Shimabara

For 3 days, all the first year students and teachers go to a retreat in Shimabara (about 1.5 hours from Nagasaki city).

Maybe 'retreat' is not the right word to use... it would probably be more accurate to call it boot camp...the students learn how to stand at attention, greet teachers, stand in different formations depending on the event...some of the drills were exactly what you would expect to see at a military camp.

The homeroom classes also get to know each other through some team building exercices.

After having walked back from the arena where most of the activities were held during the day, some of the teachers and I thought we'd take a picture to capture how tired we looked...

This year was the first year I participated in this camp. Though I was invited to stay the 3 days at the camp, I decided to head back home late that evening because I wanted to go on the hike the following day with the teachers and students who were back at school...

Last year, the hike was cancelled due to bad weather, but it looks like tomorrow will be a beautiful day!