The Backpack Adventures

Week 123: March 4 – 8, 2024 Day 854: March 4, 2024 Monday – Rumoi  It’s a snowy, chilly Monday—the start of my first full work week this March. I’m back at Rumoi High School following my usual Monday routine. Rumoi High School 3.4.24 No collaboration work today, as everyone was busy finalizing the exams for tomorrow’s entrance tests. These exams are taken so seriously that they’re stored in vaults or locked away in a secure locker. On top of that, teachers are instructed to leave promptly, and no one is allowed to linger in the faculty room after 4:40 PM. Before calling it a day, I unwound by watching an episode of The House of Ninjas . The story just keeps getting more interesting with every episode! Day 855: March 5, 2024 Tuesday -  Rumoi x Entrance Exams  Rumoi High School 3.5.24 It’s another snowy day today. I went to Rumoi High School earlier today because our morning meeting was moved 5 minutes earlier for the special morning meeting about today’s entrance exams....

Weekend 122: March 2 – 3, 2024 Day 852: March 2, 2024 Saturday – Rumoi x Blizzard It's a -7-degree morning here in Rumoi City It’s just -7 degrees today, but it feels like it’s around -15. We planned to go on an onsen trip this weekend, but the weather forecast said that there would be a blizzard today. Having lived here in Hokkaido for almost 4 years, I know how dangerous driving in a blizzard can be, so we decided to cancel our plans and stay home instead. Blizzard experience in Rumoi City It was too cold to move around, so we just stayed in the living room and bonded with each other. During our free time, we made videos for our Facebook page “ JapaNice Adventures ,” and I was able to make some videos for future posting. Quick stop at Seicomart in Motokawacho Next Stop: Shell Serufu I bought touyu for our heater After lunch, I discovered that I needed to buy kerosene for our heater, as the tank is nearly empty. I braved the blizzard to drive to Shell Serufu . Thankfully, there w...

Week 122: February 26 – March 1, 2024 Day 847: February 26, 2024 Monday – Rumoi Rumoi High School 2.26.24 It’s a -6-degree cloudy winter Monday morning here in Rumoi City. I’m back reporting to Rumoi High School . Here’s my workload today: I gave a presentation about school uniforms in the Philippines 2nd period – School Uniforms @ 1-34 of Matsuda-sensei After the second period, Matsuda-sensei asked me if I could make a slide about school uniforms in the Philippines, which I did. I also made a handout for that to make tomorrow's lesson more interesting.  Rumoi High School English Club - Club promotion discussion We made our English Club banner After classes, I helped facilitate the weekly Rumoi High School English Club . We made something for Rimu-san, who is graduating this year. We also planned for the promotion of the Club during the orientation with the incoming 1st-year students.  Dinner for tonight: carbonara We drove to Tsuruha Drug and then to... ... Lupinas to bu...