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Day 4 (June 5, 2026) Exploring the Mishima region

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June 5, 2026 Hello from Emilio, Mackenzie, and Nicholas! Early this morning, we woke up in our host families’ homes to prepare for the day. We all ate homemade breakfasts, and most of us took the train to get to school. When we arrived at school, we saw Santi had made the cover of the local newspaper, which covered Poly’s visit to NHS. Along the way, we saw some of Mount Fuji — much of it was covered by the clouds, but the immense size of the mountain was still apparent. . Our host students dropped us off with the group and we boarded a bus headed to Shiraito Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage site and perfect backdrop for taking pictures. This water fall flows with waters from Mt Fuji (hence the UNESCO honor) and has historically been a “pilgrimage” site. We were lucky to get cool and sunny weather, the perfect temperature with no more rain. . We then traveled to a dairy farm for a buffet lunch and ate a variety of foods, including stir fried noodles, tofu, miso soup and fresh milk. T...
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Day 3 Our Incredible Visit with Nirayama High School students and adults (June 4, 2026)

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June 3, 2026 Greetings from Japan! We started our day in Tokyo and took the Shinkansen (the “bullet train”) all the way to Mishima. Some of us lucked out – we were able to sit in the coveted first-class car. Once we arrived, we took the local train and then taxis to Nirayama High School. There, we were greeted by a super enthusiastic group of students, school administrators, the local press, journalists from the school paper, and teachers. After the welcome ceremony, we connected with students over brain rot 67 and tung tung tung sahur. It made us all think about how similar students of different nationalities really are. Then, after a really yummy bento box lunch, we participated in a game where we drew items commented through letters. Joseph, Jess and Kelland all placed in the top three (for the category of non-Nirayama students:-) and won prizes! After the awards’ presentation, we attended a chemistry class followed by a math class, which brought back many memories from our previ...
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Day 2 (June 4, 2026)- Tokyo immersion

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We have one full day in Tokyo- will we even sleep? On the first full day of our stay in Japan, we explored three drastically beautiful, different places, each with their own culture and unique angles on life in Tokyo. Our first destination was the boundless TeamLabs Borderless, an “immersive, interactive thing” (according to Jess). It is essentially an art exhibit that moves from one room, down the halls, to other rooms, plus special exhibits... Here, we succumbed to each room, filled with their own authentic experience. Kelland’s favorite room was the fog room, a very dark, steamy room with mist intertwined with rays of artificial light, creating a unique atmosphere that mesmerized Kelland, Alexandra, and Mackenzie through its many cool pictures and silhouettes. Jess’s favorite room was the crystal light room, which had a lot of crytal wiring hanging from 40' above, and light sticks, that took the form in light of images and color. There were mirrors everywhere, symbolizing t...
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Day(s) 1-2 (June 1-2, 2026)

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After our first meal- Sushi After 257 days of planning, preparing and dreaming, we left LAX early Monday, June 1... and arrived at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo during the mid-afternoon on Tuesday, June 2. We hopped onto to a Tokyo train, toured parts of the metropolis, discovered the courteous train culture here, dropped our gear at the Team Poly hotel, and went for dinner. What a fabulous opening meal- udon, sushi, eel (for some,) and some very popular apple juice. After dinner and some mildly sweet desserts, we discussed evident cultures differences here, and walked part of the Ginza district before heading to our rooms for a early turn in after the long day of travels.  Sushi at Kura's More sushi- best delivery system  Our first night out in Tokyo- a City of Lights Learning Tokyo's impressive (and complex) transportation network PolyGlobal visits Tokyo and Taipei We are ready to board this flight for Japan School's out, but learning is continuing
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