Canada Day and Farewell Days at Elementary Schools

Hope everyone back home had a nice Canada Day. I originally planned on spending it with my hockey friends in Hiroshima, but a few of them had a tournament up in Osaka, so I ended up staying in town and hanging out with some Japanese friends. (Picture Below: Su trying to be Canadian)

I went into town Saturday and just spent the evening at a nice izakaya, with some local Kure people. It was a good evening as they all cracked up when I asked them what day Sunday was- and when no one knew- I pulled out a Canadian Flag. We proceeded to celebrate Canada’s 140^th birthday downing a few bottles of Shochu while I tried to teach them to sing the Canadian anthem. Though, the drunker they got, they just kept on humming the American anthem to my dismay and anger. (Picture Below: Me and the owner of the Izakaya)

We ended up the night at a bar, then our usual after party meal of Ramen on the street. The izakaya was pretty far from the main area of Kure too, which meant we had to hike all the way back on my friend Hone’s bike. The bike usually fits 2 but being slightly inebriated, we tried to fit 4 people on it while rolling down a hill.

The past week was spent saying my final goodbye’s to 3 of my elementary schools. The first on Monday, was Uchino-Umi. I planed to play hockey on the final day and it ended up working quite well, even though the school combined the grades making extremely large classes. The kids had a lot of fun playing and a few of them really got excited and really into it.

I’m really glad I brought the sticks to Japan this past summer, as the kids have really enjoyed it and I’m sure it’s something they will always remember. As you can see a few of the kids really fight for the ball, but most of the time they just resemble a school of fishe chasing around the ball.

On Tuesday I said goodbye to Noro-Nakagiri elementary school which has always been one of my favourites due to its small size and amount of cute kids. They were the first ever students I taught so I always feel a certain connection to the kids. The grade 1/2s even sang a really nice goodbye song for me.

I’ll miss playing with these kids as they were always to most enthusiastic about English and always wanted me to play with them after class. The grade 3/4s I know the best as I’ve taught them the most out of probably any other sets of kids at my schools. I’ll really miss a few of them and I wish I am able to see them grow up a bit more.

On Wednesday, I had my last day at Mitsuguchi, which has the nicest view of any of the schools as set on a hill overlooking the inland sea. I taught my 3 favourite grades at the school and it was a nice goodbye to some of the kids I really like. We had a good class and after school, I was able to try the Shamisen (Japanese guitar) as they had a performance at the school. To the dismay of the teachers, I wasn’t very good, but it was a lot of fun to pluck at the instrument. The also gave a performance of a traditional Yasuura song which was sung and played beautifully.(Picture Below: Two Mitsuguchi girls showing me the board games they made)

Most of my goodbye classes ends with them give me letters and giving me cute presents they have made for me. The letters are really touching and even though it will be tough to bring home, I'm going to try and bring back as much of it as I can.

Well I can’t believe I only have 2 full weeks left in Japan, after living here for 2 years. It still hasn’t fully sunk in that I’m leaving. I’ll still have a few goodbye parties for friends and teachers which should be fun before I leave. My only hope is that the rainy season stops soon as it has been raining as much as Vancouver recently. Along with the almost 30 degree humidity makes it pretty damn muggy.

Japanese Factoid#53- The train system in Japan is one of the most advanced and convenient in the world. Unlike BC transit back home, everything runs in clock work here- to the second. If a train is late even a minute, they usually announce it on the PA system.

Trains are really convenient as they pretty much take you anywhere in Japan.
There are many different types of trains too, from the local trains, to semi-express, express and the Shinkansen.

Known as the bullet trains, the fastest ones reach up to 300km’s per an hour, making travel between destinations quick and convenient. The only drawback is probably price, as a two-way from Hiroshima to Tokyo will set you back over 300 dollars. (Picture Below: My hometown stop in Kawajiri)

The local trains are what I use everyday to get to work and into the city. They are great, expect that I live just at the start of the countryside stops, meaning the trains 2 stops away come 3 to 4 per an hour, but at my stop we usually only get 1. If you live or visit a city center though, you will never have a problem.