12.19
We met at Asagaya Station on Saturday morning, and walked to the school. Asagaya Station is just one station away from me, and the high school is actually not far from where I live. We took two buses to Gunma Prefecture, which is to the northwest of Tokyo. It took about three hours.
The Camp lasted three days, from Saturday through Monday. Ten teachers went from my company, along with the Japanese teachers from the school, and about 90 students. The days were long, but the food was good, and we could eat as much as we wanted. (The one constant at every meal was shredded cabbage. The food was buffet style, and the menu was always different, other than the cabbage. We started making jokes about how we hadn’t had cabbage for hours!) On the second day, we took our classes out for a walk. This year, it was unusually mild, so we didn’t have any snow or unreasonably cold weather to contend with.
The actual facilities were on a mountain. I didn’t get much time to enjoy looking outside, but the view was very nice. The air was clean, and the sky was clear. It was nice. Every night, we took a shower and soaked in the Japanese style hot tub. Even though we didn’t sleep a long time, I was so relaxed from the bath that I woke up feeling very relaxed and refreshed.
The school is a private girl’s school. Half of the students had just returned from studying in England, and the other half are preparing to go next year. They were very well-behaved and they worked very hard. Most of the classes almost taught themselves, though the material was a bit dry at times. It is hard for anyone to stay focused for long periods of intensive study. By the second day, Scrabble tournaments between classes, nature walks, and games were creeping into the lessons…
On the way back, just a few minutes after we started our trip home, one of the girls got sick. I don’t know what happened, but we pulled over the side of the road and called an ambulance. By the time the ambulance got there, I think she was fine. She was able to walk by herself. But they took her to the hospital, just to be sure. After that, we had a relatively uneventful trip back. When we got back, I went to a private company class that I teach, then I went home.
I was really tired, but now things are winding down. I still have classes and some paperwork to complete before I leave on Saturday, but nothing like what I typically deal with. I almost feel like my vacation has already started…