Island Retreat.

The 8th grade teachers took an overnight trip to celebrate the end of the school year. We went to this small island a few hours west of here, in Okayama (I know that means so much to you all). Everyone except a couple teachers made it (pictured here) and it was a really nice way to enjoy each other outside of the busy office. We made pottery, went shopping, talked, ate, drank, relaxed in outdoor baths, and so on.

The view from our hotel.

The ferry that took us to the island.



This area of Japan is known for its seafood, so we ate a million different kinds of sea creatures: octopus, eel, cooked and raw fish, crab, shrimp, other shrimp-like things, snails, squid, oysters, and who knows what. I also ate a living something-or-other. It was slowly moving on a plate in front of me, so I ripped its head off and put it in my mouth.