the day. I changed and the club was doing running exercises around the campus. Since I was looking for shorts before, I changed late and had to run around the school by myself rather than with the group.

I stretched first (guys from the school near me were introducing themselves or trying to ask me what their name was while girls were shouting 'hello' to me from the gym's second balcony floor) and ran afterwards. Boy did I get lost for quite a bit. I saw a law enforcement officer and decided to ask him for directions, but decided to keep on running around the block. From what seemed like to be a block turned into a maze of roads through neighborhoods. I finally kept running around the road and the school popped up again. I'm not trying that alone again.

I finished running and it seems like I beat the group itself first to the tennis courts and wait for about 10 minutes then they finally show up and we practice. Ah yes, my tennis skills were lost and it took me a while while practicing to regain those lost skills. I had to leave at 7 (PM) but the club was still practicing--that's late.

I'm walking home and I take this picture of (a rather ugly picture because of the wrong shutter configurations--but it has a nice ambience to it) the sunset.

Today, Ako-san, my mom's (who she wants me to call her Yuki-san since calling her "Okaasan" makes her feel old) friend from Tokyo will visit Miyakojima for 3 days and return on Friday. We make her feel welcome and there's nothing else special for the day :)

Me, Natsuko, Karitomo and Ako



Cooking -- I get 4 more mosquito bites so I eat inside the house



A cat from the street looks up, smelling the food from the balcony


We play with Japanese fireworks during the night. HILARIOUS. Yuki-san (my mom) gave me some green sparklers and I was waving it at an intersection. HAHA all the cars were slowing down. :) I love grabbing attention.



Koharu and Rito (Ako's children). Rito grabbed the cat that was meowing from the balcony and played with it while Bunta and Natsuko cried everytime the cat got close to them. Cute picture :)


"Huggable!"


Bunta with his fireworks (;


Rito loves riding the bicycle :D
Koharu's playing with the cat.