Japan Diaries 4: Week 15

Week 15: February 7-11, 2022

Day 98: February 7, 2022

Monday - Rumoi

My house is getting buried in more and more snow

I'm back at my main school Rumoi High School today. It was another chill day as I was not given any collaboration work today. Regardless, I made sure that the day is productive by learning a new set of different Kanji characters.


I also learned from Shikou-sensei that one of my students and English Club members, Mugi-chan, will be taking the Grade 1 Eiken interview (the highest level). I promised sensei that I would help Mugi-chan train for this exam as much as I could. I told him that I am willing to free up my after-work schedule to train Mugi. 

Before going home, I helped Komai-sensei practice for his Grade 1 Eiken interview.

Day 99: February 8, 2022

Tuesday - Rumoi 

Rumoi High School 2/8/2022

It's another day at Rumoi High School. Here's my workload for today:

Class 2-1 of Motoyama-sensei

2nd period - Review Vocabs @ 2-1 of Motoyama-sensei

That afternoon, I practiced more Kanji characters before going home. I again helped Komai sensei practice for his Eiken interview. 

Bonding at Joshua's place

Yummy! いただきます

That evening, I was invited to a hot pot party at Joshua's place. The fun thing about this one is that Noboru-san of the Rumoi English Chat Club joined us for this party.

Day 100: February 9, 2022

Wednesday - 100 Days in Rumoi

Just like that, it's already my 100th day here in Rumoi City. Sadly, I did not plan anything special today. 

Rumoi High School 2/9/2022

As a matter of fact, I was about to visit Obira Special Needs School for the first time but they canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Just to share, whenever a school cancels my scheduled visit, I must report to Rumoi High School which is my "Mother" school. Hence, I spent the whole day there today.

Rumoi City as seen from Rumoi High School

Here's my workload for today:

Class 2-34 of Motoyama-sensei

2nd period - Iwo Jima Review @2-34 of Motoyama-sensei
3rd period - Test Review @ 2-1 of Motoyama-sensei

Day 101: February 10, 2022

Thursday - Teshio

Here comes the Engan Bus

Teshio High School 2/10/2022

Today is my 4th time visiting Teshio High School. For this trip, I am using my 1-day Moekko Free Ticket. 

Here's my workload for today:

Class 2A of Ueki-sensei

2nd period - 3 Sentence Speech @ 2B of Ueki-sensei
3rd period - 3 Sentence Speech @ 2A of Ueki-sensei
5th period - Lesson 11 Interview @ 1A of Miyakoshi-sensei

That afternoon, before going home, I walked to the nearby Teshio Itsukushima Shrine to check it out and visit it for the first time. The main path to the shrine was covered with snow so I had to walk further going to the side entrance of the shrine near Ororon Road to see the shrine up close. 

I will be waiting for the bus home in that bus stop beside the Teshio History Museum

From there, I walked back and took the same route before heading to Teshio History Museum. I was disappointed to discover that it was closed this season. Thankfully, the bus stop is just beside it. I waited for 20 minutes for the bus to Rumoi.

Day 102: February 11, 2022

Friday - National Foundation Day

It's another holiday! Today, I planned to hike the nearby Senboudai. However, since my Rumoi ALT friends and I have plans to have dinner at Joshua's place later in the afternoon, I scheduled my hike so that I would be back in the city before dark. 

The road to Senbodai

Check out how deep the snow is going up to Senbodai

Senboudai is a hill that stands 180 meters. It is located in the southern part of the city. Normally, visitors can bike up the hilltop but since there was so much snow, it took me almost three hours to complete the hike. I also spent a considerable amount of time admiring the view from the top. 

Senbodai during Winter

The view from Senbodai

I was already descending when Guy messaged that he was already on his way to Joshua's place. Hence, I got to quicken my pace and reached the place a few minutes before Guy did. 

We helped Joshua prepare the food. Of course, I need to snap a picture first for documentation purposes.



We created a new dish. All we need is a patent.

That night, we helped Joshua prepare the dishes for the dinner feast and I'm proud to share that we've created a masterpiece. Overall, I feel that this holiday was spent well. It just made me look forward to the next one, particularly bonding with the other ALTs.

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Location: Rumoi, Hokkaido, Japan

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