Week 33 in Japan: Freshmen English camp, Japanese Striped Snake

       It seems to me that with it being spring and the weather getting warm the nature of Japan is also coming to life. On my way to school I like to bike down this one way street that isn't super often traveled. I think the street might cut the distance to school slightly but mostly I just like how pretty the route is. When I was biking to school on Wednesday I came to a quick stop when I saw a snake on the road. The snake was a tan-ish color with black stripes going down it the long way. It was about 4 feet long and I found out later by checking online that it is called the "Japanese Striped Snake" and is not dangerous. It was pretty exciting to see the snake though, it was the biggest snake I've ever seen out in the wild. I've actually kinda liked snakes since I was real young so I spent a little time checking this one out and getting a little closer.. it was totally worth being late for class.
       On the weekend starting on Saturday I went to an English camp that was for the freshmen of the International Resources major. The camp was mainly to help the students get used to speaking English and I was invited to join the camp to help out. On my way to the bus I actually met a cool dog. I talked to the dog's owner lady a little bit as we were waiting for the light to change and she said her name was Momo which means peach in Japanese. She was really friendly and so was Momo. I actually see a lot of really cool dogs and want to take pictures of them but I don't want to be annoying so I usually don't. But lately I've been thinking is somebody is out for a walk with their dog they probably won't be bothered by their dog getting attention. Plus I think people love to hear their dog get praised cause everybody thinks their dog is the best dog anyways. Moving on we took buses to a building that was a mix between a hotel and a community center. The room I was in was nicer than the ones the students got so that was cool. I helped out with various activities on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time meeting a lot of new people. The camp was supposed to be for the students to use English only but they ended up speaking strictly Japanese. I guess it kind of couldn't be helped but I tried my best to have people use Engish. For example if somebody said something to me in Japanese I would reply in English. Then in most cases repeat it and rephrase it over and over til they understood. These students are better than average with English but they are still very far from being able to have a normal conversation with. All in all I think everybody had fun and that's most important haha. Also the food was good and although I didn't get paid the cost of everything was covered for me so that was nice.

 Kazuha and I at the camp in front of a stellar painting (see the cows?). I actually knew Kazuha before the camp because she is one of the managers on the football team.

 Here is a picture of the snake. I actually ended up getting pretty close to it. I felt like a super mild version of the crocodile hunter.

Here is Momo and her Master.

 Kind of an awesome dog. That's just the vibe I got.

 Some down time during the camp.

 <---- My Russian friend Sasha. Sunday night there was a fun barbecue outside because the weather was nice. This picture I realize isn't outside but it was from the party.