Sports Day

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the quality of these photos. I took them with my iphone, so the quality isn't so good. The second graders had a homeroom sports competition in the gym. The girls played volleyball, and the boys played dodgeball. I couldn't believe it, but dodgeball is not the same at all in Japan. I had trouble understanding how you play, but basically, I think it is this. There is one ball, and people pass the ball in order to get people out. People are allowed on the outside of the other team's area in order to throw the ball. It's so strange. I thought the game would be the same, but it is completely different.

Kawasaki-Random Things Found Walking

For the rest of our time in Kawasaki, we basically just went on a big walk. We found a garden with a big pond and waterfall, a pagoda surrounded by streets full of souvenir shops and food stalls, and a huge cemetery. Cemeteries are so different in Japan compared to those in America. In America, cemeteries are grassy and spread out, but in Japan, everything is really close together and mostly concrete. Also, there were loads of animals everywhere. Everyone was out walking their dogs, and there were loads of feral cats. It really turned out to be such a nice day because the weather was finally somewhat warm, and we found lots of things we weren't expecting to discover. Also, we got Krispy Kreme and Starbucks, a much missed necessity in Gotemba.

Feral Cat

Pagoda

Carly at the Cemetery

Kawasaki-Cherry Blossoms and Hanami

After visiting the shinto shrine, we wondered through a park with lots of cherry blossoms. It was really nice because I was able to see what hanami is like. In America, we don't have hanami. We have things that are kind of similar though. In a neighboring town in America, there is a Dogwood Azalea Festival. At this, there is a parade, people go on walks looking at the flowers, and there are food stands. Hanami seems quite different. It is more like a picnic. I really want to go to hanami, but I think it was nice just walking through and seeing it too.

Kawasaki-Shinto Shrine

Carly, the ALT from Oyama High School, and I took a day trip to Kawasaki the weekend before last. I had heard mixed reviews of Kawasaki before going. I had been told it was dirty because there used to be lots of factories there. However, when I arrived, I thought it was a really nice place. There were lots of cool things in the area we went to, and I didn't think it was dirty at all. While we were there, there was a festival at a Shinto Shrine. It was interesting to say the very least. There were lots of food stands and tons of tourists. I was surprised because I think there might possibly have been more foreign people than Japanese people. Below are some pictures I took there. After staying at the shrine for about an hour, we moved on to other parts of Kawasaki, which I will discuss in the next post.

These are the strange people at the festival we saw wearing crazy wigs. We thought they were so strange, so we asked to have our picture taken with them.