Kyoto and NaraMeredith and I used the national holiday in Japan, named Vernal Equinox Day, to make a long weekend and visit Kyoto and Nara. It's pretty far from Aizu but a nice break from the usual places. It's a completely different aspect of Japanese culture to where we live and is quite popular among foreign tourists due to the large number of temples and other attractions.

I was pleased to go back to Kyoto after visiting last year with Simon, Mary and John, but I was especially happy to see Nara. It is a very relaxed city with a large park and many temples. Deer wander around the park freely as they are believed to be messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion.

The most impressive sight there is Todai-ji - a temple which is reputedly the largest wooden building in the world. It houses a great bronze Buddha statue.

By Sunday we were quite tired and drained of cash after riding the shinkansen followed by the local train back to Aizu for about 6 hours, but it was nice to get away somewhere different.

Snowboarding!

Although this season has been slightly spoiled by my broken wrist, I have really enjoyed the times that I have managed to get out boarding. I feel like I've made a lot of progress and have really enjoyed the sociable aspect of it.
Breaking from their usual mountain (Bandai) we had a group of visitors from around the prefecture for a glorious weekend of Minamiaizu snowboarding. It got quite warm beforehand so although the weather was great the snow wasn't perfect, but it was altogether a lot of fun. The sun was so bright that we all ended up with sunburn and white goggle marks around our eyes! I'll miss snowboarding for a while, but am looking forward to going hiking once the snow melts.

Graduation!

Spring is the end of the school year here and schools across Japan have been having their graduation ceremonies. These are very impressive events with nothing to equal them in the UK. They are also extremely emotional days - for students, their parents and for the teachers, who often become more like surrogate parents. I was very sad since this year group were great. I've got to know them really well since I arrived and they've been very kind to me and fun to teach.

There is a lot of pomp and circumstance (including the actual piece of music by Elgar) which can all feel a bit over the top. But I think it is good that students have a proper send off to mark the end of this stage of their lives. I felt a bit pathetic being so sad, but for me it marks the beginning of the end, giving me a taste of the goodbyes that are to come in the next few months.

I noticed that the particularly good teachers were conveying a strong message to the students that they should concentrate on the future and not dwell on the past. In a town where students are reluctant to leave or aim high I think that this kind of reasoning is important. I find that parents are often overly sentimental about their children growing up and seem to want them to stay forever as elementary school students. Also the idea of aiming for the best high schools is often too ambitious for students, and it seems that many capable ones settle for the closer to home option. I was sad to say goodbye for personal reasons, but as their teacher I must admit I have a lot of respect for the kids who are anxious to move on to the next stage.

This is the gym set up for graduation. Next to the Japanese flag is the Shimogo town symbol.