Last Sunday my friend Charles (who I met through Rocky) invited me to a racing event called Gymkhana. Gymhana is similar to an autocross event in the states. He warned me that it was a long drive and an all day event. I told him I didn't mind (I didn't want to sit home alone all day on Valentine's day) plus it sounded similar to drag races at Irwindale speedway which I always enjoy going to. Charles told me to pack snacks, water and bring sunscreen. I filled up my backpack, Charles picked me up and we headed up north to Nago. Charles picked up another friend on the way and we hit some bad traffic, two hours later we arrived to the race track.
It wasn't exactly a race track but a huge empty lot. The drifting event was still going on when we arrived so I got some cool videos!
The weather was cold and it drizzled for a while. Luckily, Charles brought towels which I covered up with. I didn't know what to expect from the races and didn't realize until I got there that Charles was racing his car. I basically sat and watched all the events for five hours. I had my Ipod and I was staying warm so I was content.
There were about 20 cars racing in the event Charles was in.
Here is Charles in his Subaru.
Each car had a number assigned to it. The cars went on the track in numerical order, when one car was half way around the track, the next car would start. The point was to see which car could get around the entire track in the shortest time. They had about 4 hours to take turns going around the same track. Whoever had the best time, at any point in the 4 hours, would be the winner.
This is where the cars would park in between runs (right next to where I was sitting).
This entire car had stickers of cartoon characters on it! The driver of the car was even wearing a cartoon character shirt!
I got this video of fire coming out of this car!
Here is Charles in his car, ready to race.
Charles told me that this group of racers get together once every other month. The track changes every time. Here is a picture of the track on the day I went. Notice the heart shape for Valentine's day =)
The black dots are where cones are set up, the cars have to go around them.
Charles going around some cones. If you hit one they add five seconds to your time.
I rode in the car with Charles on his last run. It was SO much fun! I started laughing when we took off because it felt like I was on a roller coaster! I didn't want to distract the driver though so I tried to stay quiet. I guess I was good luck because it was his quickest run of the day!
Here is the video I took from inside the car.
Charles ended up coming in 5th place, not bad. After the race, a few of the cars did a mini-drag race (just for fun). Since Charles has a car that is all wheel drive so he smoked the other cars!
Overall, it was a fun day. I was glad I was able to experience the Japanese car scene. I got home at about 8pm that evening, bought some Yoshinoya for my Valentine's dinner. It was not very good at all! It was the first time I had it while in Japan, so it's a good memory to have.
I had this past Monday off for President's day. I Skyped some people, bought some fresh veggies and fruit at the fruit stand, went to the beach and ate Yogurtland while reading a book. It was a relaxing, much needed day off (but still cold out!).
This week, one of my students turned this in with her President's day homework packet. I get what she did but most of her answers were still wrong!
This past Friday, we had family fun day. We didn't have go to school that day. Instead, the entire school (grades pre-k thru 12) went to a nearby park where we played games. Teachers arrived to the park at 9 am (we got there at 9:15 after getting a little lost) and students came to the park with their parents at 10 am. It was a HUGE park that had beautiful bridges, fountains, running paths and flowers. Our school had reserved an inclosed dome at the park.
Thankfully, parents were responsible for their child so I didn't have to worry about watching my students all day. The teams each had a mixture of grade levels. Each classroom had to pick two games and teams would rotate through.
Here is the high school teacher who was running the event and my principal.
My student Yuto looked as adorable as always.
A group of my students, ready to play!
The first game Sarah and I planned consisted of teams holding hands while putting a hula hoop under their legs and over their heads. They couldn't let go of each other's hands while passing the hula hoop. It wasn't the best game but it was fun.
Another teacher had these cool baskets for her game.
A couple of my students attempting to pass the hula hoop.
For our second game, students had to put a stuffed animal between their legs, run to the hula hoop, drop the stuffed animal in the hula hoop, pick the stuffed animal up and run it back to their team. This game was very cute to watch and the students enjoyed it.
Family Fun day ended by 1:30 so we were able to leave work early. It was nice to see my students out of their uniform and in regular clothes. The day went well and everyone seemed to have a good time. We won't have another day off until spring break in April which seems so far away right now!
I had an uneventful weekend. Rocky and I went to dinner at Mike's Tex Mex Friday night. I was craving chips and salsa and satisfied my craving. Saturday, Rocky drove me around to a few Karate dojos to try and find a karate class. All the dojo's were closed and are only open during weekdays so I'll have to try again. Karate was founded in Okinawa so I'd like to take at least few classes while I'm here =) Rocky also took me to a stand that sells tomatoes on the side of the road. I bought a bag of seven, beefsteak tomatoes for only 500 yen (about $5.00). They are absolutely delicious, I've been eating them like apples!
I was able to get a Little Black Book at church on Sunday, so I can read scripture and reflections from now until Easter. I'm going through a children's Bible with one of my reading groups at school and it's neat to see that the stories I'm reading with them are the same stories that are being read in mass on Sundays right now. Cool correlation.
The week before last, I started tutoring on Monday afternoons.. A girl in fourth grade came to our school after Christmas and is way behind in her school work. The fourth grade teacher tutors her a few days a week but the parents wanted her tutored everyday, so the principal asked me if I could tutor her for an hour on Mondays. The fourth grade teacher talked to me and said the student would just bring in her work that needs to be completed. Last week, the girl only had one worksheet to do and then read to me for the remaining 45 minutes. She read very well and didn't really need much help. I told her teacher the book was too low and she needed a higher book. So, this week, she had a harder book but still didn't need too much assistance. I feel bad that the parents are paying me and I'm not doing much.
I'm thankful this is the last week of February. It has still been raining off and on and if it's not raining, it's very cold outside! I'm ready for the weather to heat up so I can get out and explore.
Paul John arrives one week from Wednesday so that is something to look forward to! Not much else going on over the next few weeks. I'll keep you updated when something exciting happens =) By the way, it just started POURING outside, ugh. Rain rain go away!
XOXO
Kristen
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