Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Ensoku
Last Thursday we had our annual school ensoku. Last year we hiked to a place relatively close to my school. Not the case this year. For some reason, someone had the bright idea to do a 16km round trip hike to a park in the next town over.
Now some of the lazier teachers were assigned car driving duties, since loads of stuff needed to be brought, and just in case any kids had any accidents or what not. Perhaps as a compliment, thinking that I'm not lazy, I was assigned walking duty with the kids.
It was largely fun walking and talking and hanging out. And traditionally, the ensoku day is the only day of the school year that the kids can bring snacks and what not to school. So doing snack exchanges was also fun. As was not getting to use my own sunglasses and walking stick that I brought, since the kids always took them from me to use themselves. Oh well.
But the fun and enjoyment soon gave way to legs hurting and sunburns. Summer-like heat has definitely come to Kumamoto, but I haven't gotten prepared yet, ie I don't have any sunscreen yet. So after going sunscreen-less for the duration of the 16km hike, with the strong sun beating down on me, I burned my face, arms and the back of my neck. If I could have taken a picture and posted it, I would have. But it's not pretty. And this morning I got an earfull from my mom for getting burned. I learned my lesson, it won't happen again.
Now some of the lazier teachers were assigned car driving duties, since loads of stuff needed to be brought, and just in case any kids had any accidents or what not. Perhaps as a compliment, thinking that I'm not lazy, I was assigned walking duty with the kids.
It was largely fun walking and talking and hanging out. And traditionally, the ensoku day is the only day of the school year that the kids can bring snacks and what not to school. So doing snack exchanges was also fun. As was not getting to use my own sunglasses and walking stick that I brought, since the kids always took them from me to use themselves. Oh well.
But the fun and enjoyment soon gave way to legs hurting and sunburns. Summer-like heat has definitely come to Kumamoto, but I haven't gotten prepared yet, ie I don't have any sunscreen yet. So after going sunscreen-less for the duration of the 16km hike, with the strong sun beating down on me, I burned my face, arms and the back of my neck. If I could have taken a picture and posted it, I would have. But it's not pretty. And this morning I got an earfull from my mom for getting burned. I learned my lesson, it won't happen again.
