母国からの訪問者ーーーエマ先生

This past Golden Week, one of my best friends from America came to visit me in Tokyo. It was so much fun to have her here and show her around Tokyo. I know many people use Golden Week an opportunity to get out of the city, but there’s still a lot of fun things to do in Tokyo during this time, especially with a best friend at your side! We visited some of the most famous tourist sites, like Asakusa, the Shibuya Scramble, and Harajuku. We went to a Wisteria Festival at the Kameido Tenjin Shrine. We also took a day trip to Enoshima Island and Kamakura. We visited the Kamakura Daibutsu, which was amazing. And of course, we ate a lot of Japanese food! My friend wanted to try everything while she was here, so we ate sushi, ramen, tonkatsu, yaki-tori, takoyaki, soup curry, and lots of green tea ice cream. It was a fantastic Golden Week!

日本の文化体験ーーーマーレン先生

Tokyo is a huge city with a lot of opportunities to experience Japanese culture. During the past ten months, I have had a lot of opportunity to try various Japanese arts both here at Fujimura and in the city. One of my favorite experiences has been joining the Ikebana Club. The art of flower arranging is so interesting! I am constantly impressed by how talented the students are with the flowers. Taking a bunch of beautiful flowers and placing them on a kenzan to highlight their natural beauty is very satisfying.

 

I have also been practicing traditional Ohara Bushi dance. Me and some other JETs have been practicing every weekend and will be performing this Sunday in Shibuya. It is super exciting! We learned three full length routines and then made our own Ohara dance that was inspired by American culture. We will be the first international team to ever compete in the festival. I cannot wait! I love Japanese culture and have really enjoyed experiencing more of it.