CROSSROADS

Welcome to Crossroads!

2013-01-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first of what we hope will be many posts to the Kanto Daiichi High School International Club's official blog, Crossroads.

Why Crossroads? Well, we wanted a title that communicated the idea of several different countries and cultures meeting in one place. Our club has students of Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Chinese decent (as well as an American teacher), and our school has students with family ties to places all over the world, from Asia to Africa. Beyond the diversity within our own walls, our club is working hard to develop a strong sister school relationship with Central Coast Grammar School and Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School in Australia. So as ambassadors to the international community both inside and outside of our school, we feel we are truly standing at the place where international cultures, experiences, and perspectives meet: the crossroads.

This is our first year as a club so as excited as we are to start having fun, we also realize that we have a lot of work to do. We hope this blog will help us record our achievements, see where we have been, and decide where we want to go in the future. And of course, we hope that this will be a place where our families and friends can share in our experiences as we grow throughout the year. Feel free to post a comment. Everyone is welcome!

Until next time!

Blog Update (In Japanese!)

2012-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

こんにちは、

初ブログ一発目の担当は八木はるかです。

間一のインターナショナルクラブでの活動内容は２月２２日に行われる「すくすくスクールのイングリッシュゲーム」に向けての準備と英会話の練習です。

すくすくスクールは小学生と英語のゲームを通じて一緒に英語学ぶことを目的としています。今回はジェスチャーゲームと伝言ゲームを行います。部員全員で力合わせてアイデアを出し合ったり必要なものを作ったりと準備に取り組んでいます。

英会話は留学生が来校したときのために英会話力を強くしようとエリック先生を中心として行っています。みんなで楽しくおしゃべりしています。

部員みんなで協力して楽しく活動しています。

2011-11-24T18:24:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year we were honored to meet the Ethiopian ambassador to Japan and have dinner at his residence. We are hoping that at some point Kanto Daiichi is able to develop a sister-school connection with a high school in Ethiopia and the ambassador and his staff have been very gracious and helpful throughout the process.

In fact, they were kind enough to send us tickets to the Ethiopia Association of Japan’s annual event: Ethiopian Night of Music, Dance and Cuisine. Eric Sensei and two of our students went and had a great time dancing and eating (and eating and eating and eating!). We’re very grateful to our friends at the Ethiopian Embassy for letting us take part in such a fun event!

8 months later

2011-11-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

Well, as those of you who read the blog have no doubt noticed, posting has been light (read: non-existent) since March. Obviously, the earthquake played a pretty big part in the initial drop-off and then we just got busy with other things and forgot to update in a timely manner.

Well, we're going to try to get back on track. In the coming weeks expect to see posts about the following:

Local Elementary School Visit
English Conversation Classes
Australian Students' Visit
Ethiopian Night of Dining and Dancing
British Students' Visit
Christmas Party

We'll try to put something up once a week so that friends and family can see what we've been up to. Thanks for you patience and we look forward to your comments.

KDI

Earthquake

2011-03-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we're doing okay. There's just no way to know from day to day what part of our lives will be effected by the damage from the quake and speculating would be irresponsible. So we'd just ask everyone to keep Japan in your thoughts, especially those people in the north directly effected by the quake and tsunami.

The Red Cross always needs blood. Now would be a good time to give.

Visitors from Poland!

2011-03-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday we were lucky to host a dance group from Poland. They're here for a competition in Edogawa but they came by in the afternoon and joined us for some Japanese crafts and cooking. They tried their hand at origami and they cooked shiratama, a traditional Japanese sweet made from rice flower.

Everything turned out great and the students had a wonderful time meeting each other. The wonderful thing about a second language is that it doesn't limit you only to communicating with native speakers of that language, but also allows you to interact with anyone who's studied the same language. We were happy that our students had a chance to speak English with our guests from Poland and hopefully their world view has expanded that much more.

Big thanks to the cooking club for taking the time to teach us how to make such delicious food!!

Student Movie Presentation

2011-03-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

Some of our students were asked to create short summaries of their favorite movies. The results were really creative and fun. Here's one:

Cinderella

Once upon a time there was a girl, Cinderella.

She lived with step-mother and three sisters.
They were bullies.

One night, good witch appeared and put magic on her.

Witch cast a spell. “Chi-chin-pui-pui-no-pui!”

Cinderella became a princess.

At last, she was taken to the ball and met the prince.

She was dancing with the prince merrily. But it was time that the magic would not work.

When she was running one of her slippers fell off.

The prince picked it up.

One day, the prince visited the village where Cinderella lived.

Checking all the ladies. No one could put on the slipper.

At last, he went to Cinderella’s house and he found the slipper fit Cinderella!!

The prince said, “You are my destiny!” They lived happily ever after.

Suku Suku School: First Visit

2011-02-17T15:47:00.001-08:00

Karuta!

2011-02-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday International Club students participated in the annual Karuta tournament at the school. Karta (From the Portuguese carta, meaning, well, card) is a Japanese card game in which players try to match the first half of Japanese poems, read aloud by the MC, to the second half of the poems, written on cards and placed at random in front of the players. The player who finds the matching half of the poem wins the card and the player with the biggest stack of cards at the end of the game wins. It's not super difficult to play, but it is super difficult to explain so I'll just show you some pictures so you get the idea.

Picture 1:

Students gather around the cards

Picture 2:

The MC reads the first half of the poem

Picture 3:

When the student finds the card with the matching second half of the poem he/she grabs it

Back To School

2011-02-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back at school as of early January but because of a few holidays and a ski trip the club didn't meet until this past week. This month we're focusing on two things. The first is our preparations for the Suku Suku School program, an afterschool program for elementary school students. We'll be joining the program once a month or so and playing English games, singing English songs, learning English words, etc... We can't wait to meet the kids and we're so excited to be working outside the school in the Edogawa Ward community.

The second thing we'll be focusing on is English Conversation classes for students thinking about studying abroad. As we've continued to make friends with schools and students from around the world (Australia, England, and now Poland!) our students have been dying to travel! So we've started meeting during lunch and after school to practice English and talk about conversation strategies. Today we had our first meeting and it was a lot of fun!

'Tis the Season

2010-12-20T22:44:00.001-08:00

Well, as of yesterday school is out for the winter and we won't be back until early January. But before we said goodbye the International Club had a Christmas party. We made some paper snowflakes, ate some junk food, and played some Christmas games...and Scrabble. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and we'll be back in January!

Tavistock Students in Japan!

2010-11-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

We were very happy to host 20 students and two teachers from Tavistock College in the Devon area of England. Although they were only with us for three days, we made lasting friendships and enjoyed a truly meaningful cultural exchange.

Last Friday the International Club boarded a bus for Kasai Rinkai Park where we met the Tavistock students for the first time. We played some games to break the ice, visited the park's wonderful aquarium, and ended the day with a scavenger hunt around the park grounds. It was a great first day and really set the tone for the remainder of their time with us.

On Monday the students came to school for the first time. In the morning they were treated to an interesting lesson on Japanese caligraphy from our own Kitajima Sensei, an accomplished professional caligrapher, and they made traditional Japanese fans with Matsui Sensei, a fan maker from the Edogawa area who was nice enough to come to the school on his own time. After lunch students joined the Kanto Daiichi students for normal lessons. However many Kanto Daiichi teachers were nice enough to tailor their lessons to include the Tavistock students and create a truly international classroom. After school the Tavistock students participated in various club activities with our students, including table tennis, basketball, cooking, track & field, and the Japanese comics club.

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Tuestday was a holiday and they spent the day with their homestay families.
On Wednesday the Tavistock students introduced themselves to the entire student body at an assembly, attended a pop-culture lesson by Eric Sensei in the morning, and attened normal lessons until lunch time. After lunch they spent two hours making various arts and crafts with our amazing arts and crafts teachers. When they were finished they met in the lobby to say goodbye to the friends that they had made over the three days they were here and borded a bus to their hotel.

Tomorrow they'll spend the day at Disneyland and then it's back to England on Friday. Although we only had three days together they were really fun and we hope that this trip markes the beginning of a wonderful relationship between our two schools. We'd especially like to thank Crispin Chambers and Sally Benson, the two wonderful Tavistock teachers who accompanied the students, and Mr. Iwai and Ms. Yamada, who helped put the whole trip together.

We'll miss everyone and we hope to see you next year!

CCGS Students off to Nagano

2010-10-28T19:06:00.001-07:00

Well, after spending about a month with us here in Tokyo our friends from Australia are heading to Nagano for another two months or so. They'll stay with homestay families there and study with students from Ueda Nishi Senior High School in Nagano Prefecture. It's a great school with some really nice students and we're sure they will have a great time up there.

We were sad to see our friends leave but we will always have great memories of our time with Sarah, Inger, Loise, Kate, and Brittany. We hope they will keep in touch and we look forward to seeing them again sometime soon!

Here are some pictures from their time her with us...

ASAKUSA DAY TRIP

KYOTO

FAREWELL PARTY

Take care. We'll miss you!!!

First Pictures from Kyoto!

2010-10-13T19:47:00.001-07:00

Four of the students from Australia and two of our students spent three days in Kyoto. You could spend three years in Kyoto and barely scratch the surfice of the history, art, and culture to be found there but they made the most of the time they were there.

They visited several shrines and temples, participated in a tea ceremony, wore Japanese kimono, and watched a traditional arts show in Gion, the cultural heart of the city. Here are some of the pictures. More to come!

CCGS Girs and the Sports Boys

2010-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

The students from Australia spent a class period with the students from the sports course. They had a great time talking about their home countries, answering questions about themselves, and making friends with the boys. Rumor has it that there may even have been some romance in the air but, alas, the girls are leaving on Friday. Sorry guys!

AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS ARE HERE!

2010-10-07T18:17:00.001-07:00

Five friends from our sister school in Australia are visiting us for three weeks. They will come to Kanto Daiichi everyday to get to know our students as well as learn about school life in Japan. While they are here they will stay with a Japanese family and they will also have the opportunity to explore Tokyo as well as Kyoto. We're excited to have them here and we're happy for the chance to make new friends!

Here are some pictures from our first lunch together...

Eric's Corner - Wakayama Vacation Days 2 and 3

2010-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

The second and third days of my hiking trip were fairly similar; a lot of hiking, a lot of sweating, no one to talk to. But I enjoyed it. Hiking alone for hours at a time is a great way to go if you live in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Besides the peace and quiet offered by the forest, there’s also the added bonus of going at a pace that’s right for you. As much as I enjoy nature and the great outdoors, I viewed each leg of my trip as a course to be completed as quickly as possible. I didn’t like taking rests and often arrived at my goal an hour to two hours earlier than the estimates on the map. Had I been hiking with someone else I may not have been able to set that pace and a 7 hour hike might have become a 10 hour hike. Ugh.

Anyways, I stayed in a minshuku on day two and enjoyed the same good food and hospitality I had enjoyed the day before. Because I was the only guest I was a bit worried that I would have to talk to the owners all evening or that they would feel obliged to entertain me somehow. It isn’t that I don’t like talking to people (anyone who knows me knows that). But shooting the breeze in a second language requires a lot more concentration and even a casual chat about the weather can end up being pretty taxing depending on the other person’s speed and choice of vocabulary. But my concerns were unfounded. They cooked dinner, made my bed, and left me alone with the TV. Perfect!

The hike on day three pretty much the same although I had way too many run-ins with some type of flying insects that seemed really attracted to my scent. I don’t actually think they were dangerous but they made a loud humming sound and kept flying directly into the side of my face. But besides that the hike was pretty easy and 6 hours later I found myself at Yunomine Onsen and the Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine. The Shrine is considered one of the most spiritual spots in Japan and the entrance is marked by the world’s largest tori shrine gate.

Yunomine Onsen is the oldest onsen bath in Japan, discovered about 1800 years ago, and is the only onsen designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. After checking in to a nearby minshuku I walked over to the famous Tsuboyo bath house, a tiny cabin with a small bath designed to hold no more than two people. For over a thousand years pilgrims along the Kumano Kodo route have made their way to Yunomine onsen and used the same Tsuboyo bath to heal not only their bodies but also their spirits, performing purification rituals in the sacred waters. In fact the healing properties of the bath and the spiritual calm the waters bring are so legendary that the little cabin has even made its way into a kabuki play, bringing the hero of the story back from the brink of death. It was with this powerful and inspiring knowledge that I stepped into the bath and was struck immediately by a single thought, a thought I’m sure has been shared by a millennium’s worth of visitors – “TOO HOT!” The water was almost comically hot and I wondered just how in the hell anyone had ever been able to stand it. Well it turns out that you really should read the instructions before trying these types of things. Had I bothered to read the sign I would have known that a hose pumping cold river-water into the bath was available to my right and that it was strongly recommended that I turn it on for five to ten minutes before entering the bath. Roger that. I followed the instructions, gave it another shot, and found the experience to be every bit as physically and spiritually refreshing as advertized. It was a wonderful way to end a long day of hiking and I felt great and ready to tackle day four.

Or so I thought…

Eric's Corner - My Summer Vacation

2010-09-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

The students are writing about their summer break so I thought I would post an account of what I did over the summer...

I had a wonderful summer vacation this year. I took two weeks off and headed down to the Kansai region of Japan, which some readers (hi, Mom) will recognize as the first area of Japan I lived in when I came here 8 years ago. The area is most famous for cities like Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe, but I was headed to Wakayama, a very beautiful, very rural prefecture made up mainly of farmland and mountains (the name “Wakayama” means something like “Mountain of Peaceful Song”). I had decided to hike along the Kumano Kodo, a series of ancient pilgrimage routes running through Wakayama prefecture as well as parts of Nara and Osaka. I had given myself 13 days to hike 150 kilometers and after two and a half years in Tokyo I was really looking forward to spending two weeks as far away from the big city as I could get. In the end, my hiking trip was shortened to only 6 days for reasons I'll get into in later posts. But regardless of length, it was an amazing experience and I'm already thinking about going back next year!

DAY 1: Seiganto-ji Temple to Koguchi
Distance: 16km hike

My trip began in Kii-Katsuura, home to Seiganto-ji Temple, a beautiful temple situated near the Nachi Waterfall. It really is a lovely area and the view of the temple with the waterfall in the background is pretty inspiring. The trail head to the Kumano Kodo is here and after spending the night in a small minshuku (family owned inn) next to the temple I struck out early in the morning for the first of six days of hiking.

The forest was deserted. In fact during the first six days of my hike I met maybe 10 people. The only real experience I have with hiking is at Mt. Rainier in my home state of Washington and there are ALWAYS other people hiking along the same trail. I’d never gone a full day of hiking without seeing another person and ultimately the lack of other hikers forced me to rethink my route as I didn’t want to be stranded alone in the woods with a broken leg. But for the first day, at least, I welcomed the solitude and spent the day soaking in the clean air, beautiful views and silence afforded by the mountain trail.

I spent the evening in a tiny village (Seriously tiny. The elderly couple who owned the minshuku where I stayed told me there were only about 100 people in the whole town and the average age was in the low 70’s.). I was delighted to find a clean, cool river perfect for swimming and after taking a dip I fell asleep on the warm rocks for a few hours. At dinner, I was served tempura, tuna sashimi, and fresh fish caught in the same river I had been swimming in just hours before. It was just what I needed after a long day of hiking. I really liked this minshuku and the owners were perfect- friendly without being too chatty. They even called ahead to a minshuku in the next town and booked me a room for the next day. Their Japanese was also really easy to understand which came as a relief. I had worried that in such a rural place people would have some pretty thick accents and would use a dialect unique to the region, but it wasn’t a problem. I went to bed the first day with a full belly, looking forward to the next day's hike.

Summer Vacation!

2010-09-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well, the second semester is underway and everyone is busy with classes, clubs, preparing for the school cultural festival (September 26th) and just generally doing what teachers and students do. But before we get into future plans and events, we wanted to share with you what we did over the summer. Our summer vacation lasted from the end of July to the beginning of September and we all had a great time. Some of us took vacations with our family, some of us participated in study abroad programs, some of us went to Kansai to support our school baseball team, and some of us just stayed home and relaxed. Here are some of our stories:

Myanmar
by Momo

I visited Myanmar with my family during the summer vacation. I stayed at my uncle’s house. I have four cousins there. I played with them everyday. I also went shopping and swam.

Most of the people in Myanmar speak Myanmar language. My cousins go to an international school and they speak both English and Myanmar. So I learnt English and Myanmar from them. I taught them Japanese and we had a great time.

I miss them very much and I want to go to visit them again.

Australia
By Mayo

I liked all of place in Australia. My host sister Ashleigh took us to beautiful beach. So beautiful!!
I went to a café by the sea. I ate pancake of bacon and banana and drank juice of pineapple and ginger. These were so delicious! The ocean view was so beautiful. I loved that.

I went to Lindisfarne school. The building was cool! My favorite place is the canteen. There are many delicious foods. And I enjoyed talk with my Australian friends. They were kind to me.

This trip was too short for me. Because I wanted to go to more places and talk with my host family and friends more. So I’ll study English hard and go back to Australia!!

Yamanashi
By Shun

I did a valuable experience in this summer. Some homestay campers from foreign countries came to Yamanashi. One of them stayed with me. All campers were in the second grade of high school, the same as me.

His name is Jonathan. He’s from New Zealand. His father is an owner of a farm. He keeps 4,000 sheep. We went to Mt. Fuji and we played with some junior high school students. We had a lof of good experience. We sometimes exchange emails. I want to visit his house in the winter.

Open Campus
By Miwa

On July 30, our school had an open campus.
Our club did a game for the junior high school students.
The aim was to learn how to say “hello” in many different languages (Chinese, Spanish, German, Russian, English, Japanese, etc.)
We also painted the national flags on our cheeks.
A lot of junior high school students came to the event.
We gave them candy and told them about the International Club.
I was glad that they enjoyed it!

Eric's Corner - Riverboat Cruise

2010-07-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ask any Japanese person what the best feature

of their country is and nine times out of ten they will tell you it's the changing seasons. While four distinct seasons are not unique to Japan (being from Seattle I've seen my fair share of hot summers and freezing winters), it really is striking just how pronounced the four seasons are in Japan and just how much the leisure activities of the Japanese are built around them. The Snow Festival in Hokkaido during winter, and cherry blossom viewing throughout the country during spring are two major examples, but each season also brings with it a handful of smaller activities and events, less well-known but no less unique to that season.

Which brings me to the Sumida Riverboat Cruise I took with my fellow teachers two weeks ago. As anyone with access to a thermometer can tell you summer is in full swing over here. Temperatures are hovering in the high eighties and low ninties and the humidity is right around 70%. Needless to say, any leisure activities are best kept inside where, thanks to modern technology, the room and the beer can be kept at roughtly the same temp. Or so I thought before I boarded the yakatabune (pleasure boat) docked at the edge of Sumida river, a large river running through Tokyo that functioned as the main transportation route for merchants and traiders moving their goods in and out of the city during the Edo period. At that time, the yakatabune was an entertainment reserved only for a privledged few. Today it can be enjoyed by anyone (~I mean, they let me on, right?).

The boat we boarded was scheduled to take us from the Asakusa area near the center of Tokyo, to Odaiba, an artificial island built for defense in the mid-19th century that now functions mainly as a shopping district with several department stores, restaurants, and even an amusement park.

When we boarded the boat we found delicious food and drinks waiting for us, including my favorite - Sushi! Some toasts were made, beer was poured, the boat pulled out and we were soon on our way. As we picked up speed, the summer heat was replaced by a cool breeze and pretty soon I couldn't imagine being cooped up inside on such a lovely night. The sun went down about half-way through the trip and we were treated to a beautiful view of Tokyo at night (my camera doesn't do it justice). Thanks to this small summer tradition I was able to spend time with good friends, eat delicious food, enjoy a unique view of Tokyo, and enjoy an aspect of Japanese entertainment dating back centuries. And it's only July! I wonder what the rest of the summer holds...

First emails to our friends in Australia

2010-07-07T16:58:00.001-07:00

Our club was very excited to start an email exchange with students from Central Coast Grammar School and Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School in Australia. We hope to exchange mails several times during the year and learn more about each other's culture, history, family, friends, and more. We'll be sure to post the replies when we get them.

Here's a picture of a first draft.

Final product after the jump!

Hello!
My name is Mayo Fukao.
I will be 16 years old in June.
I'd like to go to Australia.
Because I want to study abroad there!!
Why, you ask?
Because I want to be an interpreter someday!
What is your dream?

I'm studying English hard for my dream.
What dream are you working hard for?

I also like music and movies.
Do you like that?

I like pop. For example, Avril Lavigne, Jesse McCarthey, Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys...and so on.

I want to know about you!
Please tell me about you.

Bye!
Mayo

__________________________________________________

Hello!
My name is Mai Azegami.
I'm 17 years old.
What is your name?
I like to play sports and play music.
What do you like?

I live in Tokyo.
Tokyo has the Parliment building and Tokyo Tower.
Where do you live?

My favorite foods are sweets, sushi, and french fries.
What are your favorite foods?

I live to listen to music.
My favorite group is "OVERworld."
There are five members.
Their music is exciting!
What musicians do you like?

I'm in a band.
I play the drums and the keyboard.
Do you belong to a group?

See you again!
Mai

__________________________________________________

Hello!
I'm Sumiyo. I'm fifteen.
I like listening to music.
Do you know "My Chemical Romance" and "Pink"?
I think they are cool and good looking!
They aren't too popular in Japan.
Is this the same in Australia?
What Japanese singers do you know?
Please tell me :)

I like English.
For example, listening to English music, speaking English, and writing English, and so on.
So I'm glad to write this message!
It's like a dream come true! lol

I want to know about you.
Please tell me.
See you!

Sumiyo

____________________________________________

Nice to meet you.
My namd is Tatsuki Ueno. I'm a boy.
I'm 17 years old and I live in Tokyo.
My birthday is 25 September.
When is you birthday?

My favorite sport is soccer because it's so exciting and fun.
What sport do you like?

I like Hawaii because it is good for me to go sightseeing.
There is a beautiful ocean and it's so comfortable.
What place do you like?

I like Japanese sushi. It's very delicious.
What kind of food do you like?

I also like movies. For example, "Batman," "Top Gun," and "For a Few Dollars More."
What movies do you like?

So, I'm looking forward to seeing you.
See you later,

Tatsuki

__________________________________________

Hello!
Nice to meet you.
My name is Tsukasa Takahashi. Please call me Tsukasa.
I am a girl. I'm seventeen years old.
I live in Edogawa in Tokyo.

How old are you?

My hobbies are watching movies and listening to music.
I like fantasy movies but I don't like horror.
I like Justin Bieber.

My favorite sport is swimming.
Do you live near the ocean?

Japan has Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea.
I like there. My favorite character is Minnie Mouse.
Have you ever visited Disneyland?

See you,
Tsukasa

____________________________________________

Hi!
My name is Momo Ishiyama.
What's your name?

My favorite food is sushi.
What is your favorite food?

I want to be a children's doctor.
Because I want to help children.
What do you want to be?

I live in Tokyo.
Where do you live?

I like to read many books.
Do you like to read many books?

I like English, Mathematics, and Science. But I don't like Japanese.
Japanese is difficult for me.
Do you like Japanese?

Bye,
Momo

______________________________________________

Hello.

I'm Ryo. Age 17.
I like music.
I love The Beatles and I play guitar everyday.
But I don't practice enough.
How about you? What music do you like?

Where are you living now?
Please tell me about your country's culture.

What did you do last week?
Do you know Iaido? I do Iaido.

What do you want to do in the future?
Do you like sports?

What fashion is in Australia?

Please tell me your favorite movie.
I like Back to the Future.

Sincerely,
Ryo Sakaino

Sports Festival 2010!

2010-06-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Last week our school held its annual sports festival. Students in each class played many exciting games and had a lot of fun competing against other classes. Here are some of our experiences.

I took part in the 4x100 meter relay.
We practiced the 100-meter dash very hard.
We came in second at the sports festival.
I was happy and had a lot of fun!

Yumi Ishii (Class 1 - 4)

I played tug of war. Tug of war is very tiring!
My team won the first game but we lost the second game.
When we won the game we were happy.
When we lost the game we were sad.
But the tug of war was very good!

Momo Ishiyama (class 1-5)

I took part in the three leg race.
It was a lot of fun!
We came in third in the 400-meter three leg race.
It was a fun day!

Miho Hatayama

We had a very good time at the sports festival.
I joined the relay, three leg race, and the jump rope.
I will tell you about the jump rope.
There are 15 people on our team.
Two people spinning the rope and 13 people jumping.
Our record was bad (only about 20 jumps).
But we enjoyed this time!

Mayo Fukao

We played jump rope.
Miwa's class jumped 26 times and Mai's class jumped 24 times.
The best class jumped 64 times!
It was very exciting and we had fun.
But it was a very hot day so we got sunburned.
We were very tired, but we enjoyed it!

Miwa Watanabe (class 2-2), Mai Azegami (class 2-3)

Eric Sensei and Marubashi Sensei did the teacher search.
They and other teachers dressed in a costume and hid in the stands.
Students tried to find the teachers and run in a race with them.
It was very funny and the costumes were good!

The poll knock-down game is a game where two teams try to knock the other team's pole down. Boys run from one side of the field to the other and climb the other team's pole to try to make it fall. Its a lot of fun to watch but it looks dangerous!

Another popular game is the hat grab. Students sit on their classmate's shoulders and try to take the hat off the head of another team. Very exciting!

For more random pictures from the Sports Festival click this link.
As you can see, it is very fun. We are already looking forward to next year!