Hello everyone, I hope that you are all well. We’ve had a couple interesting weeks in grade 6. Last week, we were not on campus all week, partly because our class had an outbreak of the influenza virus. We an some adventures in Tokyo as well as we had our 2 day trip. Mashed into all of that has been our continuation of UOI, and learning more about music.

Last week started off on a peculiar note, a majority of our class suffered from the influenza virus and in school lessons had to be suspended for 5 days. Quite unfortunate, but fortunately as well, we returned just in time to go to Tokyo for our 2 day trip.

That adventure began in Matsumoto bus terminal, when everyone arrived in the early hours of the morning, around 06:00. That did not deter anyone, as everyone’s spirits were quite high. The parents, the students and the teachers as well. We set off for a 4 hour journey to Shinjuku Station. First on our schedule was getting to the Japanese Diet by subway. We were able to see the parliament and all its compartments, including the emperor’s room, and the Imperial family’s room. Magnificent, and that could have inspired the next great Japanese leader.

Right after that, we had lunch at the ramen street close to Tokyo station. This was quickly followed by the students going around Character Street trying to buy souvenirs, in which they quickly found out that some of the items for sale were a little above their pay grade. We ended the night at our home for the evening, had a delicious dinner and played some great card games that brought about wins and losses, and ultimately laughter and joy. Memories were made, that hopefully they will be cherished.

Day 2 started early as well, as we packed our clothes and bags, and headed off to Tokyo Skytree first. One of the tallest, if not tallest buildings I have ever been on. We reached 450m high, and we could see almost the entire city. Right after that, we went to Sumida Aquarium. Truly, one of the most relaxing and calm places I have been to. The different fish, jellyfish, and all the other water life, elegantly swimming and cutting through the water, with the backdrop of some really soft music. It was absolutely the perfect way to end the trip. Some students even found themselves dowsing off into wonderland! Awesomeness!

This week, we’ve returned to the land of reality and we’ve had to begin our performance day preparations. Mixed into all of that, the students learned about classical music. We got to listen to some popular classical songs, and the students had to write about their emotions and feelings about the songs. This was quite a nice activity for the students do as they were able to tap into their musical and emotional sides.

Thank you very much, we hope that you’ll keep warm and have a nice weekend!