Traveling with the Teachers

AKA: Let's bonding more!

Now that we all know about group bonding experiences, let's talk specifics!

I have taken three trips with my teachers:

Version 1.0

The first was a day-trip shortly after I arrived, and I spent most of the time being confused and bored due to my lack of Japanese. I'm still not sure what the names of cities we visited are, but I did have fun. Nothing like being handed a beer at 8 in the morning to start off your cultural experience in Japan!

[Lavender ice-cream with Nagayama-sensei]

Version 2.0

The second trip was an overnight one with my 1st year/7th grade teachers (the teachers with whom I sat in the staffroom at the time). We went to Akita prefecture, the northernmost prefectures on the main island of Japan... in short, not Hokkaido. This was at the end of the school year last year, so mid- or late-March. It was my first time flying within Japan, which is hilariously different from flying domestic in America. Only checking ID at the ticketing counter? What a novel experience!

It was fun, but really exhausting. My Japanese was much higher than with the first trip, but being in Japanese-mode all day for two days took more out of me than I'd like to admit. I found myself avoiding conversation just because it took so much effort.

[A lake, possibly Lake Tazawa, in Akita with a golden girl statue]

[The view from our hotel]

Version 3.0

This year, I took another weekend trip with my teachers (mostly the same ones, though we're 2nd year teachers now) and, thanks to my higher level of Japanese, I was better able to understand more than just the conversation. We went to Ise and Nara, both places with lots of culture. Ise is where the main temple to the goddess Amaterasu can be found - she is arguably the most important goddess, having set the first Japanese emperor on the throne. Nara is, as I said in my "Travels with hannah" logs, the home of Daibutsu and deer.

It was a ridiculous amount of fun. On the one hand, I am better able to interact with my teachers and listen to Japanese for long periods of time. On the other, I liked the group more this year; the teachers who left were ones I had little relationship with, while the ones that stayed and the new ones are all a lot of fun. I also have stronger connections with these teachers due to the length of time I've been here and my greater ease with Japanese. Things just worked, and I was glad to be able to spend some out-of-school time with them.

[Outside of Ise's train station]

[Dinner at the ryokan (traditional Japanese-style hotel)]