The Orientation Off Day

Wow, my first few days back in Japan sure were busy for me, since I had orientation for English summer camp counselors and my first two camp sessions.  My group has only worked two USA Summer Camps, but we've already changed the lives of over 200 kids so far.

At our orientation site, we had an amazing view of Mt. Fuji... when we could see it.  You see, it was usually rainy and cloudy while we were in Gotemba.

But orientation was a lot of fun, and I had a chance to work with people on other teams, too.  Some of our paths will cross throughout the summer, but my group won't see a lot of them again, which is kind of sad because I'm decent friends with a few of them now.

During orientation, we had one day off, so we watched the US beat Japan in the World Cup, and then we went into Gotemba to wander around.  We came across a Pachinko building, and playing it was a ton of fun even though we had no idea what we were doing.  And then we discovered an amazing hibachi-like restaurant, but since we'ere foreigners, they had a staff member cook the food at our table for us instead of having us do it all by ourselves.

And after dinner, the search for a bar began.  And it was more challenging than we would have guessed, since we were kicked out of the first couple bars because the servers couldn't speak English.  Eventually, we found a little closet bar that only fits seven people, and the server was completely drunk.  They had two TVs for karaoke, and I have to say, it was, oddly enough, an amazing experience.

Now we have a couple days off, so we're just going to have a good time in Tokyo!

Take care,

Adam

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