Our visits to schools ended today with our day at a junior high school.  They are not called middle school. Students attend who are in the grades we call 7, 8, 9.  They call them first class, second class, third class.  The school had 2 separate buildings of the same design with 4 stories each, a gym, field (always a dirt surface); tennis courts (also with dirt surfaces); and another swimming pool on the roof.  Each class had a large corner room called an exhibition room where student work was displayed profusely.  We were able to be active participants in several classes.  I tried calligraphy, which is the writing of Japanese characters.  It's a lot harder than it looks.  O.C.E.S. students have penmanship lessons that are a lot easier!  
We participated in English lessons also.  The students speak quite well, but correct grammar is difficult.  One reason is the Japanese do not distinguish between pronouns like he/she and my/your.  But their errors as they study and practice English pale when compared to our knowledge of Japanese.  
     We ate lunch with students.  Students brought hot lunch from the kitchen.  The cauldrons for cooking were huge - I would estimate 3 feet across as well as in height.  They were attached to a frame allowing them to be tipped to the side to pour into the containers that are taken to the rooms.  The students who serve the lunch wear protective aprons and masks over their mouth and nose to guard against germs.  All students ate the school lunch.  They bring their own rice one time a week; Tuesday was that day.  Of course, they all use chopsticks to eat.
The students loved getting a Georgia quarter.  The boys especially like baseball cards, but they know far more about the west coast teams like the Dodgers and then Padres than teams like the Braves.  I was surprised because baseball is so popular in Japan.  At the end of the day, the school administrator and the parents who had helped us so much all gathered by the bus to wave to us and see us on our way. 
     One parent is responsible for the many beautiful flower arrangements throughout the school - even in the bathrooms.  The simple, yet artful arrangements are representative of a Japanese art form call icheban.  
      A husband and wife volunteered to demonstrate the Japanese tea ceremony.  Every movement and sequence is carefully structured and must be performed exactly by the person preparing the tea, the one serving the sweet item (which is served first) and the tea, and the persons who are receiving and consuming the food and drink.  It takes going to lessons 3 times a month for 8 years even to be somewhat skilled at the tea ceremony.  For those who are experts, they study an entire lifetime.  The purpose of the tea ceremony is spiritual in order to develop a calmness of spirit and to teach about and understand and contemplate all phases of life in general.  
     Our last full day in Hamamatsu gave us a  view of Mt. Fugi, which is not visible regularly at this time of year. We all did better at the slipper routine and also at bowing to greet people and thank people.  The Japanese people do not like body contact among people, as when we shake hands in our country.
      We spent the night at a Japanese inn, by Lake Hamana, a resort area near Hamamatsu.  We had dinner sitting on cushions on the floor covered with tatami mats.  Everyone had his or her own small table which was only 8 inches off the ground.  I cannot sit on my knees for long periods of time like the Japanese do, so I was glad to use the backrest that was provided.  We ate unagi (eel) among the many dishes at dinner.  It really was oishii - similar to chicken, actually. 
The open-air hot spring baths  are a part of the resort appeal.  If you go, you wear your yukata (cotton robe) to the bath area, scrub down with the hand-held shower and ease yourself into the hot water.
      The four of us assigned to Room 400, with futons and down comforters spread on the tatami mates and placed side by side, slept well.