St. Mary’s Sophomores have recently made their way to the Yamanashi Mountains, a beautiful mountain range that coexists with culture and nature. However, the weather did not provide a sunny atmosphere. Typhoon Shan Shan stormed on the students. Regardless of the weather, the activities did not stop. Ryan(10) exclaimed that “The storm did not stop us from being active and enthusiastic.”
The 10th graders who went there were able to experience various activities, including Ziplining, rope courses, canoeing, mountain biking, and more. The rope course in the mountains involved balancing and overcoming the fear of height. The course was divided into four difficulties, ranging from easy, medium, hard, and extreme. Many attempted the extreme course, however not many were successful. Despite the failure, they all enjoyed their time, including Rinnosuke, who stated “I would definitely do this again regardless of whether I would finish it or not.”
On the second day, students enjoyed canoeing and mountain biking. The canoeing was a cultural experience; It included rowing on the sacred river of Yamanashi and entering the shrine built on the only-island of the region. There, the students heard the stories related to the shrine and the importance of it to the residents. After canoeing, mountain biking took place, where Sophomores biked around the trail and learnt more about the mountains. When asked about his experience, Kaito Parsons stated, “The Yamanashi was such a wonderful eye-opening trip for me.”
After the day’s activities, students returned back to their spacious hotel rooms. The hotel had various activities to offer too, including an onsen and massage machines. For the majority of the time, students had fun with others in each other’s room, with some even playing futsal and tennis in their rooms.
On the third final day, students took a lift up to Yamanashi Mountain to enjoy the landscape. The summit also had gift shops and various delicacies which students could freely choose from. Multiple students bought souvenirs to keep their memory of “storming” Yamanashi.
