My Trip to America

In August I spent about three weeks in the US. It was nice to go back there for a little while. The flight to the US wasn't bad at all. I can't sleep on planes but I usually try and then get restless because I want to sleep but can't. This time I just knew I wasn't going to sleep and didn't really try, but then I ended up sleeping a bit. Probably only for a few minutes at a time though.  

We had a layover in Atlanta. We ate lunch or dinner or whatever you eat after being up for so long. We ate breakfast and lunch before the flight from Narita and two meals on the plane so who knows, lol. Anyways, we got food from Qdoba. When the woman working there asked if I wanted salsa I answered "hai" which is "yes" in Japanese. Oops, haha. I quickly corrected myself though.

We had a pretty view of the sunset as we landed in Lexington.

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Shirahama Beach and Fireworks in Atami

Last week I got back to Japan after visiting the US for about three weeks. I had a really good time and will do a post about that soon.

The day before flying to the US, Jonathan and I spent a day at Shirahama Beach in Shimoda. We also went there last year: A Day at Shirahama Beach in Shimoda.

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Differences Between Japanese and American Junior High Schools

typical Japanese junior high school - picture from Wikipedia

There are a lot of differences between junior high schools in Japan and America. I have taught at four different junior high schools in three different cities in Japan. Besides the number of students, the schools have been very similar. Schools in Japan vary less than they do in the US. Schools can vary quite a bit in the US, and I only have experience with one, so not everything I say may be true for all American schools. But some things are still pretty standard.

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July Randomness: Cuteness and Deliciousness

I'm finally on summer break! Well, I've sort of been on break for the past week, but I've had to go to school for an hour or two every day to help with English speech contest practice. So it hasn't been too bad, but I've still had to get up early. But now I'm free! :)

Anyway... here are some random pictures from July.

Loft in Hamamatsu Station had a cool Nano Block train set display. They also had a large castle.

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I Climbed Mt. Fuji! A third time!

This past weekend I climbed Mt. Fuji for the third time because Jonathan really wanted to climb it again. I didn't really want to do it again, but a couple weeks ago I looked at my pictures from last year and started getting excited about it.

Here are posts from the previous two times:
Fujisan! I Climbed a Volcano!
I Climbed Mt. Fuji Again!

On Friday, the day before our climb, we made taco salad for dinner and I drank an Inca Kola. I had no idea that it had caffeine. Well, it turns out that it has about the same amount as Mountain Dew. I don't do well with caffeine late in the day. Plus I rarely drink caffeine so it can really affect me.

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May and June Randomness: Baked Kit Kats, Stickers, and More

I took that picture outside of Jonathan's apartment because of the pink house. I love colored houses!

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Dry Ice, Bowling, and Sailor Moon Crystal

It's Saturday night right now (well, technically Sunday morning) and so far this weekend has been a lot of fun!

It started off with a nice day at school on Friday. Okay, not the weekend, but I'll just include it in this post. Anyway... I spent the day at my favorite elementary school. It's very small and only has 22 students! I didn't have any classes in the morning, but I was invited to the kindergarten (which is connected to the elementary school) to decorate for Tanabata (you can click that to read about it on Wikipedia). Besides decorations and writing wishes, there's not a whole lot done to celebrate Tanabata, but I think it's really cute. 

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