Tokyo Disney 2013

I scratched Tokyo Disney off my Japanese bucket list last month when I attended the magical kingdom with a huge group of mostly Japanese single adults. I walked around with a smaller group of seven, comprised of 4 Japanese girls, two Americans, and one girl from New Zealand. Here are some pictures from the day, most of which I didn't take myself.

My group of 7

Cinderella's Castle

Lunchtime

The entire group

Jungle Cruise

Japanese people take their Disney parades very seriously.

I guess I talk with my hands sometimes

In line for Pirates of the Caribbean

Disney After Dark

More Teaching Photos

I recently completed a 6 month stint at a private English school, teaching mainly young children. I grew close to many of them. Several I wanted to adopt. Parents and teachers are not supposed to have favorites, but they all do.

My very favorite was Musashi.

Mihana (Some of these photos are pictures I took of a laminated collage, so the quality is poor.)

A few more from Halloween. This was one of my fun Kokubunji classes.

With Musashi again

Meanwhile, I was still doing my monthly senior class on my day off. 

At the Christmas program with my friend/co-worker Yoko.

Helping the kids with their dance routine. 

I have no recollection of this being taken, but they captured the beard nicely. 

One of my top 3 favorites: Ririka! 

Free Time in Japan

Most of my time these past 3-4 months have been spent teaching full time at a private English school. This post is about some of the other things going on in my free time. Most of these photos are from Facebook. I wanted to have them all in one place on my blog.

I've been teaching seniors at a monthly conversation class in Tachikawa. They are so much fun to work with and eager to improve. 

 

We look like giants compared to our students. Old Japanese people are short. The lady in front of me is 87 years old. 

I accompanied Derek on one of his pre-dawn hikes up Mt Takao. We had the place to ourselves.

A few holiday parties. 

And of course I played Santa Clause.