Day 5...Top Secret Get Away...

Today Patton, Myself, and Mr. Kawai and his wife went on a top secret get away to check out a possible addition for the Japan Tour 2012...and we definitely found a spot to that was a must see for the kids....An Old Ninja Village...Complete with the Ninja Museum. It took most of the day but it was definitely well worth...a 30 Minute Car Ride...1 Hour Ferry Ride...10 Min Tax Ride....and Finally a two Hour Train Ride.... On the ferry were were actually able to catch up with Mallory and Morgan as their host families were taking them on a "Sunday Trip"...Mallory was headed to a JHS Baseball Game and Morgan was headed to the Aquarium. Over all this was an OUTSTANDING day, tomorrow will be a day at the schools for the students as will Tuesday and Wednesday...and then Thursday Morning we will begin our Tour of Japan with a trip to Tokyo! Stay tuned for some great stories and pictures!!



Baseball team taking the ferry to their game...



On the bus to the ninja town...look in the bus teru teru bozu hanging from the rails are supposed to ward off the rain (Patton Sensei says they dont work..) and the lavender hanging on the bus is from a festival of lavender in a near by town..



Outside of the ninja train



In the Ninja town, they had little ninjas hiding everywhere..



This is Patton's favorite..little kids in ninja costumes...



More little ninja's (per Patton Sensei)



Patton Sensei and Myself posing as ninjas...if Patton says "cute" one more time I'm walking home...



Patton and Kawai checking out hidden storage in the Ninja House



Ninja Stars @ the Museum



We found Morgan and Mallory on the ferry ride home!

Day 4

Since today is Saturday everyone spent the day doing different activities with their host families...today my host family took me to the zoo...it was definately an experience! The zoo was much like the ones in the US except some of the animal areas were rather small...After the zoo I switched my host family house and am now staying with one of my dear friends Mr. Kawai and his family, most of the two week students also switched host families today! Most of the day today was overcast and rainy...still have only seen the sun once in a week!



The bear was being rather lazy...



Getting groomed..



The monkeys were rather unhappy in this cage..



Monkey licking his fingers after some yogurt..



The monkeys were checking us out!



The spiders here are crazy big...this was at the zoo...in the bathroom..



Big elephant with very little room to roam..



The lions were being lazy!

Day 3 Pictures

Like I mentioned below today we went to Seisho HS for a tour (and cleaning session..the school has NO custodians...the students do it all) and then had a welcoming ceremony where all of our students introduced themselves...and their host family in Japanese...the people here are REALLY impressed with our students Japanese abilites (everyone should thank Patton Sensei for that :)



Agnes



Jordan



John



Morgan



Tucker



Kelsey



Jordan in Home Ec Class @ Seisho HS



John and Morgan in Home Ec Class @ Seisho HS



Our first time seeing Kelsey in a few days...looking spiffy in that uniform!!



A picture after not seeing Mallory in a few days...this girl is in her element!!



Tucker giving us the thumbs up!



Patton giving us a tour of Seisho HS



John cleaning...kinda



Agnes cleaning...by force...

Day 3

Today we are spending the first part of the day at Tobu JHS and then after school lunch (which is supposed to be sushi) we are headed to Seisho HS to go on a tour. Tonight is our welcoming ceremony, I will post the pictures from today on the blog this weekend (if I can find internet access). Most of the students (except John) will be switching host families tomorrow including myself. I spoke with all of the two week students this morning and all of them have some interesting stories...but I have to say Jordans Story about his home visit by an old school pipe smoking doctor may be the best..according to the doctors report both milk and water are not good for your body....interesting



John giving the two thumbs up..



Mulberry after telling us some interesting stories..



Yup this is my shoe attire all week..very uncomfortable..



Jordan after surviving his home visit by the old school doctor that came to the house to give them all a check up...



Agnes forgot her tour shirt today ;(...I think she did it on purpose...

Day 2 Sightseeing around Tahara

We spent the day today touring around Tahara. Our morning consisted of a trip to the lighthouse and to the Ocean Preservation Center and then a quick lunch at a local Elementary school. In the afternoon we toured the Toyota Plant in Tahara, I was not able to get many pictures today because I spent my morning completing an online class (ended up the computer wouldnt let me log in and I just had to sit their for about four hours)...I will post the pictures up after dinner! Hope all is well in the USA it is still overcast and humid today as it will be most of the days of our visit because it is the rainy season!



Students learning the ins and outs from Stephen of being an English Teacher in Japan..


Before the Toyota Tour..



I think Patton found a new car...



This is us simulating pulling the andon cord...



Almost all junior high students ride bikes to school...

Day 1 @ Tobu Junior High School

Today I spent the day with the four two weekers at Tobu Junior High School...and it was a full day of activities as we arrived around 8 AM and left around 6PM...when we left the school was still full of teachers and students. Tomorrow we will be doing some "siteseeing" around Tahara including a trip to the Lighthouse and to the Tahara Toyota Plant! See some of the pictures below from today!



The students preparing Lunch...God only knows what would happen if this was allowed in the US...



The kids love being in pictures...and attempting some of their English skills



Girls basketball practice got a bit intense..



Jordan getting whooped in some ping pong..



Agnes playing ping pong...while not looking real interested in the game...

We have arrived in Japan!

We arrived into our sister city of Tahara last night a little after 8pm Japan time, all of the hosts where there to pick up the students and take them home for some much needed rest. Today all of the students will be spending the day with their host students at school. The students in the 6 week program will be attending Seisho High School and the students in the 2 week program are attending Tobu Junior High School. Internet access has not been that easy to obtain and at the moment without my personal computer online it is going to be difficult to post pictures but....I am sure I will get it figured out so....stay tuned!!...YUP LOOKS LIKE I HAVE IT FIGURED OUT..NOW IF I COULD JUST FIGURE OUT THIS STINKING CAPS LOCK....



Kelsey Reading at the Airport!



Tucker, Mallory, Morgan, and John in Detroit



Jordan and Agnes in Detroit