Visit to America

This summer, I went home to America for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. When I first arrived home, I went to St. Joseph, Missouri for a family reunion on my mom's side of the family. Every three years, we have a family reunion during the summer. This was the main reason that I returned home, so that I could see the family members, which I hadn't seen for three years. Our family members come from all over the United States and even Canada, so I think it is an amazing thing that everyone can come together.

This is a picture of me, my baby cousin, and my great uncle, Ralph. If you look closely, you can see my grandfather in a blue shirt in the background. At every reunion, awards are handed out. I got the award for traveling the farthest, my baby cousin got the award for being the youngest, and my great uncle got the award for being the oldest.

I thought these were really cool. Wind power is becoming very popular in America. There were at least 100 windmills in this area.

Also, in America, we do something similar to Obon. When family members get together, they often visit relatives' grave sites. This is what we did at the reunion. My mother's maiden name is Veale, so we visited some graveyards with Veale relatives.

This is the grave of my great great grandfather and grandmother.

Henry Clay Veale 1850-1918 and Eliza Jane (Easley) Veale 1850-1931

This is the grave of my 3rd great grandfather. He moved with his family from Virginia to Missouri prior to the Civil War.

Elam Clay Veale 1805-1872

Singapore - Day 2-5

Day 2:

The second day that we were in Singapore, we decided to see the Botanical Garden. There were so many amazing plants there. Also, what is even better is that it was free. I especially liked the orchid garden. Also, there were lakes and lots of pathways. Many people were enjoying the weather there. Also, you could walk through areas which were like preserved rain forests.

After going to the garden, we went swimming at my friend’s apartment complex. He’s really lucky because he has an Olympic-sized swimming pool with his apartment. It is really difficult for me to get to a pool in Japan, so it was nice to have one right there. That night, my friend's parents took us out to a local outdoor food court, which was interesting to say the least. It seemed like a lot of the food sat there for a long time.

Orchid Garden in the Botantical Gardens

Day 3:

The third day, we made our way to Sentosa Island, and just chilled there. We lay on the beach for a really long time. I’ve been a bit sun deprived lately, so it felt amazing to just bask in the sun. The beach was all man-made, so the palm trees were all perfectly placed. It’s really strange. That evening, we ate Pizza Hut. I miss pizza so much!!! After that, we went to see the movie “Inception.”

Beach on Sentosa Island

Day 4:

On day four, we went to Chinatown for souvenir shopping. Also, we went shopping on Orchard road. There are multiple topshops in Singapore. It was like heaven. Apparently, a new flagship store is opening in Shinjuku though. I hope it's just not as expensive as the one in Harajuku. That night, we went to the best restaurant ever. It was all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. It included meat, vegetables, dessert, and drinks. It was so cheap. I’ve never felt so sick in my entire life from eating so much food, but it was so amazing.

Chinatown


The all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ Restaurant and my friend from university in Scotland


This bathroom was crazy. It had about 1000 mirrors and was inside a really expensive department store.


Orchard Road Shopping

Day 5:

On the final day, we went to the zoo, which is one of the best zoos I’ve ever been to. There was so much space, and monkeys kind of run free. There was an elephant show too. The entire place was amazing.

Julie (Kambara's old ALT) and me


Zebras!

Singapore-Day 1

At the end of July, I took a trip to Singapore with the ALT from Kambara. I decided to go there because my best friend from university in Scotland lives there.

Our flight left in the evening. As it was taking off, there was a beautiful sunset as you can see in the picture.


On the first day, we didn't really know what to do, so we kind of just wandered around the city. We started on Orchard Road, which is the main area for shopping. Also, it's full of tourists. When we were looking for lunch, we happened to run into this restaurant. We were so surprised because it has branches in Singapore and Shizuoka.


After eating lunch, we decided we could probably learn more about the city by taking a bus tour even though it was kind of cheesy. Actually, the bus turned out to be a good decision because we got to see almost all of the city. Below is a picture of my friend on the bus. We were also surprised because Korean pop stars are really popular in Singapore. My friend and I both love Korean dramas. Lee Min Ho was everywhere, including the billboard below.


On the bus tour, we also passed the Singapore Flyer. This is actually the biggest Ferris Wheel in the world.


Singapore is also very multicultural. There is a large population of Indians and Arabs living there. Below is a mosque.


There is a lot of government housing in Singapore. These brightly colored buildings are also government housing. At the end of the day, we went by the river, which has many restaurants lining it.

School Festival - Sports Day

When I was an elementary school student in America, we had sports day. I always looked forward to it every year. There were such events as the potato sack race, the three legged race, and relays. However, once we entered junior high and high school, there was no longer a sports day. I wish this event had carried over into later school years because I think it is a good event to bond students and teachers together and also create lasting memories.

I was really excited to see sports day in Japan because I wanted to see how the events differed from America. There were quite a few different events such as a mock cavalry battle and events involving wooden poles. Also, at midday, there was a dance contest between the two teams. Actually, I didn't really understand how the two teams were made. In America, I think the competition was between grades or homerooms. I can't remember, but in Japan, there were two teams composed of students from all three grades. I hope next year's sports day is just as exciting.

Culture Day - School Festival

This was my first time going to a school festival. At my high school in America, we had an art festival, but it was just some of the art classes' works displayed in the gym. It was nothing on the level of the Japanese school festival. I couldn't believe how much effort and work was put into the school festival. I was really proud of the students, and I think they did a great job.

The weeks before culture day, the English club worked hard on making their exhibition. The 3rd year girls decided on making and displaying English movie posters. I think the exhibition turned out well. I hope next year, we can make something even more amazing. My favorite exhibition was the science exhibition. There were so many animals. They had a snake and beetles. Also, I was viewing the exhibit with some of the English club girls, and one won a beetle. It was really cute. I think she really likes it. She took it home and bought wood for its box.

Also, I was really happy because 21 homeroom won the homeroom display contest. Every morning, I go to 21 homeroom's morning meeting, so I think of them as my good students. In addition, I got to help the girl's basketball club with their food stand. They made fried chicken. The food prepared by the clubs was really good. I got to try a few things for the first time like agepan.

Also, there was a cross dressing contest. I thought this was really weird, not because it was cross dressing but because a lot of the girls actually thought the boys looked cute dressed as girls. I didn't think they looked so cute. I guess that's it for culture day. Next, I'll talk about sport's day.

21 homeroom's display

English club's display

Shimizu S-Pulse Game and Design Festa

In May, I went to a Shimizu S-Pulse game in Tokyo and to a Design Festa. The Design Festa was near the port. That area is pretty cool. It doesn't feel like Tokyo though. At the Design Festa, there were hundreds of booths displaying individuals' art. It was interesting, but after a while, the art all started to blur together. A lot of it was really similar.

Mom's Visit-Day 11-12

On day 11, my mother and I went to Himeji to see the castle. Currently, Himeji castle is undergoing construction, but you can still view a great deal of the castle. I think it is cool because it is a World Heritage Site of Japan. We had a small mishap though. I didn't know that you couldn't withdraw money from your Japanese bank account during Golden Week. I think this is really, really strange because people need to withdraw money the most during holidays. Actually, I think Japanese atms are strange in general. In America, you can withdraw cash at any time from your bank's atm and not get charged. In Japan, I don't understand why there are hours for an atm when it is a machine. It's really difficult to get money out during the designated times because most people are working during those times.

After visiting the castle, we went to Koko-en Garden, which is surprisingly really big. I expected it to be quite small for some reason, maybe because it is right next to the castle, but it actually has lots of parts to it. Also, I think it was constructed quite recently, so the design is modern yet made to look old to match the castle. If you go to the castle, a visit to the gardens is definitely necessary.

On my mom's final day, we went back to Tokyo to shop. I think seeing Shibuya for the first time is quite intense, but I think my mom enjoyed shopping. I guess this concludes my documentation of the trip. I just hope my mom can visit again next year!