Just yesterday it was exactly one month until I go home, and I am having trouble wrapping my mind around that. I'm sitting in my room now, my cat is hanging out around my feet, Mori just went home after stopping by to visit, I have school tomorrow, and it definitely doesn't feel like in 30 days I'll be in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Things are starting to wind down (or wind up, depending on how you look at it) - last week I had my first last day of school, at Nakano Elementary school. I taught six mini-classes, got lots of hugs from the first and second graders, signed autographs for a lot of kids, and then had my last school lunch there. As I was gathering my stuff in the teacher's room, an announcement went out over the loudspeaker, and since I wasn't listening I just caught my name at the end of it. Suddenly all the kids came running to the windows of their classrooms and started waving and shouting goodbyes. It was wonderful and I stayed there waving to them until they had to make another announcement saying "ok, ok, thank you. Now eat your lunches."



Boat Adventures

So, Tuesday was my last day at Nakano, and on (brutally hot) Wednesday, I was at Osaki Junior High for my second to last day. In the morning we taught two (sweaty, lethargic) classes, and then in the afternoon I was informed that the students had an event at the Maritime College, and I was invited. The event could have been burning American flags for all I cared, as long as it meant I didn't have to stand in that stifling English classroom and melt.


The entire school formed a long line of bicycles, 100 kids long. I went back and forth along the line on my scooter, stopping to take pictures here and there.


A lot of lines.

We arrived at Shosen (the maritime college) and it turned out that there was no flag burning, only a trip on the Hiroshima Maru - the big ship that docks by the school, goes out on short learning trips, and once a year takes the graduating class around the world.



This was actually pretty lucky for me. The junior high kids only get invited for a ride on the ship once every three years, and seeing as I go to Osaki for a day and a half every two weeks, for a total period of about ten months - the odds were not on my side. The trip is a field trip for the kids, but for Shosen, it's a recruiting event too. They want students from the island, and the earlier they can plant the maritime seed, the better.


Everyone donned life vests and practiced abandoning ship, except they only jumped forward about six inches, and not off the deck of a sinking ship.





So we're going along, and after heading out from the pier, the ship starts picking up speed and pretty soon we're cruising along. I don't know exactly how fast, but it wasn't slow. I'm wandering around the deck, and off in the distance I notice a couple of coast guard boats sitting out in the water. As I watch, they both gun their engines and start turning towards us. I wonder what it is they want from us, and then I notice a third speck, moving faster, and not in the water. Then I realized we are being followed by two coast guard boats and a helicopter!


Not something you see every day.



They pulled up along side us, and then pulled a giant hard left in formation.



The boats settled along side us, but the helicopter wasn't done. He did a couple low slow passes, one on each side, then circled the ship sideways, and then went off ahead of the ship, turned around, and made a high speed pass maybe 50 feet above the water.





After one last pass next to the boat with everyone in the chopper waving goodbye, the helicopter and one of the boats headed off.


One stayed with us as an escort for the next two hours.

After that excitement, I was ready to sign up as a student. Four years of helicopters and ships? Yes please. For the next couple hours the ship was open to everyone, kids were crawling all over the decks and the bridge, and having a grand old time steering the boat, operating the radar, or just taking in the view.


Also, some lectures about how great being a student at Shosen is.


Kinoe Junior High, my school with the incredible view - it looks pretty good from this side too.




Here you can see the bow wave - we were going fast! You can also see how calm it is here in the summer. Never windy, always humid, always hot.



And that was our trip. The ropes were tied off at 4:30 and I wasted no time in getting home.

Nishino - Second to Last Day

Not so much a heartbreaking milestone as a good opportunity to photograph the kids, last Thursday morning was my second to last day at Nishino Elementary, the school that has hosted both my family and Gabe, whose teachers bend over backwards for me, and whose kids are cuter than you could possibly imagine. I brought my camera to lunch and took a bunch of pictures.


Hatsune - at this point she needs not introduction. She is wearing the outfit that all the kids have to wear while they prepare lunch.






There is something adorable about this picture - with the towel under her chin, and her hands just resting on the surface of the water - clearly she is doing something important.


The volatile Kodai.


At the end of lunch, Hatsune and her friend suddenly stopped smiling and making silly faces for me and struck perfect bored-with-life-hipster poses. Awesome.

Back on Wednesday with hot boys in their underwear, dangerous sunsets, and another tragic last day.

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