Beautiful Afternoon

I have a day off today and I am currently sitting in Nagoya underneath the TV tower where I am able to get free internet access on my laptop. It's a warm fall day and there is piano music playing overhead and the sound of water fountains in the background with the smell of delicious food in the air. I came to Nagoya today to look into getting internet hooked up in my apartment but the guy that speaks english wasn't in today so I might have to come back in the next few days to do that. Not much new to report.

Currently I'm teaching a halloween curriculum to the students, which is basically games centered around halloween vocabulary ie. black cat, broom stick, witch, bat......etc. Next week I pretty much have off except for the big meetings that I have to attend. It's a gathering of about 60 teachers and I will be part of a group, me and two other guys, and we will make a presentation about teaching the way children learn. That meeting will be on the 1st and 2nd of November. I can't believe it's November already, time is really flying here.

Taiko Drumming

The other day I took part in a Taiko Drumming event with the Okazaki International Community Centre. I boarded a bus with some other international students and we took off to the middle of nowhere, or at least that's what it seemed like, and we watched and learnt how to do Taiko drumming. Taiko drumming used to be used in warfare to motivate the troops with a steady beat or it was used to summon an ally to battle or it was used to act as a call on when to advance on an enemy. It was a lot of fun to do and I wasn't that bad! The instructors were really nice and it was a great afternoon.

Okazaki

So I haven't posted anything for ages because the computer that I was using at City Hall wouldn't let me post anything or send out emails. Today I found the Okazaki International Community Centre and it's great. It's close by and it has internet and english books that i can borrow. So far things in Okazaki are great. I'm in a great part of the city. Close to the train station and close to a lot of cool shops. I'm also close to the castle. I visited Okazaki Castle yesterday, the birthplace of one of the Japanese shoguns, and it was beautiful. I can't wait to visit again when the leaves have changed. It's still warm here and feels like pleasant summer weather. Shorts and t-shirts are a must on some days. Teaching is going well too. Some students are really sweet and some are not so sweet. Kids are kids wherever you go in the world. Next week I will be coming back here to meet up with a group of other international people and go to a Taiko drumming event. So I'll fill you in on that later.