Follow-up training (Zushi, Kanagawa)

Finally a weekend in Iwaki!! Hmm...let's see...what has happened since my kyushu trip? Well last weekend I was on the 5:59am train AGAIN to tokyo for follow-up training. But this time i travelled with the other japanese teachers from my school. Follow-up training was held at Shonan International Villages which is in Zushi, Kanagawa (just south of tokyo). We were in the middle of nowhere but it was a beautiful place! All of the other foreign and japanese teachers from the east schools were there, as well as our trainers from Okayama..it was AWESOME getting to see everyone again. Here are some pictures!


south maranouchi exit of tokyo station (so historic looking eh?)

me and michelle...again!

dinner

our nice room!

that night we had a yukata party in the boys room...dave (teacher from britain) actually baked cakes for the party cute yah? it was so much fun! and it was good because we were able to see some of the japanese teachers let loose. unlike us foreign teachers, trainings are a very stressful time for the japanese teachers. their training is very serious and intense, but for us it's more like review and a big party...i even got to play a japanese drinking game with mikako (a japanese teachers from iwaki...i love mikako because she lets me borrow all of her dvds)


cake







the next morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise. not a cloud in the sky, and a clear view of mt. fuji (aka fuji-san)! pictures don't do fuji-san justice. it was so captivating, all of us would run outside during our breaks just to get a quick glimpse.






lobby

silly mel

zen

east-meets-west...breakfast-eggs, potatoes, natto, and tsukemono...so hamajang! but yummy!



so majestic



after training was over it was straight to SHIBUYA to eat and drink :) haha...i've been to tokyo several times already but never stopped in shibuya (which is like central TOKYO) i got to experience walking the famous HUGE crosswalk...i felt like i was a in a herd of cattle, i was so overwhelmed that i didn't take a picture cause i didn't want to hold anyone up, but next time i will take one! more pictures, doozo!



kampai!

SMALL WORLD! so margaret (far left) is from texas but i know her first cousins! i went to elementary, intermediate, high school, and college with arthur and pouy...small small small world!

i love mikey (the red head) he only spent 3 months in honolulu but i can talk to him about it all the time...we talk about rainbows, leonards, UH, and genki sushi constantly...his fiancee just finished at UH manoa and she starts work with amity at the ending of this month so i'm excited to meet her too!


fun times! that night margaret was nice enough to let us ALL sleep at her place. so half of us went back early and the other half decided to go clubbing and pull an all-nighter. mel, michelle, margaret, aaron, and i went back to her apartment to get some sleep in mabashi. her apartment is huge, they call it "narnia 2" haha. she is hosting a thanksgiving dinner party next weekend but i'm not sure if i'll be going...aubri folks will be here soon and i should save as much money as i can before then. we'll see! at 7:30 am the next morning there's a knock on her door and it was marvin, suwen, and branda (half-dead looking) just getting back from clubbing haha. that day we ate GREAT ramen, and did a lot of shopping!! they have the greatest vintage clothing stores there, i need to bring more money next time i go!


marvin-hungover in the ramen restaurant


holiday flavors are here!!

training was great! seeing familiar faces, and meeting new people. work is CRAZY right now because we have to finish progress reports (report cards), do club chats (which are letters to the families), and we have parent observation week (where the parents sit in our classes (talk about pressure!) gahhh! so sorry i haven't been keeping up with the emails during the week. i hope everyone is great at home and thank you for your concerns about the earthquake/tsunami warning/tornado in hokkaido, but we weren't affected at all (thank goodness).

i miss everyone at home so much! the holidays are here! happy thanksgiving and stuff yourself with turkey and stuffing for me :(

aloha!
andie