Sakura

I forgot to post anything during the Sakura blooming season, and since its a few weeks gone now its a perfect time to look back and post some pics!

A cherry blossom is the name for the flower of cherry trees, also known as Sakura (Japanese kanji : 桜 or 櫻; hiragana: さくら) in Japanese. In English, the word "sakura" is equivalent to the Japanese flowering cherry.[1] Cherry fruit (known in Japanese as sakuranbo) comes from another species of tree.

Long Time No Post

Well, it's been a long time since I posted last. It's not that I've lost interest in the blog or anything, it's just that most of the time I can't be bothered to post, even when I want to. Anyway, due to actually wanting to post something that isn't going to take my three months left to read, I'm going to have to miss out on quite a few details.

Anyway, on with the blog. So, the new term started with the beginning of April and that means replacing most of my students with new ones, and of course the dreaded self introductions. With every new class (and most old ones) we all had to do a lesson of self introductions... when you consider we teach 13 different classes of students, thats alot of self introducing. But despite being one of the most boring and annoying things ever, it did highlight one thing for me. How much I'd changed since I came here last September.

Last September, I stood in front of the same amount of new students and introduced myself while my heart wanted to beat its way through my rib cage, while my legs were shaking at the sight of 40 students all watching my every move, and while paranoia sunk in with every whisper or giggle they exchange with each other. This time, things were different. I'm so used to being at the front of the class, nerves weren't an issue, the only issue was trying to talk about myself for a decent few minutes, which although it sounds like something I'd be able to manage, after "I'm Mike, I'm 18 and from England" you start to run out of ideas.

Anyway, introductions aside, I love my new students. The new senior high school English orientated class arrived at Junten with a higher level of English than the current second year or third year English orientated classes put together. Or thats the impression I've got from the ones who've chatted to me outside of lessons. Another group who are quickly becoming some of my favourite students are the 6 returnees in the first year juniors. They're only about 11 or 12 years old and yet, ignoring two of the new first year senior students and one of the teachers, they're the best Japanese English speakers in the school. They all lived abroad for between 2 and 6 years and their English is spectacular, and unlike most other first year juniors, they're the friendliest bunch of kids I may have ever met. Sadly, the only downside to them is that Barney managed to let them in on the nickname some of last year's 1-7 class had for me last September... that's right, I'm getting called Buzz Lightyear again. Infact here's a picture of 3 of them and a bunch of other students shouting Buzz and making superman poses... weird kids.

About nicknames, the 'other one' (anyone with a good memory will remember which one i mean) seems to have died down, although theres still a few 3rd year juniors who like to call me 'Machine-sensei'.

Quick last mention: a few weeks ago aload of teachers and the first year juniors did a two hour walk to Todai (Tokyo University, top picture). It was a really nice day, so much so that one of the office staff made me put on a Junten cap (I'm glad there was no patrolling fashion police, that thing made me look like a 7 year old american kid playing baseball). We walked from Asukayama park in Oji, down a long road, through another two parks (one of which was really nice, have to go back some time for pictures) and through more roads and finally arriving at the Akamon (red gate) of Todai. Then after stopping for lunch in the cafeteria there, we went to another park inside the Todai grounds. This one was based around a large pond (if you can call that bit of water next to the ski slope in Sunderland a lake, then this is probably one too), and it was somehow historic, but I've forgot and didn't really care so much. The more interesting thing about it is that this is the pond/lake/thing where one of those 6 returnee kids I mentioned fell into the water while trying to recreate the titanic pose (you know the one) on a rock a little way out. So funny, a few of the teachers were rushing to help and there was me laughing my head off. Good times.

Concering Mountains

This time it wasn't so hard to decide on pictures, the one above is one of my favourite pictures of this gap year. Project Trust photo competition winner, anyone? Anyway, last week, the day after Hakone, I climbed Mount Takao. Takao-san is another popular visit for people looking for a day escape from the big city, and I was up for conquering a mountain in the name of Britain. I climbed from the very bottom to the very top, and felt only slightly idiotic because of it - there was a cablecar to about a third of the way up but I decided the entire climb would ensure better photos. Not only was the first third the most painful climb ever, so steep, but there was also nothing at all to see. Never mind, I guess it added to the sense of achievement.


As you can see from the pictures the weather wasn't so great. But this wasn't a bad thing because it made for some great misty pictures in the temples at the top. It was a really cool temple aswell, and I managed to arrive when a Buddhist ceremony was starting. I heard drums as I entered the temple complex and ran up some stairs but just missed them - I could still hear the ceremony going on inside but didn't want to intrude. A little while later I managed to see a procession of monks chanting, but I didn't want to take a photo - I'm sure they wouldn't have minded, but it just didn't quite feel right. So instead I bought a Buddhist wallhanging from the temple to commemorate the climb. The way back down was so much better than the way up, aswell. I took a less walked route (theres 7 routes up and down) that went alongside a river, from where it more or less first forms up the mountain. It was a really picturesque and scenic walk, and well worth the long time it took to walk back down. It's sometimes nice to steer clear of the beaten path, even if it was blatantly a used route I didn't see a single person all the way down which added so much to the journey.

This is one of those "what you can see in the distance" view points. I tell you now, I saw nothing of the sort in the distance. Being able to see Tokyo from here my eye. Damn mist.

Well, after going on a pirate ship the day before the trip, in Hakone - I needed to find something utterly and spectacularly cool to beat it. Monkeys! The monkey park was ace! I even saw a monkey do a backflip. Almost forgot to say, the monkey park was the main reason I decided to climb the mountain, because how cool are monkeys?

Concerning Volcanoes

Choosing pictures from my facebook albums to use on here is always a tough choice - mostly because I take so many and try not to put more than 4 on. Anyway, heres my favourite pics from my trip to Hakone last week. Hakone is a hugely popular retreat for Japanese and tourists alike wanting a few days out of Tokyo. It's nearly 2 hours from Tokyo, if I remember correctly anyhow, and its in the thick of Japanese nature. Lake Ashi, Mount Hakone (a volcano) and the historical Tokaido road are just a few of the tourist destinations in the area. Naturally I was there for the active volcano. And the pirate ship, of course.


After a long train journey and a decent length bus ride, I was ready for some good old sightseeing. Little did I know that Hakone Shrine was currently being invaded by a good three busloads of noisy Chinese tourists who set out to ruin every picture of the shrine I took - but I soldiered on and visited the old Tokaido road Hakone Checkpoint. The Tokaido road was one of the old paths between Kyoto and Tokyo, but not much of it is left - a few stone pavements here and there - but the Tokaido train line travels more or less the same route as the old road (I think).

So yeah, the Volcano. After taking a pirate ship across the lake (a pirate ship!) and then a ropeway up the mountain, I arrived. I kind of had the image of Mount Doom in my head before I got to Hakone. However, it turned out that I was a little bit wrong. No giant fiery crater, no lava - however the volcanic crater of Owakudani was still quite impressive. The crater was created during an eruption a long time ago and is still a hugely volcanic zone, so much so that half of the mountain side was steaming. Quite a sight, especially when it sinks in that the sulphuric steam and boiling hot springs are coming from the volcano directly beneath your feet. Theres a place you can buy eggs that have been cooked in the hot springs, they're black and smell of sulphur... and don't taste so great, but on the plus side it's said to add 7 years to your life. Not bad.

Oh yeah, the Pirate ship. *thumbs up*. Round 2 of the Great March Blog Catchup coming soon!