Field Trip

I teach English Conversation at a private high school up here in Hokkaido.
I started teaching here in mid-August, so it's taken me a while to get used to the new situation that I'm in, but things are finally starting to fall in to place. More on that some other time.
Anyway, today was our school's field trip day. We met at Misaki Station at 9 AM, got everyone lined up, and set off on a 10 kilometer hike up to Cape Chikyu and back.
Cape Chikyu is one of the more famous sites to visit up here. I'd been out there once before, but it was in the evening, and I didn't really catch the full scope of what I was seeing. Today's weather was fantastic (a bit TOO good, perhaps, considering my skin's lack of melanin). Clear skies, a liter bottle of tea, and my hiking shoes...and I was ready to go. AFTER I borrowed some sunscreen, that is.
Quite the sight, really. 160 Japanese high school students plus 10 or so teachers, trudging up these steep roads overlooking the sea. Two hours, and we were at Cape Chikyu. (see pic of lighthouse) Cliffs that drop straight down. (Side note: Cape Chikyu, like many of the other famous sites in Hokkaido, seems to also be famous as a suicide spot. Going there and seeing it, it's definitely a drop that you wouldn't survive.)
After an hour and a half break at the Cape, we headed back to the train station (Bokoi) and sent all of our students on their merry way. A little pinker, a little sore in the legs, but no less worse for wear, I headed back home as well.
And had some excellent sushi for dinner. Mmmmmm.....sushi.....