Twelfth and Thirteenth Weeks - Nov. 18 - Dec. 1

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Twelfth and Thirteenth Weeks - Nov. 18 - Dec. 1

Nov. 19: Mama, her cousin, and I went to an Onsen close to our house. I love them; they make me really relaxed it’s nice. The best part about this Onsen was the three individual tubs that reminded me of old fashioned wash basins (they were cast iron).

Nov. 22: I went to another elementary school and this time the 6th graders showed us their talents. They showed us several traditional games of Japan. It was a lot of fun. There is also a marble game, but the interesting thing is that the marbles are flat. Not round like I think of a marble. I go back next Wednesday again. It should be fun. We also get to eat lunch with the students, which is fun.

Nov. 23: Thanksgiving! It’s a national holiday here but they don’t do anything. For my day off of school I and six friends went to a soccer game at the Sapporo Dome. Consadole Hokkaido’s Soccer Team won 2-0. The second goal was awesome! It was also right at the end of the game with about five minutes left. It was my first time to see a soccer game and it was a lot of fun. What better way to see it than in another country on Thanksgiving. I did miss being with family and eating pumpkin pie, but it was still fun.

Nov. 24: The first true snow! I went to school today and it was flurrying. However by 11 o’clock it was snowing so hard that you could probably only see about a ¼ mile. The snow started to stay by 11:00 also, and by noon we had about 2 inches. It probably quit about 3 o’clock leaving us with about 4 inches of snow. After class got out at 4:00 a bunch of us went outside and had a snow-ball fight. It was gorgeous out. By then it was snowing lightly again and made the night light beautiful. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it starts getting dark here about 3:00 and is completely dark by 4:30. I miss the daylight. Our snow ball fight was in the afternoon from 4:15-4:40 but it looks like it was at night.

Nov. 25: I went with Mama and her cousin to Sapporo Factory to see a short concert. It was fun to watch, especially since the music went with narration to a children’s book. Afterwards Mama bought me a children’s book and we got the author to sign it for me. For supper the whole family went out for Mami’s Birthday. I thought Mami’s bowl of Udon (a type of Japanese noodle) was big, but then Mama and I got our bowls of Chicken Udon. It was bigger than my head! I ate almost all of the chicken and a lot of noodles but it still didn’t look like I ate anything when I got done. It was a fun day.

Nov. 27: I went with Mama to her English class’s potluck party. It was a lot of fun. Her English teacher is from Minnesota, so it was quite fun to talk with her. She and her husband are heading back to Minnesota sometime next week for three months.

Nov. 29: I went back to visit the sixth graders again. We played several games including London Bridge is Falling Down, and Charades. Then Nate, my partner, and I taught the kids how to play Simon Says. It was hard since we couldn’t speak Japanese fast enough so that they would get out so the game would end. It was still fun though. For supper Mama and I ate at Hanamaru, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It’s also the number one conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and is where Sayaka works part-time.



I have all my September-November photos up-to-date now. I'll get December's up soon. There's not very many so it should go quickly. Hope you're enjoying all of them. Sorry there's so many all at once. Best Wishes to all who have finals now or whatever you're doing. 😊

Joy's Japan Photos　　(Please ask me for the password if you don't know it. Thanks)

Best Wishes Everyone

Joy

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Photos

Sixth Graders
These are the sixth graders that Nate, Jo (Not in the picture), and I taught.

Snowball Fight
It was a lot of fun. It was pretty much guys against girls.

Koto Music
At Sapporo Factory

Sushi
My Tuna at the Sushi restaurant.

The Soccer Game
Armon, Kelsey, Rowena, Katie, Loreli, Kate

The Soccer Game
Me, Armon, Kelsey, Rowena, Katie