On Wednesday, we visited Aino Elementary School in Unzen. We got there early and watched the students arrive at school. There were no busses and no parents dropped their kids off. The students all walk to school for the surrounding area or take the city bus. Most of the kids played on the playground before school began.

In many places in Japan, instead of the students moving from one room to another, the students stay put and the teachers move. The students even eat lunch in their rooms, and the lunches are prepared for them; they do not go to a cafeteria or bring a lunch from home. Everyone eats the same lunch.

We visited classes for a while, and we watched the 5th graders harvest rice that they had planted earlier this school year, then we were each assigned a classroom to eat lunch with. I had lunch with a second grade class. They were very cute and very kind to me, they made me some beautiful origami pictures. After that, we watched as the kids cleaned the school...you heard me right! Then, at the end of the day, there was an assembly where the kids showed off some of their skills in dance and drumming.

All in all, it was an adorable day. Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty sick still. You can see that I had a mask on in some of the pictures, because I wasn't sure what was wrong with me, and that's what people do here to make sure they don't sread illness.

After school, I went back to the hotel and slept most of the afternoon and all of the night. No hot springs for me again today!