Japan Diaries 4: Week 56

Week 56: November 21 – 25, 2022

Day 385: November 21, 2022

Monday – Rumoi

It’s a rainy morning. I was shocked by the news that Jason David Frank died today. He is well-known for his role as Tommy Oliver or simply Green Ranger in the hit show Power Rangers. He would forever be remembered by the 90s kids like me. RIP Green Ranger.

Rumoi High School 11.21.22

As for my work, today, I’m heading back to Rumoi High School. It’s exam week today so I won’t have any collaboration work. So, I spent my day studying Japanese using the VLJ Course. I’m happy to share that I finally finished Unit 4 of the five units in the course.

Manga and bagoong! The perfect combination

I didn’t waste time starting with the 5th. When I got home after work, my wife served green mango and bagoong. This reminded me of the food that we usually have in the Philippines. 

Day 386: November 22, 2022

Tuesday – Rumoi

Rumoi High School 11.22.2022

It’s the second day of exams. I’m back reporting at Rumoi High School. Like yesterday, I didn’t have any collab works today so again, I spent the whole day studying Japanese.

English Chat Club at Asuka

After work, Noboru-san picked me up at home and then drove me to Asuka for our Rumoi English Chat Club session. Our topic for today was “December”. It was an interesting topic as Japanese culture proved to be very different from Filipino culture. The club members were all thinking about work this month while for me it’s all about festivities.

Romantei

浪漫亭

It's my first time to eat at Romantei

These are the food that we ordered in Romantei

When the club finished, Ozaki-san, Ikuko-san, Kiaya, and I went to dine at Romantei. I was surprised to discover that the owner of the restaurant was one of our members. The food was great but the bonding experience was greater. I hope we get to do this again someday.

Day 387: November 23, 2022

Wednesday – Labor Thanksgiving Day

It’s a very cold but surprisingly sunny day here in Rumoi City. It also happens to be Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日) which is a public holiday here in Japan.

Of course, we didn’t waste this opportunity to travel. For today’s road trip, we decided to drive around Rumoi City (留萌市).

These are the places that we visited:

JR Rumoi Station

JR Rumoi Station - Anniversary

Before leaving I got the Rumoi Station eki stamp

•  JR Rumoi Station – Anniversary Event

Rumoi City Library

• Rumoi City Library

Rumoi Golden Beach

We enjoyed the breeze and the smell of the sea while relaxing at Rumoi Golden Beach 

• Rumoi Golden Beach 

From there, we drove south to Mashike (増毛町) to try out the onsen at Iwao Hot Springs Attamaru. Heads up for those who plan to visit, the water here of the onsen is hotter than usual. You might or might not enjoy it.

Iwao Hot Springs Attamaru

It's onsen time!

At first, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see the sunset because it was cloudy...

We stayed in Iwao Hot Springs Attamaru until 4:06 to watch the beautiful sunset which was said to be the highlight of the onsen experience at Iwao Hot Springs Attamaru.

Thankfully, the sun showed itself allowing us to have a memorable sunset view

Time to head back home.

We passed through one of the tunnels along Route 231 back to Rumoi City

After enjoying the beautiful sunset, we drove back to Rumoi City. Before going back home, I decided to celebrate Labor Thanksgiving Day and my employment here in Rumoi City as an ALT by having a special dinner.

Special Dinner Celebration at Midou

These are the foods that we ordered in Midou

We went to Midou and tried out the 9-course meal that they offer. I already had this during my birthday last year but I wanted my wife and daughter to experience it as well.

Itadakimasu!

To sum up our experience, we all enjoyed the feast.

When we got back home, we were too full to do anything else so we called it a day. That wraps up my 387th day here in Japan as an ALT under the JET Programme. See you at work tomorrow!

Day 388: November 24, 2022

Thursday – Embetsu

Embetsu Agricultural High School 11.24.22

It’s a cold cloudy morning. Today, I’m heading to Embetsu Agricultural High School. It’s my 22nd visit for the school year 2022 – 2023. For this trip, I used my 2-day Moekko Free Ticket.

This is my workload today:

3rd period – Subjunctive Past @ 3rd year of Sasaki-sensei

Embetsu bus stop

Today wasn't a tiring day as I only had one class but I decided to stay until 4 PM to finish something. I was surprised that it was quite dark already when I got to the Embetsu bus stop. Well, that only means one thing... winter is coming ❄❅⛄. 

Day 389: November 25, 2022

Friday – Tomamae

It’s a rainy morning. I was supposed to go to Embetsu again today to watch the teaching demo of Sasaki-sensei for the Hokkaido Board of Education. Sadly, it won’t push through as the class that she was about to use for the demo had a high rate of COVID cases, and was asked to stay home for a week. That’s why I’m heading back to Tomamae Commercial High School as originally scheduled.

Tomamae Commercial High School 12.25.22

Today’s visit to Tomamae Commercial High School is my 24th for the school year 2022 - 2023. For this trip, I used my 2-day Moekko Free Ticket.

Here’s my workload today:

2nd period – Listening Comprehension Test @ 1st year and Elective of Hasegawa-sensei

3rd period – Listening Comprehension Test @ 2nd year and 3rd year of Hasegawa-sensei

Overall, it's another successful and productive workweek. The Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日) also gave us a mid-week rest. Something that we used to explore new places.  With that, I'm looking forward to what this weekend will bring. 

Read more:

Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 56

Japan Diaries 4: Day 387

Moekko Free Ticket

Rumoi City Library

Rumoi Golden Beach

Iwao Hot Springs Attamaru

10 Things to Do in Rumoi City

10 More Things to Do in Rumoi City

10 Things to Do in Mashike

Japan Diaries 4: Summary

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