Day 4 - Another School Visit

Woke up with a bit of a sake headache so decided to go for a 6:30 walk with another teacher, Wendy. Hi Wendy!

The streets were so quiet and calm with hydrangeas blooming everywhere!


Cemeteries are located here and there throughout the city. You can see the homes surround this beautiful little cemetery.



Stopped for a quick giving of thanks to the Shinto gods. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and you see these little sites where you can pay respect to the gods. Shinto means "the way of the gods" and is the main faith of Japan, along with Buddhism. It is as old as Japan itself. I found this info online: "Shinto gods, called kami, are sacred spirits that take on the form of things and concepts that are important to life such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami. The sun goddess Amaterasu is considered Shinto's most important kami."

After breakfast we all took a long bus ride then a train to another local school. We got to watch an incredible 5th grade teacher teach a introductory lesson on dividing with decimals. She was incredible and I was so impressed with how she built the lesson. They represent mathematics in ways I have never seen.

After a long day both observing and then having an opportunity to speak with the 3 fifth grade teachers, we headed back to the hotel during rush hour. You can see how full the train is but it is completely quiet. It is considered rude to talk on trains because it is an invasion of space. Gotta say, love that. There is also no food or drink allowed so the trains are pristine!
Spent the evening doing laundry, catching up on emails and relaxing before we head about 90 minutes west for the night. We get to spend two days in local schools and spend the night in a traditional Japanese inn. Tomorrow we visit Mount Fuji!!! What an adventure I am on!!!!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yasaka-jinja Shrine - at the heart of Kyoto!

Image
 After Kyoto sushi and cooling off, I walked toward the Yasaka-jinja Shrine (aka Gion Shrine) located only 10 minutes from the inn. The sun was lower in the sky so thought I'd get this shrine in before I head back. Founded over 1350 years ago, it is considered one of the most famous shrines in Kyoto. The Gion Festival, held every year for the past 1,100 years, is one of the most famous festivals in Japan and lasts for the entire month of July. I know they light up the lanterns at night so I'll definitely head that way at some point.   It was an absolutely beautiful evening with the setting sun adding a touch of gold to the buildings. What a wonderful end to an incredible day. Back to the inn for much needed sleep and more adventures tomorrow. Good night ( Oyasuminasai)!
Read more

Last Day in Kyoto! Go big or go home!

Image
Technically I'm doing both...I'm going big AND I'm going home. Last full day in Japan! Can you believe it? I've been here for 3 weeks. In some ways it feels much longer than that because I have done SO MUCH! What an incredible adventure I've been on and today was no different. I tried to sleep in but my internal clock is set for 5:30-6:00 a.m. and that didn't change in Japan. I had breakfast and was out the door early to beat the heat and the crowds. Since everything I wanted to do today was within 1-2 miles from the hotel, I didn't take any public transportation today. I just walked it. Do you remember the walk I took the first day in Kyoto? That's the direction I headed to see my final two destinations. It was so quiet and tranquil...no hordes of tourists to make my way through. There it is, Hokan-ji Temple, aka the Yasaka Pagoda. It is 46 meters tall (that's about 151 feet) and it's only about a 10 minute walk from the inn. Init...
Read more

Nishiki Market - Kyoto's Kitchen

Image
Berenice, a fellow teacher from the Lesson Study Project, is also visiting Kyoto so we decided to meet up and visit the famous 400 year old Nishiki Market. This market is a treasure trove of everything food related and more! Prepare yourselves for a food ride (similar to my food posts in Taiwan). There are easily over 100 food stalls that offer local products and food. The place is MASSIVE! If you look closely you can see that the market goes on and on and on. Those little babies are tiny octopus that have been stuffed with an entire hard boiled quail egg. Of course I had to eat one. It was yummy!!! Those are little cuttlefish below, also with an egg inside. EAT NOW OK!! Berenice ate a cricket (in the bowl above) along with pickled something or other. The Japanese take pickled items seriously and I totally LOVE it all.  Fish....it's everywhere! If you don't like fish, Japan isn't the place for you!  There is so much specificity in shops in...
Read more