Catching Up

Well, I've gotten behind in my posts. So I'm just gonna post a few pictures of things I've been doing recently. And then I need to hit the books!! I've been neglecting the studying lately (as you can tell from the pics below)!


Windsurfing at Ishida Beach! Okay, obviously that isn't me. But I spent about an hour trying to get the sail up and managed to run the board right into the beach once!! This guy has been windsurfing for 20 years and does it year around in Toyama. They wear dry suits in the winter. He says the water is about 10degrees and there is snow on the ground, so it's like an onsen (hot spring) in the water! Crazy! I want to go again, but I'm not ready for winter windsurfing yet.

JHS Sports Day--Yesterday I attended my junior high schools sports day. This is my 3rd sports day. And I have to say, the first year was exciting. The second year was fun cause I knew what was happening. The third year...it was a bit boring. Basically, the students prepare for months and put on a show for the community. Yesterday it was 35C. Kids were sitting in the sun all day and running races!!! And the adults sit under tents and get served tea by the students. And then all teachers and I went out last night and drank more than I've ever seen them drink before. When I describe my job like that, it doesn't sound so bad.

Toyama's 3rd Big Pumpkin Festival--This is one event that the city requests us to go to. We even get a comp day for carving pumpkins! It started our first year and it was just JP and I. Last year we invited more ALTs to join in the pumpkin festivities and this year they requested we invite them again. So there were about 9 foreigners there. As if we didn't already stand out from the farmers and their wives. We got to wear bright orange T-shirts and farmer hats. We also got to eat pumpkin food items and got to help little kiddies carve their first ever halloween pumpkin (2 months early). Lots of fun!

And last but not least, while Amy was in town a few of us 3rd+ year ALTs and two of our closest Japanese friends had a little surprise bday party for our favorite BEE rider. We made up a massive vegetarian mexican feast. And as you may have seen on Linea's blog, we had two very special cakes. One was made with natto and the other with ice cream. The ice cream cake was much more delicious! But the natto cake won for creativity points!