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Our first two days visiting our sister school, Kokusai Jōhō (KJ) High School in Minami Uonuma. The days were filled with a welcome ceremony, introduction to KJ, class visits, lunch, cleaning the school, tea ceremony, art class, club activities, and lots of smiles. We received a big snowy welcome from mother nature as well.
straight lines by class for assemblies
a welcome from the principal
attentively listening
ETHS student speech - in Japanese, of course.
introduction to KJ and Japanese culture
opening the gift of kairo, or hand warmers
Celebrating "setsubun," the traditional last day of winter by throwing beans at demons and yelling "out with the demons, in with good fortune." 鬼は外! 福は内! We were very good demons.
right: the atrium of KJ, built in 1991, we have been sister schools with KJ since 1993. Students are divided by year, and by class. "Seniors" are all on the second floor, "juniors," the third, and "sophomores," the fourth floor on the left side of this picture. Japanese high schools are 3-year schools.
Below, various images of the school and grounds on a very snowy first day.
In Niigata, they have vast expanses of pipes that pump out warm water to melt the snow. They are found everywhere, including tops of buildings, bridges, roads, sidewalk, and even shinkansen tracks.
outside shoe lockers
school cleaning at the end of the day
enjoying the preparations for drinking matcha
wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet before the more bitter powdered green tea)
a few in our group volunteered to whisk their tea
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