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The Scene at Shinonoi Station (February 7)
A short walk from our school is Shinonoi Station, on the Shin'etsu Line. The station is an important one for the Olympics since it's so close to Minami Nagano Athletic Park, the site of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. As early as 7:00 this morning, the station was already crowded with people heading to the stadium for the Opening Ceremony, which began at 11:00. The plaza before the station was filled with the school bands from our school, Shinonoi Nishi, and Shinonoi Higashi Middle School; the marching band from Tsumei Elementary School; and a traditional Japanese drumming group from the neighborhood. They all greeted the arriving spectators with their music.Volunteers from the area were there, serving people hot tea and Japanese green tea. The bands played a lot of well-known songs, including some by the Carpenters, and some foreigners stopped on their way to the stadium to listen to the tunes. It doesn't matter where people are from--we all enjoy listening to music!
We were surprised at how different than usual the station looked. There were people selling heating pads to keep your seat warm and a group of three women selling binoculars. It really felt like the Olympics had finally started for real! (Report from Shinonoi Nishi Middle School: Shun Okuno, Machiko Nakagawa, Sayaka Fujino, Ai Miyashita)
Passing out hot tea to the cold spectators
The bustling station plaza
Need a heating pad for your seat?
Welcoming the visitors with music