It’s been a little over two months since I’ve posted anything, and I didn’t even deliver on the vacation posts that I had promised! They’re still in my drafts folder just half way completed. I’m sure I’ll get around to it eventually!
So, I want to start off by saying that I’m sorry for being such a horrible poster over the last few months. I hope to get back into the swing of posting regularly, so please bear with me while I get used to things again.
Secondly, I want to give some general updates on my life and time here in Japan! I will (hopefully) give some more details in certain areas later, but for now I hope this will suffice!
Wake me up when September ends…
September was full of excitement and busy weekends. If you remember my talk last year about Sports Day festivals, you’ll know that every school is busy preparing for their own Sports Day and that I’m busy running around with the students and attending the events. Due to rain, we had to reschedule one or two of them, which really messed with my availability on weekends…but it was fun in the end and I enjoyed it a lot!
I also went camping in Ehime prefecture during September! The weather was nearly perfect, granted a bit warm. It was fun to cook outside and just enjoy the fresh air. The campsite was right next to the water, too, which make it the perfect location for relaxing and enjoying the view.
Aside from camping, I enjoyed some local trips to nearby places in the city such as Kochi castle and Harimaya bridge. It was nice and relaxing!
I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers
October was an outdoorsy sort of month. I visited two beautiful natural sites. The first was Muroto Cape. Though I’ve been before, this time was even more fun! The cape is covered with rocks, and I absolutely love climbing things…so I climbed them all. It was fun and slightly exhausting, and the views were incredible. I enjoyed the light breeze and the crashing waves as I wandered around the cape.
Then I hiked a trail in the mountains near my house which has 4 main waterfalls along it. The first one is quite easily accessible and takes minimal effort, but each consecutive waterfall gets further away and more difficult to reach. In the end I saw all four waterfalls, and they were all worth the trek.
November arrived, cold as frozen iron
Honestly, the first day of November felt quite cold, and my body struggled to get used to the cold, but before I knew it we were getting warmer temperatures again. I’m sure that December, January, and February will be a handful for someone who gets cold as easily as I, but November’s cold arrival melted into a chilly stay.
This month was full of events with my community, school, and visitors for the most part. Though I still managed to take a trip out of town. Lately one of my schools has had a variety of foreign visitors throughout the months of October and November particularly. We’ve had visitors from France, Sweden, and Germany. My students got to interact with foreigners who were not me, and who were not from America, which was a wonderful experience for them! Especially since our visitors spoke such limited Japanese that my students had to use the English they knew. One of the visitors also joined a teacher from my school and I on a hike in Tokushima!
Similar to the Sports Day for my schools which I mentioned in the September bit, there was a community sports day. The area where I live is split into 4 smaller villages which competed in the community sports day. My team was the smallest team, but we fought hard and came in 3rd place in the end. I enjoyed participating and hope to do it again next year! And hopefully I can be a more useful player next year, too. Because let me tell you, pushing a metal wheel with a stick while running a lap is NOT my forte, or so I’ve learned.
I was able to make a trip to Hiroshima during the 3 day weekend in November which was to commemorate Japan’s version of Thanksgiving. I made it in time to see the beautiful fall leaves, and I enjoyed eating some local oysters, which Hiroshima (specifically Miyajima island) is famous for. I went to see the stars from the mountains of Okayama on Friday evening, and took a ferry ride over to Miyajima island, Itsukushima shrine on Sunday. It was definitely a fun weekend filled with beautiful views.
And now?
Well, I have just under a month before I visit America! I’m looking forward to seeing my family and eating delicious food. I can’t wait, but I’m also excited to see what the rest of this year will bring!
In the meantime, I just took a trip to Naoshima art island this weekend for work, and I have plans to visit an onsen next weekend! After that I have the winter conference and closing ceremony for the year before hopping on a plane back home!
I’m sure there’s a lot I’m missing, and even details missing on the things I mentioned, but for now this should give you an idea of what I’ve been up to! Sorry for the major delay, and sorry for the fact that summer vacation posts still aren’t up!!
Until next time!! xx
Jessica's English Corner 