(Sunday morning painting Daruma)

Sunday morning was our first “rest day.” By rest I mean one more hour of well-deserved sleep as another week at the Academy had stared. While others went to church, the others all gathered to paint our Daruma and start our next project of an ornate-style lacquer box. After classes, as we have them every day, we had another interesting cultural class. Sunday’s culture class was about the story Dancing Girl. During reading, we gained a deeper understanding for the Japanese collectivist culture. Later that night we started our second course of extended studies classes. We all had our choice and mine was a class about tea that will end in an original tea ceremony.

As today is Monday, we would normally be rather tired or unexcited, but at the Japanese academy, that is both unacceptable and impossible. As of now, we are all preparing in companies for festivals and ceremonies of all kinds. Origami and auditions are only parts of the things that we must prepare for these activities. There is always something happening at Virginia Governor’s Japanese Academy.

-Mallory