Gunma Orientation Day 2

Day 2 of Gunma Prefectural Orientation! Woke up at 7:45am this morning and went downstairs for the hotel breakfast. This breakfast was really nice and delicious too, and they had the little packets of dried seaweed which I love to wrap my rice in! They also had milk and I just love Japanese milk because it’s so creamy and delicious!

After breakfast we all walked together back to the prefectural office and got ready to listen to more presentations. The first ones covered were money matters (this was helpful! Useful tips on budgeting and saving money), transportation/travel in Gunma, housing (and keeping your house clean!), disaster preparedness, and then separate workshops that we chose the day before. I went to the personal health one, which explained more about food and shopping in Gunma – which supermarkets to shop at, where to get special foods/ingredients, shopping for your sized clothes, and so on. Workshop B was titled “Fun in Gunma” and introduced all the different things to do and places to go see in Gunma. Definitely keen to explore and enjoy all the nature Gunma has to offer!

Lunch was back at the cafeteria again, and I still got udon again! Nice, easy, and cheap. After lunch was the cultural activities workshops, and I had selected koto and shamisen (Japanese traditional instruments), and kitsuke (learning how to put yukata on!). The koto was nice and interesting – not too many notes so it was relatively easy to pick up, especially if you have musical background. The shamisen was also super interesting – three strings are used, but they can be tuned differently in three ways! It was also interesting to note the picks for the koto were made from ivory, and the shamisen was made from dog skin…a lot of people were shocked when these things were revealed! The last workshop was my favourite because I actually already own a yukata, but had never learnt properly how to wear it! Guys definitely have it easier than girls – a lot less steps and a lot less complicated! It was super fun to learn though, and I finally know how to make an obi ribbon which is super cool. We took a lot of photos in this class!

After the cultural workshops ended, they gathered us back into the main hall for final closing remarks, a last Q&A session, a raffle draw with prizes, and then goodbye and dismissal. Other ALTs from other cities had their supervisors waiting outside for them, but Takasaki has way too many ALTs so we all just made our way to the train station and took the train back to Takasaki. Once we arrived, I went to Uniqlo to buy some sportswear (planning to maybe go hiking this weekend!) and then cycled back home. Many ALTs are going to Tokyo this weekend because Friday is a public holiday. I still didn’t have plans yet but hopefully the weather will be good so that I can see the fireworks at Maebashi Festival on Saturday!