Isesaki: High School Festival!

Slept in till 10:00am ish before waking up and having cereal for breakfast. A chill day today, with the only plan being to go and see another ALT’s school’s cultural festival (文化祭) in Isesaki. Studied Japanese until 12:30, got a ride with another ALT and we set off for Isesaki. Parked at the city hall there which is right opposite the school, and then went in. It’s just like the school festivals you see in high school movies and dramas. The different homerooms had their “attractions” (game rooms, haunted houses, one class even made their own version of the “It’s a Small World” ride in Disneyland). We first went to the gym where the dance club was performing, and apparently their team is one of the best in Gunma! It was girls only, and they were definitely pretty great. The gym was very stuffy and hot though, so we watched a few routines before leaving and touring round the rest of the school. We went to the International Club, the flower arrangement club, and then worked our way down from the top floor, 1st graders to 3rd graders. There are so many classes here! 6 classes per grade, which seems like so many when compared to my school, which is only 2 to 3 classes per grade. Even amongst the guests, there were more students than adults, with many students from other schools visiting, and also a lot of junior high school kids, and university students as well. The high school kids kind of surprised me quite a bit, with quite a few girls already wearing a lot of makeup, coloured contacts, earrings – I forget how grown up kids dress already. I mean girls in Western countries already dress very maturely from quite young, so I shouldn't be surprised. Guess I’ve been surrounded by little kids for too long haha.

After we finished seeing everything, we went for a snack and drink at a nearby cake shop/café. I got a mango cake, and a chocolate cake, and also a latte. Then we had dinner at a Vietnamese place once our ALT friend finished work. I had spring rolls and the cold noodles! So perfect for this hot weather.