Typhoon Day

Last Friday a big typhoon was supposed to hit Kumamoto.  I first heard about it from the VP at my ES.  He told me several times that a big typhoon was on its way and would arrive on Friday.  I didn’t think much about it because all we usually get from typhoons are a lot of rain and wind.  Then Thursday night at eikaiwa, one of my ladies mentioned it again.  She said that it was a big one and would sweep right over Kumamoto.  When I went to work on Friday morning, the first thing my VP told me was that classes would be canceled after third period so that the kids could make it home before the typhoon hit.  YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!  Considering that I had classes in 4th-6th periods, that meant a free day for me!  Hurray!  Japanese schools NEVER cancel classes, and I could just tell that there was this collective feeling of relief from the teachers.  I saw them laughing, looking up silly things online, and napping on their desks—stuff that generally doesn’t happen. 

Then during second period the rain stopped and the sun started to peak through the clouds.  Everyone was confused considering there was a huge typhoon on the way.  All it took was one Internet search to determine the worst news I had gotten all week.  The typhoon had changed course.  The teachers had a brief meeting after third period in which the principal decided that classes would be UN-canceled and the day would continue as regularly scheduled.  But….but….BUT….you said!!!  The teachers went back to their I-hate-my-life mentality, and the students were so disheartened.  They NEVER, EVER, EVER get days off, and it was even a glorious Friday afternoon!  When I went to class during 4th period, there was this whatever-it-doesn’t-matter-sure-fine-whatever attitude from all of the students.  I wanted to tell them that I wanted to be there about as much as they did!  UGH!  Could you imagine a school in the States calling a snow day and then taking it back?  That.  Just.  Doesn’t.  Happen.

Last Wednesday-Friday were test days at my JHS.  This means that the students had tests 1st-3rd periods and then regular classes 4th-6th periods.  On Thursday afternoon, I had two classes.  After my warm-up games, my JTE basically told the class that the rest of the time was theirs and to study.  They could study whatever they wanted even if it wasn’t English. 

This led to an all out madness.  It was supposed to be a quiet study hall time, but it was sooooooooooooo far from that.  The kids were at best halfway studying, and my JTE didn’t really care what they were doing.  I can’t blame them.  I was a good girl in school, but if a teacher gave my class no further instruction other than “study something” I would have only been giving it a half-hearted attempt as well and instead taking the time to talk with friends or pass notes.  Both class periods were soooooooooooooooooooo boring, and I spent the entire classroom pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in the back of class. 

Ian, Melissa, and I are hiking up Mt. Fuji at the beginning of August.  Hurray!  As the time approaches, we’ve been researching more about what to expect and bring.  Most people who hike Fuji do it in order to watch the sunrise.  Ian pitched the idea last week of doing a night hike on Fuji.  At first I asked him if he was out of his freaking mind.  No, I didn’t want to do a night hike on a scary, dark mountain.  However, I started researching it, and I found out that it’s quite common to do that.  Our options are either:

1) make our way to Fuji after we land in Tokyo and start sometime in the afternoon, catch a few hours of sleep in one of the mountain huts, and wake up around 3 AM to finish hiking in order to catch the sunrise, or

b) take the last bus to Fuji from Tokyo and begin our hike around 10 PM, arriving at the peak around 3:30 AM, and then wait for sunrise at 4:30 AM. 

While I wasn’t crazy of the night hiking idea, it was a good relief to know that tons of people do it.  I read several different hiking blogs from people who actually did it, and there was only one person who said that it was brutal.  (…..but then in the comment section everyone was calling him a baby)  People said that since there’s not a lot of vegetation on Fuji, you can climb with the moonlight and a little flashlight.  Plus, I’ve heard that the trail isn’t terrible.  Another plus is that we wouldn’t have to pay for the mountain huts, which are quite expensive.  (It’s about $60/person to stay in a shack shared with numerous other people in a common room with minimal bedding.  Plus with people coming and going throughout the night, the question begs of how much sleep we’d actually get!)  Even if we stayed in the huts, we’d still have to do part of our hike in the dark, so why not the whole thing?

I’m sure that some of you are worry warts and wondering if this is such a good idea.  Believe me, I’ve done the research.  I was originally very skeptical about night hiking, but I think it’s going to be just fine.  No worries, y’all!