Yamathon

On November 27, I walked around the Yamanote Line in Tokyo with my friends for the charity, Oxfam. Our team had 4 people, who are all ALTs, but Japanese people also did the walk. The walk was about 35 kilometers or 22 miles. The first half was really enjoyable, but the end was really difficult. The part around Shinagawa seemed especially difficult. We walked from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. We began at Harajuku Station and ended at Harajuku Station. I took pictures at every station, but I have only included a few here.

This is around 6:30 a.m., right before we began the walk.

This is my walking team.

Some of my friends, who also did the walk

Some of the stations we passed on the walk

This was the 1/2 way mark. We tried to make it with people, but it doesn't look like 1/2.

Ebisu Garden Place

Lately, I've been going to Tokyo almost every weekend. A few weeks ago, I went to Ebisu Garden Place to walk around there. The Christmas lights are so cool there. If you go to Tokyo before Christmas, you should definitely check it out.

Halloween

For Halloween, we played a mummy game in English Club. I thought the pictures were really funny, so I decided to upload them. Also, in class, we played a direction game with a witch poster. I think the students really enjoyed the game.

Judo

Recently, our school had a judo competition between the homerooms. It was my first time watching judo. I couldn't really understand what the rules were. It looks kind of scary too. I think I would die if I tried judo, but I think it would be interesting to do.

Nikko - Day 2

On Sunday, we decided to go to Lake Chuzenji. The road going there is crazy. It's so steep and winding. Most of the fall leaves had turned brown near the lake, but the lake was still really pretty. We went to see Kegon Falls first. I really wanted to see monkeys, but we didn't see any that day.

Kegon Falls

Lake Chuzenji

Lake Chuzenji

Our group: Our Japanese Friend, Me, and Carly (Oyama High School's ALT)

Carly at a really nice cafe we ate at for lunch

Nikko - Day 1

Last Friday, I went to Nikko with two friends. One is the ALT at Oyama High School. The other is our Japanese friend that we met in Tokyo. We stayed at a hostel because it was cheap, but the hostel owner was really, really helpful and friendly. On Saturday, we did things around Nikko City. We went to several shrines including Tosho-gu. It was so cheap. I was really surprised. You could buy a pass to 5 shrines for only 1,000 yen. The fall colors were perfect too.

There were lots of interesting buildings in Nikko.

Sacred Bridge- The lighting was always really bad, so it was difficult to get a nice picture.

The fall colors were so pretty. We went at the perfect time.

This is at Tosho-gu.

This was a cool antique shop.

The Three Wise Monkeys at Tosho-gu

Tokyo Tower and Language Exchange Partner

Recently, I visited Tokyo Tower with a friend. Earlier that day, we watched the Australian Football League Championship game. It was the first time I had ever watched Australian football. It was interesting . It's like a mix between soccer and American football. The pub we were at was really close to Tokyo Tower, so we walked there after the game. The view is cool from the tower, but I think there are better places to see the view. Like in Shinjuku, you can go up an observation tower for free, and it is taller than the tower. We got to the tower at a perfect time though. The sun was setting, so the city looked really pretty.

View from Tokyo Tower

Also, recently, my new neighbor and I have been meeting with a language exchange partner. The girl on the left in the picture is my new neighbor. She is from Canada, and she teaches at Gotemba High School. The man in the middle is our language exchange partner. He lives in Gotemba, and he is very interested in learning English. We usually meet about once every week or two. As you can see from the picture, one night we went bowling. Last night, we ate okonomiyaki. It was really fun to make.

Seoul, SoKo

On September 22, I left for Seoul from Haneda Airport with my friend from Oyama High school. I was really excited to go to Seoul because I love Korean dramas and pop music. It was so cool to see so many people on billboards that I recognized. The first day, we headed for Changdeokgung Palace. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We decided to walk through the garden, which actually looks like a forest. It was huge. We were so tired by the time we finished the walk. After this, we ate Korean Style Shabu Shabu. The amount of food we were given was so much. I felt so ill after eating it all.

Changdeokgung Palace

After lunch, we walked up a huge road. It was really pretty though because there was a water fountain and statues in the center of the road. This road led to Gyeongbokyung Palace. This palace is really big, and the grounds are very pretty.

Carly, Oyama High School's ALT

Gyeongbokyung Palace

After going to the palaces, we decided to make our way to N. Seoul Tower. It's really, really pretty. You have to go up this massive hill to get to it. Once you get to the top, you can see the entire city. We went at night, so the lights were beautiful. After going to the tower, we went to Namdaemun Market. Here we bargained for Korean pop star notepads and bought nori (seaweed).

N. Seoul Tower

View from N. Seoul Tower

On Day 2, we went to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) on a tour. We got to see the last railway station in South Korea. Also, we got to go an observation tower where we could look into North Korea. There were lots of South Korean soldiers there. I think they were bored though because they just kept talking to us and wanted us to take lots of pictures with them. The tour was interesting though. We ate Jjigae soup for lunch. I really love kimchi, so Korea was like heaven. I ate so much kimchi.

Us with a soldier during the DMZ tour

View into North Korea

After finishing the DMZ tour, we went to the Korean National Museum. There are three floors, and the building is absolutely massive. You could spend an entire day just in the building.

Korean National Museum

The third day, we went shopping in Myeong-Dong. Shopping in Korea is absolutely amazing. Things are so cheap. Also, I really, really like Korean fashion. Korean girls and boys dress so well, especially boys. Loads of boys wear nice tailored blazers, and some even wear bow ties. I really like bow ties. After shopping, we went to Dongdaemun market and the canal, but unfortunately, everything was closed because it was a holiday.

Canal by Dongdaemun market

That night, we visited Building 63, but it was a bit of a disappointment. However, we did see a Korean drama being filmed in front of a hotel. The final day, we went back to Myeong-Dong for more shopping. We saw a Korean drama being filmed there too. There was a man on a motorcycle. It was intense. I really want to go back to Seoul soon!!