Friday

So excited because it’s the YETI Ski trip in Hakuba this weekend!!! I’ll be setting off with another ALT friend tonight for Hakuba tonight after work. Woke up at 7:00am, had some cookies for breakfast, packed for tonight’s trip so that I wouldn't have to rush after work, and then drove to school. Very relaxed day today with only 3 lessons. First up was 6-2 and we continued our play practice. Filmed the next two groups and went through the reflection time with them. 6-2’s groups are all pretty alright, not worried about them at all. Just had to remind them to remember to face the front (where the audience will be) and also to use loud clear voices, and not say their lines in a monotone. Other than that, they’re pretty great! When I went back to the classroom, my JTE was praising the Disney group – they really are put together and practicing great. The magic group (vampire, witch, wizard) was also being funny and asking me how to say “You are weak” in English, because they wanted to say it to their enemy (vampire). 6-1 up next and thankfully the groups with trouble between the boys and girls had reconciled, and they practiced much better today. 6-1 is also going all out with their prop-making, and we’ve got handmade lightsabres, all kinds of different foods, and they even made the flags that Momotaro receives from his grandparents. Filmed two more groups – the first one was fine, the second one was a bit rough and needs to practice their lines a bit more!

Went to 4-1 in the 20 minute break to do more play practice, but there were only 2 kids there – the others had all forgotten and went to play outside! Still did a quick check of the 2 kids who were there, but they were both fine because they have their lines all memorised! Had a break with a spare period 3, before having class with 5-1 in period 4. It was a pretty alright class, but just a bit noisy. I’d still consider it a good class though because they enjoyed all the activities and actually did them. I tried out a new activity with them to start off the class – can’t remember what it’s called in English but basically keeping a rhythm by clapping and tapping, and then chanting the question “What would you like” and answer “I’d like pizza and sushi” with the beat. They actually quite enjoyed it! I saw a lot of kids who don’t usually participate actively, clapping the beat and trying, and then after class ended and as they were setting up for school lunch I saw a few kids continuing the beat pattern on their desks. After that rhythm chant we played the “guess which country this food is from” quiz, and they were just hilariously shouting out random countries and not even thinking about it (someone shouted Italy when the picture was curry, it was like…come on guys!). Then we finished off with a video that showed other countries’ school lunches. They were all like “いいなー” cause they thought it was buffet style (since it was set up like that) so I had to tell them that other countries’ are always more jealous of Japan’s healthy and generous school lunches – guess the grass is always greener on the other side!

Lunch today was Korean style pork don, with soup, and noodle salad. The music teacher also gave us some really cute Snoopy rice sprinkles! Went to practice the play again with 4-1’s kids and filmed it for them to watch. They really love being on camera and were all like “Hi iPhone! Hi iPhone!”. The practice was great! This group’s kids have all memorised their lines. Cleaning time was smooth today, hyper kid was back, but he was in a good mood today and cleaned well. Spare 5th and 6th period so I just prepped for next week’s lessons. Got off work promptly at 16:00 after having the meeting for Monday’s lesson with the Grade 3 teachers. Went to the bank to pay rent and get cash for tonight’s Hakuba trip (yay for early payday!), and then went to fuel up before picking up another ALT friend. We had sushi train for dinner, and then set off for our accommodation in Hakuba! The drive was very smooth, there was a lot less snow on the roads compared to Madarao – I guess it’s because Hakuba gets a lot more traffic so the snow melts with all the cars going over the roads. The accommodation was actually a lot nicer than we expected! I thought it’d be a very simple tatami room with futons for everyone, but our room was had two floors, and the top one had beds so we claimed those! We arrived super early (around 20:30) way before everyone else, so we took the chance and had a shower/bath in the empty bathroom. Then everyone started arriving, paid the trip costs to the organiser (he did an amazing job organising such a massive trip – 170+ participants!) and then went to bed ready for a day on the slopes tomorrow!