Day 8, Hakuyo high school, classes, tea ceremony, kendo

From Ashley:

Today was really fun! We went to a Japanese high school and spent class time with the students! Most know an adequate amount of English, and you can generally understand what they want to say. 

[We gave a presentation to all teachers before school, and Hope gave one of her drawings to the principal]

The first group was an English class. We made name tags and talked about the differences between the U.S. and Japan. For the Japanese students brave enough to do a summary in English, they got some candy with a flavor only made in Hokkaido.

Next we went to art class and drew ourselves as something else. I drew myself as a robot without legs because I didn't like to walk. I had fire on my head because my hair is dyed red, and I have a giant fan on the main body because I am always hot. The face kind of looked like Homer so I named my character HSimpson2000. 

After art we had another English class and they practiced using their English with many games. 

One included a Japanese word given to them by the teacher, then they have to describe what it is without saying it until we guess it. "Space" was kind of hard. I was given "infinity" and "above sky" to work with. 

[We also made some origami cranes and shuriken]

In science we made paper helicopters to see which "flew" the longest. We made minor adjustments in several areas to see which one stayed in the air the longest. James won the entire class in the end with 2.92 seconds. Mine only got 2.41 seconds 😢. 

We had lunch with our host students. We had obento, a packed lunch from our host families. Mine had omelette, chicken, rice, potatoes and carrots. 

[For Savannah's lunch, the mom created a cute Pikachu face on the omelette cut out with crunchy nori!]

We went to a math class next. We played a couple of games, one consisted of moving many blocks into specific shapes, like Tangrams. This was very hard and only a couple groups were able to get the triangle. 

Next we went to a tea ceremony put on by the Tea Ceremony Club. Our hosts were dressed in kimonos and participated in it as well. The movements were graceful and everything flowed into each other. They created a very peaceful atmosphere that calmed you. 

[We saw a short game of kaado, which is a card-slapping game with chants and rapid reaction. Looks difficult!]

After a short break we went back to the calligraphy classroom and did some calligraphy. It was really hot so I thought of cold things I liked. I like snow and storms so I asked for the kanji for snowstorm (fubuki) the Japanese calligraphy club members who wrote it down for you beforehand were very skilled, but modest. You need a lot of practice to write nicely.

Then we dropped off our finished papers and headed down to a dojo where the students were practicing Kendo (sword martial art). Several of the group members donned the armor. 

They also practiced some basic movements and Sword work with bamboo practice swords, then got into some battle practice. 

Can you tell it is Elise inside the helmet??

Despite how quiet the students are during their school hours, the dojo can become almost deafening with their shouts [which is part of Kendo].

[Then we went home with our host students for a weekend in Yokohama!]

Day 7, Meiji Shrine, Takeshita Street, Shibuya, host family #2

By Savannah

The Meiji Shrine is the largest shrine in Tokyo. When we first arrived, we were introduced with a huge gate (torii). There are many trees and it becomes very cool. The trees are thick enough to block out most of the sound and the view of the city which is great. It's a very different environment because one second you're in the city and then next you're in the forest. This was just the entrance to the shrine! 

We bowed at the front gate and then walked further into the shrine. The shrine gives a spiritual aura.

When we officially got to the shrine, we washed our hands and rinsed our mouths with the water. We paid our respects by giving some coins, varies between everyone, bowed, clapped twice, and then bowed again. 

We then split up and explored the rest of the shrine. Some of us went up to the shrine shop where we paid ¥100 to have our fortune papers. Hope and Elise wrote out messages on ema tablets and hung them near the huge ancient tree.

After exploring we walked over to Takeshita street (the famous Harajuku district) which is a street with many shops and an amazing crepe shop. Serena, Hope, Elise, and I went to a cute shop called WeGo and tried on some Japanese clothing but not the traditional clothing. I bought some cute high-waisted jeans with a bow that were loose for my sister. I was on the lookout for a squishy peach because it's only exclusive to Japan. The gift was requested by my sister which I did find eventually! 

Serena, Hope, Elise, and I went to the corner crepe shop where Serena and I shared a Tiramisu crepe and both Hope and Elise got a double chocolate with strawberry crepe. The crepes were delicious!!! 

Next, we travelled by train to Shibuya which is very similar to New York's Times Square. It was very busy and crowded, but nothing like Times Square at noon! Since we had free time, the girls and I ate some McDonalds because we wanted to try the teriyaki burger which is delicious!! It's just a piece of chicken coated with teriyaki in a burger with lettuce and mayo. It was very delicious. 

After eating, we wandered around and found an H&M! As you can guess... we shopped more! Japanese fashion is very pleasing and different. It beats American fashion a lot. When we finally finished wandering the streets of Shibuya, we headed back to the hostel where we grabbed our large backpacks and headed for the train for our two hour journey to Yokohama. 

When we arrived at Yokohama, we headed straight to Hakuyo High School for a ceremony for our arrival. The Principal, Vice-principal, and Head Teacher of the school were there to greet us. We also met our host family! 

I met my host sister, Minori, and my host mom. During the ceremony, Hakuyo High School students gave us a speech in English greeting us. It was very nice and welcoming because they also drew cute pictures on the board for us! They started to call our name so that we could meet our host family. That's when I met Minori!! Minori and her mother were very nice to me. 

If you're like me, my Japanese isn't the greatest but I make it work! Don't shy away because your Japanese isn't good. Japanese people are the nicest and will do what they can for you. 

We left together to their home where we ate teriyaki chicken. We ended the night off getting to know each other and relaxing. 

Savannah Vang 

Day 6, Tokyo, Imperial Palace, Odaiba

From Hope:

Today we went to Tokyo and stayed at a youth hostel. During the day we went out and all the girls, Elise, Savannah, Serena, Ashely, and I went to an Italian restaurant. It had super good desserts. 

After that we went to an arcade and tried to win stuffed animals. A few of the boys won things and so did Savannah. 

We also went to the Imperial Palace garden. All the iris were in full bloom and there were koi fish in the pond. It was amazing and beautiful.

Lastly we went shopping at night in the city. Elise, Savannah, Serena, and I went in a glass bottom ferris wheel gondola that looked over the big city and all the big buildings.

I even found an awesome Hello Kitty store and bought a bunch of cool
Cinnamon Roll things.

It was a super exciting day.

Day 5, Elementary School

Everyone is doing well so far on the trip. We had a great time at the Elementary School.

We gave our presentation on Wisconsin and Minnesota, then taught the Chicken Dance, played a Japanese Hiragana card game, played a rock-paper-scissors tournament, did calligraphy, had music class, even sewed with felt!

UPDATE from James:

Today we went to an elementary school to see what a Japanese elementary school is like, and to tell the kids about where we live in America. 

First, we went to the gym, where the 3rd grade class was waiting for us. We introduced ourselves, and gave our speeches about America. After that we showed the kids the chicken dance, and played an interesting card game with the kids. The teacher would call out a letter, and you had to grab the card with that letter first. 

Next, we split up into groups and headed to classes with 5th grade students. The classes were home economics, and Japanese language. 

After that class, we went to see a 4th grade class. The groups went to calligraphy, science, and gym. 

We went back to the gym to talk in front of the 1st grade class. After teaching them the chicken dance, we taught them games like duck-duck-goose and red-light, green-light. 

When we were finished playing red light green light, we were split into four groups to eat lunch with students in their classroom. After lunch we had to help clean up around the school. This included scrubbing the sink, sweeping the floors, and other tasks. 

After we helped clean, we went to see the 6th grade class. The three groups went to music class, calligraphy, and gym. After that, we went to our final presentation in the gym, to the 2nd grade class. 

We taught them the chicken dance, we had a rock-paper-scissors tournament, and played dodge ball with the kids. It was all fun!

Day 4, Daruma, conveyor belt sushi, senbei

Elise:

This morning we all met at the Kasukabe train station and headed to Shinden. In Shinden we walked for about 20 minutes until we got to the Daruma doll shop.

Daruma dolls are small figurines that Japanese people use to wish for something like good fortune, love, etc. You can push a daruma doll so it falls down and it will wobble back up. The owners showed us how they make the daruma dolls, then we each painted a doll and customized it to how we wanted ours to look. 

After the daruma shop, we walked to a conveyer belt sushi restaurant for lunch. We tried a lot of sushi and some yummy desserts. Hope ate the most sushi totaling 15 plates!! We tried squid, octopus, caviar, chocolate French fries, raw salmon, etc! Hope thinks she ate too much, but at least she tried everything! 

Next we went to the osenbei store and made osenbei! It was not very hard to make, we grilled the rice cracker and added soy sauce! 

After that we had free time and went shopping. We went to a store called Ito Yokado which was similar to Target, a one dollar store/one hundred yen store, and a used book store! Finally, we hopped on the train and went back to meet our host families. 

Throughout the day we have been sharing a lot of stories about we have been doing with host families, it has been very fun!

Day 2 & 3, Host-family time, Chai

We made some okonomiyaki with the family yesterday! A little sad that the eldest son Nagi (16) wasn't able to join us due to baseball practice. 

Before eating okonomiyaki, the younger siblings and I had played games at the arcade/game center. I played Tekken 7 for the first time on a joystick and pad. It was very hard because I didn't know any controls, so I had to experiment a few times to get used to it. 

Overall it was really fun yesterday!

Day 2 & 3, Host-family time, Elise

Elise: 

My family has a 4 year old girl and a 6 year old boy! 

We made macaroni and cheese together and brownies and shared it with neighbors! 

Also, we went to the mall and put on kimonos. It took an hour and a half to get all dressed and they squeezed me really tight into the kimono. I took pictures with my host-sister and they turned out very cute. 

I have eaten Japanese spaghetti and ramen. Also, we did hanabi (fireworks) with a bunch of neighbors! 

Everything has been very fun and I love my host family!