The airport was a zoo since flights to Salt Lake, Oregon, Vt, Hartford, Pittsburgh had all been cancelled. Tried to standby to Boston at 9 – full, as were the next 3 flights. Stood in many rebooking lines - meanwhile Don made a flight for Providence RI through Washington DC for the next morning. I also obtained a standby for Portland for the morning. Decided to sleep in the airport on the chairs – had to go through security and a full check first. Slept for a couple of hours, but was awakened by a man looking for a blonde lady at 11:00. I was uncomfortable because the airport was totally deserted and I didn’t feel safe. So I called a hotel, checking in to the Rosemont Hyatt at 12:30 PM (discounted, but not free). No luck on the Portland stand-by, but I least I found Allyson, and we commiserated about our plight! All this chaos due to cancelled flights is complicated by the fact that it’s a big holiday week-end. Interestingly, when I called United, they transferred me to group sales – the best flight they could give me was JULY 3^rd!!!! Insanity! The only bonus to this craziness is the nice people I’ve met in line. However, the airline workers have been totally ambivalent – such a contrast to the ultra-respectful demeanor of the Japanese worker.

Presentations ended with some closing remarks and housekeeping, then an example of the Japanese way of discipline. One JFMer had missed the last hour of a seminar and had to make a public apology speech to the entire group of 200 teachers. The group-way is so incredible here - so many millions of people in such tight spaces, they HAVE to be respectful of each other all the time.  It's truly incredible to be in a city of 12 million and never hear a raised voice, a honked horn, or see pushing - unless it's to fit in the subway!

Finally found the ancient 400 year old gardens at the New Otami Hotel. So gorgeous, I spent 2 hours walking and contemplating this intense experience. Just incredible!  Winding paths, beautiful shrubs, trees, and flowers, ancient monuments, waterfalls, brooks, carp and red moonbridges. Perfect place to unwind and reflect on this trip.

The Sayonara Dinner included roast beef! My first red meat in 3 weeks! Last night's Sayonara buffet was beautiful and delicious!  Speeches, incredible food (American and Japanese), video, Aikido demo from an actual Ninja descendent!!!  Lots of singing and hugging - we all learned so much and made such great friends.  If every one takes me up on my offer to visit Maine, we'll have a steady stream of company!  But I also have places all over the US where the offer is the same as well. I’ve learned that opening and closing ceremonies are very important traditions here! Time to pack, I’m sad to leave, but happy to go!

The Giants game was a blast – there was a group of 28 teachers – indoor dome – unique customs and foods! I was actually most proud of getting to and from the game on the subway on my own. Actually was lost for a bit on one of the underground pavements, but a nice dad and his son kept walking with me, smiling and pointing to points along the way.

$35 for a small box of elite cherries! ($60 for the same box in Tokyo) Our cherry farm visit was the JMF visit to the local industry – this is an agricultural prefecture. The cherries are famous throughout the world. The trees are loaded with cherries – both red and pink. They are covered with plastic roofing to protect from the rain and the birds. Some trees have black flags to keep away the birds if they don’t have time to cover all the trees. The cherries are elaborately packed in neat rows with the stems hidden.

We ate at a "station of the road" located everywhere around Japan. Nice buffet lunch. I went crazy in the gift store, making sure I had something for everyone! As usual, people look us over intently and I hear "Amerikaya-jin" wherever I go!

We also met with parents at the town hall today. The reps of the PTA were 4 MEN – they said "It must be a requirement of being an American teacher that they be very beautiful." We learned that

Finally, one of our relaxing trip highlights – the ryokan. Of course, everyone was so concerned about being naked in the hot springs – a couple of us even had nightmares! In the end, we all did it – giggling al all the way in self-consciousness. We sampled 7 different types of hot springs of different minerals and temperatures! Most delightful to me was the salt water swimming pool - a misty 90 degrees even in the rain! At the ryokan we slept on futons on tatami mats and wore our kimonos and slippers everywhere. We even ate in our yukatas! My roommates were Renee and Kary; we talked till midnight and thoughts turned to home, children, husbands, familiar food.

Then my favorite part of the homestay, Chiho and I hiked many stairs down to the clear mountain river where there was a red iron footbridge and a multi-tiered waterfall. Gorgeous and peaceful – only a couple of children were enjoying swimming despite the 95F degree heat! Next on our afternoon journey, we visited a mountain shrine dedicated to the memories of children who had died. The shrine was covered with family pictures, mementoes, candy, toys, school uniforms, 1000 cranes bundles, and 1000 bell bundles. There was a special statue dedicated to prayer for stillborn children. We rang a huge bell with a wooden log while wishing for our children’s long life. Our afternoon trip ended by delivering Chiho to juku in Tendo. She has to study from 1-5 as she has to take her 6 hour high school examinations on June 30. She attends cram school 3 times a week. Her sport is running and her talent is playing the piano that she started when she was three. For college, she would like to study abroad. Upon returning to the house, I received more gifts from Keiko-san, and we rested for 30 minutes before our sad farewell at town hall.

We met at 5:30 to practice our presentation – power point and dance. We had some time to share our homestay experience… some had parents who could speak English quite well, some had children, some took trips to ski areas, river trips, fishing trips on the sea of Japan, concerts, neighborhood parties, sake parties, church visits, etc. Some received some elaborate gifts and picture albums, some small gifts, some stayed in Western style homes, where others were traditional Japanese. It was good to share our stories so we could understand that each Japanese family is unique despite the homogeneous nature of the people.

Reflections on Shinju…

Then we played some games – "catch ball" in the field across from their house and "shigo" – a clever board game where you have to trap and capture your opponent. Chiho let me win, but Miti is a very clever strategist! Although there are 3 tvs in 4 of the rooms downstairs – not once did I see the children watch TV or play video games. The Dinner was an enormous spread of so much food – rice wrapped in giant leaves, fish, potatoes and beans, white rice, soy rice, tofu floating in water…. On and on and on! Ohto-san kept filling my saki cup, so I just let it sit there; it was too strong for me! We ended our lovely evening with fireworks – the kids had so much fun. Unfortunately, I was very sick during the night – many visits to the toilet and no sleep until about 2 am. Stifling hot. So Sunday was a bit of a struggle.

Our welcoming ceremony to Murayama Agricultural High School included the native dance - Tokunai- Bayashi - that is performed for the August City festival. The costumes were colorful and the dances were varied and complex – an energetic combination of hip-hop/cheerleading/gymnastics/? They also had 3 huge lions that danced for us! They bite for good luck! The native drummers were incredible. What a warm and inviting welcome! We think we may try to perform this dance for our prefecture presentation! We were also presented with the school song and agricultural products as they study horticulture, crop production, forestry, home economics, and beef production here. They have specific sections of the grounds for cows, tractors, woods, veggies, fruit trees, rice paddies, flowers mulberries, water chestnuts, etc. The overall emphasis is on biotechnology and the environment. Their club sports include sumo, kendo, judo, calligraphy, dance, stock breeding, baseball, bicycling, volleyball, and biotechnology. Sports is also very important as they have the piloti gym (dirt floor), kendo gym, sumo gym, judo gym and regular large gym.

Every school we visit has flowers out for us on our tables and through out the school, a welcoming assembly, a greeting committee, maps, schedules, open classrooms, a Q & A session, and beautifully appointed waiting rooms with tea, water, and snacks.

I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere as I visited the classrooms; sometimes kids would talk to me and sometimes the teacher would also interact with me. In the English class, we had the time to interview each other – it was challenging as we each would struggle for the words we wanted to use. In the horticulture class, they were growing orchids. The teacher snowboards, so I invited him to Maine! The class laughed a lot as we struggled to talk to each other. We got to visit some specialized classes: chainsaw usage for forestry, beef cows, sheep, chickens, flower growing, etc. Interestingly, there is a huge clock on a 50 foot pole for all to see – very efficient. This is a low academic quality high school as the students are usually not assigned homework. The club activities at the end of the day were incredible to observe – kendo, baseball, soccer, tennis, dance. Sadly, the Sumo team was off to an away meet. That would have been fun to see. As I walked by the teachers’ room, I noticed a teacher and two students reading my "Kids from Kennebunk" book with great interest. So I stopped to chat with them – they were so open and friendly and asked many questions. One teacher remarked how happy the girls The cost of this school (all high schools are voluntary and charge tuition) is $250/month for tuition, room, and board.

I interviewed 3 students for my follow-on plan "Kids from Murayama" – Yumi who loves cows and is a softball catcher, Suina who is the student council president and wants to be an apple farmer, and Kanamura who likes tennis and loves sushi and math. All three students said "Peace" when asked about their wishes for the world. These students were able to answer the questions on their own unlike the group effort of the middle schoolers.

Hayama Junior High School was a brand new facility that served 328 students. Hours were 8:50- 4:00 and classes included English, Science, PE, Moral Education, Japanese, Chorus, Music, and Art. There were 9 regular classrooms of 30-40 students each. Every classroom and hall is hardwood floor. Other facilities included: an art gallery, auditorium, Home Ec. Room, music room with soundproof booth, multi-purpose hall, indoor gym, broadcast center, homebase (shoes/umbrellas), library, conference room, teachers room, tatami room, computer center, computer corners, piloti gym (dirt floor), technical arts, arts and crafts, atrium, locker area. The track and field area is directly in front of the school. The architect designed the building to let in all natural light and air. Mountain views from every classroom. This is the only JHS in the prefecture that uses the American style of students changing classes. In other schools the students stay in HR all day; the teachers rotate through the classes. Motto – "We are looking toward the future."

Our welcoming assembly was phenomenal – after the school song and school greeting we had speeches and presentations by the principal, student council and JMF. We were then treated to a kendo demonstrations – 6 boys, 4 girls. The girls are the prefecture champions. Awesome talent. The 2 main aims of this jhs were chorus and greetings.

Some observations:

Responses from admin during Q&A sessions:

Takoeta has 571 students and 43 staff. They attend school for 204 days from 8:20- 4:50. Though there is a prefecture rule of 33 students per classroom, still they have up to 40 – even in math class. I loved their singing and greetings (Hallo – good morning, nice to meet you!). Everywhere I met polite, lively, energetic and respectful students. Everyone wanted our autographs and business cards; we were treated like celebrities! Many students presented us with origami figures. Lunch in grades 1-3 is served by the students in their homerooms. Lunch grades 4-6 is served by the students in the cafeteria. Seconds are available to all – the teacher, who eats with his students, keeps going around with more food. No one had a bag lunch. We had rice, chicken, pineapple, bread, and milk. Students clean the cafeteria with 30 minutes of recess to follow. It seems the favorite activity was dodgeball! As we freely observed classes, we also got to see the school cleaning time, taking care of the plant and animal area, and the club activities (traditional Japanese games, computers, manga, cooking, Japanese dance, nature, ikebana, basketball, baseball, etc. Kids were engaged and happy until 5:30- despite the intense heat.

Back at the hotel in Shinju, a small group of young teachers decided to go on a hike. I joined them despite my poor fitting shoes and the intense heat/humidity. We hiked about 10 K on a lush and winding mountain path. Little shrines were everywhere along the way. The foliage was almost tropical – wild dogwood, palms, ferns, flowers, Japanese maples.

• Create an enjoyable school life
• Promote rich spirituality
• Promote traditional Japanese music
• Encourage sports by hiring professional athletes
• Participate in intergenerational Matsuri Festival

The goal is for the community to work together to develop children as healthy human beings. His closing words were: "Although we live in different countries, what we do as educators is the same." We also met the superintendent of schools and the chairman of the school board. Then we toured their beautiful city offices and had group pictures taken in front of the giant drum. We also received gifts of a clapper and a good luck charm.

Next we traveled to make our soba noodles and some of us were surprised to meet our host families. My family is Ohto Chugo, age 72, retired principal and Ohto Keiko, age 70, retired nurse. Ohto-san is hilarious… he speaks only an iota of English, and his wife speaks none. Regardless, the soba making was great fun for all – we even ate the exact soba that we made!

As the day warmed up to the mid 90’s with 95% humidity we almost started wishing for rain instead of the intense heat. But 3 more visits to go: 2 museums and a dojo. The dojo was next to a Shinto shrine – we learned how to pray – bow bow clap clap bow. The Aia sensai was a 78 year old man who still taught elementary students. He said the most important thing is to bow. The reason for Aia is to "cultivate yourself spiritually." Then we had a demonstration and got to try out the swords.

 






Next was the Rose garden visit. It’s pretty hard to describe the fragrance and sight that greets you when you see 100,000 rose plants of 700 varieties – even a green rose! I would have liked more time here to "stop and smell the roses," but I greatly enjoyed the interactions I had with the other park visitors. It’s pretty obvious that we draw a lot of attention in a town that is 100% Japanese! The 2 museums were well worth the visit. The first was a contemporary gallery constructed of Japanese cedar. The second was a history museum where we got to visit a traditional Japanese house and an older Ainu (native people) house.

After arriving back at the hotel, we decided to go on our kimono hunt. We ended up at a store on the main street. Though we arrived at 6 and the store closed at 6:30, they (5 clerks and the owner) literally kept us until 7:30. They insisted on teaching us how to dress in the kimono and how to tie the Obi – which is very complicated! Communication was very difficult, but we all enjoyed many laughs. They insisted we return on Thursday at 5:30 for another lesson!!! Then they gave us gifts – scarfs and fans – even the 3 teachers who did not buy anything! Then all 6 walked us to the door and waved us off!

The wakeup call came all too soon at 5AM. Time to take the bullet train to our prefecture of Yamagata where we will do our school visitations and homestay. Tokyo station serves 3000 trains every hour! Hard to imagine! We saw many school children taking the trains, and even some samurai in their yukatas and topknots!

It was such a pleasure to watch the scenery change from skyscrapers to industrial concrete mass to smaller cities, countryside with rice fields and eventually mountains lush with foliage and tall pines. We traveled for 2 hours through pockets of sun and fog – so much for the rainy season! The mountains increased in size and are so beautifully shaped.
   

Our visit to Yamagata University was so special. The President welcomed us with a speech while we were served tea around a conference table. We then visited with a group of 25 or so teachers, students and professors. Though communication was strenuous, the sharing of ideas, stories and questions was stimulating. I made several new friends and Emi Saito would love to have her students email with my students. Interestingly, the senior teaching student that I spoke with does not have a computer or an email address; she uses her cell phone to communicate. After she passes a difficult two week test, she will be placed in a position without having to apply. Interestingly, since Yamagata University is National, it only costs $2500 per year to attend! Our visit was so official; there were TV cameras and we were on the news on two different stations that night.

The small vehicles here have also been interesting to photograph. Literally everything here is clean, small and efficient: tiny servings, small streets, slim people! And everything is on time to the minute, without exception.

We had a late lunch at the restaurant cafe and then decided to visit the zoo. Keiko loves animals... Not only did I enjoy the animals, but I enjoyed watching the Japanese parents interacting with their children.  We especially enjoyed the panda exhibit because one of the pandas was very active playing with his bamboo shoots.  This park is like a Central Park in NYC - people are everywhere walking, riding bikes, relaxing, visiting the museums.  I even saw a small group of skateboarders.  

But despite the intense heat, no one was wearing shorts!  Many people were still dressed up - especially the middle aged and older.   After leaving the zoo, we visited 3-4 shrines and temples, each one with its own personality.

One shocking part of the park was the homeless village.  It's a giant area where thousands of homeless people are camping under blue tarps.  Apparently they are allowed to do this. Near the subway station we strolled down the American shop that was established after WWII.  It was time to say good-bye, but I'm going to see Keiko in July because she's coming to VA to see her daughter Miho and then to Kennebunk for 4 days.   I’ve noticed that I’m drawn to taking pictures of the beautiful, well-mannered children. Guess that’s the teacher in me!

We ate at a Japanese restaurant and talked over old times, catching up on our families.  Unbelievably, we kept running into some of the American teachers!  Keiko loved hearing about which states everybody was from - she is still so funny!  We arrived home around 7:30 and Hideki had come to visit and brought take out food since it was so late.  We stopped at the market which is attached to the train station to pick up sushi, tofu and fresh fruit.  I also got to try "biwa" - a delicious Japanese fruit!  Hiroshi loves to garden and has 2 biwa trees which he is very proud of. It was fun to catch up on Hideki's life and he was so interested to hear about Scott and Brian since he remembers them when they were small.  We talked a bit about the school refusal issue - he said it lingers into adult life: people who just stay home in front of their electronic equipment all day long. Before bedtime, we rolled out the futon in their little tatami guest room and Keiko taught me how to take a Japanese bath - it's so strange to wash up on the little stool and then get in the tub - but the water is 100F (like a hot tub). Very soothing after so much walking and traveling. Their house is so tiny - you can reach out the window and touch the neighbors’ houses all around - but it cost $1 million since it is so close (10 min. walking distance) to two different train stations. Japanese houses and apartments (mansions) are very utilitarian to the eye - many concrete structures built in hodge-podge fashion.

First Sensei Yanagi spoke from Hiroshima Misuzugaoka High School. Her father was an atomic bomb survivor. He was 1.6 km from ground zero Aug. 6, 1945. He was knocked out but a high wall saved his life. When he came to he saw "hell." When the A-bomb exploded, the epicenter temperature soared to over one million degree centigrade. (Iron melts at 1536 degrees centigrade.) Everything was completely destroyed. Mental wounds were unimaginable. Many were so helpless that they couldn’t help others that they blame themselves and are hesitant to talk about the experience. There was also discrimination in marrying 2^nd generation daughters because of danger of radioactivity. Survivors did not know there was radioactivity until a doctor noticed that X-Rays were all white. With this knowledge sooner, many could have been treated better. The target cities were carefully chosen to see the effects. "This was a huge experience at the expense of many thousands of lives." In many schools in Japan, they hold peace assemblies called "Paper Cranes Assembly." This includes presentations, songs, and folding of cranes in memory of Sadako who was 2 years old when she was hit by the atomic bomb and died at age 12 from the exposure. Japanese superstition says "If you can fold 1000 paper cranes, your wishes will come true." Another part of peace education includes listening to survivors of the atomic bomb in order to move toward reconciliation vs hatred. This teacher also helps organize volunteers of the World Peace Mission go to countries known to have nuclear weapons to share their perspectives and fears of the terrors of war. She hopes to "Expand our hope for peace with mutual understanding and discussion."

 

The second speaker was atomic bomb survivor Koji Ikeda - age 88. On the day of the bombing, he was holding his newborn son. He looked up to see a B52 bomber. A blue-ish light appeared and the bomb came. He was blinded for several weeks. Everything was black. He thought, "This must be hell." Many people were running and shouting. "I looked at my son and saw that he was sleeping under me." His wife’s face was half burned away, her hair gone, breasts, legs, and shoulder burned from the intense heat. His house was destroyed in a heap and fire was spreading from the west. They went to the river where corpses were floating. That night his family slept on the street. He went out into the city on a broken bicycle with no tires. There were many corpses lying in the street, especially at the street car stops. "I thought we were lucky to be alive with all my family." There was no information about the atomic bomb or ways to take care of the wounds. They lived in the street for several days, then made their way to relatives in Tokyo who were "almost despaired of us." Later, many women had deformed babies. Many women were discriminated against because they were considered "dirty."

The third speaker was Migiwa Ishitani who was here to convey the message of her father - a Nagasaki bomb survivor. First she said she couldn’t ask for peace without apologizing first for those who were harmed, tortured, or killed by the aggression of Japan. Her father was 13 years old when the bomb dropped. In school, he had been taught that Japan was the countries of gods and others had to be destroyed/ subdued. Americans were the devils. But after the war, that changed – Japan was the enemy and in the wrong. He felt deceived by his government and decided to think for himself to see the truth: NO WAR CAN BE JUSTIFIED WHATEVER THE REASON. In HS, he met an American young man who was a Quaker. Her father was surprised to meet this person who was kind – after being taught that Americans were evil monsters. He decided he wanted to be like this man – non-violent. Her father then taught Peace Education in college. She is currently worried that the government is promoting nationalism and it is dangerous to dispatch Japanese soldiers to other countries. It makes other Asian countries afraid – especially Korea and China.

The last Special Seminar I attended was Art Education in Japan. Chihiro Tada is the charismatic Director of the Art Education Institute and the Toy Museum. He feels that "Art is nourishment for the mind." Education of Japanese children today is tinted by Western culture: MacDonald’s, Toys-R-Us, Disneyworld. At graduation, children sign "Auld Lang Syne" from Scotland. Another problem is that children today play "Family Com" (video games). So they don’t play creatively with traditional toys anymore. He then gave us a demonstration of traditional toys: "the serpent" from Okinowa, fan throwing at target, etc. He feels that children’s minds are best nourished by low-tech toys. He highly recommends the book "Sense of Wonder" by Rachel Carson. He feels that Japanese children are lacking in sensitivity – older people too. While in Japan, you won’t see all the problems of Japan. For instance, the elderly have the highest suicide rate in the world. Every year about 30,000 people die of suicide. Every year we have more children who refuse to go to school and teachers who have nervous breakdowns. What is the cause? He thinks we should work together to figure out the causes. He thinks a common theme is electronic media – TV, computers, comics, video are trying to steal away children’s time to a great degree. Second graders spend 700 hours a year in school, but 2000 hours a year with electronic media. He feels this number has increased 5 times over since 1960. There is less time to talk with friends and play outside – work on social skills. He is very concerned by the diminishing of art education budgets in the US and Japan. He shared the character "learn" with us: hand of teacher, hand of parent, roof over child = learn/school.

After changing to casual clothes, three of us took the subway to buy Giants tickets at Tokyo Dome. It was my first experience on such an incredibly massive subway system. We were shocked at the conditions of the subways… not one iota of trash or graffiti. Everyone sat quietly and slept, read, or played games on their cell phones. Not one person was eating or drinking anything at all – it’s not polite. Again, at the ball park, perfect neatness. What a gorgeous ballpark with a huge amusement park attached to it. We bought 28 tickets for Y1700 each, so there will be quite a party on Tuesday the 28^th at the Ball game!

The other two headed back after helping me on my way to take the subway to the Ginza District so I could purchase pearls for my mom at Mikimoto’s. I did not feel nervous at all! One older gentleman asked me where I was from and we chatted a bit. Ginza District was so much fun! Millions of people – mostly dressed in business attire and thousands of stores and restaurants. I felt like a millionaire shopping at Mikimoto’s and then I explored 2 department stores. Interestingly, their bargains are on the top floor, and they have tons of food on the bottom floor (200+ food sections with everything from sushi to chocolate) I bought some items to eat for supper, but couldn’t find anywhere to sit. You’re not supposed to eat and walk – very impolite. I finally found a couple of stools and sat there trying to nibble unobtrusively! I kept wondering what everyone was thinking of me!

     

We did a little shopping at the open air market and headed home via taxi. When we returned to the hotel area, a friend from WV and I searched for a garden in vain, and then ordered a coffee at "First Kitchen." When I said "ni koohi" (2 coffee) I got a ham and cheese sandwich! It was good! I think I’m recovering from jet lag!

Today’s presentations included:

We concluded our day with a tour of the Asakusa district where there is a Shinto shrine and Buddhist Temple. After a brief overview of the 2 religions, we got to visit the shrines and many little shops with tourist – type gifts. Best experience: talking with the sales ladies in the clothing store. They were so well dressed and had friendly open faces. They laughed at everything I said – in joy of my effort! Dinner was traditional – take off shoes, sit on floor, all Japanese food – at local restaurant. I tried some new foods: bean sprouts, tofu soy soup, picked carrots, fish tempura, and pickled seaweed. There are a couple more items, but I don’t know what they were! I actually am getting pretty good with my chopsticks and ending up helping some others at my table!

The City Tour continued by bus to Ginza Street which is much like Las Vegas! Huge neon signs everywhere – but most people are "dressed up." Saw Mikimoto store, Apple store, many American chains such as MD’s, KFC, Denny’s, etc.

The Keynote Speaker wasTsutomu Kimura from the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation. He spoke about "EDUCATIONAL REFORM in JAPAN" and was an outstanding speaker - clear, good pace, honest statistics about disturbing trends in education. He discussed the fundamentals, characteristics, and purposes of the Japanese educational system. He went on to say that they are not satisfied for these reasons:

The future model of education is to be based on these traits:

One last issue that is very important is that overall satisfaction with children in Japan is low - parents are concerned with academic performance. At birth, 70% satisfaction, but age 12, parents have 38% satisfaction. In USA, at birth 95% parent satisfaction, by age 12, 83% satisfaction with children.

The afternoon was filled with theater- they have about 5 different types  and we saw demonstrations of two of them – Kyogen and Kabuki. We watched the Kabuki dancer put on her elaborate make-up and embroidered silk kimono - very involved process.  Some of us thought her kimono probably cost around $15000!

        

At break time, I just had to check out the 100 Yen store (Dollar store) to pick up some cheap souvenirs and artifacts. I still can’t get over striking out on my own in a city of 12,000,000 without having fear of crime. The store was jammed with about 40 of us looking for "deals." I picked up a few items that have Japenglish (funny translations).

The welcome reception was incredible - fancy food everywhere and speeches from "important" people in the program. There were both Western and Japanese foods to choose from.  The protocol was to take a small dish of food from the buffet tables and then mingle with the Japanese Fulbrighters.  I tried more new foods - but nothing raw, though there was raw fish, conger, squid, etc. I spent a long time talking to a retired piano teacher who has a daughter studying in Canada and a son who wants to study in the US. He has visited Camden, Maine while he lived in the US studying! He is very concerned about the direction of his wealthy society. We had an usually frank conversation; he said because he lived in the US for 10 years, he likes the "direct" way of conversation better.

Our Fulbright volunteer (Sukiyamo) had studied one year at Boston College and has been to Maine! She took our small group of 5 out to eat, ordering a variety of foods for us to sample.  I loved the yakitori - skewed chicken- and fried rice.  We also had bacon wrapped asparagus, tofu with some daikon, and a lot of veggies.  I was brave and tried some new things!  Then we walked around a bit and took pictures. Surprisingly even at 9 at night, everyone is bustling about because most people are just getting out of work and looking for a bite to eat! In this district - everyone is dressed in very expensive suits.  Sukiyama left us at 9 to take the train home alone - an hour.  She said it was very safe!  

The director met me at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at 11:30 PM – she had some supper boxed for me, but it was too strange to eat dinner at 2:30 in the AM! I respectfully declined and headed to my room where I met Allison from Maine (who had arrived just an hour before me). We excited shared our trip and hit the sack by midnight. Unfortunately, I awoke at 4:30 am after just a few hours of sleep, tossing and turning as I agonized over what I had missed in the orientation sessions. That often happens to me in a "new environment"; I tend to get a little over-stimulated and my mind races instead of rests! After a wonderful American breakfast, I took a short walk along the hotel gardens near the sparkling San Francisco Bay. The sun and fresh air revived my spirits. In transit to the airport and while waiting for the flight, I was welcomed by many of the teachers in the group. My group in particular was very concerned about me. All expressed that the Orientation was most helpful in calming nerves about some of the cultural differences and expectations. The tidbits that I’ve been picking up have been most encouraging.

This is a 10 hour flight; we are scheduled to land in Tokyo at 2:30 PM on Tuesday as we will lose a day as we pass the international dateline. This plane is huge!

I’d like to use this book in my classes next year.  I hope my trip to Japan will build on the current goodwill that exists between our countries.

I'm sorry because I've not been writing more often.  My graduate class and softball practices are superceding all else. (And my job of course!) This is vacation week, so I'm working 24-7 to move ahead in the graduate class.  My project is called "Only If I Have To" - it's a study of why kids only read for pleasure when they have to.  What else is taking up their time?  The statistics show that only 29% of middle schoolers read for fun, so I'm not having trouble finding students to interview.  Then, the librarian and I will "customize" them to a short summer book list to see if that piques their interest enough to read "for fun." 

In my spare time this vacation, I'm keeping up with my reading, running, writing, correcting, raking, and shopping (at LLBean with my Mom.) Yesterday was very special; I made my final trip to Sunday River for spring skiing.  Yesterday was the warmest riding I've ever done in Maine.  Temps in the 60's, azure skies, yet still 2-3 feet of snow in the upper elevations.  Heavenly! 

My journals will be sparse as I started my first graduate course yesterday "Educational Trends in Literacy."  Last night I wrote the abstract for the project I'll conduct at school and gathered a list of resources.  More later... I'm off to Danvers, MA for the 2nd day of the course

Sorry - little time to write - softball try-outs started today.  After some Language Arts grading, I've got to plan tomorrow's softball session and then relax before bedtime with Learning to Bow.  I'm just reading about how in his rural school, all the teachers' desks are in the teachers' lounge.... that's a little different!

Don brought home the DVD "Lost in Translation" as our Saturday night diversion.  The film gave me a feel for what it may feel like exploring (ha!) a city of 12 million without understanding a word. (Well, actually I am up to 50  words, counting ones I already knew like futon, kimono, and sushi.)  I'm fascinated by the dual level of the language; the very polite form versus the friendly form.  I guess the men can use the friendly form almost all the time, but the women use the lengthier polite format.  I'll have to check that out with my host family.

my "pasupotto" photo