Niigata

Today my youngest daughter will leave with her class for a school field trip to 新潟 (Niigata, Japan)…which is on the other coast of Japan and further north from Tokyo.

(I mention it in an earlier post. Click here to read it.)

新潟 (Niigata, Japan) is near the 日本海 (Sea Of Japan).

When her older sisters were in the sixth grade (the grade my youngest is in), they went on the same trip. They both had a great time…and my youngest daughter is really excited about it.

This trip is five days long…they’ll return on February 24. On the trip, they’ll meet local craftsmen and make a traditional Japanese craft, go to an 温泉 (hot spring), and do some hiking…but what the kids are looking forward to is the snow skiing that they’ll do!

The weather in Japan has been really nice recently (although cold)…but it’s forecast to rain starting today and continue for most of next week (it’s also supposed to snow in 新潟 (Niigata).

I hope the weather is good for my daughter’s trip.

Here’s 全国の天気予報 (weather forecast for all of Japan) for today:

Japan's weather forecast for Feb. 20, 2009

Here’s this week’s 天気予報 (weather forecast) for Tokyo for the next seven days:

Tokyo's weather forecast for Feb. 20-26, 2009

It says there’s 90% chance of rain in Tokyo today…and 50-60% chance of rain on the 23rd and 24th.

In 新潟 (Niigata):

Weather forecast for Niigata for Feb. 20-26, 2009.

It says it’ll snow and rain in Niigata today…and snow again tomorrow, then rain on the 23rd and 26th.

When I was in my twenties, I went snow skiing a couple times. I’ve only ever skied in Japan…in 北海道 (Hokkaido) and 新潟 (Niigata) (where my daughter’s going today).

Have you ever gone skiing? Where? In Japan?

Just a few things…

Just a few random items…

• My second daughter will return home this evening from her 林間学校 (field trip) to 新潟 (Niigata). 🙂
• A couple days ago, there was another big 地震 (earthquake) in 岩手県 (Iwate Prefecture)…the same area that had a big earthquake last month (you can read my post about that earthquake here).
• A few more people have agreed to do interviews for my site. I’ll post them as soon as I get their responses to my questions.
• Did you notice that anytime you see 漢字 (Japanese kanji characters) on my site, if you hover your mouse over it, the ふりがな (kana characters that show the proper reading of kanji) appears? Does this help you?
• What are you favorite places, events, things to do in the Tokyo area? Just wondering.

林間学校

Tomorrow morning, my second daughter will leave with her school class for their 林間学校 (“Country school” “Camping school“　”field trip”) in 新潟 (Niigata).

I’m not sure what to call 林間学校 in English. It translates to “Camp school”…but that’s not exactly what it is.

林間学校 is pronounced “Rinkan-gakkou” and is a three-day trip to the countryside by kids who live in the city, to let them experience country living. Japanese country living, of course.

She’s real excited about this trip. Her older sister did the same trip last year, and her younger sister will do it in 2010. (Older sister’s class took a 3-day 修学旅行 (school trip) to 京都 (Kyoto) this year…and this winter, youngest sister will go to 新潟 (Niigata) also—but for snow-skiing).

On this trip, from tomorrow until Friday, she and one of her classmates will stay in a local family’s house, learn to make something by hand from a local tradesman, and do some hiking.

When I was a kid, the schools I attended in America never had any field trips like this.

It’s a good experience.

Of course, though, whenever my kids are away from home, I can’t relax until they come back safe!

News

Today, my oldest daughter leaves with her school class for a field trip to 京都 (Kyoto).

They’ll travel by 新幹線 (Bullet train) and stay in Kyoto for three days.

My daughter’s very excited! But, as for me, I always have mixed feelings whenever my kids go on a field trip…I’m happy that they get to see many great places and experiences—but I can’t relax until they’re back home safe!

Kyoto is gonna be nice for her to see. It was once the capital of Japan and is very traditional. Kyoto still has many 芸者 (Geisha) (or 芸妓 (Geiko) as they’re called on that side of Japan). There are still Geisha in Tokyo, but not as many as in Kyoto.

I can’t wait to see the pictures my daughter takes on her trip!

Next month, my second daughter’s class will take a three-day trip to 新潟 (Niigata).

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Last month, my wife started a small vegetable garden on our porch.

Last week, we ate 苺 (strawberries) from her garden and tonight we had a salad with ピーマン (green peppers) and トマト (tomatos) from the garden.

They were delicious!

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It was raining all day yesterday. Probably due to that 台風 (typhoon) that hit the Philippines.

I hope it doesn’t hit Japan! (By the way, did you know that typhoon is from a Japanese word…in Japanese, it’s 台風 (taifuu)).

Anyways, the weather forecast for Tokyo this week:

June 23:

June 24:

June 25:

June 26:

June 27:

June 28:

June 29: