Report on the Birthday Weekend - part 1

Saturday morning started promptly at 1am. We had to grab our packs, put a little something in our bellies, and get over to the base to catch the bus up to Fuji. We arrived to see a dozen bleary eyed outdoorsy types lounging on the couches and waiting for directions from our fearless leader, Tetsuya. After we had filled out the necessary forms and the bus had arrived, we all loaded into our seats and tried to get a few more blinks of sleep on our 3 hour ride. As the bus approached the base of the mountain, I opened my eyes to see an amazing view of trees and mountains resting under a light blanket of fog. The sky had that just-after-sunrise glow and the air smelled fresh and cool. At the base we were equiped with walking sticks and shown how to direct the future customers toward the beginning of the trail. After all, this was the training trip for the Fuji hike leaders. When the true hiking season is open, everyone will pay their 1000-1500 yen for an official Fuji hiking stick which is basically a tall stick that may or may not have a bell and flag attached to the top. The point of the stick, other than helping you navigate up the side of the mountain, is to record how high you get up Fuji-san. There are small huts all the way along the trail where you can pay another couple hundred yen to get a brand stamped onto your walking stick. It has to be an amazing money maker for them since most everyone I know that has gone up Fuji owns one of these sticks and is proud to show off their many stamps. So, off we went. There are 10 stations to go through to get to the top, but most people -including us- start at station 5. Sadly, Andy had been fighting a nasty stomache flu for a few days and didn't have the energy to make it past station 7. He really wanted to go with me to the top since it was my birthday, but in the end had to go down and cheer me on from the coffee shop. I hooked up with a couple other people in our group and continued up to the top. Now, whoever said Fuji was an easy or fun hike must have been delusional. Fuji is a moonscape covered in loose volcanic rock that doesn't necessarily provide the surest of footing. Of course there are the spots where you are scrambling like a mountain goat over the larger rocks... It took me about four hours to get to the top, 15 minutes to look around and start shivering at the top, and another two and a half hours to get back down to Andy. My legs were shakey and exhausted, but I felt pretty proud of the accomplishment.

A Birthday Hike

A couple months ago, as I was looking through the Yokosuka Focus magazine, I saw an opportunity I couldn't pass up. The Outdoor Rec Dept was looking for people to help them lead trips up Mount Fuji this summer. I told Andy what I had in mind and he decided to join me at the orientation meeting. The hike up is pretty easy - just a bunch of switchbacks you follow to the top. The difficult part is the hike down - there's a lot of loose volcanic rock that can be tough on the knees and there's supposed to be one tricky spot where you cane asily take the wrong trail down (there are oodles of trails that go up and down Fuji). Clearly it sounded like a great challenge and we both signed up for the training hike. Our two options for hiking dates were June 17th or 24th. Well, the 24th just so happens to be my birthday and what better way to celebrate a birthday in Japan than to hike Mt Fuji? We've already been to the store to get our snacks and water for the trip. Now all we have to do is get a few hours of sleep before we are due to show up at the bus. It'll be an early morning - we've got to be there at 1.30 for our 3 hour ride to Fuji Station 5. The hike starts there. I'm figuring we'll be at the top sometime between 9am and noon and my fingers are crossed for clear skies. I'd love to get a few photos to share with everyone. However, if it isn't clear, one of the many trips this summer is bound to allow us a great view. I'm hoping in particular that the overnight trip up Fuji in July is clear. Can you imagine how amazing the sunrise will be?

There's a saying in Japan, "A wise person hikes Fuji once, but the person who hikes Fuji more than once is a fool." Call us fools. There are about 10 hikes on our calendar. We probably won't help with every hike, but I'm certain we'll make the trek more than once!

School's Out For Summer!

It's June 23rd and I'm sitting here in our little apartment lounging on the couch at about 8 am. A week ago at this time I was emptying my classroom and wondering what I'd be doing when the next school year began. I had asked my principal if there was any way I could be kept on at the school as a full-time teacher. Working part-time as the art teacher next year just wasn't going to pay the bills. If I couldn't get full-time work we were planning to head back to Seattle earlier than originally planned. My principal was understanding, but didn't want to lose me. He crunched numbers for projected enrollment and tried to find something for me. Meanwhile, the school over on the main base was also looking for a spot for me. When they came up with a 1st grade spot they called my principal and asked if they could have me he really started rallying to find me a spot at Ikego. Last Wednesday he surprised everyone (including myself) at our end of the year BBQ by announcing that I was leaving my part-time art position to find full-time work. He then took back my going away gift and welcomed me on board as one of the new classroom teachers for the fall. I blushed while everyone clapped and asked what I'd be teaching. My response..."You know as much about it as me." It was a great feeling to see everyone so excited about my return and to hear their hopes that I would be joining their grade level team. I even had a 2nd grade teacher lead me into the principal's office to tell him that the 2nd grade really needed me. On Friday morning Walt (my principal) walked into my nearly empty room to announce that I'd be teaching 1st grade next year and that the room assignments would be in my mailbox by later that same morning. As soon as the other teachers saw the room assignments the came over the wish me congrats. I even had a parent come up to me in the grocery store a few days ago to tell me she hoped her son would be in my class. It has been amazing to see how much support these people that I've just recently gotten to know are sending my way. I'm really excited about the team I'll be joining and they seem to be just as excited. A few were already gathering supplies and classroom materials for me as they cleaned up their rooms last Friday. Vanessa, a former 1st grade teacher who will be teaching 1st/2nd split, is planning to give me a call later this summer to go over to the school and help me get all set up. With all of their help on top of the help that Linda, Andy's mom, has offered (she was a 1st grade teacher for years), I am bound to have a successful year.