#freeschoolican

[charlieinjapan]

Have you ever played Chaturanga? #chaturanga #chess #chessclub #freeschoolican (at 国際フリースクール　I　CAN) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvFmNB9HnkT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kurcwtn8tmd3

[charlieinjapan]

Strawberry 🍓 picking! I met Mr Takahashi, a young entrepreneur, a few years ago when we first visited his strawberry farm about 5 years ago with #freeschoolican. WE tried to make it a springtime event, but the slots for all-you-can-eat strawberry picking usually sell out by February (!) in addition to the all-you-can-eat strawberries 🍓 , of course he has some plants specially for local restaurants as well as for supermarkets. This time he showed me strawberry 🍓 honey 🍯 (which I had on French toast this morning, dried strawberries with tea, and even a strawberry vinegar which he got registered as a “Made in Joetsu “ official product. Perfect for salad dressing. You might not think of strawberries as especially Japanese, but the berries at “Ichigo no Hanakotoba” are worth the trip to Ogata if you’re in Joetsu. #visitjoetsu #joetsu #strawberry #ichigogari #madeinjoetsu #strawberrylover #strawberrytea #strawberryvinegar (at 苺の花ことば) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu0vKBnjUUW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=11y98ciinyymk

[charlieinjapan]

They look like candy!! I’ve got a great group of kids now at #freeschoolican and they are always up for exploring! Yesterday we went to the chrysanthemum festival, which I am sorry to say I had never heard of until this year. It’s really more like a chrysanthemum contest, like a mini-mini-rose parade without the bands. The festival/contest is held in one room of the Joetsu tourism and local products center. Next to the exhibition/“festival” is the local product shop where you can get Kenshin shirts, Lerch-san curry, local sweets, post cards, and, incidentally, is where I do most of my Christmas shopping... #joetsu #busancenter #chrysanthemum #festival https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp6Q-QGnfxC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xo6iyho3emis

[charlieinjapan]

Here are some photos from two visits to the Three Tiered Turret in Takada Park. The uninitiated might call this replica a “castle,” but it was only a turret or guard station for a bigger structure that was nothing like how we imagine western castles. We first went with a Rotary exchange student earlier in the summer, but just yesterday the kids at I CAN told me they want to go back, and go inside. They had their kids’ resident passports and got in free. We were all pleasantly surprised by the interior and the displays as well as views from the top which you can see if you flip through. The video “virtual reality” explanation, while in Japanese, was gorgeous and very well done. Best surprise? A perfectly translated, native-speaker-checked, accurate, informative English pamphlet! These are much rarer than they need to be. At the end of our tour, the kids told me, “if we were going to regular school, we’d never come here and never learn about this! Made me so happy to be a #freeschooler 😃✌️ #joetsu #takadapark #freeschoolican #castles #history #landmarks #rotary (at 高田公園) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnarV0mgY95/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ae43nyfursjb