Three interns and myself flew to Hokkaido this week to teach at a welcoming school called Toshin Eisei Yobiko Asahikawa Ekimaekou. My week wasn’t just the best experience of English Camp 2017 so far—it was probably one of the best experiences of my entire life. 

On the first day, we were met at the airport by three Japanese staff, taken out to dinner (which was completely paid for by the school!), and shown around the venue.

When we walked into the venue, we were shocked by the clumps of balloons and leis decorating the walls. Welcome to English Camp at Asahikawa! was written in bubble letters on the white board. 

Over the course of the teaching week, students were happy and engaged. We made hats out of paper, played telephone charades, and genuinely became good friends with each other. The Japanese staff also bought everyone Hokkaido Fighters baseball jerseys. 

We even played heavy metal music to make students speak louder during their speeches. Best part: a Japanese staff member brought the heavy metal CD.

The day we had our flight back to Tokyo, the Japanese staff took us around Asahikawa.

(http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6826.html)

These are some of the places we went to, but we also went sake tasting in the morning and got dinner before our flight back to Tokyo (which were also all covered by the staff!) The Japanese staff cried when they dropped us off at the airport. I did too.

Flower Land in KamiFurano

So pretty!

Aoiike (Blue Pond)

I also had an amazing homestay this week. My host dad loved to make soba from scratch, so he made me some for dinner one night. Watching him make it, cut it, and cook it was such a unique experience. They also took me to karaoke, a fireworks festival, kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi), onsen, and a fancy restaurant. The grandpa lived across the street, and he often came by and took pictures of my host sister and I. He had a really nice camera because his hobby was photography. He attempted to teach the camera to me one evening via Google translate by using speak to text which was hilarious.

He made the soba so fast too! Probably took him 40 minutes.

I can't wait to come back next year and see my friends again!

Paige

Hello!

My name is Natasha and I have a major confession: I have a sweet tooth. No, not just a simple, little sweet tooth. I like to think of it as a monster sugar craving. 

You’re probably thinking: what does this have to do with Japan?

During my travels here, I’ve seen wonderful places and participated in incredible events. However, none of these activities address my problem of needing sugar 24/7. Luckily, a konbini is never too far away and I can quickly purchase an ice cream bar. I definitely recommend a Meiji orange cream bar that tastes like a creamsicle dipped in white chocolate, or a monaka that’s basically a waffle ice cream sandwich. However, none of these delicious treats could satisfy my sugar monster for very long.

In addition to loving sugar, I absolutely adore anything matcha flavored. It could be matcha soap and I’d probably try to eat it. So, when I read about a place in Tokyo with the self-proclaimed, “strongest matcha flavored gelato in the world,” I had to eat it for myself. 

The shop is located in Asakusa, only a few minutes’ walk from Senso-ji temple. It’s called Suzukien Asakusa and you may have seen videos of it on various forms of social media. Suzukien has six more matcha flavors as well, with each gradually increasing in intensity until reaching the premium “strongest matcha flavor.” Besides matcha, the shop has other tea themed flavors, like black sesame seed, roasted black tea, and azuki bean.

The shop is so popular, that the line used to snake down the sidewalk. Now, there is a waiting room a five-minute walk away, because the community members didn’t like the aesthetic of eager Instagrammers blocking the neighborhood. I don’t blame them. 

When I arrived at the waiting room, the kind worker took my name. It was a great opportunity to awkwardly stumble through the few phrases of Japanese that I know! I was lucky enough to only wait for 20 minutes, whereas people on the internet have reported waiting up to an hour and a half on really busy days. Once the worker called my name, I received a laminated pass and walked to the shop. This pass is really important because the shop will not serve you gelato until you hand it to the cashier. The only way to get the pass is by going to the waiting room.

Finally, I reached the front of the line. I decided to get one scoop each of black sesame seed and premium no. 7 matcha (a.k.a. the strongest possible), as seen in the photo below.

I can’t say it’s the most intense in the world, as I need to have more matcha ice cream before coming to that conclusion. However, the gelato was indeed the richest matcha flavor I have tasted thus far. It had a very earthy flavor, even more so than a mouthful of grass and dirt. Yet, the subtle, nutty taste of the black sesame balanced out the bitter bite of matcha. I was in ice cream heaven!

While the gelato was a little expensive for an every day excursion, I think Suzukien is a great place to satiate one’s sweet tooth. If you love matcha or being adventurous with food, then I recommend you give it a try too!

Safe travels,

Natasha

Hi everyone! I'm Shehan. I wanted to share my experience with the program in the first week.

It was tough! I've been commuting from Katakuracho to Shinjuku for the past week, which ends up being a 90 minute commute one way. Additionally, I'm pretty sure that my group was one of the weaker English speakers in the program. It was very difficult to get them to talk, and they were more likely to open up a pocket dictionary rather than ask us their question - and I can't imagine how tough this trial-by-fire is.

But I learned a lot. I learned about perspective, and to be creative in moving the group along, in communicating my words with simpler words, and occasionally with pictures. I've tried to explain to students the meaning of "passion" as "burning the midnight oil and trying very hard to get the future you want". I think my students in particular gained confidence and became friends with one another, even though I didn't feel as close as did others by the closing ceremony. However, I wrote them good letters and they gave me an awesome letter in return!

I wanted to talk about one student in particular and his life mission speech. Working with him was a challenge. He didn't have any particular passions. After nearly forty minutes of back and forth in English, I realized that he didn't particularly enjoy any subject. He most valued money, being "the boss", and living a comfortable life. At one point, Yuuki-san jumped in to guide his thinking, and they spoke in Japanese for a while (while I tended to other students). I jumped back into the conversation to feel out a few subjects - namely starting up a business, or being a consultant. 

The gears really started turning when we revisited his "Issues Around Us" speech, where he wrote on the pervasive NEET/hikikomori issue in Japan, where adolescents/adults are social shut-ins that have forgone further education or employment. I suggested making a presentation that seeks to remedy the NEET problem. This is where I stopped, and he began. His presentation was on making a hypothetical company to reach out to Japanese hikikomori and induct them into the workforce. I thought it was awesome because it addressed a very real Japanese problem and presented a potential solution. He only started writing a speech after the 11:30 mark, so I was really impressed to see that he had accomplished a unique and thoughtful presentation, despite his limited English. 

I was afraid that my student would have nothing to say, but I was proven wrong. Yuuki-san can attest to him being a tough case, but I think that experience really showed me that these students can still be very intelligent and aware of the world, even if their English skills may not reflect that. I heard many cool presentations about visiting the world or studying chemistry (I'm a chem major!), but my experience with him was on a different level. I am a lot more confident in my ability to tease out ideas from students and help them develop a passion. Whether or not my student actually makes his startup is a different question altogether, but he pulled through to make a presentation despite his weaker English and time crunch.

That was a lot, but I wanted to share this experience with someone! Yuuki-san is awesome and really helped me out. Thanks for hearing me out. Looking forward to the next few weeks!

Cheers,

Shehan