School (and Golden Week), take two.

Overflow student bike parking.

It's my second year of teaching at Luther, and the first semester is in full swing. This year we have the largest incoming class of first-years that we've ever had--something like 400 kids! Last year was a lot of learning the ropes, so this year it's going a bit more smoothly. (I don't forget the keys to the classroom nearly as often as I used to!)

One of the "changes" I've been talking about recently includes the birth of a beautiful baby boy to Katie and her husband in March, which has brought much joy to the community. We've been missing her a lot at Luther, but we've got some great people pitching in to help in her absence as she stays home to take care of the li'l guy for a while.

Meanwhile, April was crazy, full of getting ready for our new influx of students (and a year without our 14-year J-3 veteran adviser/translator/person-who-tells-us-what's-going-on extraordinaire Katie). I've got fewer class hours in a week than I did last year, but it's more than made up by the amount of outside prep work, grading, and planning. Golden Week, that glorious clump of consecutive public holidays, came just in time.

Caroline and I were both feeling the pressure of school, so we decided to just do a simpler variation on last year. We took the train to Aso again, but instead of staying overnight or climbing a mountain, we ate lunch at a street fair, picked an area of the town we hadn't explored and just walked. We stumbled upon markers for an "open-air museum" walking tour, and following them, found shrines, trees, and little hideaways off the beaten trail. The rest of Aso was crowded with tourists hoping to get out of the city, but the backroads we were on were almost empty. It was perfect.

Hama Shrine.

A very large, very old gingko tree.

Carp flags for Children's Day on May 5.

Stairs leading off the road...

...into a secluded little park.

At one point, the "open-air museum" signposts became a little ambiguous and we ended up out in the middle of nowhere, on a highway that stretched through endless crop fields. I knew we were most likely not following the prescribed route anymore, but I enjoyed the walk, anyway. We rehydrated at a sports field complex with vending machines and eventually found our way back to the station just in time for the train.

We think we may have been in the dead center of Aso crater.

The next weekend was Luther's annual Sports Festival. It was much the same kind of stuff as last year, but still a lot of fun.

Waiting for the baton pass in the sports team relay, in uniform.
(Note the swim team member. Poor guy!)

Finished Maypoles.

Senior girls' eurhythmics. Kind of like Extreme Patting-Your-Head-and-Rubbing-Your-Belly.

Students waiting and watching from their class tents, under the Luther flag.

Yellow team Ōendan performance.

It's been busy, as always, but I really do enjoy my work. It's hard knowing that this is my last year as a J-3, but I'm planning to make the most of it. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Then people go out to their work,
to their labor until evening.
Psalm 104:23 (NIV)