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Published: September 20th 2008
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It was a whirlwind tour....of Tottori!
My parents arrived on a Thursday night and I went to Osaka to meet them. We spent a night in Osaka because I didn't want to take the bus back right away. We had a busy schedule the next day so I wanted to get some sleep! They liked the yukatas from the hotel too 😊
Friday morning on the bus back to Tottori, lots of mountains on the way. Once we got to Tottori, we changed quickly and had lunch at the train station because we had to be at school to teach two classes in the afternoon. That day was very busy because the elementary school teachers were coming to observe the last period of classes. My parents and I got to school during lunchtime so we waited in the library while the other teachers ate. My students looked pretty surprised to see my parents, I hadn't really announced it to the other grades, only the two classes that I knew for sure my parents would be going to.
The first class we had were with my 3rd grade students (9th graders back in the US). My parents did a
self introductions
my students had to introduce themselves to my parents in english short introduction (in my dad's case, his introduction was a bit loooong....but that's ok!!!) then the students asked them questions. I played some music (Eraserheads) while they passed around a stuffed monkey. Once the music stopped, whoever had the monkey had to ask their prepared question. There were a few interesting questions: "Which do you like better, America or the Philippines?", "Do you have a house in the Philippines and America?", "How did you meet?". There was a funny momewhen two students couldn't decide who had the monkey last so they jankened (rock, scissors, paper) and the loser had to ask the question. There was a shocked reaction by the losing student and the whole class cracked up cause his expression was priceless. The rest of the class was spent teaching a new sentence pattern so it was a bit boring to watch I think. Some of my students actually fell asleep later in the class and I was like...grrr...not today! It's amazing that not even having visitors will phase some of them.
The next class we went to were with my 1st graders (7th graders back in the US). They were hilarious and really excited to meet my
parents. They just learned how to introduce themselves so that was the bulk of the class. Most students said their name and something they liked. One student cracked up the whole class when he said really loudly: "I LIKE MAY!" I even captured it on video....hahaha.
Just after our classes finished, we were whisked away to my other school! The students and other teachers there had prepared Japanese cultural stuff for my parents to try. They tried tea ceremony, shodo (calligraphy), and taiko. Those students are so shy, but they tried their best. It had also been a really long time since I had seen them so I just wanted to catch up. That was a tiring day, but fun! I'm glad my parents got a chance to see what I do on a day to day basis. And now they have an idea of where I spend the bulk of my time here...at work! My mom still confuses the names of the schools though...hahaha まあ、しかたがないね。
The next day, I wanted to go to the sand dunes, but it was rainy! We slept in a bit and watched some American TV on my computer. My parents were missing
tea ceremony
sitting in seiza was not too comfortable... the American Idol and Dancing with the Stars finales because they were on vacation so we had to catch up. My friend, Juval, came from Matsue to hang out with us. We went to Karo Ichi, the fish market area and had lunch there. By afternoon, my other friend, Dao, came out with us along with Stephanie. We went to the onsen to relax. That night we had dinner at the chu hi place. The service was so slow!!
Their last day, we finally made it to the sand dunes! It was actually good that it rained the day before because it made the sand hard and easier to walk on. We walked around the whole thing practically. I've been here for two years and I've never walked so far around the dunes. Of course we had pear soft ice cream after our walk at the dunes. Then we went to the sand art museum. They have a special exhibit now of the World Heritage sites in Asia. It was pretty cool! I want to go back there again, maybe at night, I think it would look cool, all lit up. That night we had dinner at Ohayodo which
is a really good seafood restaurant near the other fish market in Tottori. We each got a different kind of fish and shared. My dad can eat a lot...hahaha, but so can I.
It was a really short trip, but I'm glad they got to see what my life is like here in Tottori. It gives them a better perspective of what's going on with me. My mom still gets the names of my schools mixed up but she always remembers my co-workers and asks about them. Everyone was really nice to my parents and I'm thankful they had a good time on their visit.
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Nou Yang
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Awesome parent pics
May, so good to hear that your parents came to visit you. Looks like you all had a great time! I wish I had known that they were coming. I would have liked to join them. :-) HOpe you are doing well still. How much longer are you going to stay there?