日本旅行：７日・８日・９日

２０１９年７月５・６・７日

旅行の７日・８日・９日

こんにちは皆さん、(Konnichiwa minasan,)

Japanese elementary schools are a lot different than American elementary schools. I learned that firsthand today when I volunteered at 都南小学校 (Tonan Elementary School). First of all, not many American elementary schools would have three stories + roof access! We didn’t go on the roof (and I don’t think people are allowed up there often), but that that is an option. As we walked in, elementary school kids hung out of every window waving and yelling “hello” at us. I haven’t had much experience with elementary school besides being in one, but I think the atmosphere was a bit different here. The kids were very talkative and energetic, moreso than America, but also good at listening to direction- pushing tables to the side quickly so we could teach them “duck duck goose” and being fully in charge of serving each other lunch. They were learning about metamorphosis and had boxes of tens of silkworms. They really liked us holding them, even though it got a little old after twenty were piled in my hands. Near the end of our time, they all gathered around us and asked us to sign some plastic folders and pencil cases, which was pretty fun! I felt like a celebrity.

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The next day, we got to try out some Japanese cooking at the first ever nutritional college in the world- 佐伯栄養専門学校 (Saiko Nutritional College). With the aid of a Japanese chef-in-training, I made 親子丼 (Oyakodon), 味噌汁 (Miso soup), and だんご (Dango). She made sure we didn’t mess up, so it was really good! We received an origami peacock chopstick stand and a folding fan engraved with the school’s name in kanji as souvenirs, which was super cool… especially because it’s hot, but most folding fans were to expensive to justify buying. Now I don’t have to worry about it!

Our assistant chef had been learning English for 6 years, but I was able to speak a bit of Japanese with her. I learned that English is taught in all schools as both compulsory and the only foreign language available in Japan, which was pretty interesting. It’s the most spoken language (in terms of those who can speak it, not those born speaking it) so it makes sense that non-English speaking countries would have students try to learn it, but it’s a little sad to me that they didn’t get the choice I had. Maybe there are other foreign languages they could discover and have a passion for like I do for Japanese.
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It rained pretty hard today! We went to Meiji Jingu (a large temple + shrine close to our dorms) and Harajuku with some Japanese college students. It was fun, but extremely wet. It’s a bit harder to shield yourself from rain with an umbrella when it’s falling diagonally, but my phone, battery, and items survived, so it turned out well.

Meiji Jingu’s traditional purpose was similar to Asakusa’s, but the setting was drastically different. Instead of in the middle of an urban metropolis surrounded by shops, Meiji Jingu lies in Yoyogi Park, sheltered from urban noise. It was less grand and exciting than Asakusa, but the serenity of the place was quite relaxing. I think it would’ve been just a little more relaxing if I wasn’t being pelted by rain, so maybe I can come back sometime!
Harajuku is pretty crazy. It was cool seeing all the umbrellas fill the narrow streets, but not so cool being poked by them. We squeezed in Daiso and I bought some snacks for our trip to Mt. Fuji plus some nice letter sets for ~40 cents cheaper than I could’ve in America, but the line was 20 minutes long- I was thankful I had a friend to talk to behind me. After, we tried a プリクラ (“Purikura”, Japanese photo booth), but it wasn’t good enough to make me like how I looked :’) maybe once their technology gets a little better.

I’m excited to go to Mount Fuji and Fuji-Q tomorrow! I’m going to have to take a lot of pictures.

又話してね～ (Mata hanashite ne~)