Ejio Park School Trip

Friday I got to go on a school trip with the 2nd years at the commercial school. It was a lot of fun! The entire school had some sort of trip depending on which grade it was. The 1st years had an overnight trip to Akiyoshidai where I guess they had to do a lot of exercise and I'm sure team building activities. The 3rd years all met at Tokiwa Park for a day of activities. Since I only teach 2nd years at this school, it's no surprise I ended up on their trip. The 2nd years walked 1.5 hours to Ejio Park which is in Onoda (the next town over). Once they got there, they had a few jump rope competitions. They used a giant jump rope and half the class had to all jump under it at the same time and whichever class got the most jumps won a prize. The prize was coke with their lunch. After that, everyone went off and had a picnic with their friends. The teachers all ate a nice bento from this place called Hotto Motto. We also had bottled green tea to drink. I've aqcuired a taste for many different things since I've been here. I remember the first time I ever came to Japan and tried bottled green tea, I seriously wanted to spit it out. By now, though, I can actually drink it without a problem. After the picnic, everyone was free to walk around or play in the park the rest of the afternoon. It was fun hanging out with the other teachers and my students. Around 1:30pm we all made the 1.5 hour walk back to the school. It was cool and overcast all day with the sun trying to peak out. I definetly got a sunburn on my face though. Finally, some color! I forgot to bring my camera, so no pictures. Oh well. A few students had cameras - mostly disposable cameras. I think that's really interesting that so many students still use disposable cameras here. It's kind of refreshing to see that.