My last day with san-nensei

These classes (my 9th graders) have given me hell. They always talk when I'm talking and in general just don't care about learning English (unless it's dirty). However, there are a precious few that I'm really going to miss.

-I will miss Yohei saying "Hi Jenn" to me at random times during class.

-I will miss the sweet girl who likes to give me hugs and gets so excited when she sees me.

-I will miss Atsushi saying "Jenn is a cute little girl."

-I'll also never forget Atsushi saying "I want to marry you" in the middle of class. (Just wait 10 years--this guy is going to be a heartbreaker.)

So, while these were not my favorite classes to teach, I will miss those that made me love Katsutadai Jr. High. BUT-I will not miss the boys that said 'boob' to me on a daily basis.

Yokohama--my new favorite city in Japan

We went to Yokohama a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd share some pictures from the evening.

Driving into the city


In the tunnel-going like 90 mph...


The tallest building in Japan


We liked how these buildings were connected--Japan is cool (Sorry for the blurry picture)


Chinatown


I guess they wanted it to really look like China...this is NOT normal in Japan.


I don't know what this is, but I don't want any.


Mine and Lauren's new favorite food--Peking Duck


(Left to Right) Me, Lauren, Liz and Megan


Another group shot


Lauren and I taking self-portraits in the really strong wind


Lauren and I leaning into the wind--it was seriously holding us up. We had a blast.

Belated Sapporo pictures...

So, these are almost a month old, but I haven't had time to devote to my blog. Sit back, and enjoy the pictures--because that's all this is going to be now.

View from the TV tower






There is a really funny story behind this picture--if you want to know, you'll just have to ask me because I'm not writing it now.


Bikes covered in snow--looks strangely familiar to Yachiyo a week before this


The TV tower at night




Picture from the plane before we landed


Anybody want some mutton?


My cold feet


This says 'air condition', but apparently that can also mean heater to a Japanese person. We figured this out after being there for several hours...


Our super huge room--we were so excited that we all had our own bed.


This is a view from the window at Starbucks. We were warming up in there. They even had a fire--so great.


I don't know why, but I like this picture (even if you can see up my nose).


Lauren and I at the 'ramen party'


Our plane was delayed and we were starving. This airport was horrible-no where to eat. We finally found some really nasty hotdogs and washed them down with Sapporo beer. We figured we had to have one since we were in Sapporo, right?

YL Valentine's Party

Ok, I swear this is my final post about such a silly holiday. I just had so much going on, and I couldn't contain myself. I had to share it ALL.

We had a Valentine's party with Young Life at Brett and Bong's house. Lauren, Liz, and I decided to go all out and just be silly. Lauren and I bought heart-shaped bracelets.

All three of us got some super cool headbands covered in hearts.


Daisuke and Shinsuke couldn't resist--they just had to try them out.


This was the weekend after my infamous bike wreck, so I didn't want my bandaid to be in all these pictures.


Ok fine-you can see my dorky chin bandage.


Brett and Bong doing a skit--but Kaz stole the show. I wish I had a video of him acting like a fairy.


Joshua with one of the puppies. Joshua is going to be a big brother soon--so that means there will be another adorable kid for Lauren and I to say, "Aww--he/she is so cute!" about.

Valentine Live 2006

Lauren and I went to a Valentine Concert at our local Starbucks. We only went because they advertised that they would be playing 'My heart will go'. We were sadly disappointed when it was only instrumental...sigh.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from the evening.

Aren't they great spellers?




There was quite a crowd...


If you stay long enough, you get samples--score.


After that, we took a few pictures of all the Valentine stuff for sale. This country really goes crazy with this holiday. It's ridiculous.

My students

On Valentine's day I got to teach an elective class and do whatever I wanted. Since it was the 14th, I knew I had it easy, because I could just teach them about Valentine's day in America. I told them how we decorate shoeboxes in elementary school and give everyone in the class cards. (Thanks Rach--I used the ones you sent me as examples!)

Here's the box I decorated


After that, they made Valentine cards.

Here is the one I made as an example...gosh, isn't it beautiful? (I'm totally kidding.)


Now, since the boys in Japan don't normally make or do anything for Valentine's day, this was pretty funny. The boys asked me if they could make cards for White Day, and I said sure. I didn't really care--I was just glad they actually wanted to make anything.

Now, get ready for picture overload. Here are my students hard at work...











And here are some of the finished products...





Some of them didn't finish. Here is one boy that was working so hard--it was adorable. He was cutting out every letter.



Just a few fun pictures





All in all, they had a good time and so did I. I'm going to miss this school...