This past week has been fairly busy for me. After Okayama Orientation I was given three days nenkyu (paid leave) for Japanese Obon. Obon is most commonly translated to ‘the festival of the dead’. It is a time where Japanese will often take summer nenkyu to visit the burial grounds of their relatives. It is believed that during this time the dead spirits rise and come back from their graves. In celebration, some Japanese people will sail lantern boats down lakes. It’s quite a sight to see.
As well as travelling the Kibiji trail, I also went shopping at Kurashiki, visited the Korakuen gardens at night and had a delicious BBQ at a new friend’s house. The gardens were quite a sight during the dark hours. While a majority was closed off (due to it being too unsafe at night), it was still a very tranquil and beautiful place. Unfortunately, photos just don’t do this garden justice. No doubt, I will be back here time and time again to take even more photos – hopefully autumn will present some beautiful colours!
The last two days I’ve spent at my base school, busy adjusting my lesson plans and building a store of low prep/ back-up activities. Teaching starts next week, and I’m anxious to get started finally! Although, I know I’ll be changing my mind about that only too soon after!
I gave me omiyage (souvenir presents) to my staff today. I even made small ‘goody bags’ filled with various Australian foods. Interestingly, many of the staff were confused over the word apricot. Not knowing the word for apricot in Japanese at the time, I had to assure them it was a sweet, fruit treat – hopefully none are allergic!! I later discovered the word for apricot is anzu (pronounced u-n-zu).
Tomorrow, I am going to Tamano for an English camp for Junior High School students (grades 7-9 in Australian terms). This will be my first real teaching experience, so I am excited to say the least!
Until next time :)
