stephon

1/25/20

So first we transferred from Dallas, that was something else. The DFW airport was alright, I only got a subway foot-long.

1/26/20

We are at Japan, traveled through mutliple train stations but finally ended up in the Youth hostel. The rooms were nice, 3 to 4 people with bunk beds.

1/27/20

We went to Aomi and Ueno, they were pretty cool. Aomi had the teamBorderless museum, which was very cool, it also had a pancake house that was not bad. Ueno had the Tokyo Skytree, it was a skyscraper.

1/28/20

We left the first hostel. It was pretty nice. The activities of the day were interesting, from the samurai museum to the robot restaurant.

1/30/20

We have arrived at the second hostel. It is nice, the setup is very hotel like.

1/31/20

We have reached the third and final "hotel" and had a live performance for entertainment during dinner

2/1/20

It's the last day in Aomori and the group, we went to a castle that wasn't too cool. Then we went back and relaxed before packing

2/2/20

Today is the first day of Home stay. My student, Takumi, is a freshman but has an older sister that is a senior. I ate a lot of food, I tried duck. Its like a watery ham type of flavor.

2/3/20

The second day of the home stay was alright, an unfortunate trend is the freezing temperature that surrounds and infiltrates their buildings. I went to school with Yamada-kun, Takumi-san, and it was alright, I got see what a Japanese High Schooler's schudule was like. I now understand the trope of leaving school to go on an adventure. The periods are 48 minutes long, 5 more than the ETHS ones. Though there lunch is 45 minutes, but they can go around the school until the next period starts. In between periods they get 7 minutes so they can prepare for the subject the teacher is about to teach. A trend I have seen is the usage of eye drops, I haven't asked about it so, I don't know what that is about.

Living room TV

ETHS Schedule for KJ (Eligible)

ETHS Schedule for KJ (Now)

2/4/20

This day I went to gym, like previously stated that facility is cold, so exercising was a difficult task. Though they are playing basketball during the period. The start with a warm up, one lap then two half laps with a basketball. Then they line up and stretch, followed by an tightly organized separation of two sides to warm up with the basketballs. Layups, shoot around, 20 secs. contest, then shoot around. After that, it's game-time, we separate by lines to create teams and play. Keep in mind it is very cold in the gym, so moving around is a solid technique to create warmth. I show them the rusty skills I have, though they are impressed. It was nice, but my hands were not. I may have to bring gloves next time we go.

2/5/20

We didn't have gym, I think that is a good thing. But we did do an group activity with the students in the, you guessed it, gym. We jumped rope, we warmed up first of course. But this time we "ran" and jumped over people to get the blood flowing. It was like the tire thing football players do but we stepped around people. After the combine training we separated into four teams and jumped rope. First it was a person, then two, then three, then the whole group. We had to keep track of our total jumps, the group I was in wasn' doing so hot. The max number we got was... 1.

Takumi-san and I playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (in his room)

2/6/20

Today we went to a auditorium for a some presentations that the KJ students were giving. The first two were really long. I think to main idea was to find was to better something you have noticed. One that stuck with me was the group that wanted to unlearn gender roles, they thought that if they focus on elementary students the process would be easier. They thought about making a story with an additional character that would disrupt the idea of a strong male lead, Momotarou. Momotarou is about a young man who fights off Oni (Demon-like creatures), in the group's version it will have a character named Momoko who is the adventurer, while Momotarou is a home-body.

2/7/20

Today was the last full day/ school day, it was really fun and cold. I had a great time with Takumi-san and his family, it was amazing to be within the conversations during meals and when I socialized with them. I felt that I really could live here, in Japan, Takumi-san's house is nice too. School life is hard, they have 48 minutes periods, except for lunch--45 minutes--so getting used to that was difficult. I have had many trials against the force that is sleep, but I luckily conquered it throughout the week. Overall, I really do appreciate being able to experience this. I wouldn't have done anything else different, but bringing some warmer clothes might have helped.

Dresden's host student (Left), her classmate, and I

Evan's host student, Dresden's, Nicky, and I

Takumi, his soccer teammate, and I

Cully's host student, Jack's, Misha's, their classmate and I

Ailsa's host student (Right), her classmate and I

2/8/20

We arrived at LA to prepare for the connecting flight back to Chicago. I really have enjoyed my time in Japan, I feel that it was a full experience. I honestly don't know what my timeline looks like now. The trip has made me thinking of additional plans that I never thought were in my future. Now I just want to return or explore places we didn't go like Akihabara, the central for anime and otaku culture. As of now the return is needed.

Group picture with host students

2/9/20

We have arrived! All I can say is thank you to all the people that helped with the trip and that were on the trip. I hope we can do this again!

Takumi-san and I

The class Gundam, Zeta

1st Family picture

A casual picture of a 145 game

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