Kakigori

At the school festival, the students marked where the Kakigori (snow cones) were. Knowing where they are seems to be important.

学校際で生徒はこのサインを作った。かきごりの所は大切な情報らしい。

Here's the sign for the flavors: Strawberry, melon and "blue Hawaii."

味のサイン。

Also, a very Japan thing. There are tatami mats in the gym for visitors to sit on. (Yes, dad, most visitors sit on the floor). 

多分日本にだけ。体育館に客さんは座るのために畳がある。(父さんへはい、客さんは床に座る）。

School festival day 2

My choir came to the school festival and sang. The other shots all had students, so only choir shots today.

私にいる合唱歌て来た。合唱以外写真は生徒があった。

Here’s A in her Brass Band T shirt.

Aちゃんは吹奏楽Tシャツにいる。

The second day of the school festival was also fun!

2日目も楽しかった。

School festival day 1

We went to the old people’s home and the students danced for them. I loved the line up of old ladies in their hats.

生徒はおばあちゃんとおじいちゃんの前に踊った。　おばあちゃんのぼしはかわいい。

I got the picture of them throwing water balloons at each other.

水風船の写真ができた！

Many of my kids watched the dress-like-a-guy/girl show through their camera screens.

たくさん生徒はカメラから見た。

Dinner time! We made yakiniku (Japanese BBQ).

夕食の時間。焼肉を食べた。

A man came and did rakugo for us. Unfortunately, I was super sleepy, which made listening super hard.

落語した人来た。私はとても眠たいから、聞くこと難しかった。

Then there was bon-odori dancing.

その後に盆踊り。

Last, fireworks!

最後は花火！

The first day of the festival was a lot of fun.

学校祭の1日目は楽しかった。

Elementary school sports day.

On Saturday we had a sports festival at one of my tiny elementary schools.

土曜日とても小さい小学校で運動会があった。

I was very much surprised to find that there were as many events for the adults as there were for the kids.

Speeches were made at the beginning.

スーピチがたくさんあった。

There were lots of events. I ended up participating in a lot of them, so I didn’t get very many pictures.

たくさんエベントがあった。私たくさんしたから、写真をあまり撮らなかった。

The last event of the day was the relay.

最後のエベントはリーレ。

We won, but barely. Note the other runner has fallen over because his shoe fell off.

勝ちた！

Second place.

二番目。

After the sports day, we had a barbecue and hung out in the afternoon. It was a fun day.

運動会の後に焼肉した。その後に校長先生の家でパーティへ行った。楽しかった。

School festival

On Saturday one of my small schools had it’s school festival. The school only has 9 students, but they are some of my most fun kids because when I go I get to spend the day there and get to know the students the best because of it.

Most things during the festival were done on stage so they dimmed the lights. Here’s the reflection of those who were on stage. Around the edges are all the slippers that everyone wore inside, but were expected not to wear on the roll-out tatami mats that had been laid out for sitting on.



My kids did Yosoki. It’s a kind of Japanese dance. I blogged about the festival in Sapporo here. It’s one of my favorite parts of Japanese culture because it’s so much fun.





This little guy couldn’t seem to stay in his seat and I can’t exactly blame him. He’s only 3 or 4.



More shoes. I like this part of Japanese culture . . . except when I’ve forgotten something inside and have to change my shoes to be able to go back inside.



A past teacher showed up, Y-sensei. She taught at this school last year, but got moved after she passed her teacher exams. It was fun to see her and catch up on all the things that have happened since April – the end of the school year.



I also got to have a good chat with a bunch of the seniors in town, because we (Y-sensei and I) sat with them for lunch. They were a lot of fun, especially one that reminds me of my Uncle Tony (or rather Mom’s).
It was a really fun experience, though I spent a lot of the day coughing.