Blogs from Shiogama, Miyagi, Japan, Asia

My last full day in Japan.... obviously my schedule for today was just as packed as the other days! I woke up around 6:30am (again, not something I planned but my body insisted on getting up early) and by 9am I had left my hotel and was already heading for Sendai station. Around 10am I arrived in Natori City, where a friend had kindly offered to let me spend the night. But by 11am I was already back on a train heading towards Shiogama. At noon, I met with an ALT friend of mine as well as some of my former students. None of my students have changed at all (in both looks and personality), and that made me happy. We spent about 2 hours chatting, while enjoying delicious ice cream, about what everyone was doing ... read more

Oh what a day today was! Today was the day I went to my beloved island school, so naturally I was bit excited. Actually...I was more excited than I thought because I woke up at 4am and was unable to fall back asleep. So I took my time getting ready and eating breakfast before catching the 6:30 train to Shiogama's Marine Gate. (Before I get into too much about my day, I just thought I'd let you know why this school is my "beloved." The school is grades 1-9 and has only 30-35 students total, so class sizes are very small. Combine that with a 40-minute ferry ride to school, and then back again, that gave me plenty of time to really get to know the students and teachers. The whole atmosphere was also more laid ... read more

Thanks to the Jet Lag, I am early to bed and early to rise this week. Honestly, I'm thankful. By 7:20 I had left the hotel and by 7:46 I was on the train to Shiogama! The first school I decided to visit was "First elementary school." A really great school (as they all are) with very genki students and equally genki teachers. While I was sitting in the Principal's office waiting for the Vice Principal/Head teacher (hereon referred to as "kyoto-sensei") I noticed my schedule for the morning. Oh boy. I was scheduled to visit every class in the school! (Grades 1-6, 2 classes per grade = 12 classes.) Usually I would be more enthusiastic about this but as I mentioned earlier, I was still Jet Lagged... I did gain a bit of energy though ... read more