Lessons carried on, and something struck me this week: the students are incredibly varied. My classes range from university students to people in their 80s, all in the same school. Seeing lifelong learning in action is remarkable, and it’s made me realise how strong the community here is.
A small project update: I pitched my supervisor the idea of a survey that both students and teachers can fill out. It ties back to my observation about English and Japanese learning feeling like two separate worlds, and I want to find out what people themselves think rather than relying only on my impressions.
The big one finally happened. I climbed Mt.Fuji. I took the Subashiri route and climbed overnight, and, because God has a sense of humour, there was a typhoon. Not the “above the clouds” experience I’d imagined, but it certainly made it memorable.
The hardest part was closer to the top, where the incline gets properly brutal. Every step felt like a negotiation with my legs. But what I’ll remember most is the sense of collective determination: everyone on that mountain, in the dark and the wind, was pushing through the same thing together, and you could feel it.
On the way down, I was helped by three Japanese ladies who could only say “hard” or “difficult.” That turned out to be all that was needed. They kept an eye on me; we shared a lot of knowing nods (I’m an expert by now), and “it’s hard” is a pretty universal language when you’re descending a mountain in a typhoon.
Tired, a bit battered, and one mountain richer. Week four, I’m ready for you (after a nap).