As I've gotten busy, I keep thinking of ideas to post and then never get around to writing them so here's a brief update on my life in May.
MEYSEN: Life is pretty much floating one week into the next. The kids are getting into the groove of everything. I've actually been observed by people from all over the place in the past few weeks. As some of you know, MeySen is the pioneer school for GrapeSeed, which is now in hundreds of locations around the world. Schools that want to use GrapeSeed come to MeySen to check it out. In the past two weeks, I've taught in front of people from L.A., China, Myanmar, South Korea, and other parts of Japan. I like to think of it as a privilege to teach in front of all these people. It shows that my bosses think of my class as an example. My students love it too, they feel like celebrities.
I also got the chance to go with the K4 (4 year old) kids to the Yagiyama Zoo for a field trip. I take any chance I can get to work with those kids. They are amazing! Most of them come into K4 with little to no English ability and within weeks they are holding conversations. We went around to all the exhibits... and reached the Hippopotamus. Picture a bunch of 4 year olds with their faces right up against the glass and boom! The hippo starts to let nature flow right out of his rear end. I couldn't tell who laughed harder, the students or the teachers.
This weekend starts our busy time at school. We have
Friends Day , the craziest open house you will ever see. After that we visit our cabin and then start summer camps through July.
WEDDING in the Philippines:
One of my friends who I grew up with was getting married in the Philippines in May and I knew I just had to go if I could. We had always talked about going to the Philippines together as kids but it never worked out. At the end of April, I found out I could go and set it all up.
It turned out to be about 3 airports and 3 planes each way with only about 2 days to enjoy the Philippines. Last summer I spent a week there and ended up being sick so it really hampered my experience. The islands themselves are beautiful and the people are very friendly (but be careful in the city).
Saturday was the wedding. The church was one of those places you picture in movies. There was this 400 year old Spanish church in the middle of Boljoon set against the ocean. Birds were flying through the beautifully crafted building as they said their "I dos." The only draw back is that it was hot as the surface of the sun. I think my friend's brother almost passed out during the 2 hour ceremony.
The wedding itself was pretty normal compared to what I've seen in America, the only difference is that we all wore these traditional Filipino shirts made out of Pineapple. Also, there were "primary and secondary sponsors." I never quite figured out why you needed them but there were about 20 people on each side of the aisle as sponsors.
After the wedding, they take pictures with literally everyone and then head across the street to the reception. By the time we got there, I was starved and blazing hot. We sat around for a while and all of a sudden we had to process in. I'm thinking "Yes I can finally have food." After the procession it got a little different. The bride and groom went around to every single table and took pictures with them.
Woohoo Food...wait they have to cut the cake and smash it in each others face first. Woohoo food!...wait in comes the wine parade. Woohoo food...wait start the speeches (thank you Bert for keeping in short). Woohoo food... wait lets play a 10 minute version of the Celine Dion singing "The Prayer." Woohoo food...ladies first!
The food was great and it wouldn't be a Filipino celebration without roasting a whole pig. I counted 3 little piggies that never made it back home but they were delicious.
After dinner there were a few other things that were different from my normal wedding experiences. They had a dollar dance which you actually pin the dollar to the brides dress. Also, they had fire dancers, and a Latin dancing couple. Then they lit lanterns to send into the night sky. At the end of the reception the bride and groom had to open their gifts in front of everyone. It was pretty interesting. I'm just glad I'm not the 4th person to get them a blender haha.
I had all day Sunday to hang out in Boljoon but it was super hot. Much like vampires, most people there hide in the shadows until night time. I did end up playing what was the hottest basketball game of my life. I was drenched in sweat after about 2 minutes. I played embarrassingly bad.
The next day I spent from 4:30 AM to 12 PM getting back to Sendai. It was exhausting but I'm happy to announce no major FLIGHT DELAYS for the second trip in a row.
The Maruyama Friend's Day went off without a hitch...except for the rain. It poured in the morning and right after my class got out. My class went well. I even broke out a little "Mr. Zietlow's Famous Game Show" that I used during my student teaching at Ravenna. All in all it was a great day.
Last weekend, we got some much needed relaxation at our cabin in Shiogama. Shiogama is an area about 30 minutes away that was hit really hard by the tsunami. On the way to the cabin, you can see a lot of progress since the earthquake. Lots of new or remodeled buildings and not nearly as much debris as last year. There is also a lot of empty lots right by our cabin. Our cabin was spared because its on the top of a hill. As you drive past the area below the hill, everything is leveled. Apparently, there used to be stores and really nice houses right by our cabin. The weather was beautiful all weekend and the food was awesome. We had enough steak for about 40 people but had about 20. Sadly, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I think I'm slowly developing a Japanese appetite out here.
The Maruyama Friend's Day went off without a hitch...except for the rain. It poured in the morning and right after my class got out. My class went well. I even broke out a little "Mr. Zietlow's Famous Game Show" that I used during my student teaching at Ravenna. All in all it was a great day.
Last weekend, we got some much needed relaxation at our cabin in Shiogama. Shiogama is an area about 30 minutes away that was hit really hard by the tsunami. On the way to the cabin, you can see a lot of progress since the earthquake. Lots of new or remodeled buildings and not nearly as much debris as last year. There is also a lot of empty lots right by our cabin. Our cabin was spared because its on the top of a hill. As you drive past the area below the hill, everything is leveled. Apparently, there used to be stores and really nice houses right by our cabin. The weather was beautiful all weekend and the food was awesome. We had enough steak for about 40 people but had about 20. Sadly, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I think I'm slowly developing a Japanese appetite out here. 
