On TV and visiting the castle

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This week the four other junior high JETs and I were going to meet the mayor. We didn't know much about the meeting. We were told that we would just sit down with him and he may ask us a few questions. When we got there, the room was filled with photographers and a camera man. We were completely shocked. We all did our self introductions. I was able to do mine completely in Japanese, a very short introduction of course. Tsubasa, our bosses daughter, acted as our translator for the rest of the interview. He asked us lots of questions about how we liked Japan, what we wanted to do while we were there, etc. The next day while we were eating out, a man came up to us and said he had seen our picture in the paper that day. None of us have cable, so we didn't get to see ourselves on the news. Even so, it was a really cool experience.

On Thursday, I went with about 60 other JETs to Nagoya to get our re-entry permits for our visas. Nagoya is a big city about 2 hours away by train. After getting our permits, we decided to split up and explore the city. After a eating and little shopping, I went with a small group to see the Nagoya castle. It was actually destroyed and rebuilt after WWII. Now the inside is a museum. We had a great time exploring the castle.

On Friday I visited my Junior High for the first time. The kids are on summer break, so there were no classes going on. Unlike summer breaks in America, kids in Japan have to go to club everyday during summer break. Clubs consist of a variety of activites (baseball, track, basketball, cooking, etc.). Kids pick a club at the beginning of junior high and must stay with that same club all three years. They go to club everyday after school and then all day, every day during break. I don't see how they do it. I personally think I would get sick of something if I had to do it all day, every day, but I guess the kids here are use to it. I met 2 of the four teachers I will be working with. They were both very nice and I can't wait to meet the other two. On Monday, I will visit my elementary school for about 30 minutes and give a short speech in front of 550 students. It's a good thing I'm not shy!! Then I'm off the rest of the week until I begin my normal daily schedule on Friday. That's when I go to my junior high and have to give another speech in front of 500 different students. Let the school year begin!