Falling into Fall

Hello! Tonight I returned from a two-day conference in Akita City for all the ALT (assistant lang. teachers = people like me) and JLT (Japanese lang. teachers = the English teachers we work with). It was a loooong two days of lectures and workshops on how to improve workplace relations, resolve conflicts, and, of course, improving our English teaching methods! While there were definitely some boring points (like the two hour lecture on recognizing cultural communication difference - i.e. body language is different between Japanese and "Western" cultures, etc.), overall, I learned some pretty useful stuff I hope to take back and incorporate into my classes.

Also, I learned Akita Prefecture's junior high students have the highest average scores on national English tests, which means we all do a pretty good job! In addition, in all of Japan, only 9.6% of high school English teachers actually SPEAK English in class, whereas in Akita, it's up to 35%. Another yay for us! But, on the downside, 65% of high school English teachers in Akita use little or NO English in class! That is crazy bad! Better than the nation as a whole, but, still, 65%?? Wow!

Other stats (I quickly googled them, so I think they're legit): Akita has the fastest decreasing population in Japan, and the highest suicide rate!
[Though, there should be a disclaimer on the suicide rate, because, though we have the highest rate, the NUMBER of suicides is way less than major urban areas - For example, in Akita, the total number was 412, compared to Tokyo's 2,502, and Osaka's 1,965.]
On the plus, I read somewhere that Akita has the highest number of beauty salons per capita!

As proud as I am of our smart students, and our better than average use of English in the classroom, it makes me sad to read and hear all these things about my adopted home. It is such a beautiful place, and the people are so great! It's economic depression is... well, depressing! At least, on paper.

But I want to show you something else. I want to show you the Akita I'm lucky enough to see and experience everyday.

These are photos from Friday's visit to Moritake Nursery School and Shimoiwakawa Elementary's International Club Halloween Party, followed by photos from my koiyo "leaf-viewing" excursion.

Apparently I'm the only one that go the memo that this was supposed to be a funny picture...

The 5-year olds brushing their teeth after lunch -- it lasted literally 8 minutes!

The International Club carving their first ever Jack-o-Lantern!

They don't celebrate Halloween here, so the kids don't really know much about it.

But don't worry, I taught them to Trick-or-Treat, and even gave them "American" candy (Snickers!)

This is at a mountain temple I saw while I was driving along. I just pulled over, left my car and climbed up.

Can you see the flame-colored hill in the background???

These pictures are of the Shirakami Mountains, a World Heritage Site thanks to its magnificently well-preserved old growth beech forest. Supposedly it looks exactly like it did just after The Ice Age.
Using my car for a tri-pod.

I wasn't lying when I said it was beautiful here.