The whole of Ibaraki has begun practicing for what is known as the Interactive Forum competition. It’s basically 3 minutes of English conversation between 2 or 3 Japanese students. Every day at lunch, and for one hour after school, we practice. I’ve been promised compensatory time-off, but I’ll let you know when that actually happens. So far, no luck.

It’s not so bad. At one of the schools, it’s only about 7 students. They are all extra good at English and eager to learn more. So we have fun exchanging culture notes. Actually, the season for sports competitions has kicked off. Yesterday, there was pep-rally held in the gym where all the clubs show up in their gear, and the 3rd years give little speeches about how hard they plan to try since it’s their last sports season. At the end, the band performed a traditional song from Hokkaido called Soran Bushi. It was super cool! Here is a link to a YouTube video showing what it looked like. Very intricate dance, in my opinion!

On another topic, I’ve begun to bring a water bottle to school every day. I can’t drink the rich milk here, so I bring water. For whatever reason, my bottle is the topic of conversation. I have no idea why. The teachers and the students alike comment on it. It’s tall, and clear with a green cap. See if you can figure that one out.

Did I ever mention my amazing lunch schedule? We usually eat some traditional Japanese dishes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. However, Tuesdays are bread days, and Thursdays are noodle days. It’s amazing! Today we had spaghetti! Two weeks ago, it was hot dogs! I love Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Then, every day in school, whenever I have free time, I study kanji. I feel like my head is going to burst at times. I really love kanji, though. It’s the most progress I’ve felt I’ve made in a long time. I plan to try calligraphy soon, too.

As it stands now, no substantial plans for the weekend. We’ll see how it unfolds 😉

Until next time!