Grade-level retreats took place during the first week of school, and I was lucky enough to join the 8th grade on their adventure!

We traveled to the northwestern part of Nagano Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu, nestled at the base of the Northern Japan Alps. After a three-hour bus ride through the mountains and along beautiful blue lakes, we arrived at our first activity: canoeing. Although I’ve canoed many times throughout my life, it was fun to take in the new scenery and, even more so, to witness the students’ excitement as many of them tried canoeing for the first time.

Our four-story hotel, the Alps View Inn, was reserved just for us and was nestled right next to the ski slopes, making for some beautiful views. We enjoyed delicious, chef-prepared Japanese meals in the dining room overlooking the mountains. “Kanpai!” and “Itadakimasu!” could be heard throughout the dining room as students celebrated together and enjoyed the delicious food.

On Day 2, the rain came, and we were unable to go whitewater rafting. But that didn’t stop us from having fun! We played games at the local recreation center, where the teachers even won the “Build the Tallest Tower with Newspaper and Three Pieces of Tape” competition. My new friend Freya and I had a blast playing basketball and badminton and we found some time to escape to the local foot bath! The activity staff also organized a movie-making session, and the students created some pretty clever and hilarious movies in a surprisingly short amount of time.

On our last day, we returned to the lake, where we had the choice to raft or canoe. I chose the canoe—I wasn’t quite ready to be thrown off a raft!

Overall, it was so much fun getting to know this smart, kind, and clever group of students. I’m already looking forward to more NIS adventures!

~Amy