It has been an amazing experience in Osaka so far. The weather has been HOT and HUMID every day- UNTIL the autumn equinox! We had buckets of rain all day and my first experience of a temperature under 30C!
The school has been amazing and SO welcoming to me and Tenzin! They’ve invited us to join Tea Ceremony Club, and Global Centers where we visit or help the students for 15 minute intervals after school, one day per week, and we even received an invite out to dinner!
They have been so great making our schedule with us, asking our opinions and catering to the demands of our University courses. Observing and helping in the classes has been a lot of fun, and I didn’t even mind introducing myself using the same slide in 4 different classes!! Haha
I’m loving exploring the area and really enjoying getting my feet under me at school. It is quite different from back home because all the English classes are EAL so the material is not what I’m used to..however that being said, I have wrapped my mind around it and the department head is amazing so feeling confident that I can fit in here for the next few weeks!
I’m so glad I was learning Japanese with Duolingo, but I wish I knew more! My goal is to improve my understanding and language skills by next blog post, I found some great podcasts on Spotify and can listen to them on my commute…wish me luck!
Last week we had the fantastic experience of being dressed by a licensed kimono dresser, and got to sneak around the school for a bit of a photo shoot. I think that I can safely say we both LOVED that experience and have felt honoured by many of the ways the staff have treated and welcomed us.
I also taught my first lesson and it felt really good! The students were pretty engaged and it was a lot of fun. We have a few more lessons planned before our time is over- which already feels like it is coming too soon!! Ahh!!
I am absolutely loving the food and hunted down a Rikuro’s for their famous cheesecake this weekend. It did NOT disappoint! I am really looking forward to the next couple weeks and to continue exploring (and eating my way through) this amazing place!
