Time for school!

Yesterday we got up bright and early to leave Tokyo and head for our sister school. Komabayashi Elementary School is in Kanagawa, Yokohama Prefecture. With early morning traffic, it took about 1 hour on the bus to get to our new hotel to drop off bags, then about another 20 minutes to get to the school.


We met a few of the teachers and a group of parent helpers, who all spoke very good English,  who were going to help our kids settle in.


The kids were whisked away to the classroom and we were given a short tour of the school. 

We were then taken to the welcome assembly where the kids were paraded in to a rousing rendition of 'It's a small world'.

Two of our students said a few words and one of the Japanese kids did too. Donna, our Assistant Principal then showed some photos of our school, which got the Japanese kids very excited.

Everyone then stood for the school song, which the Japanese children sang with such beautiful harmony.

Assembly over, our kids were taken back to the classroom and were then free for the afternoon.

A group of us decided to visit the Yokohama Chinatown, one of the biggest in the world. We had a walking lunch of pork buns, soup dumplings and Peking duck pancakes. Delicious!


By this time the kids were about to head home from school,  so we went back to the hotel to meet them. They had had a wonderful day and were excited to share their news.

No rest for the wicked, a group of us decided to visit the Noodle Cup Museum. This was the only chance for the kids to explore the local area, so we jumped on the train and headed into the main part of town.




Most of the museum was in Japanese, but the main attraction was making your own noodle cup. We got to decorate the cup and then choose your own flavorings to have inside. Ella chose a fish broth with crab, beans and chicken (!) And I chose spicy tomato broth with corn, pork and spring onion. We can't wait to try them!





After a quick look around the port, we caught the train back to the hotel and had dinner at a local restaurant.

This morning the kids were up early to leave for school at 8am. Tonight is their home stay with one of the Japanese students and their family, so we have the day and night free.



After a busy few days, I decided to be completely selfish and do my own thing, not needing to do anything in particular at any time.

I started with a leisurely breakfast and then decided to wander the local area. It was a glorious day, so nice to just do my own thing. I started with a look in 3 big supermarkets, fascinated by the different types of food, wine and sake. So many pre-packaged and convenience foods. They are all really good quality, but so much plastic waste. Japan is certainly not environmentally friendly!






I then went for along walk down to the canal, along the water and around the local streets. I came across some shrines, temples and lovely gardens. It was nice to have some sun and fresh air. This part if the city was much more suburban without so many high rise buildings.



I bought some beautiful fresh sushi for lunch and sat in a garden to eat. Perfect!


In the end, my long walk ended up being 14km, so I stopped at the shops to stock up on some snacks and drinks to help me recover.

After a refreshing sparkling yuzo and some seaweed snacks, I'm ready for a kid free night out with the other parents. Woo hoo!



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