1. This odd contraption was smoking away in a rice field right near my school. I showed the photo to one of the teachers and he explained that they are burning rice hulls to make a fertilizer for the field. 
2. During cleaning time I wandered around the school and snapped some shots. You can tell these kids are 2nd graders (that's 8th graders to you and me) by their green name plates. Don't they look smart in their uniforms?
3. This is the shoe changing area. There are six rows of cubby holes - one for 1st grade boys, one for 1st grade girls, one for 2nd grade boys... you get the idea. One day I realized that all the 3rd graders were out, only because I noticed all their inside shoes were in the cubbies. Turns out they were visiting high schools.
4. These are some of the girls in the English Club. I don't know them by their names, instead as their roles in the play - so the second from the left is the Prince, the third is the evil queen in disguise, and the fourth is Doc the Dwarf.
5. The famous staff room where I spend a lot of time! This conglomeration of desks is for the 2nd grade teachers. The guy with the yellow collar is an English teacher and very funny!
6. A persimmon tree! The one I see everyday as I walk to school!
7. As I walk to school every morning, I see tons of elementary school students walking to their school. Because the bus drops me off so early, I walk slowly and greet the students with a cheery "good morning". The problem is that ocassionally I see them in the afternoon too, and they're still saying "good morning" to me. The elementary schools also have a uniform, but they're not strict about it. In this photo, only the girl on the left is wearing the uniform.
8. The shrine near my school. I did a little research on Japanese shrines and temples, and now know these little bits of trivia - the backwards swastika indicate that it's a Buddhist shrine (or maybe temple...). And the statue is of Jizo, a Bodhisattva beloved by Japanese. He's a guardian of dead children and infants and people often put cloth bibs on his statues.
9, 10 and 11. Last night I went out for dinner with the 1st grade teachers. We went to a sushi place. Luckily I was sitting by the guys who ate plenty so it wasn't noticed that I barely ate! A few of the delicacies - that orange stuff (bottom left corner of the first photo) is raw sea urchin. And it was insisted that I try it. It just tasted slimy. Also on that plate were raw octopus, raw salmon with salmon eggs (the teacher next to me told me those are his 3 year old son's favorite!), raw shrimp, and some seaweed. In the right photo are whole deep fried octopus -carefully positioned by one of the teachers for my photo. They were pretty little, about the size of a chicken breast. I didn't try those!
12. The 1st grade teachers at dinner. We went for karaoke afterwards, but I didn't take any photos then. I should have - it was entertaining!!
12. The 1st grade teachers at dinner. We went for karaoke afterwards, but I didn't take any photos then. I should have - it was entertaining!!
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