Japanese Students

In the last few days there have been a few instances that really showed off the differences between Japanese students and what I expect Canadian students to be like:

Bingo: We were playing with words like cloud, cloudy, wind, windy, etc. No one cheated, not even when they only needed sunny, for example, and I called sun.

Morning Announcements: Teachers (all of them) have a meeting with announcements in the morning, and the students just take care of themselves. In the nearly 10 months I’ve been here there has never been a problem.

Attendance: They don’t take attendance, they just assume everyone will be there.

Rewards: I was giving out stamps (like using a rubber stamp and ink) for participation, and after one girl answered a question she said no thank you to the stamp, because she had accidentally gotten one too many the class before.

More Pictures of Mom and Mel

A couple nights ago we went for a Tajima Gyu (Kobe beef) dinner, which was really good. Yesterday mom and Mel came to my special needs class with me, and then after school I drove them up to Takeda Castle (my mom kept talking about how Mel had to see it, but neither of us wanted to walk). Anyway, here are some pictures:

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Some Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Mom and Mel’s visit, as well as some I never put up from when Marla was here:

Mom and Mel’s Visit So Far

I haven’t really written anything about my mom and Mel being here, so I will do that now. So far their trip has been pretty good I think. I think it has been especially good for me, because they have cooked me many meals, and cleaned my apartment, but they say they are enjoying themselves as well.

They have so far spent some time walking around my town. The grocery store seems to be the most popular attraction, which may be due to a severe lack of competition. They also went to Himeji (which is impossible for them to ever say correctly, or even close to correctly). We did a day trip (supposed to be two days, but I/the hotel manager made an error with the reservation) to Kyoto and saw Kiyomizu dera, and the Shijo shopping streets. Today we went to Jusco, and then to Joyfull for lunch, which is a pretty good way to experience my life in Japan. Also, this afternoon the Imamura family stopped at my house with a crate of strawberries they picked. We ended up talking with them for awhile, as the oldest daughter was able to translate pretty well (probably due to having a pretty good English teacher in Junior High).

Tomorrow my mom plans to walk up to Takeda Castle and then back while I’m at work. She thinks that if Marla and Andrea can do it than so can she.  Also, the Imamuras seemed to be confident she would make it, so I am not very worried. Sorry I don’t have any pictures yet, but I will get them.

Kyoto and Marla’s Departure/Mom and Mel’s Arrival

Last weekend Marla and I met Andrea in Kyoto, where we stayed for a night. We went to Kiyamizu Dera, The Inari Torii, and Gion. We found a place that ended up giving us unlimited drinks for 2 hours, as well as several courses of food, many of which were edible. After Kyoto, Marla and I went to Shinsaibashi for the night because her flight was leaving the next morning, and Andrea stayed in a different part of Osaka.

The next day I brought Marla to the airport for her flight, and then waited for a few hours until my mom and Mel arrived. It was a pretty boring wait, because I didn’t have a book, or an iPod, but I did look through every store in the airport. When my mom and Mel showed up we took the long bus/train trip back to my town, which is probably not the most exciting first experience in Japan. Anyway, they are currently relaxing at my house while I work, and hopefully will not get lost trying to find the store for lunch.