Towards the end of my last day, the presents from students started to flood in. These were songs on the recorder (renditions of the Carpenters, Once Yesterday), and bags of origami of all shapes and sizes.
There were also the secret letters and fancy paper presents and one present in particular stands out as my all-time favourite.. A freshly picked 4 leaf clover with Japanese explanation in romaji "Yottsu ban no Clober desu". Having spent some time introducing Shammy-chan, my green shamrock teddy I earned on my Paddy Whackery in Hirosaki weekend back around March 17th. Having spent some time drawing shamrocks, waving pictures of shamrocks around frantically and donning the green rugby jersey, the symbols of Ireland finally seemed to make a connection. I loved this particular present for 2 reasons, not only will i have eternal good luck from here on in but I also felt it was a "My work here is done!" type of occasion. These little 9 year olds will no doubt forever associate Meibu- Sensei with all the little clovers that are printed randomly on items all over Japan.

Furthermore, as the first ALT to descend upon Yamanote Minami, I am added to the school gallery! Not to be forgotten as I take off into the sunset back to my green land of tunes and shamrocks. Yosh and so a busy month at elementary school draws to an end. Yoroshiku!


Other schools visited...
1. Higashiyama shougakkou (Heading south on the green line, at Minami hiragishi)
2.Naebo Shougakkou
3. Seien Shougakkou ( Walking distance from our B.O.E offices at Miyanosawa, West Sapporo)

Highlights of May

1. Golden Week Trip- Tokyo round
2. Yamanote Minami Junior High School for Children with Special Needs
3. Elementary school visits
4. Toya-Ko 10km Marathon

Tokyo- A very Golden Week

Sensoji Temple 7am Asakusa- A sleepy Maevo

with Rachel, we stayed in the Khaosan hostel Asakusa. www.hostelworld.com http://www.libertyhouse.gr.jp/

and Lisa and Jake too. There were many adventures including Karaoke, Mexicans, new Irish friends, new Japanes friends, Rappongi Hills, Shibuya, A day trip to Kamakura, punks in Harajuku and hanging out in Yoyogi Koen. We took in alot but can still do more. Looking foward to the next trip down for the recontracting conference in June! Keeping my ticket stubs for that junket, Thanks B.O.E.

A manic month of May..

April 28th came and I kicked off Golden Week with a night of Guinness stew and Irish Kohis at Casa De Maeve. This night was especially designed to entertain and satisfy the curiousity of 4 of my friendly teachers from back at base. This very Irish occasion also served to mark the beginning of my 2 month break from my base school (Koryo Chuugakkou) , or the end of my first 6 months of foreign service there. May looked promising with an exciting schedule sending me to a Junior High School for Special Needs for 1 week followed by a mix of 2 day whirlwind visits to 5 different elementary schools. Yappari, May rocked!

Living up to expectation, May was filled with tiny kids, big kids, nervous adults, crazy kids, adorable kids, shockable kids, Autograph signing, maps, songs, tinwhistles, Irish dancing, balloons, Joko Shokais, sakura, hanami, trips to JTB, more travel plans, a new lonely planet, monster drawings, Japan's release of Harry Potter 6, Shamrocks, useful Japanese, Yoroshiku, Yoroshiku and Yoroshiku again, meishi (business cards), a spanking new well earned t-shirt sporting Toya- ko marathon in big print, a new tent, a sleeping bag, trousers that fit me, commuting, a cold, asking for directions, drinks at Brian Brew, German revival, a ferris wheel and much more besides...

Korekara I plan on logging it from here reaching the decision to put some form of structure on this myriad of experiences that is JET so far... here goes..