Our visit to Otemon Gakuin

Today, we had a welcome assembly at the very large gym. We got gifts from our host sisters and brothers.  Then, Mrs. Chung and Principal had a speech and exchanged gifts. Then, we had performances and the Otemon students performed a taiko show for us.  It was amazing! After, we sang Do Na No Bis Pa Chem for the Otemon teachers and students. 

When the assembly was done, we learned kendo.  It was cool and interesting.  It was different from other things that use a sword. In kendo, we learned how to sit and stand, and how to hit an opponent.  We didn't use a real katana, but instead a wooden bamboo stick. 

Next, we visited our host sister or brother's class.  It was a lot of fun! We watched them perform a Momotaro puppet show.  In other classes, they did other things like play fruit basket, kendama, and tops.  Some Otemon students even showed us card magic tricks!  We ate lunch in the classroom and had carrot soup, spinach, Spanish omelette, bread, and milk. 

After our delicious meal, we went out to recess.  They had a giant slide, playground, and field.  We got to climb on the playground and slide.  Some students played soccer and ride a unicycle!

When recess was over, we went to calligraphy class.  We learned that you exercise using the sword and pen.  We learned how to write friend in Japanese.  It was cool, but very hard to hold the paint brush straight with our arm up. We got to paint friend on a fan to take home with us. 

We will never forget this day! It was amazing, interesting, cool, and fun! We can't wait to start our homestay tomorrow!


-Emma and Ceci