Day 5 - Preparations for Koyo Festival

Well, today was a busy day with the festival and all, students were too busy enjoying themselves so I'm just going to tell a little about the preparations for Koyo-sai, the school festival.

Each of the homerooms and many of the clubs work together to put on a huge carnival-like event. Students convert their classrooms into a variety of venues for their presentations. Some rooms turn into movie theaters, fright houses, science experiment rooms, fortune telling rooms. It is really cool. Today's photos are from some of the preparations students spent all day Friday doing.

They made a giant pig for a play involving a luau.

Jeff showing his ipod music to a classmate. I hope he is duly impressed.

Ben and Colton 'helping' the girls with their prep.

Tomorrow's photos will be of the actual festival. Be prepared to be AMAZED! (^-^)

Tucker's Post - day 4

Since I've been in Okinawa, I've seen so much and tried so many new things. Okinawa compared to the U.S. is like a whole different world. I've tried so many new things (i.e. goya, octopus, squid, eel). So far, we've gone to Shurijo Castle, Memory Park, Okinawa World, and Gyokusendo caves. it's been a lot of fun, and I've met so many new people and made a lot of new friends. The only downsides of Okinawa are the mosquitoes and the heat. Other than that, it's beautiful and one of the most amazing places I've ever seen. my host family is very nice and hospitable, and they help fulfill my need to try new things. with my host family, I've gone to the grocery store, went out for tempura,and also visited a karate dojo. My host student (Idomu Kinjo) is cool and we have a lot of stuff in common. He is patient and does his best to translate things to me, and I'm very thankful for that. I've had a great time in Okinawa, but at the same time, I miss my friends and family in America. however, I know I'll only be here a few weeks, so I'm making the best of my time and enjoying it while I can. I want to see all I can and try everything I can, as well. This really is a once in a lifetime chance, so I'm trying my best to not get homesick.

The Okinawa Peace Memorial Park memorializes every single individual who died during the 3 month battle for Okinawa during WWII. There are American, Irish, Australian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese (just to name a few) names inscribed on these monuments.

Ben found the city that his ancestors are from and took pictures of all the names that share his last name. Perhaps his grandma can tell him if he is related to anyone that is memorialized here.

The whole group at the Peace Memorial flame site. This looks out over the ocean where many people gave their lives during the Battle of Okinawa. Almost as many civilians died in the battle as did military personnel. The tiny island was besieged with 6,800,000 bombs - enough for 50 per civilian living on the island.

Saturday and Sunday are the days for Koyo High School's annual festival - Koyo-sai. You will be amazed to see the transformation of the school into... well, I'm not quite sure how to describe it...

All of the classes do some performance or project. Here is Lucy practicing a Hawaiian dance with her homeroom. They also constructed a gigantic tiki to post in the foyer to attract people to come watch!

Katharine's post

Hey =) so we be havin lots of fun. I mean I definitely don't understand 90% of what is going on in class, especially in ancient Japanese. I don't know about the others but when i talk to the Japanese students and such it's usually a mix of Japanese and English so we usually can communicate pretty well and get across what we're trying to say.

Yesterday we went to Shurijo Castle, which was Okinawa's old Kingdom's castle. When the Japanese took over in the 1800's the castle went into disrepair and was probably looted by the Japanese (I'm not quite sure if that's true). During World War II, in the Battle of Okinawa, the castle was basically completely destroyed. (from what my host parents told me). During the American occupation of Okinawa, the Americans built a university over the grounds and later (I think in the '70's) the castle was rebuilt and remodeled after the 1800's castle (I think). We also saw the king's family tomb which was not as restored as the castle. I thought it was really interesting.

Um... well its goin pretty swell here. I think that everyone is getting along fine with their host families and the Japanese students too. Today we'll go to the Peace Memorial so that'll definitely be interesting.

So I think that's all.... Hope you all are having fun!

Carrena in a science class.

Sarah at Okinawa world with her favorites, Shisa! She knows a lot about Okinawan culture just from reading manga!

At the Peace Memorial Museum on Thursday, we went into a small butterfly garden. Lucy put sugar water on her hand and the butterfly went right to her!

Tara's post

Konichiwa! Tara here! ^_^ Ah, Okinawa, what to say? What to say? I’ve seen my first cockroach, gotten my first bug bite (spider I think), and it’s (pardon the language) hot as hell. Actually, today is quite nice. Last night we had this huge rainstorm that caused some flooding in the streets and it cooled everything off nicely. Today is nice and cool with low humidity, fog, and clouds. It was very amusing to see my host Nana put on a long sleeved jacket when its roughly 70 out. You can just feel the humidity waiting in the air though, and if that sun comes out it’s going to get really hot really quick.

Yesterday we went to a place called Okinawa World. It’s about 10 mins away from the school by car and it was very cool. Very touristy but very cool. We went down into the caves which was very nice because it was nice and cool. We saw lots of sakana and really cool cave structures. Then we wandered Okinawa World and saw a really cool snake demonstration and traditional Okinawan dance. I actually got about a min of the performance on video before one of the staff members came over and asked me to turn off my camera. Then we wandered around the place and I bought some really good Hibiscus Tea. I mean come on, blood red, sweet tea, it was expected. ^_^’’’. I also bought a cell phone charm. Sanji from One Piece sitting on a shisa grinning, sooooooo awesome!

My host family is very nice. I sleep in a room with my host Nana in a bunk bed. So no Japanese bed for me. It makes me miss my own bed because this one is so hard and uncomfortable. Ah well, I can live with it and most of the time I’m so tired by the end of the day that I don’t even notice the bed. I cannot sleep with the air on at night as the Japanese believe that doing so will cause one to get sick. Last night however, both myself and Nana were so tired that we passed out with the air on. So when I woke up in the morning I actually didn’t feel gross! Yay! They’ve fed me some really strange food, but it’s all been really good. They keep feeding me chicken because when I first arrived we went to a chicken shop that was basically like the Japanese version of KFC and it was really good, so I get lots of chicken. Haven’t been brave enough to try fish yet. They served fish one night at supper and I didn’t eat it because it looked a little to raw. Funny story, I asked them if the fish was Salmon and they replied with “No, just fish”. It amused me greatly.

Something unexpected has happened, we are going to be here during Koyosai, which is Koyo’s school festival, something that has never happen before. So we will only be in school with our hosts for roughly 4 or so days out of the 2 weeks. This also means that we get like 4 days off of school these 2 weeks, which gives me lots of time to walk around and take pictures. My artistic needs have surfaced once again now that I am a little more settled and comfortable.

Nana and her family have 2 dogs that live outside and they are the cutest things I have ever seen. Both are still puppies and are soooo adorable. They also have lots of cats that roam around their house, a lot like Uncle John’s and Aunt Sue’s Mom and Dad. ^_^ I think they have about 6 cats, 2 adults and 4 kittens. Everyone, be expecting lots and lots of pictures!

Over all I’m having a great time. A little homesick but most of the time I’m so busy with activities that I don’t have the time to be homesick. We’ve already got some running inside jokes and everyone has been awesome. Oh, Yuke says hi and sends a big hug to everyone who met her back home! I send my love as well. Love you all! See you in 3 weeks! Be expecting lots and lots of pictures and video, because I’m going to have tons! Love you all and please don’t worry about me, I’m having a great time! Love you Mom, Dad and everyone else! ^_^

And remember… CHOICE!!!! (sorry, inside joke)

Students hoted by 1st year students introducing themselves in front of the assembly of all 1st years.

We got to experience the poisonous snakes of Okinawa, oh yea, and the not-so-poisonous ones too...

Lauren and Brianna sitting with their class at the 1st year assembly.

Colton seems to be followed by an entourage every where he goes...

Lauren experienced art class. They made 4-koma Manga (4 box comics)

Sarah's Post - Our First Day at School

Konnichiwa! My name is Sarah Barnes and today I’m updating the blog. This has been taken over by Tara~!!!!! ^_^ Okay, back to regular programming…

Yesterday was our first day of school. It was very interesting to go through all the regular subjects in Nihongo (Japanese). The teachers would ask about American things, like in politics class, the teacher asked about when Americans become adults and can smoke and drink. They were surprised to hear that the driving age in America was 16. Classes were otherwise difficult to understand, especially when teachers were not speaking directly to the American students. Speaking of which, there were 3 other exchange students from America that are staying here for a year, along with a few JET program teachers. It was a welcome sight to see other Americans and I’m sure that speaking in English was even more of a comfort.

Unfortunately, the school’s uniforms haven’t exactly worked out for us- none of the outfits seem to fit anyone. So most of us ended up wearing what we packed (which in my opinion, is more comfortable).

Shout out: Mom and Dad, I’m ok and my host family understands my pickiness with food. I love you and miss you a lot! I will try to call you as soon as possible! >

-Sarah B.

The outside of our sister school, Koyo Senior High.

Katharine pictured with her host, Mimi

Tucker playing basketball in gym. He was a good sport, no shoes or gym clothes but they really wanted him to play!

Trenton in science class from waaay far away.

Brianna and Tara working on a project with homeroom classmates. They

are getting ready for the Koyo School Festival (Koyo Sai)

Hina - Yoshiya`s little girl. We`re best buddies.

Colton pretending he knows what he`s doing with his class`s preparations for Koyo-sai.

Brianna and her host Haruna after the pep assembly for the baseball team.

My former student Andrew Neely and his wife Kayo. It was really awesome seeing them!

Tucker with his gym friends

Tara playing table tennis instead of swimming for PE class. The rain prevented them from doing swimming.

I imagine Jeff is thinking, "Sensei, you usually let me skip pep assemblies..."

Brianna, Tara and Lauren doing self introductions in front of their homeroom.

Colton with his host, Miki.

Carrena with her homeroom hanging out after school.

Pep assembly for the baseball team before a big tournament.

This are the kids hosted by 2nd year students preparing to do self introductions in front of the entire 2nd year student body!









My apologies for delays in posting. The school's firewall has blocked most blogs and I have to wait for special access to get on! I'll try to post more now that I'm figuring out how to get around the rules.

Itinerary

6/12/10 6:00 a.m. Depart Cedar Rapids, Iowa American Flight 3563
8:00 a.m. Arrive Dallas/ Ft. Worth
10:10 a.m. Depart Dallas/ Ft. Worth American Flight 0175

6/13/10 1:05 p.m. Arrive Tokyo Narita Airport
Exchange Money for Okinawa
5:45 p.m. Depart for Okinawa All Nippon Air 2159
8:35 p.m. Arrive Naha Airport - Okinawa

6/13/10 to 6/25/10 Host Family Experience.

6/25/10 7:45 a.m. Depart Okinawa Japan Airlines JL 2570
9:45 a.m. Arrive Osaka International Airport
Bus to Youth Hostel in Kyoto
p.m. Walking tour of area near youth hostel

6/25/10 – 6/29/10 Higashiyama Youth Hostel
112 Goken-cho,
Shirakawa-bashi, Sanjo, Higashiyama-ku
Kyoto Japan
TEL: 075-761-8135 　 FAX: 075-761-8138

6/25/10 Arrival and walking tour
6/26/10 Sightseeing in Kyoto （Bus Pass）
6/27/10 Sightseeing in Kyoto （Bus Pass）
6/28/10 Rail Pass to Nara for sightseeing in morning
sightseeing at temples between Nara and Kyoto

Bags sent by Takyubin to Tokyo
(I will pay for 1 large suitcase to be sent to Tokyo. Any extra luggage will be paid for by students. Students should pack an over-night bag in their backpack. No large suitcases – it will make travel miserable!!)

6/29/10 Shinkansen to Hiroshima in morning
Arrive In Hiroshima about 12 p.m.
Visit Peace Museum after lunch (we will put backbacks in lockers at station)
Check in to Guest House and evening on Miyajima about 5:00

6/29/10 – 6/30/10 Guest House Kikugawa (tentative)
796 Miyajima-cho, Saiki-gun,
Hiroshima-ken, 739-0511 Japan
Phone: 0829-44-0039 Fax: 0829-44-2773

6/30/10 11:00 Shinkansen to Tokyo


6/30/10 – 7/2/10 Tokyo International Youth Hostel
18F, Central Plaza, 1-1 Kagurakashi,
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo
162-0823 Japan
Tel: 011-03-3235-1107

6/30/10 4 p.m. Check-in at Youth Hostel (reclaim luggage)
4:30 Meeting at YH
Evening at Shinjuku/Shibuya

7/1/10 Tokyo Scavenger Hunt a.m.
Group Shopping p.m.

Send luggage to airport by delivery service

7/2/10 10:30 Check out of YH
Shopping in shinjuku with just backpacks!

2:00 p.m. Narita Express to Airport
3:00 p.m. Arrive at airport

7/2/10 – Return Date
6:00 p.m. Depart Narita Airport American Flight 0060
3:45 p.m. Arrive Dallas/Ft. Worth
7:10 p.m. Depart Dallas/Ft. Worth American Flight 3382
9:10 p.m. Arrive Cedar Rapids

Airmail Postage to Japan is as follows: Postcards $.98, Letters $ 1.82 and up. Airmail takes 4 -7 days to reach its destination in Japan. Please keep this in mind when sending items. If you are sending mail or faxes to any of our Youth Hostel addresses, please mark in care of Julie Cain OR that is for the Washington High School group. This will help insure that your student receives the message without causing confusion.

Let's get ready to go!!

So far we have had 5 orientation meetings. Our last 2 meetings are coming up and we will be presenting our Pre-Departure Projects. Don't forget to pull yours together!

Last 2 meetings: Saturday, May 21 10 a.m. to 12 pm