Japan Diaries 4: Week 50

Week 50: October 10-14, 2022

Day 343: October 10, 2022

Monday – Sports Day / 10.8-10 Family Roadtrip D3

This is the final day of our three-day long weekend road adventure. Initially, we planned to go to Date City (伊達市) and the town of Sobetsu (壮瞥町) before returning home, but the weather report predicted heavy rain today. True, it was, so we had to make significant alterations to our plans for today.

The view from our room in APA Hotel Muroran
The view from our room in APA Hotel Muroran

Setsugetsuka
We went to Setsugetsuka which is the restaurant in the hotel

Breakfast time
Itadakemasu!

We checked out of APA Hotel Muroran at around 9:30AM and then we proceeded to visit the following places in Muroran City:



We passed through this tunnel at Route 235
We passed through this tunnel at Route 235

Katta Shrine
Katta Shrine

From there, we drove back on the same route to Muroran (室蘭市). We made a stopover at Noboribetsu (登別市) to visit Katta Shrine which we missed visiting yesterday due to time constraints.

It was a rainy day and we had to skip several destinations in our itinerary
It was a rainy day and we had to skip several destinations in our itinerary.

Lawson Tomakomai Utonai Shop
We made a brief stop at Lawson Tomakomai Utonai Shop

We then continued our drive until Chitose City (千歳市) where we made another stopover to visit the following places:



It's time to drive back home after visiting some destinations in Chitose City
It's time to drive back home after visiting some destinations in Chitose City.

It was still a 2-hour and 20-minute drive home from the roadside station. It is, of course, tiring for my wife as she isn’t used to driving long distances in rainy weather so we looked for a place to stop over on our way back home.

Hokuryu Roadside Station
Hokuryu Roadside Station

Inside the roadside station
Inside the roadside station.

We decided to have one last stopover at Hokuryu Roadside Station in the town of Hokuryu (北竜町) which was along the way. Aside from the toilet break, we also ordered dinner at Restaurant Windmill which is inside the roadside station. I tried their ramen specialty which is the Black Dragon Miso Ramen.

We ate at the Restaurant Windmill
We ate at the Restaurant Windmill

I tried the Black Dragon Miso Ramen
I tried the Black Dragon Miso Ramen

We got back home a little before 7PM. We didn’t stay up late though as we were all tired from the long drive. We just unloaded our stuff, freshened up, and then called it a day.

Overall, despite the bad weather and the radical change in our itinerary for today, we still managed to revisit 3 cities and 1 town. Aside from that, we also got home safely after a long drive which made this trip a success. See you on our next adventure!

Day 344: October 11, 2022

Tuesday – Mama’s birthday / Rumoi

Today is a very special day for the family as it is my mom’s birthday. Sadly, we won’t be able to celebrate it together this time. Regardless, she is always in our prayers.
Happy birthday Ma! We love you!

Rumoi High School 10.11.2022
Rumoi High School 10.11.2022

Regarding my job, it's a hectic day at Rumoi High School. I had a backlog of papers to create and finalize owing to my absence last week because of our COVID-19 isolation.

Here’s my workload for today:

4th period with Sato-sensei
4th period with Sato-sensei

1st period – Infinitives @ 1-36 of Motoyama-sensei
3rd period – Infinitives @ 1-45 of Motoyama-sensei
4th period – My Favorite Brand @ 2-3 of Sato-sensei
5th period – Infinitives @ 1-1 of Motoyama-sensei

After classes, I trained Mugi for her speech contest and then had a mock interview with Kouga for his entrance exams.

KitKat Pistachio
KitKat Pistachio

That evening my wife and I went grocery shopping at COOP. I bought the new KitKat Pistachio flavor for my collection. For this grocery shopping, we also managed to use our Paypay money and were shocked to see how fast and convenient it was.

Overall, today was a tiring yet fulfilling day. Hopefully next year, we could spend my parents’ birthdays here in Japan.


Day 345: October 12, 2022

Wednesday – Haboro

Time to visit Haboro High School once again. Today is my 9th visit for the school year 2022 – 2023. For this trip, I used my 2-day Moekko Free Ticket.

Haboro High School 10.12.2022
Haboro High School 10.12.2022

Here’s my workload today:

The bread seller came today. Of course, I didn't miss that chance to buy some of his delicious products
The bread seller came today. Of course, I didn't miss that chance to buy some of his delicious products

1st period – Interview Subjunctive Mood @ 2nd year of Watanabe-sensei
4th period – Essay Writing @ 1st year of Kawakami-sensei


Day 346: October 13, 2022

Thursday – Embetsu

It's a beautiful day today. This is how it looks like from where I usually walk to work.

Embetsu Agricultural High School 10.13.2022
Embetsu Agricultural High School 10.13.2022

Beautiful and chilly Thursday morning. For the 2022–2023 academic year, I'm attending Embetsu Agricultural High School for the 18th time today. I utilized my 2-day Moekko Free Ticket for my journey.

Here’s my workload today:

We had a Karuta game with one of Sasaki-sensei's class
We had a Karuta game with one of Sasaki-sensei's class

2nd period – SVOC @ 2nd year A of Sasaki-sensei
3rd period – SVOC @ 2nd year B of Sasaki-sensei
4th period – Biometrics @ 3rd year of Sasaki-sensei


Day 347: October 14, 2022

Friday – Tomamae

It’s another Friday. It’s the last day of the work week. Today, I’m visiting Tomamae Commercial High School. It’s my 19th visit for the school year 2022 – 2023. For this trip, I will be using my 1-day Moekko Free Ticket.

Tomamae Commercial High School 10.14.2022
Tomamae Commercial High School 10.14.2022

Here’s my workload for today:

2nd period – Listening Activity @Elective of Hasegawa-sensei

Overall, that wraps up my 50th workweek here in Hokkaido as an Assistant Language Teacher under the JET Programme. It's going to be another weekend. I'm looking forward to what it will bring. See you guys!

Read more:

Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 50
Japan Diaries 4: Day 343


Location: 4-chōme-16-15 Shukuzucho, Muroran, Hokkaido 051-0036, Japan

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