Technical High School
Hello students and friends! Happy Thanksgiving.
Yesterday we went to a discussion with Komaki parents. We talked about the similarities and differences between the schools in the United States and Japan. Both countries seem to have more in common than I would have thought.
I added photos since the ones on the High School site aren’t up yet.
Today we went to the Komaki Technical High School. They have over 500 boys that go there and only 8 girls. The students work on learning specific skills for jobs they may want in the future. They can learn about computers, cars, machines that help make houses, and they can even learn how to build robots. 
They make sumo robots that fight against one another in competitions and robots that walk on two legs like we do. I even saw a robot do push-ups. Our group of 20 teachers split up into smaller groups to learn how to use some of the machines. I used a machine called a lathe. This is my partner setting up the machine so that I could run it.
It is used to make precision cuts in metal. I was given a hexagonal prism of metal and made it into a bell with the help of some talented eleventh grade students. I also got to try welding. You can’t look at the light when you weld and a lot of sparks fly around so you have to wear protective gear.
This is the finished product. Impressive isn’t it? : )
This is like a child who is learning how to write and just scribbles. The JFMF teachers (that’s me) were just learning how to weld.
One of the most exciting parts of the day was seeing some construction workers doing renovations. It was exciting was because they were reinforcing the building and adding big metal supports to prevent damage in an earthquake. It made me think of all of those things we did in science.
At the end of the day we got to watch some of the students play instruments. The drums were my favorite. I even got to play the drums with the students.
Here is the website where you can find photos of our trip to the high school. When you look for me you should look for the woman in the thick, black glasses. I wanted to protect my eyes when I was using the big machines. http://www.komaki-th.aichi-c.ed.jp/
Enjoy.
Tomorrow I will meet my home stay family and spend the night at their house. This family has a mom, dad, dog and four children. The children are ages 11, 13, 16 and 18. I know it will be fun but I’m still a bit nervouse because they might not speak any English and I’m not so good at charades.
Miss Santoro
