Kunimi Junior High School--Oct. 23

Today was the big day--visiting middle schoolers! This school is actually 7th through 9th grade, but the feel is the same is Warner in a lot of ways. We started out the day with a school assembly to introduce us and for the kids to show off their talents. Schools in Japan have lots of afterschool clubs, so we got to see three of them perform. The first was the Kendo club, which is a form of martial arts. One of the girls who demonstrated is the national champion for her age group. It was really impressive.

Next was...the soccer team! Kunimi Middle and High Schools are both national champions in soccer, kids come from all over to attend here just to play soccer. My kind of school! After the soccer demo, the drum club, on kunimi drums played for us. It was fantastic; the drums are large and loud and really moving.

After that, we observed classes, and I got to do calligraphy again; I also got to teach the English class a new word. I was just standing in the back observing, and the teacher went to use a thumbtack, but she didn't know the English word, so I told her and wrote it on the board. Always a teacher, I guess!

I ate lunch with a 7th grade class, and talked to a couple of boys. By talked, I mean we tried to find a few things that we could each say to each other. They were both really nice boys, though. I felt bad that I couldn't really eat anything; every bite of food causes pretty severe stomach cramps. I think a burger would help!

Once again, we watched the students clean the school, then later, after we talked to the teachers for a while, we watched the club activities after school. I was feeling pretty lousy by this time, but I went and watched the English class practice a play they were going to perform, called "Peach Boy". I think this is a Japanese folk tale.