It was Halloween! Ten WLE students in costumes including Godzilla, a vampire and a maid headed to the Halloween Party and enjoyed the feast one evening in October. Gathered at the event were about 100 locals including 80 kids.

Akori and her friends in fun costumes	More than 80 kids ready for the party!	Mari and Lindsay welcoming kids with big smiles

The festivity took place at Toko-san's house in Chiba . She set up 19 decorated booths inside and outside the house jazzing it up with a number of Halloween ornaments to let her students experience the western custom. Adults were supposed to give away snacks and treats to those who said "Trick or treat!"

At first, some of the kids were too shy to come near us and say "trick or treat."A 3-year-old girl eventually came up to LaToya and shyly whispered, "Trick or...arigatou" ("Thank you" in Japanese) followed by a big smile. LaToya loved seeing their adorable faces and well-mannered behaviors.

LaToya asking "Can you say, `trick or treat?'"	Hey, we're buddies!	We're Pikachu brothers!

Akori brought two of her Japanese friends to the party who she met at a social gathering hosted by WLE earlier this month. Their conversations were carried out in Japanese the whole time. Akori's Japanese has improved so much since making local friends through WLE activities.

Special Halloween cake made from organic ingredients	Can Matt and Mason eat more?	Our best shot!

Dishes served at dinner were all made from organic vegetables. Tasty Japanese cuisine such as Ohagi (sticky rice balls covered with red bean paste,) Inari - zushi (fried tofu stuffed with sushi rice and sesame seeds) and fried rice balls were enough to fill our appetites. Brett was content to talk to the locals about his home country Australia and all who were there got along very well, even exchanging email addresses when the party was over. We really enjoyed our time with the locals - enjoying a delicious dinner and being able to celebrate Halloween even though were far away from home.

Say the town name “Asakusa” to anybody from Tokyo, and the first thing they will think of is the Kaminari gate. Kaminari refers to “thunder” in Japanese and the gate is a symbol of the area. There is a sweet cracker named after the gate, which is called Kaminari Okoshi. Its crispy texture has been drawing people’s attention since the cracker was first sold by pitchmen around the corner from the gate. Now, this snack is a very popular souvenir in Asakusa.

On a warm autumn afternoon, our WLE group consisting of Akori (from U.S.), Alex (from Austria), Lucy (from U.K.), Robert (from Sweden), Matt, Mason (from Canada) and Setsuko headed to Kaminari Chaya to make their original Kaminari Okoshi. Full of excitement, we opened the doors of the shop and were immediately surrounded by its sweet smell. While looking around at what was on offer, we sampled the different flavors including peanut, chocolate and cocoa.

And then it was time to start making the crackers! At first, the instructor Ikeda-san demonstrated how to make Kaminari Okoshi. Everybody was deep in concentration as they watched her make it.

Paying serious attention to how it's all done.	Paying serious attention to how it should taste...	Robert, Lucy & Alex working some elbow grease

Recipe for peanut flavored Okoshi.

• Lightly heat the starch syrup in a pan heated to 200 degrees Celsius. Slowly stir in one spoon of sugar and margarine.
• Once the syrup boils, turn the heat down to 180 C and add some peanuts. Continue stirring the mixture.
• As the syrup simmers down and starts getting sticky, turn the heat down to 160 C. Add Okoshidane (made from dried glutinous rice and millets) into the pan.
• Mix the Okoshidane and honey with a spatula without burning the material.
• Turn off the heat and remove the mixture from the pan and place into a square mold. Spread the mixture evenly to across the mold with hands and a wooden rolling pin.
• Cut with a special cutter into small pieces.

The sweet smell makes Akori smile	Mason and Matt working through the final stages	Our newest Kaminari Okoshi chefs with their Master, Ikeda-san.

Although it looked easy to make, we silently wondered to ourselves whether we would be able to create the Okoshi with such finesse and easy...

Our first hurdle was heating the starch syrup. Akori found her starch syrup burned because of the high temperature and had no choice but to start over. Lucy wasn't sure of the timing to turn down the heat and often asked Ikeda-san when the heat should be turned down.

We found the hardest part of the process was spreading and leveling the hot mixture into the mold with our bare hands. When everybody complained it was "too hot to touch", Ikeda-san said, "When I was just a trainee, I had blisters on my hands.” We learned that the heated mixture had to be worked with quickly otherwise it would become too hard to work with and eat. It made us realize just how much time and effort went into making Kaminari Okoshi .

Despite the little setbacks, we all managed to make our own Kaminari Okoshi all by ourselves. We also all received a Kaminari Okoshi kit as a souvenir so we're now all able to make the snack at home. Everybody especially liked the bag it came in with the uniquely printed character Raijin . Raijin is the legendary God of Thunder.

We all went home that day, bag slung over our shoulders and big smiles on our faces, satisfied with our Kaminari Okoshi adventure!

It was a perfectly sunny Saturday morning in October when we headed to the Minka-en or Open-Air Folk House Museum in Kawasaki city. Akori, David, Calvin, Shyam, Natalie (all from the U.S.), Tammy, Mason, Matthew (all from Canada), Laura (from Switzerland), Brett (from Australia) and Fabricio (from Mexico) all got together and headed to the Minka-en which holds 25 traditional folk buildings including 18 of the city's designated important cultural assets. It is one of the most notable open-air museums in Japan .

Group shot at the gate	View from the entrance	Taking photos of a traditional toilet!

Kawasaki city is a one hour train ride south of Tokyo which is far from the bustling capital districts. When we got there the city was holding its annual Kawasaki City Festival so there were lots of people and lively music played on traditional instruments filled the air. When we went to the museum, everyone was impressed by the different types of folk dwellings and the peaceful atmosphere of the rustic countryside surrounding the dwellings. We walked around seeing remarkable and fantastic sights such as shingled board-roofs where stones were placed, a water mill for grinding rice and Gassho-Style houses from the Tohoku area which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. All of these were made out of natural straw, wood, soil and bamboo. Houses looked stout and massive because of the architectural style of the farm houses which had roofs covered by thick heavy straw.

Nakagawa-san building our understanding through his inspired insight	Folk house amidst the lively green flora	Traditional fireplace

In contrast to the warm bright weather outside, we found it quite dim and humid inside the houses. Volunteer museum staff maintained fires in hearths to decrease the humidity. Ever observant Calvin noticed wooden fish hanging over the fireplaces. Our guide Nakagawa-san explained, “Fishes always have their eyes open even when they’re asleep. So we hang them above our fireplaces to keep watch over the fire and make sure nothing catches alight.” Instead of “watchdogs”, these were “watchfish”!
Sitting around the fire on tatami mats made us feel like we had gone back to the 17th century. What Tammy and Laura liked were the curved beams under the ceiling. According to Nakagawa-san, farmers had no choice but to use the curved beams as according to the feudal system, only upper class warriors could afford to use straight beams.

The next generation in training	David with stamps from visiting the 6 houses	Calvin & our guide, Nakagawa-san

We finished the museum tour in about 2½ hours and headed to the city centre to check out the festival. We enjoyed seeing people dance with costumes from the Edo era and trying various snacks such as sweet potato sticks and fried noodles sold from street stalls. It was a truly wonderful day to experience a traditional Japanese atmosphere in the warmth of a splendid autumn day!

The Japanese have a famous autumn expression: “Autumn for exercise, Autumn for eating, Autumn for reading and Autumn for art.”
This Autumn, we chose to go with Autumn for Art, so we headed off to Parkside Tougei Club to make some unique pottery.

A view of the rooftops Rebecca's masterpiece - Shallow cup	Matt's masterpiece - Deep sake cup	Our instructor Ohira-san explaining and demonstrating

Saito-san and Ohira-san, our instructors, warmly welcomed us. Our group included Akori (from U.S. ), Alex (from Austria ), Brett (from Australia ), Lucy (from U.K. ), Martin (from Norway ), Matt, Mason (from Canada ), Rebecca (from Germany ) and Sachiko. Our first attempt was to make two small sake cups. Because no one had any experience in making pottery, Ohira-san demonstrated while Saito-san gave detailed step-by-step explanations. We each had a small pottery wheel with some clay and the very first step was to shape the clay into a ball before making an indentation in the center. Everybody concentrated on trying to mould the clay into the shape they had in their minds. Whether it was a deep or a shallow cup, the important point was that the sides needed to be of equal thickness otherwise it would crack whilst in the kiln. “I originally wanted to make two shallow cups of the same size, but one of them turned out huge!” Brett said.

After finalizing the shape of the cup, the next step was to even out the surface by smoothing over fingerprints or cracks in the rim. This step was also important to prevent cracks while the cup was being fired in the kiln. Saito-san said, “You have to be really careful during this part because the rim of the cup is where your lips will drink from.” The room became quiet as everybody inspected their own cups for any small cracks or irregularities.

Diligently rolling clay balls	Martin concentrating on getting it just right

Finally it was time to decorate our masterpieces! First, we carved our signatures at the back of each cup with a sharp pencil-like instrument. Most students wrote their names, but Martin engraved “Otosan” and “Okasan” (which means father and mother in Japanese) because he planned to give this to his parents as a souvenir. After that, we decorated our cups using brushes and stamps. The brushes were more for making lines whilst the stamps came with unique patterns like a gold fish, bear and flower.

Saito-san helping Lucy out	Rebecca carefully working the clay	Brett concentrating extra hard

Saito-san said that it was great to be able to bring the cups back to each one's home country because the clay used for the pottery was not available anywhere else. According to her, the clay used had to be sticky and contain a lot of moisture. Therefore only clay a certain number of years old, taken from a tropical environment may be used for pottery making. “Please wait a month for your work to completely dry out. The pottery made from old Japanese clay will then be yours to keep forever,” Saito-san said. Sometimes the pottery pieces crack or break during the firing process and no one ever knows how the pottery will turn out. Fortunately, despite our concerns, everybody's pieces turned out fine and we all went home happy with our unique sake cups.

Name: Ina Mercyani
Program Enrolled in WLE: Intensive Program
Country of residence: Indonesia
Citizenship: Indonesian
Profession: Manager
Educational background: Graduate degree
Languages spoken: Indonesian, English, Chinese, and Japanese
Hobbies: traveling, reading books, and watching cinema.

Is this your first time in Japan?
Yes, it is.

Why did you decide to study Japanese Language?
Well, I decided to take Japanese about 3 years ago in my home country, Indonesia. At that time, I had the time and was interested in Asian languages. After more than 2 years studying Japanese, I realized that the most effective way to learn a language is to immerse oneself in the native environment. So that’s why I decided to go to Japan to study.

How are you finding your studies in Japan?
Difficult and interesting. For me, Japanese language is so difficult to master. I realized it more when I found out that daily/conversational Japanese is like a foreign language to the formal Japanese language that I’ve been studying for 2 years. But this learning process is fun and interesting. I am able to learn the language not only inside a classroom, but also from the people around me, such as my Japanese friends, my housemates, people in the supermarket/restaurant and even from strangers in the street.

Have they been what you expected to be?
My only expectations were to enjoy the school and to improve my Japanese. Well, the realities are exceeding my expectations. Not only do I enjoy studying the language, but I also enjoy learning about the culture, the people, the city and so much more.

How do you like Tokyo?
Tokyo offers so much variety and is so much fun. It just depends on how you would like to enjoy the city. I’m enjoying it very much, with all the bustling of a metropolitan city it also has places that offer peace & quiet. The only thing I don’t like is that there are too many people, especially during rush hour.

What do you find most interesting about Tokyo?
I can find all sorts of people in Tokyo. There is a mixture of traditional and modern culture in Tokyo. You can see people walking around in the street in their traditional dress/kimono, and in another part you’ll see teens wearing black makeup with hair dyed white.

How has your experience in Japan changed you if it has?
I guess I used to think of Japan as the most expensive country in Asia so I always hesitated about going to Japan. But now, I love it. Even though it’s still the most expensive country in Asia, I would love to go back there again, especially now I have so many friends there.

What is the thing you like most about Tokyo/Japan?
I love to travel and since I’ve never been to Japan, I have so many destinations to explore. And the Japanese transportation system is excellent. It’s very convenient to go everywhere.

What is the thing you like LEAST about Tokyo/Japan?
The densha (train) during rush hour. It’s horrible.

Will you come to Japan/Tokyo again?
Definitely.

What advice/tips would you give to others who plan to come and study in Japan?
Well, master hiragana & katakana because it helps a lot, especially if you like to travel. And enjoy the experience.

Name: Lot Rossmark
Program Enrolled in WLE: Conversation Program (beginners)
Country of residence: Netherlands
Citizenship: Dutch
Profession: Student
Educational background: Just finished high school, starting University next month.
Languages spoken: Dutch, English, German
Hobbies: Snowboarding, watching/making movies, reading comics.

Is this your first time in Japan?
Yes

Why did you decide to study Japanese Language?
I've been fascinated with Japan for as long as I remember. When I was a kid I loved to read stories about Samurais. Later I started watching anime and reading manga. Now I'm really into Japanese movies and the crazy Japanese fashion. Because many of my interests have something to do with Japan, I thought: why not study it?

How are you finding your studies in Japan?
I liked them a lot. The teachers were very nice. I liked that you're in a small group, that way you get enough attention. What I also liked, is that we had three teachers, so every day was different. They each had their own way of teaching, which was great. My classes started in the morning and ended around 1. This way I still had the afternoon to wander around in Tokyo.

Have they been what you expected to be?
I did not expect to have various teachers. From what I heard Japanese education is very strict, so I thought we'd have very stern teachers. I thought wrong. They were very nice.

How do you like Tokyo?
I love Tokyo. It's so big and busy. This is the city that never sleeps. Sometimes I'd go out until 6 in the morning and the barbershop, convenient stores and yoshinoya would still be open. Tokyo is great for shopping.

What do you find most interesting about Tokyo?
The people! They are so different from Dutch people. I loved to sit in the metro (subway) for an hour and just look at people.

How has your experience in Japan changed you if it has?
It made me even more Japan crazed. Oh, and I guess I litter less on the streets than I used to.

What is the thing you like most about Tokyo/Japan?
The people, the stores and the metro. And in Kyoto I liked the temples and Shrines and cycling through the city. I also liked Karaoke. This seems to be the most popular evening activity for young people, which I find strange because in most countries it's clubbing. Clubbing is also great in Tokyo.

Will you come to Japan/Tokyo again?
Absolutely!

What advice/tips would you give to others who plan to come and study in Japan?
Go on the WLE trips on the weekend. This is a great way to get to know people and see a lot of Tokyo. And PURI-KURA of course! What's more fun than be cramped up in a small photobooth with your friends and make hilarious pictures?