Rebecca Sensei's Trip to Japan

A note for those reading this blog

2006-07-31T12:06:00.000-05:00

If you have not previously visited my blog (or are arriving here from another link), please use the Archives link on the side to go to the oldest entries, then read forward from there.

Blogging is, by nature, a LIFO (Last In, First Out) process. My blog is more of a diary and should be read from oldest to newest entry.

Enjoy!

A couple of minor changes here....

2005-10-02T21:50:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, my blog has been hit with 'comment spam' recently - things that look like comments but are actually unwanted advertising for someone else's get-rich-quick or rip-you-off schemes.

I've cleaned out the non-comments and changed a setting; comments can still be entered, but there is an additional verification step before they will be accepted. It's a bit of a nuisance, but the cretins that prey on others leave me no particular choice.

If you come across any comments in any blog that include highlighted links, please do not click on the links unless you know exactly who put them there (and even then I would avoid clicking on them). They are not much different than those strange e-mails with links that pretend to go to banking sites, etc. - all they will do is cause you problems.

More later - our Japanese administrator is due here for a visit in two weeks.

Tokyo Return, Day 4 - Returning Home

2005-07-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

Up at a 'normal' time, and I get on the computer one more time before packing it up. The first news report I see is a 'passage of time' report - James Doohan, know to millions of "Star Trek" fans as Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, has died. I muse on the fact that "Beam me up, Scotty" is something that I wish I could say today, rather than sit on that airplane. I'll have to e-mail my partner, who is as much a Trekkie as I am.

Breakfast finds me downstairs with many of the other American teachers, and conversations range from 'what shuttle are you riding (to the airport?)', to the news about the Star Trek actor's death to a query about who has the new Harry Potter book to read on the plane, which leads to a second discussion of what bookstores have it and in which edition (we've found both the American and the British publishers' versions - the British is trifle bit cheaper in price, for the most part). By the time we all get to our planes, more than half of the teachers will have a fresh copy to read.

Check out is straightforward, as is the walk to the hotel down the street where we will catch the shuttle bus to the airport. The desk clerks at that hotel seem very surprised at the size and amount of luggage we have, until I explain that we are a group of teachers finishing a 6-week-long stay in Japan. One clerk smiles broadly and exclaims, "So that is why your bags are so big!" and asks how we liked our stay. I tell her that we have enjoyed ourselves.

After all of our concerns about the flight home, the reality is a bit of an anticlimax - no long lines, no particular problems with over weight bags or security problems, not even major difficulties with boarding. And the flight itself is a decent one - for the first time, I get to ride in a plane that has the individual video screens for each seat, which means I can choose which movies I see during the flight. I also manage a couple of short sleep sessions, another good thing that should ensure that I am not quite a zombie when I get home.

Our arrival in Chicago heralds the end of the 'easy' part - now we know where some of the lines went. The entry point lines are long, but they are moving; unfortunately, the same cannot be said for baggage claim. As the suitcases slowly trickle down the chute, several people begin to worry about making connecting flights - it takes almost an hour for all of the bags to arrive, and there were one or two broken ones as well as some missing luggage.

The customs checkpoint moves fairly quickly; baggage re-check on the other side does not. It's almost as though the baggage handlers at O'Hare Airport are operating on reduced capacity or something. Later listserv messages confirm that there were major problems - several of the east-coast-bound folks arrived home without their bags. (Hopefully, everyone will be reunited with their belongings soon.)

I get to my gate for the connecting flight to St. Louis and find Theckla but not Joy - she shows up later, having stopped to grab something to eat. I call my husband, and find out that my son will be picking me up; this is nice, but I wonder if his compact car can handle my large suitcases. Oh well, we'll find out, won't we?

The flight to St. Louis is uneventful - sleep time for me (I don't even bother with getting something to drink). We arrive almost 15 minutes early, but our rides have also gotten there ahead of time. My son is waiting at the concourse entrance; turns out he wanted to be sure which one is was, since he is flying out on business from there next week. The others soon find their people as well, and our baggage shows up rather quickly, for a change. (Okay, now I understand what's going on - someone transplanted our usual baggage handlers to Chicago....)

We load everything (yes, the bags fit), and head for home. I've had a wonderful time, but I'm glad to see my family again. I'll spend the next few days recovering from jet lag, then begin working on plans for the upcoming school year.

Tokyo Return, Day 3 - The final meeting

2005-07-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

Breakfast with Ishii-san one more time - the Japanese teachers have a 9:00 AM meeting, and then they head back to their schools. American teachers have our meeting this afternoon, and we will fly out tomorrow.

I have that last box to mail, so I walk over to the Sanno Grand Building with Ishii. When we get to the JUSEC office, I tell him that I will be e-mailing him once school starts so that we can set up our first video conference, then wish him a safe flight home, and head back for the first floor. My box safely on its way, I go back to the hotel. Our meeting is this afternoon, and I have to get my web report onto a CD.

The housekeeping force is already started, but I need uninterrupted time, so out comes the "Do Not Disturb" sign. (Later, I found out that about a third of the teachers were doing the same - the poor ladies cleaning the rooms must have had a dreaful time keeping track of which rooms were done and which still needed work.)

Pictures uploaded, Week 5 Report created, and everything is burned on to a CD - okay that's finished. Now I dig through my receipts - I remembered last night that I had not put the camcorder spare battery or the extra CDs and tapes on the expense report, and I need the dates as well as the amounts (for Yen to Dollar conversion). Now I've got those things taken care of - is there anything else in the way of paperwork?

No - now it's just the last of the packing. All of the accumulated camera and computer stuff gets put in one bag, all of the paperwork in another, the last of the specialty things wherever they will fit...Okay, pull out the clothes for tomorrow, make a space for the last of the dirty things - this just might work. I test the bags, then take the heaviest of the two downstairs to check the weight. It says 28 kg - I am allowed not quite 32 kg, so even with some slop, I should be okay.

Wow, I may actually be ready for this last sesson.

Okay, I've got time for lunch before I go over there. I hang the "Make Up the Room" sign out, grab my folder and head for the street. And discover (happily) that a new lunch option is available - Subway! There was a Subway around the corner from the hotel, but when we came in June, we discovered that it had closed and some new construction was going on. Turns out they were turning the space into two shops - an updated Subway (yay!) and a Haagen-Das ice-cream shop (double yay!!!!!).

And they've got Diet Pepsi! (Be still, my beating heart.......)

Subway is very similar to the American version, but there are some sandwiches and wraps only available in Japan. I try one of those - a Taandori Chicken wrap that turns out to be wonderful - I think I'll have to see if they plan to introduce it in the U.S. Now it's meeting time.

Our last gathering is a discussion of our various experiences and short descriptions of what we have planned for our paired projects. I wasn't sure what to expect - my experience was great, and I knew that many others had enjoyed their community visits as well, but I had also heard discussions that indicated that a couple of people had some problems. But everyone did report their various good/unique/special experiences, and I think even those with some problems found that there were good things that happened as well.

Some of the problems I heard about were related to miscommunications between the Japanese hosts and MTP regarding housing and the payments of the costs associated with it. Because we do not (for the most part) stay in regular hotels during the 4-week community visit, there are a lot of things that are very different in the weekly rents - for example, utilities are charged based on actual use, and are paid at the end of the stay. The schools that have participated in MTP have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done; it's the new schools that are having issues, but things will get worked out, one way or another.

Our last bit of paperwork complete, the Americans head back to the hotel, some to go out for the evening, others to finish packing and head for bed.

Tokyo Return, Day 2 - National Science Museum

2005-07-19T23:55:00.000-05:00

Ishii-san had called me when he arrived on Monday evening, and we agreed to meet for breakfast at 7:30 AM. So why am I running around like crazy, yanking clothes from the suitcases at 7:28 AM?

Because I overslept, that's why.....

I had the curtains open (an early sunrise is a very good way to wake me up), and I vaguely recall half-waking, looking at the clock and realizing that I could sleep for at least another hour (sunrise is around 5:00 AM - that's what no Daylight Savings Time does), so I did...and then some.

Oh well, I manage to get showered and dressed and downstairs by about 7:40 or so, so it wasn't too bad. We enjoy our breakfast and talk about our morning schedule. Ishii isn't sure how long it will take to get to the National Science Museum, our morning gathering place, but I assure him that, even with a transfer from subway to train, it shouldn't take more than 40 minutes or so.

We agree to meet in the lobby at 8:45, and I head back upstairs to (sort of) put things to right. Then we make the trip out to the science museum. Our meeting this morning is a presentation about the museum and its collections (it is the equivalent of the Natural History Museum portion of the Smithsonian), and a shorter presentation about ways to collect bugs.

Ed Jones is not at the meeting; he has been dealing with some health issues and is in the hospital, but he talks with us via cell phone and answers a few questions that come up. We all send wishes for his speedy recovery.

The latter topic always seems a bit redundant with science-based teachers, but in recent years, museums that specialize in science training have discovered that while kids seem to instinctively know how to catch a bug in a net, adults don't retain that knowledge very well. The presentation offers some good tips for attracting different kinds of bugs, both in nets and in traps designed for specific insect types.

After the presentation, we are invited to view the rest of the museum and have free time until our farewell dinner tonight. Both Ishii and I have seen the museum before; Ishii wants to go to Akihabara to look for a specific kind of radio, and I decide to go along just to look at what's available.

Akihabara Electric Town is a collection of shops with electronics of all types - every camera known to the modern world, both new and used, any portable form of music player that one can buy, even individual parts (I walked through a building with a series of small booths selling transistors, capacitors, diodes...anything one might need to build or repair anything electronic). If it uses electricity, one can buy it here.

Most of the shops advertise that they are "Duty-Free" - most of the time that means that they can supply the necessary paperwork to ensure that you do not pay extra taxes if you hold a foreign passport. These shops can often offer an international warranty (on new products) as well, which is an advantage on some items. The prices, though, are usually list (sometimes a bit lower, occasionally higher), and one is expected to bargain it down, something that I have never been very good at. As a result, I prefer to do most of my electronics shopping in Shinjuku, where list prices also prevail, but extras are often thrown in, making for (I think) a better overall deal. Also, if you are looking for the latest technology, the shops in Shinjuku seem to be a bit more consistent in keeping things in stock.

(As an example, I bought my new camera on Monday in Shinjuku; the store was down to two in stock - one, after I bought mine - but expected to get more within a day or two. The same camera was shown at several stores in Electric Town, but had 'Out of Stock' stickers in most places and list price or a little bit higher in the one or two shops that actually had it.)

Ah well, enough of that - plenty of people have gotten great deals in Akihabara, and that's good; others do better in Shinjuku. Shopping is an individual thing; you have to figure out what works best for you, then follow that plan.

I decide to head back for the hotel, to finish posting XOOPS reports (actually to get the pictures uploaded and then post the reports), and try to make some sense out of the mess that is my suitcases and stuff. I stop at the post office and buy another box - I've got to ship some of this home.....

My afternoon is spent completely repacking. After much thought, I figure out what can be shipped and what should go into a suitcase and succeed in getting most of it into the correct places. I will need to take one of my cases downstairs and check its weight, but they feel about right, so I think I will make it.

Our gathering in the evening is fun. There are all kinds of drinks and many different foods; this is more of a buffet rather than a sit down dinner, and people mingle and talk. The American teachers present MTP staffers with flowers (for the women) and small carved cups (for the men). I have a set of cups for the Jones, but those will have to be delivered later.

After the main party, a large group decide to do one more round of karaoke, at the bar across the street from the hotel. Karaoke is very much a Japanese entertainment venue (in fact, it originated here), but it is done differently that it is in the U.S. Instead of having everyone in one giant room, the Japanese have small group rooms, each with a large screen TV, music system, and lighting effects that work with whatever music is selected. One nice thing about this setup is that you don't have to feel embarrassed about getting up and singing in front of strangers; it's only your friends and drinking buddies that hear your voice, good or bad. The evening is great fun.

Then it's time to head back to the hotel. Even though it's late here, I get online and find my family available for a short IM chat. My daughter informs me that she still needs a pair of tan jazz shoes (for some reason, they weren't ordered with the rest of the stuff for danceline). Hmmm, sounds like Mom-the-keeper-of-the-schedule is back in full-time business early.

I sigh, and tell her to get me brand name, color and size. Fortunately, our favorite dance accessories place is online and available 24/7 (Dance Distributors - they do a great job of keeping large shoe sizes in stock, important if you're a nearly 6-foot-tall female dancer), so she sends me the link to the shoes she wants, calls the coach to verify color (did you know that you can order three different shades of "tan" these days?), and I place the order. They are in stock and should be there by the time I get home, so she will have them for danceline camp.

Amazing...simply amazing. It's midnight in Japan, mid-morning in the U.S., my daughter can tell me via Yahoo IM that she needs dance shoes and I can order them on the spot. Quite a world we live in, these days; what did we ever do before the 'Net?

Bedtime - I'm exhausted.

Tokyo Return, Day 1

2005-07-18T22:30:00.000-05:00

Monday morning, and time to head back to Tokyo. Hiroko will also be going home to Komatsu, so we meet in the hotel lobby and check out, then head for the train station once more. We take the short trip to Nagoya's main station and stop at a breakfast shop/bakery called Cafe Denmark to get something to eat.

All too soon, it's time for me to catch my train, so we head for the shinkansen tracks. Tears again from both of us - this has been a wonderful time together, and we will miss seeing each other, but we will continue our e-mail discussions. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to get together some time in the future, perhaps when Hiroko comes back to the U.S. to finish her university studies.

I climb aboard and find my seat, loading my excess of bags in the overhead compartment. My seat mate is interested in the Expo 2005 bags; although his English is limited and my Japanese is still rather spotty, we manage to have a short discussion about how I liked the Expo visit. He wanted to know if we had visited the Hitachi pavilion; turns out he works for Hitachi. We exchange business cards as he leaves the train at Yokohama.

During the ride, I get some more journaling done, and see an interesting sight along the way. There was an area of shallow water just a little north of Nagoya where small motorboats (we would call them johnboats in Missouri - flat bottoms with a small engine on the back, used for fishing) were running back and forth, and people were wading and reaching into the water at intervals. I think they were harvesting shellfish of some sort.

The train arrives at Tokyo Station, and I grab all of my stuff, ask the station master where the taxi stand is (he points me in the correct direction), and find a cab to go to the hotel. (I could go by subway, but it's a bit of a distance and I've got far too many things to carry today.) The taxi driver is female, which is a bit of a surprise, but nice. I hand her the map that has the address and directions in Japanese, and she checks her GPS system to find the most direct route. It works; as we get close, I indicate that this is the area, and she and I are both happy.

The hotel tells me that I am early and my room will not be available for about 1-1/2 hours. That's okay - I got in a bit sooner than I expected, so I leave the most awkward of the bags there and head back out. I've got some additional shopping to do, and I would really like to get some lunch.

Shopping is done, lunch is eaten, and I head back for the hotel to check in. They have received a shipment of suitcases (the MTP crowd is arriving in force), but mine are not in the pile - perhaps at a later time today. After settling into my room, I catch up on e-mails and upload my latest journal entries, then decide it's time to go look at cameras one more time.

Shinjuku is not hard to find, and with a little walking, I soon locate the store where I bought my camcorder. I have an English copy of the user's guide to pick up, and they have that. Then I look around - I am still thinking about getting a small still-shot camera for those times when the camcorder is too bulky to carry. I also look at MP3 players - not for music but for possible use to store videos and play them (when hooked to a computer). While I see several varieties there, I do not find any that seem to have everything I want - mostly a very large storage capacity and USB2 connectivity. I think that I will probably have better luck looking for the larger capacity ones in the U.S.

I'd really like to get an ultra compact camera, specifically the Fuji FinePic, but it's rather pricey (over $400) and it uses a different memory card, which means I would have to buy yet another type of storage card. I settle on a Canon IXY (a mid-sized one, 5.0 Mpixels); while it uses its own battery packs (which are somewhat expensive but generally have a good use life), it also uses the same SD media cards that the camcorder uses, so I can interchange cards with the two cameras. I've had an IXY camera before (the American equivalent is the PowerShot SD400) and they take great pictures. This one isn't much larger than the Fuji ultra, so it will work nicely as a pocket camera. I also pick up a spare battery.

One more stop on another floor of the electronics store, where I find the latest Naruto video game, one that my son had asked that I look for when I got back to Tokyo (it was released on July 14). He's going to be happy, I think - not only did I get the game, but it came with a game machine cover done up as one of the characters.

Back to the hotel, where we discover that not only are my bags not there, they're apparently scheduled to arrive on the wrong date (Wednesday instead of Monday). I'm busily thinking about what I have that I can wash out and re-wear, when the desk clerk (who has been on the phone with the delivery service) tells me that the bags are within range and can be delivered sometime tonight. She is apologetic that it may be a late delivery, but I assure her that I won't mind coming down to get them regardless of what time they arrive. I thank her profusely for her help and head back to my room.

The bags arrive much earlier than any of us expected - thank goodness! I won't have to hang laundry tonight after all.....

As the evening progresses, I see Japanese and American teachers arrive. We exchange greetings - we'll get a chance to talk tomorrow morning when we all meet at the Science Museum for our first meetings. I spend my remaining free time working on this blog and finishing the Week 5 report, to be posted on XOOPS.

Then it's off to bed.

Nagoya, Day 1 and 2 - Expo 2005 Aichi

2005-07-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning, I wake up ready to a new adventure. Everything is mostly packed; I just have to put the last few odds and ends away and do a last check around the apartment. Then I gather everything up and lock the door for the last time.

A quick walk to the train station, where I stop and grab a bottle of tea for along the way. I find Ishii-san and the head teacher waiting for me there; Nakagawa is in charge of one of the sports teams and must be at school for the opening of the holiday weekend tournament, along with Principal Yagi.

Both teachers rode the train in from Fukuoka and will ride back to Hakata Station with me. As I am more-or-less loaded down like a typical American tourist, each one grabs an extra bag to help me along. I buy a local ticket and we head for the train.

Once at Hakata Station, we go to the Shinkansen tracks (in a separate part of the station). Here we discover that my original JR ticket included train fare from Futsukaichi – I didn’t need that local ticket at all. Since we have plenty of time, Ishii grabs both of the tickets and hurries back to the local tracks to get a fare adjustment.

Once that’s done, the two teachers buy ‘platform passes’ for the shinkansen line. These are tickets that are good for access onto the train platform itself, but will not give you a train ride (without paying the full fare); you must leave from the same station that you entered. These are a great way to help someone get settled on the train and see them off in proper style (much as people used to be able to do at airline gates, before boarding pass security became the norm in the U.S.).

As the train leaves, I wave goodbye and settle back for the ride. The car isn’t very full, and I wonder if perhaps I should have gone ahead and gotten a non-reserved ticket. That notion disappears rapidly as the train moves north – with every stop, the seats fill up. By the time we have passed Hiroshima, some people have left, but others board and take their vacated seats. Okay, the reserved seat was a good idea, after all…….

A little over three hours later, I arrive at Nagoya station. My friend Hiroko had e-mailed me to suggest that we meet at the Expo information booth in the station; that’s a good idea, but where is the booth? A check with the station master gets me some directions, and I walk over there, looking around for my friend.

“Rebecca!” I hear, and there she is! She hasn’t changed much at all, except that her hair is shorter than I remember it. We hug each other and exclaim how happy we are to see each other.

She arrived earlier than I and has been talking with the people at the information booth; she has brochures for both of us (in English), and the tickets she had previously bought for the full day we have planned for Sunday. As we grab all of our stuff, we decide to go ahead and get lunch at the station, then head for the hotel.

Lunch is at a Maccaroni Grill restaurant – probably not related to the one of a similar name in the U.S., but has Italian (with Japanese accents) cuisine. I order something called a Hamburg plate, which turns out to be something very close to….meat loaf, the first I’ve had in Japan! And there’s rice, some pasta and a small salad; the pasta and meat have a tomato sauce that’s good. Hiroko orders a variety of pizza and seems to enjoy it as well.

Just as we are getting up to leave, the server, who is clearing the table next to us, drops a glass, which shatters on the tile floor. Everyone freezes; there’s glass and water all over, and we are all concerned that someone will get cut or slip in the water. Fortunately, we were close to a side window, and the area immediately around us had already cleared of patrons (we were the only ones left in that section).

A manager comes over just as I pick up the two bags that were closest to the spill; he anxiously asks if we are injured. A quick check and I assure him that no damage was done, as another server offers napkins to help with drying things (not much, actually – the server was between us and the glass). I am more concerned about the server herself and ask if she was hurt by flying glass; she assures me that she is fine. We stay put while the last of the glass and water are cleaned up, then head for the front to pay our bill.

Our next stop is the subway station across the street; our hotel is just a couple of blocks from Atsuta Shrine, and it is accessed on a different (non-JR) train line. After a bit of minor confusion over what kind of tickets to buy (there are both above- and below-ground trains to that station, and each uses a different ticketing system), we get to our destination and head out to find the hotel.

Hiroko was told by the hotel staff that the building is on a side street directly across the main road from a Denny’s restaurant; that turns out to be a familiar sign that’s easy to spot about two blocks away (yes, it’s the American one). We’ve both already agreed that it’s hot outside (much hotter than Komatsu usually gets, in the mid 30s Celsius), and the cool lobby is a relief. Check-in is painless – I’ve learned already that my passport will be the first thing requested and have gotten it out along with my credit card for her to process.

We are asked if we would like breakfast tickets during our stay; after a little discussion, we decide to get them for Sunday, but not Monday, when we will both head back ‘home’. Then the next question is “what kind?” – Japanese style, or something closer to an American breakfast. I opt for American – toast, egg and coffee; while I like the foods that are usually served in a typical Japanese breakfast (mostly a version of a traditional bento, or box, lunch), I am not that fond of fish first thing in the morning (it’s one of the few foods that I don’t handle well at first light – good thing I didn’t live back in the 1800s in England, when kippers or fish balls were a common morning offering).

My friend had suggested that we think about two options for Saturday evening; we can visit the shrine just down the street and perhaps see a bit of Nagoya proper, or we can take a train out to the Expo site and buy an evening-only pass – a half-price ticket that allows you to enter after 5:00 PM on any fair day. Her previous research had determined that our best chance for seeing some of the very popular corporate pavilions would most likely be in the evening; all reserved spots for their presentations were taken, and there were a limited number of non-reserved places available during each viewing period. After a bit of discussion, we agree that Expo was where we wanted to be, so we head back for the train and find the correct line for the Expo shuttle.

We arrive at the site a little before 6:00 PM, and buy our evening tickets, then head for the gates. Here we find a full security check going – bags are being searched (and they were polite but thorough; I even had to open the small zippered sections on the outside of my backpack), followed by a walk through a metal detector. But the line isn’t long, so we quickly get into the fair.

We check with the main information booth – unfortunately the Hitachi pavilion is completely booked for the evening, as are several others that we were considering. But I notice a sign just behind the counter – it seems that the Toyota pavilion (another very popular one) has four ‘open’ shows in the evening – no reservations, first-come, first-served. Okay, let’s head for that one first.

There’s a long line already for the early evening show, and it appears that we are unlikely to get into that one. We decide to visit the India pavilion in Global Commons 1, just down the loop from the corporate area and then come back to join the line for Toyota.

India is very good – a diverse presentation of its sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes (there’s a curry restaurant at the side of the building). We enjoy walking around and viewing the displays. Then we stroll around the commons area and head back for the corporate area to join the line for Toyoto.

It turns out to be a somewhat long wait – a bit less than an hour – but the show inside is well worth it. Toyota's pavilion theme is that of future mobility based on robotics technology, both as independently functioning units and as devices that aid human movement.

The show starts with a human DJ ready to sing and rap; along comes a walking robot carrying…a trumpet. It puts the instrument to its ‘face’ and music is heard – and it’s not prerecorded; the robot is moving its fingers on the valves and blowing through the instrument!

‘He’ is joined by a robot band (called Concerto); two more trumpets, a flugelhorn, a trombone, euphonium and drummer, all playing their instruments. The only ‘anomaly’ is with the trombone player; ‘he’ was using something called a valve trombone, an actual instrument that plays in the same range as a slide trombone, but uses valves to open and close the tubing, rather than actually sliding the long tube section (that requires a bit more precision than even a robot has at this point).

The last to join the group was a robot DJ, who raps with the human and then helps lead both a Dixieland and rap version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” (with new words). It’s a great performance!

The main show is a dance and multimedia presentation in the style of Cirque du Soleil, complete with an aerial acrobat/dancer and others doing floor work, showing images portraying the dawn of history, a la “Rite of Spring”. Suddenly they are joined by others – robotized ‘vehicles’ called i-Units, a single-person chair/car that can be used in both low-speed and high-speed transportation. These units have robotic technology built into them; they can literally drive themselves or respond to guiding signals from a human passenger.

The last unit to arrive is an i-Foot; a robot designed to hold a human and walk, even up and down stairs!

From previous news reports and some science information gathered from robotics websites, I knew a little about the concept of a ‘walking’ wheelchair, one that is not limited by barriers that conventional mobility units cannot conquer unaided. I had no idea, though, that a functional working model existed; to see this unit walk around the stage area, with a live human being directing it, was fascinating!

My friend and I both agree that this show was well worth the wait.

When we leave the show, it’s just about closing time, and we are confronted with what will become very familiar this weekend – a long line waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to the train station. Not quite two hours later, we finally arrive back at the hotel, dinner in hand (we each grabbed something at one of the food booths before we left the fair), and adjourn to our rooms to eat and sleep.

Sunday, we get up and prepare for the day. We have agreed to meet downstairs at 7:30 AM for breakfast, in hopes that we can catch an early train to the Expo site. It works – sort of – but everyone else in the city apparently had the same idea.

Trains are crowded – we get on the first available train, but just barely. The shuttle from Bampaku Yakusa station to Expo North Gate has a long line – we wait for several buses before we get one. (Fortunately, I found something of interest in the bamboo forest next to our line – a large bird people-watching in the trees not far from our line. It looks a bit like a large kingfisher; I will have to look online and compare the pictures I took to decide what it is.)

We get to the Expo site, and here our line-standing assumes new depths – the security checkpoint takes over an hour to clear. Okay, we’re finally in the park, and we head for information to see if any reservations are still open – we and a couple of hundred-thousand others…..

No, there are no daytime reservations left at any corporation pavilions; country pavilions have some, but those reservations must be made at the pavilions themselves. But the good news is that many of the areas are not congested, including several of the country pavilions we want to see.

So we head out on the Global Loop – a huge walkway built near the center of the complex that takes you to each of the areas or commons. The Expo site is very hilly and has many trees and other plants; since the theme of this Expo is “Nature’s Wisdom,” every effort has been made to avoid making too many changes to the natural surroundings. The Global Loop allows movement from one area to the next without forcing one to use steps continually and without requiring massive terraforming to make a smooth walkway.

We got to see India’s pavilion last night, so today we start with a couple of other Asian pavilions. While the Korean pavilion has a 2 hour wait (we pass on that one), there are several others that have interesting sights, including the Nepal pavilion. My friend is very interested in the various aspects of Buddhism as it appears in different countries; she and I both enjoyed seeing the examples of both Buddhas and the various Hindu gods in the Indian pavilion. Today she points out how Nepal has both Buddhism and Hinduism within its borders, and that in some respects the two religions have mingled, much as Buddhism and Shintoism are joined in Japan. The Buddhas that are on display here are much more ornate, closer in style to some of the Hindu gods.

After our visit to the Asian area, we travel further along the Loop and eventually descend to the central area, where we find the Global House – and a 3 hour wait for non-reserved visits. No, that doesn’t sound like a good idea either, so we instead head for the next Global Commons area, where we find Mexico, the USA and other American continent countries. The Mexico pavilion was on our ‘to-see’ list, so we join that group and soon are inside looking at views showing the differences in geography and commerce in various parts of the country.

Our next stop is in the central part again, known as Japan Plaza. We had hopes of seeing the Japan pavilion, but the wait there is also about 3 hours long, so we stop to eat some lunch and then decide to try the next two Global Commons areas, with European and Middle Eastern countries, and the African nations.

The Egypt exhibit has another long line, but the rest of the Africa area is easy to enter. There are shops and displays from countries all over the African continent – carvings, weavings, jewelry (Hiroko is soon buying) and musical instruments (and it’s my turn).

I end up with a mahogany djembe, an African drum. I have wanted one for a number of years, but they are often quite expensive in the U.S. Today, I have found a smaller one for Y5000 (less than $50 U.S.) from the Congo; it is well put together and has interesting carvings and a nice sounding drumhead. Now I just have to figure out how to get it home – mahogany is heavy!

Our pavilion visits also take us to Greece (with displays about ancient traditions such as theatres and the masks often used in traditional Greek performances), Bulgaria (where we find a musician playing a Middle Eastern version of what Europeans call bagpipes), and a walk past the Nagoya City Tower (where we can hear various types of traditional Japanese music, both formal and informal).

Listening to the music provokes a discussion with Hiroko; she wants to know why the Bulgarian musician’s melodies have a sound similar to that of Japanese music. I talk about traditional instruments and the scales (tonal groups) commonly found on them, and this leads to a further discussion of music styles from all over the world.

We’ve had discussions of this sort via e-mail before; Hiroko isn’t a music teacher (she teaches English), but her college studies were in cultural anthropology, and she has previously noted the ways that music can represent a culture. She also gets lots of questions about modern music styles from her junior high students and has occasionally asked me to help define a specific style, such as rap or hip-hop or rock-n-roll, so that she can explain it correctly in English.

It’s time to take a rest and get something else to eat, so we grab some Japanese finger foods – fried balls of shrimp and octopus, and cherry flavored ice cream, which is absolute delicious! As we sit and watch ducks and koi in the large pond in the Plaza, we talk about many things, including Hiroko’s interest in returning to the U.S. to work on doctoral studies in cultural anthropology. She had hoped to attend this coming year, but there were no openings in her chosen graduate schools, so she will try again for next year. I hope that she is able to fulfill her dreams; I have helped her with editing on a paper she is trying to have published, and I know that she is very interested in working on Japanese cultural studies.

We head back for the front of the park; many of the pavilions have more openings in the evenings, and we hope to get a shot at visiting the Hitachi pavilion, which is the other corporate pavilion we wanted to see. But a check of the situation tells us that there is a 4 hour wait! We are really beginning to feel tired, and we both decide that a soak in the tub back at the hotel might be a better use of our time.

One more stop to make – and one more line – at the gift shop. The store itself is packed; moving from section to section is a bit like trying to change cars in the Tokyo subway during rush hour! Hiroko elects to stay outside with our belongings; I dive in.

First on my list are the small stuffed versions of the Expo mascots, Morizo and Kiccoro, and those are easy to find. Then I head for the back of the store, where T-shirts can be found. With a little searching and some help from a stocking clerk, I am able to find all of the shirts I want.

Now it’s time to pay for my choices. I can see the checkout area, but don’t see any way to join the line. A question to a clerk gives me the answer; the checkout line is another queue, with a 40 minute wait! Okay…….

This line, unlike many of those we have seen today is set up to be single file, so it is almost impossible for people to ‘migrate’ forward, as has been the case in other lines. And the wait really isn’t that bad, other than my feet are now pointing out that I’ve been on them for at least 10 hours today, with a couple more to go.

Purchases made, I rejoin Hiroko; she had eaten some ice cream (vanilla this time) and suggests that I get some before we head out. While I am eating, we strike up a conversation with some other waiting patrons; they are interested in what I have bought, and I explain that they are souvenirs for my family members back in the U.S. Just before we leave, we ask if one of them will take a picture of Hiroko and I together, and one of the young men agrees. (We have several shots of each of us taken at various points in the park, but no pictures together.)

Then we head out the North Gate and join another line, this time for the Limino, an elevated train to the main station back at Bampaku Yakusa. This train is an example of more eco-friendly transportation – it runs on magnets on a track that looks like a regular train track with flattened rails. It’s very quiet and not nearly as jerky of a ride as a traditional train.

An Expo shuttle train is waiting at the station when we arrive, along with a very long line of people waiting to ride it. That means another 45 minutes of standing…….

Back to the hotel, where we collapse in our rooms. The public baths may be closed, but our rooms have Japanese bathtubs and plenty of hot water; a good soak does wonders for tired feet and legs.

I spend a little time working on my journal and drinking tea, then head for bed.

Dazaifu, Day 28 - Last Day

2005-07-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

My last day.....

The morning news has pictures of the Yamakasa race held in Fukuoka early this morning (like 4:00 AM!) Last night's news had lots of pictures of the floats and their runners, and I tried to get some still shots off the TV - we'll see how they turn out. There was also a childrens' version (actually more of a march than a race) held early last evening, not only in Fukuoka, but also right here in Chikushino/Dazaifu as well. That one, I watched from the back balcony of my apartment; the children have small floats that they carried up and down the street beside the apartment, then they took them into the temple grounds about half a block away from my building. I had a great view; sometimes there are advantages to being on the 8th floor.

(An interesting side note - much as American cities do when major parades are held, the local news last night was reporting street closings and available train service for people wishing to see the race this morning. Even with a language barrier, I understood "JR" and "3:50 AM" - and no, I did not go view the race - that's too early!)

The heavy suitcases are loaded into Ishii's borrowed van (his car is DOA and is in the repair shop for an extended rehab). I'm intrigued by his loaner - it's one of those 'box vans' that have been popular for a couple of years in Japan, and are just now becoming generally available in the U.S. The best-known versions for Americans are early versions of the Honda Element, but in Japan, many car manufacturers make a model of this type because they have a lot of storage space but are very narrow and easy to maneuver in tiny Japanese streets. This one is a Nissan and very utilitarian; think English panel van with straighter sides, and you'll get the idea.

I have to make a very short speech at the morning teachers' meeting, and shed a couple of tears during it (I told them I probably would). I hope that I manage to get through the longer speech at the afternoon farewell without too many tears.....

Lunch today is with Ishii's class - appropriate because he is my partner in this endeavor. The students have written farewell messages on the chalkboard and are very ready to talk a bit today. Hopefully I will get to see a few of them again in the fall on our video conferences.

The afternoon farewell ceremony actually goes very well. It is a measure of how much I have been accepted as a member of the staff that Principal Yagi and I come into the gym while the students are still assembling. (What a change from four weeks ago, when we waited in the office until everyone was exactly in place...)

A speech is made by the principal, and I make a speech. Then the president of the student body comes to the stage to make a farewell speech. At its close, I make my final presentation - I have business cards from me for each student (counted into small bundles, one for each class). The student accepts the cards and takes them to each home room teacher for distribution in the classes. Business cards are an important part of the communication process in Japan, and presentation of a card is considered to be a mark of courtesy or respect. It is my hope that my cards (which are bilingual, English on one side and Japanese on the other) will encourage these students to continue to work on their bilingual capabilities as well.

After the gathering, I join the principal and members of the PTA in his office. They have gifts to present, for me and for my school. My gift is a wonderful surprise - a pair of handmade wooden getas, and they actually fit me! With a little help I put them on and prove that I can walk in heels, even those that are made of wood. They are surprisingly comfortable - the thong strap is made of heavily padded jute and doesn't cut into my foot as I expected it might. Perhaps that's the trick - get a carefully made pair that is big enough for my larger than average foot size.

Principal Yagi surprises me with an announcement that he has asked students to consider what animal might make a good mascot for Gakugyoin JHS. Apparently he was very intrigued with the jaguar that I presented to the school on my first day there (and my explanation that most American middle and senior high schools have mascots of one sort or another to encourage school spirit), and decided that a mascot might be a very good thing for his school as well.

Students are to think about possibilities during their summer vacation break in August, and come back in September with drawings of their favorites. When he comes to visit in mid-October, Principal Yagi hopes to have a mascot to present to Jefferson Middle School.

The PTA group and I spend quite a bit of time talking about many subjects, including one dear to the hearts of all of us females - shopping! Other topics are covered as well - differences in school structure and funding, classes available at different levels in each country's schools, political structure (states' rights vs. national government, a necessary offshoot of our education policy and funding discussion - not all Americans realize that our way of organizing public education is rather different than that of many other countries, with far more local control than Japanese schools, for example.)

It's a wide-ranging conversation, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed as a finish to my stay in Dazaifu.

Then it's time to say goodbye, and that's when the tears come again. We all promise to stay in touch via e-mail; the English teachers are especially interested in more chances to 'talk' and hope that we will be able to foster some student-to-student messaging as well. I will get to see most of these teachers on the video conferences, but it's still hard to leave after having worked together for these past four weeks. Even they are blinking back a few tears.

Home to the apartment with Ishii, where he joins me at the front desk to settle the final bill (he has money from MTP to cover the utilities' cost, the only part of my stay that was a variable). He tells me that he will meet me at the train station tomorrow morning and ride with me as far as Hakata, where I will catch a shinkansen to Nagoya. I suspect that some of the others will be there as well.

Another adventure awaits......

Dazaifu, Day 27 - Some new experiences

2005-07-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

My first chore this morning is to try to get as much stuff in my suitcases as possible. I will need to bring them to school tomorrow so that they can be shipped to Tokyo over the weekend, and I need to be sure that everything will (more or less) fit. Most of the stuff does go into the two bags, but one of them is quite a bit heavier than the other.

Hmmm...I will have to rearrange some things tonight, and I also have to do a last load of laundry so that I have mostly clean clothes when I get to Tokyo. But at least I've proved that I can make it all fix, so that's okay.

(UPDATE: Make that just barely - I've definitely got to repack when I get to Tokyo, and check the weight as well, or I will be paying overweight charges - yuck!)

I have one last package to ship today - a kimono for one of my sisters. After I bought the kimonos earlier in the week, I took pictures of each of them and sent them to her, asking her to choose a favorite. I've got her choice sealed in a mailing envelope and will take it to the post office mid-morning. (At least now they've gotten to know who I am, so the ritual questions are easier for both of us to handle.)

A few more pictures to take - the cicadas are very noisy this morning (it's a bit cooler than in previous days and it's not raining, so they've started early), but every time I try to find one for a close-up shot, the leaves get in the way. Maybe I'll go up the front stairs and try some pictures from the second-floor landing......

Lunch is with a 7th grade class, then during the free time after lunch, I join the music teacher in one of the meeting rooms. He asked me yesterday if I played recorder and I told him yes, both soprano and alto. So today he would like to play some duets.

Our first choice is actually one that I've played on soprano recorder in the past - a Morley canzoneta. I'm playing alto this time, so I have to rethink my fingering for a minute, but I get comfortable very quickly. Then we try some other well-known pieces - "Edelweiss" (which is a favorite of Japanese students; they usually learn it during 4th grade and then work on ensemble parts in 5th and 6th grades), recorder arrangements of the opening theme from Vivaldi's "Spring" concerto and Smetana's "The Moldeau", and finally finish with some popular Japanese pieces.

Ishii-sensei has been running a video camera for the entire time, so he has a complete record, messed-up fingerings and all. But it was still a lot of fun, and I was glad to get to try something special with the school's music teacher.

I've got MTP reports to work on during the afternoon, and I find out in a side conversation that Ishii has reports to type up as well. (Glad to know I'm not the only procrastinator in the crowd.....) However, he has to finish his grades first; the first term (semester) ends next Wednesday, and report cards will be given out then. Since he will be joining me in Tokyo for the last of the joint MTP meetings next Tuesday and Wednesday, he must get his paperwork finished by tomorrow night..

The evening finds a group of us at a great restaurant - it's a farewell party in my honor, and I appreciate both the sentiment and the wonderful food and drink. I am always intrigued by the creative ways Japanese chefs find to serve what Americans consider to be mundane or 'home garden' foods such as pumpkin (which is a favorite summer vegetable here, picked while still green and served steamed) or okra (tiny pods, thinly sliced and tossed in a lettuce salad with sesame dressing). And they have zucchini - done up tempura-style, and it's delicious!

It's a great end to the day.

Dazaifu, Day 26 - Work, work, work...

2005-07-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

I still have a boatload of paperwork to finish, so I dig in.

My BUGS report has been posted, with the pictures, and I have the first four weeks of summer journaling ready to upload, but I need to get the pictures posted to the XOOPS server. That is a long, slow process - at this time, there is no facility available to FTP the image files directly to the server, so each one has to be selected, named and uploaded individually, using an internal process in the XOOPS software. XOOPS is a giant step in the right direction, as web posting goes for this program, but there are still a lot of working issues to be dealt with.

(The real issues are both financial and technical in nature; it takes bandwidth to run a multi-user server, which costs money. The more bandwidth needed (which is the case if you are using FTP or other batch file transfer systems in multi-user mode), the more money is required to pay for that bandwidth.)

My pictures for Week 1 are finally uploaded, and I create a new post in the Jefferson subforum, entering my text (cut and paste work quite well), and adding the pictures at appropriate intervals. Once that's done, I view the results and close the posting. Now, I just have to do Weeks 2, 3, 4,.....

It was raining rather heavily when we came to school today, but stopped for a bit during mid morning. I decide to head for the post office to mail another package; with luck, this and the package to my sister will finish most of my shipping. I grab the umbrella, just in case. (Good thing, too - by the time I finish there, it's raining again, although not as heavily as before.)

Ishii is making a copy of a tape that showed the entire welcome ceremony for me, and that reminds me that I need to make copies of my pictures for him and Nakagawa. I've got the CDs - I just need to get them burned and labeled. I will work on those during odd intervals throughout the day.

Lunch is with one of the 9th grade classes; a couple of the boys are interested in telling me about their sports activities (judo and baseball), then one of them asks me if I have ever seen "Star Wars". ;-) I tell him that, while I have not seen the latest installment, I have seen most of the others and, in fact, watched the original on Japanese TV a couple of weeks ago. I then ask him which is his favorite character. He likes the Jedi knights in general.

He also wants to know if I know about Harry Potter (since the next book is due out next week, that's an understandable question). I tell him, yes, I have seen all of the movies and in fact bought my copy of "Order of the Phoenix" when I was in Japan two years ago. He seems impressed by this.

The afternoon is spent visiting classes and finishing the CD copies. I get to watch the taiko drummers as they practice again; Nakagawa-sensei asks if I would like to try drumming again, but I decline, preferring to get more pictures and video (besides, I know that they are practicing for Friday's farewell ceremony, and I don't want to disrupt that practice).

Around 4:30 PM, Matsumoto-sensei comes over to ask if I am ready to leave. I pack up quickly and we head for Fukuoka. Matsumoto has arranged for us to visit a shop famous for its Hakata dolls, and we will get to try our hand at painting our own.

Hakata dolls are a very well-known specialty of this region; they are porcelain slip dolls that are hand-painted and portray traditional and modern Japanese characters and scenes. There are a number of artisans that do this work; this shop is in the heart of Fukuoka and is well-known for its fine painters and doll designers. Most of its doll patterns are unique to that shop.

We are each given a doll depicting a lady in a kimono. The paints are acrylic water colors, much like the ones I used in Nakagawa's class last week. The kimono is painted first, then the obi and other accessories. Finally the hair and some facial features are painted. I'm not the greatest painter in the world, but I manage a credible job, and my doll looks very nice when I have finished.

Then I walk around looking at the professional works of art. I had already decided that I wanted to buy at least one to take home; because of packing issues, I think that a small one would be best. I find a small one (a little samurai)...then a pair of kendo fighters...and a tiny set depicting a Nara-era court scene, but in cats! Okay, they're all little; I buy them all......

The shop owner takes care to pack everything in extra padding; she understands that I must carry them home in a suitcase. At least this way, everyone gets something special. (Let's see if they can figure out who gets which dolls.......)

As we leave the shop, we spot another Yamakasa float and go to take some pictures of it. Then we head back for Chikushino; Matsumoto has made reservations at a restaurant there. The food is delicious - a mix of several of my favorite kinds of Japanese cooking using plenty of locally available fish.

This has been a great day. I head back for the apartment, ready to get some sleep.

Dazaifu, Day 25 - Finishing up the school term

2005-07-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

I have a package ready to ship, so that comes with me this morning along with the computer and camera. Mid-morning, I take it over to the post office about half a block away. Instead of just looking up the price and weighing it, I notice that the postal workers are scrutinizing the paperwork and checking several notices in their books.

The mystery is soon explained - there is a new directive out for air mail items to the U.S., asking for verification of what is shipped, and also a caution; the mail may be delayed by as much as a week, because the security alert level in the U.S. has been raised due to recent increases in terrorist activity.

Again, a senseless act of violence has an unexpected effect on my personal life. I am...not stunned, but more than a little surprised (though, in retrospect, I shouldn't have been).

Once we establish that the items are for non-commercial use and are gifts for my family, everything proceeds normally. Hopefully the package will get back home without any problems; I have at least one more box to send (or else I will have an overly full suitcase to deal with).

When I get back to school, I suddenly realize that, as things stand now, I will be returning to the U.S. under the elevated security levels. That means I need to be prepared to have everything checked and double-checked (much as it was in 2003, when alert levels were raised because of the start of the Iraqi war). Wonderful.....

Ah well, I survived that - I should be able to weather this as well.

During an IM chat with my family, I notice that there are familiar sounds coming from the trees just outside the teachers' room. Eventually, I grab the camera and head outside, looking for the source of the sounds and soon find it - cicadas! This must be a good year for them; they are very noisy as they climb into the treetops, and I find several of their spent shells on the trunks of the trees.

Lunch is with Sasaki-san's class today, one of the first classes I met. These students are very comfortable with me now, willing to introduce themselves and talk a little about their favorite activities. What a difference 4 weeks makes!

In the afternoon, I join Ishii-san and many of the other teachers as we head for an 8th grade classroom. Japanese teachers traditionally evaluate each other's performance during the school year, and this is part of that evaluation process. This time, the class itself will also be evaluated because it is an accelerated math class, with only 19 students, all chosen because of previous test scores and performance in the classroom.

The lesson is an Algebra lesson using word problems; students have each made up a problem and will have a couple of minutes to explain their problem to the others in their group, who will then solve it and grade the presenter. With teachers standing around taking notes and two video cameras recording the period, I am surprised at the calm that prevails; the teacher explains the procedures and checks on each group as they listen intently to the 'teaching' student. (I do most of my observations from the back of the room, rather than looking over the shoulders of the students - that would pushing the limits of their ability to handle things, I think.)

At the end of the day, Nakagawa tells me that he will take me home. I ask him how long it takes to walk from school to Dazaifu Tenmangu; I am thinking about going there the next morning to visit the used kimono shop. When he realizes what I have in mind, he suggests that we check to see if it is still open now. It is, and I buy two silk kimonos and a beautiful obi. These are for my sister and me, for display, so I am very happy that we were able to go there.

Back at the apartment, I begin the process of trying to pack. Most of the extra clothes fit nicely into one suitcase, leaving me with space in the other for gifts and accumulated other items. I will send my two large suitcases to Tokyo via delivery van; there is a limit on the size of luggage that can be taken on the trains, and both of my suitcases are much too big. Instead, I will carry a couple of backpacks - the computer in one, and my clothes and toiletries in another. A hip pouch and the camera bag will complete the picture; it's a bit bulky but not too heavy and I can easily get from one train to another with that load, rather than trying to drag two giant suitcases around (they don't do well on stairs and escalators anyway).

Dazaifu, Day 24 - Last week begins

2005-07-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

It is the beginning of my last week here at Gakugyoin, and I have a lot of things to accomplish this week. I need to start packing items to ship home and things that will go back in my suitcase; while I have given the things that are gifts to my partners and the school, I have a whole host of other items that must be taken home with me - gifts from my partners and other staff here at the school, items I have purchased for myself and family, lots of papers accumulated from classes and sightseeing.

I'll have to stop at the post office this afternoon and pick up a couple of shipping boxes - no way is all of that going to fit back in my bags.

My first chore today is to begin to assemble my summer report on the trip. Since I use this blog to maintain a more-or-less daily record of events, I will copy sections from it into a weekly journal that will be posted on XOOPS and also (eventually) submitted as a full report of the time here when I return to Tokyo.

Gathering the text is relatively easy; I just have to 'reverse' the order to create a chronological record. (Blogs, by their nature, are 'last in, first out', but a written report needs to be done in a timeline fashion.)

However, I also need to gather (and resize, in some cases) pictures that go with the text. Those of you who have been following this account and checking the pictures link know that I have a lot of pictures; I tend to 'point-and-shoot', hoping to get plenty of different angles so that I can find the best shots for my formal reports. Now it's time to go through them and pick out the best ones. I've only got about half a gig of photos to look at... shouldn't take more than a few hours...days...weeks..... :-)

Okay, the text is done, and I have a start on photos - what's next?

Well, there's lunch - always a good thing. After that, one of the English teachers asks me to listen to a student as she reads a short essay that she has written; she will be reading it aloud at a special event. We head for a meeting room where I listen and offer suggestions on pronunciation and voice inflection. At the teacher's request, I read the lines aloud, and the student marks inflection points as she listens. I point out that, in English, punctuation marks offer guides to out-loud reading as well as organization during silent reading (something that many native-language speakers often forget as well). By the time we finish, the student's reading is clear and fluent - no hesitation, no pronunciation problems. She will now work on memorizing it so that she can speak clearly when she is in front of the group.

At the beginning of the day, I had noticed a small brochure sitting on my desk, showing a picture of the broken dome that is part of the Hiroshima Peace Park and an apparent list of activities. A teacher a few desks down from me stops to ask if I have seen it, and I hold it up as a response. He asks that I come to the gym at 3:00 PM with the students and other teachers for a presentation.

When I arrive, Sasaki-san joins me and explains that this will be a special event - a dramatic reading with pictures and sounds - performed by members of the Drama Club. This is both a memorial to the victims of the bombings (this year marks the 60th anniversary of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs), and a reminder of the "Never again" philosophy espoused by those who are active in the movement to eliminate nuclear weapons throughout the world.

One student serves as a narrator, giving a timeline of the events, while other students provide sounds and voices of those who were victims. While the language was Japanese, the message was still crystal-clear; the pictures (pencil and ink drawings of people and places and images) and the cries of those who suffered told the complete story.

I am struck by the careful attention paid by the other students; as one of the teachers reminded them at the beginning, Japan is unique in being the only country in which an atomic weapon was used on citizens during warfare. These students' grandparents lived through that time; the students themselves must carry forward a legacy of peace for the future to ensure that such a weapon will 'never again' be used in such a manner.

Our last weekly video conference takes place - we are all fine, and we are all having no problems (definitely a refreshing change from two years ago). Most of us note that we are looking forward to seeing each other again in Tokyo but that leaving our host schools will be difficult; we've made friends and gotten to know the students and staff fairly well.

Then it's home, to eat, pack and prepare for another day.

Dazaifu, Day 23 - Adventures with a Volcano

2005-07-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning, and I'm ready for a trip to Mount Aso, an active volcano near the center of Kyushu Island. The weather looks fairly good here; hopefully that will hold for the day.

Ishii-san picks me up and we head over to school to meet Nakagawa-san. His car is bigger, and he has his two older children with him as well, so we will drive south in his vehicle today. We head out for the expressway, and enjoy the scenery as we drive.

A full day of activities has been planned, and Ishii and Nakagawa confer on which is the best road to take once we get close to the area. Mount Aso is actually a series of 5 high mountain peaks, one of which is in an active erupting stage, and a huge caldera (the largest in the world) that is full of lush green fields of rice and vegetables and fruit. There are several points of interest in the area, and my partners have chosen some that should intrigue both me and the children.

As we get closer to our highway exit, the rain starts, and it gets much heavier as we follow a winding road that climbs the southeastern wall of the caldera. The children squeal whenever we hit a large puddle in the road, and we comment on the amount of water standing not only in the rice fields but in parking lots, and on the road itself. It would appear that the lack of rainfall earlier in the season is rapidly being rectified. (So much for good weather holding through the day.....)

We finally arrive at our lunch destination - it is a place that specializes in soba (buckwheat) noodles, only here you get to make your own! One of the ladies shows us where to wash our hands and don aprons, and then we gather around a table with a large cutting board and rolling bar, and a giant wooden bowl. A tray appears, with buckwheat and white flours, water and measuring utensils. The buckwheat flour is dumped into the wooden bowl, then the water is added a little at a time, and we are instructed to work the flour and water between our hands, keeping the forming dough from getting lumps. As more water is added, it's time to knead the dough - much like bread dough, one must work it until it is smooth and not sticky, ready to be rolled out and cut into noodles.

The rolling process is a bit different from what I expect - I am used to a short wooden rolling pin with handles that are held during the entire process. This uses a long wooden cylinder; your hands are placed in the middle and pushed out to the ends as you roll. There is a rhythm that works with this method; after a few false starts, I begin to get the basic idea.

Then the thin dough is folded into several layers and a large chopping block is set in place. A heavy knife is brought out, and we are shown how to cut the dough into thin strips using the knife and a knuckled fist to hold the dough safely. Even the 6-year-old is allowed to cut some strips (with careful supervision by his father, of course), and the older daughter does a very good job of making thin evenly-sized noodles. (Mine vary in thickness, but then I've never been known for adroit handling of anything with a sharp blade.......)

As we finish cutting our noodles, the lady asks if we would prefer warm or cold soba; I ask for warm. Our tray is taken back to the kitchen, and we head back to the front, where we clean our hands and put away our dirty aprons. Very shortly, our group's name is called, and we have trays with noodles, rice balls in seaweed, and pickles in small dishes waiting for us. Tea and water are available at a side service area.

These are our noodles, all right; there's the strange wide ones. And they are 'Oshi' (delicious)! We're all hungry and finish off every bite.

The rains have stopped and started while we were in the restaurant, but the clouds have also lifted a bit so I can get a better view. We are near the edge of the volcano caldera; the five peaks are directly opposite, but their tops are obscured in heavy clouds. Ishii explains that we will drive to the peaks and attempt to go up to the summit road, where the active volcano is.

As we drive higher, the rains come down harder, and the clouds descend. This is a rather narrow road that winds, hairpin-style, up the mountain, and it's an exciting drive, to say the least. It culminates in a long uphill tunnel that is full of fog! (Fortunately, there are reflective lane and wall markers the entire length.)

There are very few cars up here, and we soon find out why; the last portion of the road has a large gate on it and it is closed and locked. A neon sign announces that the road is closed due to heavy fog. Well, we got as close as we could....

The gate and sign are obviously well-used; Ishii tells me that, in addition to weather-related problems, the road will also be closed whenever the prevailing winds are from the north. This drives a high concentration of sulfurous gases from the active eruption into the road area, which makes for hazardous breathing conditions (ever tried to breath sulfuric acid?).

We head down the other side of the mountain peaks, another interesting drive. Even with the heavy cloud cover and fog, there is still a lot of scenery to view; heavy forest of mostly cedars and pines, and areas of thick grass that wave in the wind.

Our next stop is an area on the outside of the caldera known for its many hot springs. This part, on the northeastern edge of the caldera has a great many spas and baths, and we will pay a visit to one of the oldest ones. These spas are built along a river; many of the buildings cling to the valley walls, and most of the bathing pools are built of the same stones that line the riverbanks and valley.

Japan is noted for its many hot springs and baths, but in the larger cities, many of the public baths used water that is piped in from springs located far away or deep underground. Not here, though - these springs bubble up all over the area, and the pools are built right on the spot. They are also rich in minerals (considered to be healthy) and vary in temperature from nicely warm to "Oh, my!" In the spa, each bathing area (men or women) usually has several pools available, with varying temperatures, so you can find one that is comfortable for you.

After a relaxing soak, we regroup and drive further down the valley. The river is wild; they've made up their rainfall shortage in a very short period of time and the river is overly full, with foaming muddy water. As we get to the junction, we discover a problem - the direct route back to the west is closed, and it's obvious that this is a recent problem. The sign says only that the road is not passable. (Later news reports tell the full story - a mudslide that not only blocked the road but swept away part of it.)

A consultation with a map takes us east and then north, following the river which eventually empties into a larger one that culminates in a huge reservoir - and I recognize this one from pictures on the news. It has been very low in recent weeks because the start of the rainy season had been delayed, but its water levels are improving. Right now, though there is so much water coming through that the floodgates are open to prevent too much back pressure from building up. As we drive down the valley away from the reservoir dam, we notice that there are flashing red lights and signs at intervals along both sides of the river. I recognize these - they are similar to the warning system used farther north, where river flow changes dramatically whenever the turbines are fired up at the hydroelectric plant. The main purpose of the warning system is to alert anyone downstream who might be along the banks or on a low-water bridge that a big surge of water is coming and that they should move to higher ground. This time, though, they warn that the river is high because of too much rainfall. It's going to take a little time for this to subside.

We finally come to a large town north of the Aso area and get on an expressway which will take us back to Dazaifu - but it's still raining, and it looks like we are bringing it back north with us (we do). There are a couple of incidents of note along the expressway; while Japanese drivers tend to be a fairly cautious set (with narrow roads and high insurance rates, this is to be expected), they do like to 'open it up' when they get on the expressways (which are built much like the train routes, lots of straight and open stretches with very few curves).

The first accident appears just beyond a long tunnel with a curve; a car has exited the tunnel, caught some water under his wheels and managed to run it up the side of the mountain and then roll it over to the guardrail. The police are already there and flashing lights alert oncoming traffic; the driver is standing outside on the side of the road, so he is safe, but looking disheartened at the mess that was once a fast roadster.

A few miles farther, there is another one - this one has spun several times and again hit the guardrail As we pass that one, I comment that they must have hydroplaned; Ishii understands me perfectly and agrees. Fortunately, we have no problems, and we arrive in Chikushino where we wait for Sasaki-san to meet us at a local convenience store. We have all been invited to a dinner party at the Nakagawa's house.

Dinner is wonderful - lots of good things to eat in the setting of an older Japanese home that is well lived in. Nakagawa explains that the house was built in stages; the oldest and most central part is about 55 years old. Because of the multiple constructions, there are rooms that connect in unusual ways; Nakagawa has previously told me that his family believes that the house is inhabited by friendly spirits, and I see nothing to disprove that.

Regardless, it's a beautiful example of a country house in Japan, and I am grateful for the opportunity to get to visit there. While I am there, my partners have gifts for me - interesting drinking cups with a history or a story to tell, a set of carving tools for my artist husband (my partner, Nakagawa, is also an artist and art teacher; he and my husband seemed to enjoy comparing notes about wood and carving), some gifts for my children. I will remember this evening with pleasure.

Dazaifu, Day 22 - History lessons

2005-07-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Principal Yagi had asked earlier during my stay if there was some time available for me to explore the history of Dazaifu with him and his wife, so we agreed on Saturday as a good day. It's raining, but that doesn't stop us from visiting several sites of interest.

Dazaifu may look like a smaller town today, but during the Nara period (and to a lesser extent, the beginning of the Edo period), it served as the western capitol of Japan, with Nara serving the eastern part of the country. It's strategic location in the northern portion of Kyushu made it easily accessible to those wishing to enter Korea and China; it also took the brunt of many attacks by Korean invaders, and some of the ruins reflect this.

Our first stop is close to Gakugyoin JHS, at a small musuem adjacent to the ruins of the ancient city government offices. This building actually houses a small portion of the excavation that helped to define the size and scope of these ruins, and has several displays of artifacts found during those excavations, as well as a series of models showing the layout and building designs at the governement office site and some other ruins of importance to the area.

As we leave the building, we take a short walk to the government office ruins, and I notice that the clouds are moving down the mountains behind the site. Even though it's raining, I stop to take a picture.

Our next stop is just down the road, at the Kanzeonji shrine, which I visited early last week. This shrine is one of the oldest in Japan; while it is still maintained as a place of worship (a priest says daily prayers in a worship area in the main building each day), most of the building is no longer accessible to the general public because of preservation concerns. The original temple grounds were much larger, but many of the outlying buildings and the wall were lost to invaders or the deprivations of time; every effort is being made to maintain what is still standing.

Our stop today will take us to the "Treasure House" in a side building. To help with that preservation and facilitate public display, the Buddhas and other statures have been relocated from the inner part of the temple to this newer, climate-controlled environment, where they can be more easily protected. Worshippers still come; there are offering boxes at each location, just as there would be in the temple proper, and the largest of them have blessing charms available as well.

Next, we visit a much more modern building, the Kyushu History Museum. This building houses a great number of artifacts from many of the ruins in the area, as well as a large topographical map showing how Dazaifu's location made it both a logical commerce center as well as a focal point for invasion. Most of Kyushu is covered with mountains (extinct or dormant volcanoes and upthrusts from earthquake activity), and the cities and towns developed in the valleys formed by rivers flowing from the mountain peaks to the sea. Dazaifu, in particular resides in a wide valley where several smaller streams join to form a larger river that flows north and (eventually) into the Sea of Japan at Fukuoka/Hakata.

As you move north, the valley narrows; long ago, this bottleneck point was turned into a strategic defensive point with the construction of a huge earthen wall and moat (about one mile long) known as a mizuki, or "Water Fortress". This wall and its gate withstood invaders from Korea and mainland China for many years; a large portion of the mizuki is still standing (although the gate and some smaller sections succumbed to invading forces long ago).

Excavations of the exposed parts of the mizuki offer a detailed look at the construction techniques used, including the fact that Japanese cedars played an important part in providing a solid base for the building of this wall. The museum offers both photos of the excavations and recovered artifacts.

Now it's lunch time; Principal Yagi and his wife have made reservations at a very traditional Japanese restaurant close to Dazaifu Tenmangu, the primary temple in the region, so we head for that location. This restaurant has individual dining rooms, accessed through sliding doors that are short enough one must get on one's knees to enter. Each room has a table, window (which overlooks the gardens surrounding the facility, and a display alcove, similar to those found in tea rooms.

This restaurant specializes in formal Japanese dining, with various traditional dishes, many of which I have not seen before. As we enter and are seated, our server reaches under the edge of the table and activates a switch; the center of the table has a large ceramic bowl with what looks like milk sitting on a metal plate, which turns out to be a hot plate. Soon the 'milk' is bubbling gently, and our server brings a tray with a selection of fresh vegetables. Mrs. Yagi explains that this is a traditional first course for many formal meals; the liquid is soybean milk (the same stuff used to make tofu), and we are to place vegetables into the hot liquid to cook for a very short time, and then eat them with a little soy sauce. It's a nice change from the idea of salad.

Other dishes follow in succession - each is served by itself, with ample time given to enjoy the flavours and textures. Several dishes use tofu as a main ingredient; while this restaurant is not strictly a vegetarian one, their food specialties reflect an interest in serving food that are very healthy and encourage a healthy appetite.

At one point, sashimi is served; it tastes quite a bit like tuna, but with a milder flavour. Principal Yagi tells me that it is bonita, a close relative of the tuna family. It's delicious.

We finish with dessert, and I am asked my choice of several items. Tofu ice cream sounds interesting, and I order that; while it has a texture slightly different from traditional dairy-based ice cream, its flavour is light and delicate.

We leave the restaurant and go to the shrine, crossing the bridge over the small lake that is home to koi, turtles and at least one crane. Today, with the rain, the only creatures in sight are the turtles. The bridge construction is special; it has two arches, one at each end, and a large flat area in the middle. I am told that it represents life - one's past (an arch to climb and not to spend too much time looking back), present (a large flat area where what is now can be seen), and future (an arch yet to climb, not yet available to see).

Japan embraces two primary religions - Buddhism, brought over from China and Korea, and Shintoism, which is rooted in ancient Japanese history and legend associated with the emperor. Shrines for both will often be found on the same temple grounds. As we enter the main area, Principal Yagi explains that most public worship is done at the Buddhist shrines, where specific forms and rituals are most frequently used (including the cleansing of one's hands and a pattern of claps before a prayer). Shinto shrines are used for more private worship, and also for certain public blessings, especially weddings.

As we walk through the grounds, I notice that there are many booths set up today; this must be the flea market mentioned by Rebecca-ALT. This is a public fair, with locals offering many different things for sale - a lot of Japanese items, such as kimonos and pottery, but also things that would likely be found in an American-style open-air market, such as collectibles and old tools. I look through a few of the booths along with Mrs. Yagi; when her husband wonders about it, I tell him that we are girls alike in a love for shopping. He smiles.

Our day of sightseeing is finished; it has been a great way to learn more about the history of this area, and I thank Principal Yagi and his wife for a wonderful day.

Then it's back home to work on sorting things - I will be leaving here next weekend, and I have to decide what will fit in a suitcase and what must be shipped directly home. Later in the evening, I hear from Ishii-san; he tells me that while the weather is still very 'iffy', our trip to Mt. Aso is on for Sunday. I promise to be ready at 9:00 AM.

Dazaifu, Day 21 - A busy day

2005-07-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

As Nakagawa-san picks me up this morning, he asks, "Have you seen news about terrorist attack?" I nod, and answer, "Yes, in London - it's very bad news." He nods and looks solemn. How strange (and sad) that the first thing we both note about the day is grim news of another senseless act of violence against innocents.

It's Friday, and I've been told that the other locally-based MTP teacher, Quinton Ricks, will be visiting my school today. I am looking forward to seeing him. He and one of his partners arrive and are greeted by Principal Yagi, who soons calls me in to talk with them. The principal asks if I will take Quinton on a tour of the school, and I gladly agree; Quinton's partner promises to return at noon to pick him up for some afternoon meetings.

As we begin our walk around the building, we chat about several things - first confirmation that we have both heard world news (yes), and then our observations of Japanese schools and education. We talk about the interesting fact that while a lot of Japanese classrooms seem to be more unstructured, the students in general are much more disciplined about getting work done. Quinton asks whether there are things about the Japanese system that might be usable in American schools; I laugh and tell him that while I would like to see some of those things transplanted (notably the indoor shoes idea and the cleaning done by students every day), I doubted that we would be able to implement those very easily.

During second period, Nakagawa-san asks both of us to come to his art class, where he presents us with drawing paper, pencil and paints, and asks us to join his students in the lesson. We are to draw four small pictures depicting things that remind us of summer. Quinton and I both look at each other (neither of us graduated much beyond the stick figure drawing phase in our art classes), and start trying to come up with ideas. I settle on a hot sun, resting in the shade, swimming, and Japanese fans, while Quinton chooses baseball (with his home-town team, the Atlanta Braves), and a beach scene. We each have a paint set and tray to use (acrylic water colors), and actually manage to finish our projects. (Hey, they're stick figures, but they're doing recognizable things......)

We continue touring the building with the principal and get to see nearly all of the classes. I point out the student teachers that are working here this week, and we actually get to watch them at work; I explain that after a week of being in the classroom all day, these students have relaxed quite a bit, and seem to be enjoying their experience. (At least this time, they didn't blanch when the principal and two foreign teachers showed up to watch, so they must be settling in.)

As Quinton leaves with his partner, I return to my desk, only to be accosted by Sasaki-san, "Are you busy? Would you help me with my English class today?" I ask when, and she says, "Right now!", so we head for the classroom. Having seen the ALT at work with her, I have some idea of what is expected; Sasaki-san is the teacher in charge, but I am to help repeat words and phrases, using correct pronunciation, and also read various sentences for the students to repeat.

Today's lesson asks students to interview others in the class, asking them if they like or do not like specific things like milk, sushi, and others of their choosing. We go through the process as a class, and then the students get up to ask the questions of their classmates; a few brave ones come to me and ask, and I give the answers in an appropriate manner. It's a fun lesson; while the curriculum may be rigid and very formal, the junior high approach to teaching it makes it a much more fun way to learn how the words are used as well as their basic meanings.

(I wonder if Japanese public schools have openings for retired teachers as ALTs or JETs???)

Then it's lunch time, with some 7th graders. The students are getting much better at having short English conversations - we start with the conventional stuff ("My name is ____, Nice to meet you. What is your favorite sport/music/etc.?), but I have been subtly adding to the 'list', and can now get most of them to answer not only the sport but their playing position, or instrument in the band, or whatever. If they begin to feel more comfortable speaking with me, they will be more likely to work harder in English class in the future (I hope). It has certainly worked that way with me and Japanese...

Then after lunch, Nakagawa-san asks if I would like to go to a class on Taiko drumming, and I gladly follow him to the kendo gym area. We can hear the drums from the center of the building, and as we enter the gym, the floor shakes as the drummers work on a specific rhythm pattern. Nakagawa-san asks one of his students if he will help me try to drum, so the student mimes the pattern and I give it a try.

The patterns progress from simple to complex (more syncopation than I realized), but I begin to get it set in my head and actually manage to keep up as they work through a section. Then two of the older boys come from the back of the room and ask if I would like to try the double drums. I follow them to the back, and one of the girls indicates that I should take her place while she leads me through the patterns. By the time the class period is over, I have (more or less) successfully worked through one complete piece, on two different drum types (standing, like a snare drum, and side mounted, with a drummer on each side).

Wow........

It's all on tape, too - Nakagawa-san took my camera and ran video for several minutes.

I could really get into this drumming thing...wouldn't that be a cool addition to our concerts....they've moved me to a classroom at the end of the building for next year.....wonder if my music budget might cover a couple of taiko drums shipped over.......nah, I don't have that much money available (those drums are not cheap - even the student ones made in China cost more than a lot of the school instruments we use in orchestra).

The rest of the day is not quite an anti-climax. I finish more computer stuff. The practice teachers have finished their week with us, so they make their 'closing statements'. I tell them that it was fun to watch them perfect their teaching skills and that I hope they finish their university work with honor. Then I present my business card and walnut hedgehogs to each of them, and they are surprised and gratified.

Quinton comes back over at 4:00, and we visit many of the sports clubs. When we get to the table tennis group, Quinton's eyes light up, and he challenges one of the boys to a quick match. (Apparently this was his favorite activity in college.) The boy starts out easily, but as Quinton shows that he really can play, the game soon gets fairly hot and heavy. No winner is decided, but everyone seems to agree that it was a good game.

It's just past 5:00 PM and Quinton's ride soon appears, just as Nakagawa asks if I am ready to leave. I pack things up and we all say good bye at the front door. I head for my apartment, glad to rest for the evening.

Dazaifu, Day 20 - Back to school again

2005-07-07T22:30:00.000-05:00

Today is back to a normal schedule, and I spend some time catching up on e-mail and other 'Net chores. I've got two days of blogging to upload and/or edit, and a whole bunch of pictures (I've managed to fill up our webspace, so I had to wait until brother william could upgrade the account - fortunately, that's an easy process with Netfirms).

Students start the day by coming in to the teachers' room and doing a quick cleaning - in two days, trash cans fill up pretty quickly - then they head for special home room classes to talk about their job experiences and write letters of thank you to the people who supervised their work. When I later asked Nakagawa-san whether his students liked their two days, he said that most of them seemed to enjoy the chance to do something very different from their usual schoolwork.

Lunch is with a 9th grade group, and again I am struck by the fact that these students really do show a lot of discipline and maturity as they prepare for high school and beyond.

My evening is spent first doing some shopping, and then trying a new eating place - something called American Son House, which advertises itself as a place to get 'traditional' American food, such as hamburgers and French fries, tacos, and American beer. The ALTs have told me that it's not bad, and I have a small craving for a taco, so I head inside.

As I check out the menu, I realize that there are indeed a lot of things that look (and sound familiar), but there are also some items that are just a bit different. There is pizza - Italian style, and something called American style, with sausage, cheese, and...squid? The taco looks good, and there is something called Mexican Rice that sounds interesting, so I order those, and a small glass of 'American' beer on tap, Budweiser. The beer arrives first - yes, it's Bud, all right, with the 'beechwood aging' taste (but I presume that this one came from one of their breweries here in Japan, rather than the home plant back where I live).

Then the taco - it's served in a freshly fried flour tortilla (rather than corn) and the meat filling has more tomato base in the sauce than I usually have, but it's quite good. There's lettuce and cheese on it, some salsa (very mild) on the side, and....pickles? Well, I suppose if you serve hamburgers with pickles on the side, it might make sense to serve them with tacos as well....

The Mexican Rice is...different, almost a taco salad served on a bed of rice. There is meat, cheese, lettuce, corn and salsa, with white rice underneath. I take a spoon and mix it all up, and it is actually quite good.

As I pay my check, the proprietor asks how I heard of the place; I explain that I am an American teacher here working in a junior high school, and that some of the American ALTs have told me this is a good place to get a hamburger or taco. He smiles and tells me thank you for coming, and I tell him that I enjoyed his cooking.

Then it's time to head for home. I am hoping to get to bed a little bit earlier tonight.

(ADDENDUM) I headed for bed early, and turned on the TV to check for a weather report for tomorrow, only to find that half of the NHK special channels were off the air. Hmmm.....

BS1 (which runs English-language news reports) then came on with a Japanese announcer saying something about going to BBC news, and suddenly I am confronted with something that I really don't want to see - live images of a double-decker bus in pieces in the central part of London, with English-speaking announcers saying that bombs have exploded in the London subway system and on a bus in central London.

A quick check of the other channels confirms the worst - they are all back on the air, but most are running the BBC feed non-stop, not even adding Japanese voice-overs or subtitles. The pictures tell the entire grim story. Shades of 9/11............

I end up watching news reports until the live feed cuts back to local news - even then most of the coverage is all about London. (When I begin to recognize katakana symbols in the headline lists, you know that the news is all about one place, and it's mostly bad.)

As I finally turn off the TV, I muse a bit on the feelings of anger and despair those pictures and news reports have generated. When 9/11 happened, I was at home with most of my family - I did not yet know what effect those terrorist acts would have on my life (and they were substantial, but in much more subtle ways), but I had the support of those close to me and could provide support to them. Now, I am many thousands of miles away, and must deal with a new reality on my own. (But I know that my family can get in touch with me, so that is a comfort.)

I say a prayer for safety for my loved ones, and comfort and aid to the victims and their families.

Dazaifu, Day 19 - More job experiences

2005-07-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today's job experiences actually take me on a mini-sightseeing tour - I get to vist the Dazaifu Cultural Hall, a small art museum not far from Gakugyoin. There we meet a class of 4th graders who are finishing up a visit to the museum, along with one of Nakagawa-san's students, who has been assigned to help this class's teacher today. The museum's front lobby has a marvelous exhibit, a polished slice from one of the giant Japanese cedar trees that cover the mountains in Fukuoka.

As the children leave, we also head for our car, and drive a short distance to Mizuki Nishi Elementary School. In addition to several Gakugyoin students, we also see Rebecca-ALT, who is here today to work with 5th grade classes. Nakagawa-san and I walk around to several classes, greeting students and listening in on the lessons. One group is studying map reading; when we enter, the teacher asks what country I am from and then has the students find the U.S. in the atlas. He begins to ask students to find various cities on the map (mostly those that have baseball teams with Japanese players). I sneak a quick peek - yes, St. Louis is labeled, so I carefully point it out to a group of students, explaining that I live near there. In a few minutes, the teacher asks, "Where is St. Louis?", and my group quickly puts up their hands as they point to the correct spot on their maps.

A group of 2nd graders is happy to greet us and practice their English. They have obviously been listening to Rebecca-ALT's lessons carefully, because when I greet them with my name and say, "Nice to meet you, " they immediately respond, "Nice to meet you, too!" While the English lessons may follow a set pattern, the eagerness of the students to practice what they have heard in class is a good indication that the students like their lessons.

We return to Gakugyoin and Ishii-san meets us there; we will head for Fukuoka again, to see a few more of the Yamakasa floats and visit an interesting mall complex known as Canal City. This is a group of buildings designed around a man-made canal, with hotels, restaurants and many, many shops and stores - think Mall of America meets the San Antonio Riverwalk. It boasts a theatre for live entertainment, a multi-screen cinema complex (run by AMC), and stores of all kinds, including many of the name-brands from around the world, including Comme Ca`, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap and others.

My favorite area, though, is at the canal level - a maze of small specialty shops with all kinds of things specific to both Japanese and foreign pop culture. I have been given a fairly specific list of "I want"s from my anime-crazy son, and a broader, "anything-in" list from my typical teenage daughter, and both lists get several items checked off down here. (Naruto and Hello Kitty are the favorites at the moment.)

As my shopping ends, I meet Ishii at the parking area. He lives here in Fukuoka City, and it seems foolish for him to drive me all the way back to Chikushino and then return here (an hour-long trip, in evening rush hour traffic), so I persuade him to drop me off at Hakata Station, where I will catch a train back to my apartment. (The JR station is only a block from my building.) He does write down the name of the station and the line I need to take in kanji, so that I can ask for help if need be.

I have no problems; when I check with a stationmaster, he tells me that there is both a local and an express train that will get me home, and makes certain that I know exactly which track to find. As I found during my last trip, there are plenty of people willing and able to help foreigners find their way through the signs in the train and subway stations. I have said before, I like Japanese trains and subways. They run on time, they have few problems or accidents, despite what you may have heard in recent news reports (especially given the number of people that ride them every day), and it is very convenient to be able to grab a ticket and catch a train at almost any time of the day or evening, without having to worry about getting out the car and finding a place to park.

Home, and I stop by the local bakery and a convenience store to pick up dinner and something for tomorrow's breakfast. Then, I gather laundry and spend my evening washing clothes, and playing on my computer.

Dazaifu, Day 18 - Job Experience with Student, Day 1

2005-07-05T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today’s schedule shows “Job experience with student, “ and the dress is casual. Hmmm….

I get picked up at the usual time, but when we arrive at school, very few students are there, and those that are there have their gym uniforms on, rather than the regular school uniform. Ishii-san tells me that we will be going to several places this morning, checking on students.

It seems that this is the first of two ‘career’ days for all of the junior high school students. Schools, businesses and government and social agencies have agreed to host groups of these students for two days, to give them a chance to see what is involved in working in these places.

First-year (7^th grade) students spend their two days in various kindergartens and elementary schools, working with the youngest students. Second-year students are assigned to various businesses and a few public service agencies (such as the fire department). Third-year students work with agencies responsible for social work, such as senior citizen community centers. In each area, the students are assigned tasks that are part of the daily work load for that job.

Teachers do not stay with the students, but instead spend the day checking in at the various locations to ensure that the students are in attendance and working. For many of these students, this is their only chance to see what it is like to work in the 'real world' - and, for the 9th graders, a taste of what to expect if they do not pass their entrance exams for high school and university.

Our first stop is at a large public bath or spa located in the hills just above Dazaifu. This is a new building housing a Japanese-style bath with water from a hot spring located deep underneath the facility. We arrive and greet the facility manager and the mother of one of the students, who works here and is helping to supervise their activities. The students are cleaning and preparing for the start of the day – scrubbing floors and windows (hot springs are no different than hot tubs - if you don't keep the walls and floors scrubbed, mold will grow), folding clean towels and readying them for stacking in the mens’ and womens’ bathing areas, sweeping floors. It’s hard work, but the students seem to enjoy the break in their regular school routine. (We’ll see if they still feel that way after tomorrow afternoon – they will work two full days from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.)

Next we go to the fire department of a neighboring city. We arrive in time to see the junior high students line up in front of the fire house, as two instructors bring rolls of fire hose to the students. This lesson looks very much like the training firefighting recruits must do (and, in fact, is a shortened version of that basic training). As we watch, the students are shown how to carry the hoses quickly from one place to another, and how to unroll them to prepare for connection to a water source. Some of them seem surprised to find out just how heavy an 18-inch roll of firehose can be, and how hard it is to 'snap' the hose to get it to fully unroll in a hurry.

(Fire hose is very heavy - my father used to work for a company that manufactured such hose, and he showed us children how it was put together to withstand the high water pressures. Add the heavy metal couplers that connect to the hydrants and you have a lot of weight packed into a very small space.)

While we are there, we also get to see an elementary school group on a more traditional field trip, learning about the firefighters' jobs and how they can fight fires safely. This scene is very much like those seen at firehouses all over the U.S. during the school year - students learning about fire safety and firefighting equipment.

Then we head for the large temple complex in Dazaifu. These students are working with the monks and accolytes at the counters near the main shrines, where blessing charms are sold. The students will also help with sweeping and keeping the public areas clean during the day. When we arrive, the students have just been sent back to the eating area to have their lunch; they seem to be excited to describe their morning to Ishii-san, so they must be enjoying the experience.

Later in the day, we drive to Fukuoka to see the Yamakasa displays. July 1 marks the start of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival, which runs for 15 days. The major attraction of this festival is the floats - huge stationary ones that are placed on display throughout the city, and smaller ones that are carried in an early morning race on July 15 by groups of men. The floats generally have two decorated sides, with figures representing various stories and legends from the region; sometimes both sides will depict traditional kabuki stories and characters, and sometimes one side will be decorated with modern or storybook tales.

Our other purpose for visiting Fukuoka is to attend an evening baseball game at the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome, with the Fukuoka Hawks against the Sendai Eagles. We have special tickets - field box, row 17, just beyond third base - and our entry includes special hapi coats with Yamakasa and Hawks logos. I don my jacket, grab my noisemakers and prepare to enjoy myself at the game.

(It doesn't take the stadium camera crew long to discover the white-haired American in Hawks regalia - before the evening is over, we find ourselves on the giant screen in the dome, not once but twice! We cheer wildly both times...)

During the game, I am told about a tradition during the 7th inning, so I have my camera ready when we get to that point. Much as Americans sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," Japanese fans sing their teams' song, but they add another twist here. Large balloons are sold at the concession stands, and people blow them up during the first part of the 7th inning. At the end of the singing, everyone releases their balloons, and they fly up and over the crowds, whistling loudly - it's supposed to bring luck to the team. It must be working - the Hawks are in 1st place in the Pacific League.

And it's a good game tonight as well - the Hawks win it, 9-1.

We were planning to get some dinner after the game, but it turns out to be a much longer game than usual, and we have all had plenty to eat and drink at the ball park, anyway. All of us are tired, so we head for our homes and bed.

Dazaifu, Day 17 - School times

2005-07-04T18:45:00.000-05:00

We have had more rain in the past week, and this morning it even rained during the greeting time. The principal told me to grab any available umbrella, and we managed to say good morning to nearly all of the students.

It's still far too dry in some parts of Japan; there have even been discussions about water rationing because of the shortage of rain and the unusual heat. Conversely, other parts have had far too much water; Kanazawa, in Ishikawa (near Komatsu, where I was two years ago), has had at least one day of localized flooding because of too much rain.

I am having fun at lunch time - sometimes one of the English teachers can come with me, and sometimes they are busy, but I go ahead and eat and try a little bit of conversation with the students. While many of them are still rather shy, there are more and more students who are willing to try some basic English conversation (usually an introduction, and a question about music or sports activities that are favorites). Once the students find out that I don't 'grade' them on their speech, they are far more interested in giving it a try, which is the most important part.

I have finally got enough pictures put together (and, more importantly, sized correctly) to create some Powerpoint presentations about Jefferson MS and our spring BUGS collection. Now we just have to find a good time to show them to students here at Gakugyoin JHS.

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be different; both days are labeled as "job experience with students", and, as of right now, I have no idea what to expect. I've been told it's something that all of the junior high students do during this part of the school year, so it should be interesting.

More later....

Dazaifu, Day 16 - Shopping!

2005-07-03T19:30:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday, my rest day - a chance to sleep in, watch TV, sleep in, do laundry, sleep in, explore the area, sleep in.....you get the idea.

Yes, I was tired, and yes, I did sleep in. And once I got up, I puttered around and watched TV, sorted through clothes and accumulated stuff, and generally was lazy. Sometimes you just have to do that, to get yourself back to feeling 100% human again.

Once I got moving, though, I actually managed to get quite a bit accomplished today. I headed for the JR station first, to buy my tickets for the long weekend trip in July. I thought I had put the paper with my proposed itinerary in my pouch, but managed to get there without it; however, the same clerk that helped me look up train times was there again today, and he remembered me (white-haired American - I'm hard to forget....), so we got the tickets bought without difficulty. The only real question was whether there was space in the reserved seat cars (that weekend is a holiday weekend in general - like trying to travel on Thansgiving weekend in the U.S.). I knew that I could probably get non-reserved space (and it would be cheaper, too), but that might result in standing up for 3 hours, something I was not looking forward to.

Fortunately, single seats were still available for reservation, so I paid my money and got my tickets. (In case you're wondering, a one-way ticket from Fukuoka to Tokyo, with a two-day layover in Nagoya, costs about $240; if I had bought a 7-day JR Rail Pass before I left the U.S., I would have paid about the same amount by the time you added the reserved seat charge. JR Rail Passes are great if you intend to do a large amount of train travel over a specified period of time, such as several cities in a week, but you don't gain anything if all you intend to do is make one or two trips. I considered the pass this time, but decided not to get one since I figured that I would not make enough train trips to warrant the up-front cost - and I was correct.)

Then, I'm off to explore and shop. First stop is just down the street from my apartment - there is a kimono shop that seems to have a lot of traditional accessories, so I decide to check on their supply of getas (the shoes usually worn with a kimono). Yes, they have the wooden ones, yes, they carry men's sizes (although even those sizes are small compared to U.S.), and yes, they have a pair that (I think) will fit my son, who has requested such. First gift, bought.

I have decided to be adventurous and ride the local train to the station closest to the large temple. It turns out to be an easy trip, and I begin to explore the shops in the bazaar on the street leading to the shrine. Oh, my......

A couple of hours and a lot of shopping later, I have gifts for most of my family, and have had a chance to eat one of my favorite treats - soft ice cream in a waffle cone, green tea flavor. (It's actually quite good - vanilla with very slightly bitter overtones, offset by the sweetness of the ice cream itself.) It's just hot enough to make this a great mid-afternoon snack.

It's time to go back to the apartment - my hands are full of shopping bags. I head back and drop things off, looking over my list of 'who wants what' and then deciding to head back out, this time down the main street to a book/cd/dvd store and then the electronics store.

I get fairly lucky this trip, finding not only an anime video that my son wants, but another DVD that is music videos by a group I like (Queen), including footage from their tour in Japan. So I now have videos, but need something to play them (Japan has a different region setting than the U.S.) - my computer is set to play Japanese DVDs but if we want to see these on a bigger screen, we need a regular DVD player. So it's off to Yamada.

I had recalled seeing some ads on TV that indicated there was a sale this weekend; there is, and the car traffic getting into the place is rather stiff, which makes me glad that I am walking. I head for the back of the store - I looked at prices and models last week, so i have a pretty good idea of what to expect. A pleasant surprise awaits - the better DVD player is on sale, at a price very close to the cheaper one, so I go ahead and get that one.

(It worked just fine - I checked it out on the TV back at the apartment, and the videos looked great.)

I also take a look at cameras - I am still thinking about getting another still shot one, one of the ultra-compacts, for when I take students on BUGS counting trips - but their sale prices are not as good as the prices at the big shops in Tokyo, so I will wait to buy that.

It never hurts to check, though - I've had very good luck finding bargains, but that's because I shop here just as I do back home - compare stores and several models and find the one that seems to be the best value. Just because there is a Yen sign instead of a Dollar sign on the price tag is no reason not to be smart in your buying. I am also much more fond of buying in smaller shops, especially for things that I wish to give as gifts; I can later look at something and tell the recipient that I found it in a shop close to my house, or near an especially good sightseeing place, or something similar, which helps me to remember my trip a little better.

Then it's home again, this time to fix some dinner. I've got pasta and some sort of cream sauce (it turns out to have clams in it - not a problem, I like clams), so I cook that and also heat water for some tea. I turn on the TV just in time to see the opening credits for "Star Wars, Episode IV" - yes, it's the original Stars Wars, digitally remastered, and dubbed in Japanese.

They did a great job on the voices - Darth Vader is just as dark and sinister sounding as James Earl Jones was in the original, C3PO is just as fussy, R2D2 and Chewbacca don't need dubbing at all, and the bar scene comes across the same, as does the street scene with Luke and Obi-Wan, "These aren't the droids you're looking for..."

That was fun - and I still cheer when the Death Star blows up, just like in the theatre the first time. I love it when I can see a good movie, regardless of what language the dialogue is in.

Bed time - school again tomorrow.

Dazaifu, Days 14 and 15 - Regional Conference in Hiroshima

2005-07-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Friday morning starts off much as usual – I’m doing computer-related things, the teachers have a morning meeting, everyone heads for their first class. Matsumoto stops by to ask if I am scheduled anywhere during 3^rd period; I’m not, so he invites me to visit his class as they work on making Japanese fans.

In the elementary school, fan work usually involved making a prettier or more original cover for one of the fans given out as free advertising on the street corners. Today’s activity is a bit more involved – the students have special paper that can be folded and ink-dyed in a tie-dye pattern, and they actually have the skeleton of a fan, a flat piece of bamboo that has been split into many long thin strips on one end (think of a bamboo garden rake, only much smaller and thinner).

Students have previously dyed their paper; now they take a second, undyed piece and lay it flat on the table, then use paint brushes to cover the main part with white glue. Next the fan skeleton is laid on the glue and paper, and more glue is liberally brushed all over the split section. After that, the dyed paper is positioned on top and gently pressed in place, making certain that the two pieces of paper are completely glued to the bamboo.

Then the paper is cut, following the shape of the fan skeleton, and extra strips of the dyed paper are wrapped over the cut edge and glued down. The result is a beautiful fan that, when completely dry, will work quite well to move air on a hot day.

I help with gluing and some of the cutting, along with the teachers and aides, and two of the student teachers from a local university. All of the students complete their fans, and we admire their dye work and completed projects.

After lunch with some 1^st year students, Nakagawa and I leave – he will drop me off at my apartment where I have an overnight bag ready for our trip to Hiroshima. Before I go, though, I make a fast trip to the post office; I have a box of gifts for my family ready to be mailed home.

Then I walk to the train station about 3 blocks away and meet Nakagawa. He has tickets for our shinkansen (bullet train) ride from Hakata station in Fukuoka City to Hiroshima, so all we need right now is a ticket for the local train from this station in Chikushino to Hakata. Much like buying a subway ticket, this is a simple process; we get our ticket, go through the turnstile and head for the train platform. As this is a local train, we have several stops before we get off, but it’s not a long trip.

We arrive in plenty of time; in fact, Nakagawa checks to see if we can catch an earlier train so that we can meet some others in Hiroshima that would like to have dinner together. There’s plenty of room on the earlier train, so we get our tickets changed and head for the platform. I learned (mostly) how to read basic station and platform information during my last trip to Japan (if the station name is in romaji, I can usually figure out where I need to go), and during this trip, I end up finding the correct train platform more frequently than Nakagawa-san does. (This is a good thing….)

We arrive in Hiroshima; it’s raining (it’s also a lot cooler than Dazaifu was). Neither of us thought to bring an umbrella (despite being the rainy season, we’ve had durned little of that stuff down on Kyushu this year), so we look for a taxi and quickly get one. The driver takes us to the hotel, and we find several of the other MTP people already gathered and hungry for dinner.

The rain is still falling but not nearly as hard, so we walk several blocks to a Japanese ‘pub’ that has a reputation for good barbeque. More than a couple of hours later, we’ve had plenty to eat and drink, and some people are interested in finding a karaoke bar. We start back towards the hotel, finally find a karaoke place, only to discover that they have no available rooms. The clerk suggests another place a bit farther away; while most of the group decides to give it a try (and apparently had a great time), a few of us have finally hit our limit and decide to wander back to the hotel to sleep. (We do, after all, have a meeting to attend in the morning, and some of us aren’t as young as we used to be, more’s the pity…)

The next morning it’s a rather tired group that meets for breakfast and check-out, but we all get cabs and head for the meeting place at Hiroshima University. It’s raining again – hard – but Nakagawa has managed to acquire umbrellas for both of us, so we get into the meeting site without problems.

Our morning sessions are spent in debriefing groups, American and Japanese, talking about what we have done so far and what problems we have faced. As was true before, most of the Americans are more than happy with the activities and work with their partners, and most of us have only complaints about being tired (so much to do, so little time..). A few have questions about phone access and one or two mention minor food issues, but this group is a really adaptive one that seems to really be enjoying the opportunities being offered.

(Two years ago, there were one or two people in the program who had very unrealistic expectations about how Japanese and American teachers could or should work together – fortunately, with more years of participation, JFMF is getting far better at finding good people from both countries that are willing and able to learn to adapt to each other and work effectively together.)

Lunch is at the school cafeteria – but there is only one open today on campus and it’s all the way on the other side, about a 10 minute walk. And it’s still raining – in fact, it’s pouring; even with those umbrellas, most of us are soaked pretty thoroughly by the time we get to the food lines. We all finally get food (many choices, all of it pretty good), and manage to get fed and back to the meeting room only about 15 minutes late for the afternoon sessions.

This is our video conference time – half of the MTP teachers are here at Hiroshima; the rest are up at Miyagi University in Sendai. A video speakerphone at each end connected to a giant screen projector enables all of us to see each other and exchange short introductions telling what we have been doing during our first two weeks with our partner schools.

The information sessions go very well; the video technology available in Japan is well developed and very reliable, enough so that we can just relax and enjoy talking with each other. In fact, it’s relaxed enough that our group, at least, begins finding ways to make our presence known to the Sendai crowd, starting with a couple of giant insect models shown by one team (along with a “Jaws” theme in the background) and progressing to a ‘wave’ around the room that makes a complete cycle, and a carryover from the karaoke the previous night, a short rendition (complete with motions) of “YMCA”.

To quote Kyoko Jones, “This group (in Hiroshima) seems to have bonded extremely well this year.” That's an understatement…….

(Now that I think about it, the Hiroshima group seemed to be the party group two years ago, when I was in Sendai with the northern set. Maybe there’s something about the barbeque down here?)

Back to the train station, and again, we are able to get an earlier train. This time, it’s the real thing – the Hikari Rail Star, with only two stops between Hiroshima and Hakata. At the mid-point of the first segment, an announcement appears, giving our current speed – 285 kph (about 180 mph)! I’ve been in planes that didn’t go that fast. (And it is a really smooth ride.)

Home in Dazaifu – I’m glad to be back, although I did enjoy the weekend. Tomorrow is Sunday, another rest day, and I hope to explore a bit more of the area.

Dazaifu, Day 12 and 13 - School day activities

2005-06-30T19:30:00.000-05:00

One of the things I enjoy about the school visit part of MTP is that I am in one place long enough to actually get to know people and students. I have been joining the principal during his morning greeting time before the start of the school day, and students are beginning to smile and respond more freely as I greet them.

On Wednesday I work on computer things, then eat lunch with another class. More students are interested in actually asking questions and trying to hold some kind of basic conversation, so I am learning more about what students here like to do during their free time and what clubs they participate in at school. Several students in the brass band club have asked that I come to see them during their afternoon rehearsals, so, after the cleaning period is finished today, I grab my camera and head for the music room. This group meets every day, but they seldom stay in the classroom; with no air conditioning, it's usually easier to catch a breeze out in front of the main school building, so students unpack, grab stands and music and head outside.

Once there, they group themselves into practice sectionals - flutes and oboes down by the front gate, saxophones and trumpets spaced at intervals along the main walk, and a very large group of clarinets, horns and euphoniums near the main front door. Each group has both warmup exercises to do and some portion of music to work on, and there is at least one older member with each group who is the nominal leader of that section and directs the rehearsal time.

The teacher in charge is within sight (or sound), but does not stay with any one group during the hour-long gathering; instead, he will work with the entire group during early morning practices. This has the effect of helping students learn how to listen to each other without the necessity of making the teacher responsible for every minute of available practice time - a good way to encourage independent study and still have an effective group.

Around 5:20 PM, I suddenly realize that I need to head for my apartment; I am to meet Rebecca-ALT and another ALT teacher for dinner. We walk down the street about two blocks from my apartment and enter a yakitori (Japanese barbecue), find seats in the back area, and order beer.

The two ALTs have been here before, many times, and I defer to their judgment as to what to order; my only request is that no chicken skins be included (it's a delicacy favored by some Japanese, but I don't care for the chewiness). What follows are several sets of very interesting meats and vegetables (and even some cheese) skewered and grilled on an open flame - it's all delicious! More beer and (later) some plum wine and sake to wash it all down, and we have spent an enjoyable evening talking about schools and life in Japan.

But we must all be at school the next day, so we reluctantly head for our apartments for sleep.

Thursday, and I am visiting more classes. One thing I am trying to do is get pictures that show daily school life (to show my students back in the U.S.), and the best way to do this is to visit different classes each day and take just a few pictures of classroom activities.

Today's lunch is with a 9th grade class. The students are getting much braver; several of them come up to ask questions about what I like in the way of Japanese foods, and I get answers from several of them about their favorite after-school activities. (At least three of them are on the school basketball time, a fact made self evident when they stand up and tower above me.)

After school, I spend a little time with the Science Club; they will be working on our paired project (a study of how climate affects leaf color changes - when they happen and what colors occur with various temperatures and rainfall), and I want to have pictures of the club members so that my students will hopefully know a few names before our first video conferences in the fall. They proudly show me their growth chart from the Fast Plant project; their seeds did quite well in all of the soil types, but seemed to have the best growth in forest soil, according to the chart.

Evening finds me doing laundry; Friday is a half-day for Nakagawa-san and I, since we will leave mid-afternoon for Hiroshima and our regional conference on Saturday.

Dazaifu, Day 11 - Meeting with the PTA

2005-06-28T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today’s activities are more like everyday school activities. I start the day by joining Principal Yagi at the front gate, where we greet students as they come into school. The principal says, “Ohayo gozaimasu,” I say, “Good morning,” and students respond as they walk by. There are quite a few who respond in English or in both languages, and these earn a broad smile from both of us – part of encouraging English conversation.

Mid-morning, the PTA mothers have a regular meeting. Nakagawa-san and I are both attending, I to be ‘officially’ introduced to the group (although I have already met quite a few of them during other activities), and Nakagawa to offer a report on his visit to my school and some of the tasks we hope to accomplish during my stay at Gakugyoin.

Nakagawa-san has a video prepared from the tapes that he and Ishii-san filmed during their visit, with Japanese voice-overs provided by Sasaki-san. It’s a fairly comprehensive look at our joint school visit in Washington, D.C., and the visits to the Fort Zumwalt schools as well as Jefferson Middle School in Saint Charles.

Then I spend some time trying to work on my computer. It has been ‘behaving badly’ for more than a few days; apparently I managed to corrupt something during a reinstall of the drivers for my video camera. I get necessary mail sent off, but have little or no luck getting to various websites. I think tonight is going to be a rebuild night; at least I’ve got the blank CDs to do backups.

This afternoon Ishii-san and I met with his elective science class to look over some BUGS collection sites. Most of these sites were used for the spring BUGS count, but we discover a problem at one of them; what had been a great high grass area has now been mowed down. (What is it about tall grass and people with cutting implements? We had the same problem in Missouri.) A new high grass site will be selected once the fall semester starts.

Then Ishii takes me on a short walk down the street from the school. We take a closer look at the site of the original Dazaifu city government offices and the original location of Gakugyoin School (both destroyed during the various invasions by Korean warriers during the latter part of the Nara period), and look at the temple for which this street is named, Kanzeonji shrine. This shrine has one of the three oldest bells still in general use in Japan; the bell is rung every year during traditional New Year's celebrations, and is one that 'ordinary people' are allowed to ring (rather than just the temple priests).

It's hot and steamy (we've finally had a bit of rain), so we head back for the comfort of the teachers' room at school (where the air conditioning is running at full tilt, thank goodness), and then home to my apartment.

(ADDENDUM - after an evening of backups, the machine is rebuilt. Not all files were successfully restored (notably e-mail and a couple of downloaded programs); I should be able to pick up most of the missing stuff from the home server at a later time. At least, it's not locking up every 10 minutes any more, so that is a distinct improvement on things.)

Dazaifu, Day 9 and 10 - Settling In

2005-06-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a day of rest, and this time, for the most part, it really was. I had journal writing to do, but not a lot, and I did laundry. Otherwise I spent the day being lazy or shopping, both favorite activities. I did find a couple of the video games that my son wants, one of them in a tiny gamer's shop not too far from my apartment, so the first box home will have something he likes.
Monday, it's back to school. The morning meeting starts with a short introduction and speeches by uniformed practice teachers, here from university for the next two weeks to hone their skills. They look just as nervous and green as I was the first day I entered a school as a student teacher. These three are studying to be social studies teachers, so they will be paired up with older teachers at all three levels in that subject.

A bit later during the morning, the principal invites me into his office to meet the supervising teacher from the university, who seems intrigued by the fact that I trained in music, but also enjoy working with computers (mathematics), and projects for MTP (science). I explain that I have always had an interest in continued learning and feel that I can be a better teacher by learning about more subjects.

I strike up a conversation with Rebecca-ALT, who asks how I liked the trip to Nagasaki (I liked it very much, even though it was quite hot). I told her about my shopping excursions on Sunday, and she and I look at a map to find another store that she thinks I would like to see. When Rebecca-ALT sees where I live, she asks if I have had a chance to try any of the local restaurants - there are some good ones close by, including a yakitori. I explain that I had not yet tried any local restaurants, but that my nose told me there must be a good barbecue somewhere in the area - I noticed it as I walked home last night. She points it out on the map (yes, that's where I smelled it), and we agree on Wednesday evening as a tentative night to go there together.

Right at the beginning of 4th period, Sasaki-san and Rebecca-ALT come over to ask if I am free and would I like to join them for English class? Of course, so we head for the 7th grade classrooms. Today's lesson is about 'like' and 'play' - English verbs used in a lot of short conversations about favorite activities. Rebecca-ALT and I take turns reading short English sentences such as "I like music.", "I play the piano.", "I like baseball.", "I play soccer.", and helping students figure out what activity is begin described. Then it is the turn of the students; they must write three English sentences, giving their name, saying what they like, and describing what they can play. We three teachers move around the room, looking at results, and making corrections or offering ideas as needed.

Finally the students group up and we play a variation on 'Jeopardy' with Rebecca-ALT offering hints about Sports, Music or Special characters, and the groups required to answer "You are......" once they figure out who is being described. I know more of the answers than I expected, and all of the groups succeed in guessing correctly on at least one question.

Lunch is with a 9th-grade English class, and a teacher who was an MTP 2003 participant (now I know why he looked vaguely familiar). He encourages his students to come up and talk with me; a couple of them are actually brave enough to have short conversations, so I learn that one of the boys plays guitar in a band, and one of the girls is interested in classical music played on the violin. These students will be taking their entrance exams for high school next February; while there is some kidding and horseplay during the lunch time, in general this is a more serious bunch who know that the heavy work is rapidly drawing nearer.

Even though I'm not teaching a class every day, I still have tasks to complete. I have a spring BUGS collection report and pictures ready to be uploaded to the JFMFMTP XOOPS server, but I still need to create JPEGs of the data charts. I also need to start editing some of these journal entries to create a weekly report and dig through the pictures of activities to find good photos to add to that. I will have plenty to do over the next couple of weeks.

Dazaifu, Day 8 - A Visit to Nagasaki

2005-06-25T19:15:00.000-05:00

Before I came to Fukuoka, I was asked what sightseeing things I would like to do while I was here. Nagasaki was on that list, and so today Ishii-san and Sasaki-san pick me up at 9:00 AM for a day trip to that area.

Our travels take us along the Nagasaki Expressway – a toll road that travels through the mountains of this southeastern peninsula of Kyushu. There are plenty of tunnels along the way, and lots of valleys; it’s a beautiful drive, reminding me a great deal of driving through the Appalachians in the eastern U.S.

Sasaki-san has grandparents that used to run a fish shop in Nagasaki, and she has spent a lot of time there, so she has a list of things for us to see and do. Our first stop is along a river that runs through the center of the older part of town; this river has many stone bridges that cross it, but one in particular is noteworthy. The bridge is listed as the oldest stone bridge in Japan, and it is called the Spectacles Bridge, because its stone arches and center support pillar look very much like old-fashioned eyeglasses (complete with a nose upon which they sit). The effect is heightened when the water is at usual levels and calm, because the reflected arch completes the circle of the eyeglass frame. While low water prevents us from seeing this view directly today, there is a display of photos not far away, some of which show the bridge at its bespectacled best.

Nagasaki is known for its Chinatown area, one of the three largest in Japan. For more than 200 years, Nagasaki was the only open port available to foreigners of any sort wishing to enter Japan (during the 1600s and 1700s), and so its resident population of Chinese and other foreign nationals was much larger than in any other part of Japan for a long time. The Chinatown area has shops and many, many restaurants, famous for good Cantonese and Mandarin cooking.

When we sit down for lunch, we decide to order several different dishes and share them around, a custom that is quite popular among Japanese. (In fact, Sasaki-san tells me that some Chinese restaurants have tables with center sections that turn, a la Lazy Susan style. I have also seen this arrangement at one or two Chinese restaurants in the U.S., ones that are noted for authentic cooking styles.) We end up with fried rice, lo mein with vegetables, a noodle soup also with vegetables and pork, and steamed pork dumplings topped with shrimp.

I have always known that, like “Mexican” food, what Americans call “Chinese” is something that has been adjusted and modified to suit American tastes, but confronting the reality is something else. While this may or may not be completely Chinese, it is a far cry from the American stuff – fried rice that actually has a bit of a crunch, vegetables that haven’t been lost in the soup or sauce, dumplings that are freshly steamed and delicious. It’s a great lunch, and one that I would like to try again sometime.

After lunch, we walk to the tram station (in the center of the street). Nagasaki and Hiroshima both have these instead of subways – cable cars that get their power from overhead electric lines and run on tracks in the middle of the street (very much like San Francisco’s cable cars). Our destination is the Nagasaki Peace Park and the A bomb museum.

The Peace Park has a fountain dedicated to the victims of the blast, in remembrance of their terrible thirst in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, and a statue of a great being, representing both God and Buddha, praying for peace over the victims. Not far from the park is the epicenter of the bomb and the museum.

I had already seen the Hiroshima museum (in 2003), but it is still an unsettling experience to view these exhibits about the atomic bomb blast and its effects on the land and the people. Nagasaki had a smaller death toll, due to a difference in terrain and placement of the bomb, but it was still terrible, and it was made worse by the fact that this was the second such bomb to be dropped – the basic destructive capabilities were already known and being displayed for the world at Hiroshima. Another surreal image was that of seeing several videos made during the initial tests before the bombs were used. These are the same films that those of my generation used to see over and over as part of our education on ‘what to do if they launch the big one.’ To see those images side by side with real pictures of real people suffering was more than a bit unnerving.

Our final stop of the day is Urakima Cathedral, a Catholic church built during the open port days of Nagasaki, located not far from the bomb epicenter. While the church has been completely rebuilt (and has an active population of worshipers), there are plenty of artifacts left from the destruction of the original building to remind one that an atomic bomb has no boundaries, either political or religious; only a few of the statues survived intact, and the large stone crucifix at the front of the sanctuary was dashed to pieces; only the body of Christ remained (identified by the spear mark and nails). A most sobering reflection, indeed…..

Ishii-san and Sasaki-san have gifts for me when we return to the car for our trip home – books from the museum gift shop, showing the exhibits and information about the Nagasaki Peace initiative. These will be used with my classes.

Back to Dazaifu, and a long night’s rest. Sunday is a holiday for me ; nothing scheduled and I can sleep in.

Dazaifu, Day 7 - "Field Experience with students" and other activities

2005-06-24T19:30:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day of testing for the junior high students, so I will be elsewhere for much of the morning. The schedule indicates that we will visit a school in the morning and I will have a ‘field experience with students’ in the afternoon.

Our first stop is another high school visit, Chikushidai High School, not far from Gakugyoin (in fact a number of Gakugyoin students attend this school).

The school is fairly old, but we start in a building that has only been open for a couple of months. This building has energy features designed to take advantage of modern means of generating power; the roof has a large bank of solar panels, and a control screen in the front hall indicates how much solar energy is being received and converted into power for building use.

Most of the school offices are here, and some specialty classes, including high-intensity studies for university. These are small classes (comparatively – 20 to 25 students per class, instead of the more common 35 to 40 students), and are designed for students who wish to enter the best universities in Japan. The American equivalent might be advanced placement classes, but Japanese students do not receive college credit for the work, as is often the case in the American AP classes.

As we walk through the various buildings, I notice that there are two distinct types of classes here – the traditional book-learning classes common to most high schools, and a large number of technical/vocational classes, ranging from auto mechanics to construction trades to computer programming. Chikushidai was originally started as a technical high school for boys, offering hands-on training in vocational subjects; when they were converted to a co-ed school, regular coursework was added, but the vo-tech training classes were also continued and expanded. Today students can work towards university exams and study such subjects as surveying and medical technology equipment repair.

My student guides are shy at first, but relax as we walk around and are soon answering my questions about their school. One will graduate at the end of this school year; the other has one more year beyond. Both are personable and polite, and should do well in their future endeavors.

After our school visit, Principal Yagi stops at a souvenir shop on the edge of an area leading to one of the major shrines in Dazaifu (not far from the high school). It seems that one of his oldest friends is the proprietor; he would like to introduce me to his friend, and I am honored. Principal Yagi also wishes to give me a special souvenir, which we select together – a carved representation of a bullfinch, a bird that is common to this area and often associated with Dazaifu and the temple there. I also receive hand-carved chopsticks for myself and my husband. These are unique and lovely gifts, and I will remember Dazaifu well whenever I look at them.

Upon our return to Gakugyoin, Nakagawa-san tells me that we must hurry just a bit – my ‘field experience with students’ has been moved to mid-morning. It’s rice planting – I am joining a group of elementary students at the rice fields attached to Fukuoka Agricultural High School, where we will all plant seedlings. I ditch the dressy jacket and grab my stuff.

I had been warned about this, so I brought my newly-purchased straw hat, outdoor sandals, and a towel for hand cleaning. I also have a water bottle; it’s going to be hot. In Nakagawa’s car on the way over, I roll up my pants legs, take off the nice shoes and stockings and put on the outdoor sandals. Once we arrive, we find the students already lined up in the middle of the field, beginning their work; I climb from the car, don my hat and take off my shoes, and step out into ankle-deep mud. The field is not full of water - there has been a shortage of rain this year – but the section we are planting has been watered sufficiently to make a deep mud suitable for planting seedlings.

This school also has an MTP teacher, Quinton; we greet each other and move to places alongside students in the 5^th grade. My student partners are very helpful, showing me how many seedlings (approximately 3) to take from the ‘pad’ of plants given to each of us. There is a string on top of the mud in front of us; when the whistle blows, we are to push the roots of the seedlings into the mud behind one of the red beads strung at 6-inch intervals along the string. Most of us end up planting two to three sets of seedlings on each whistle blow, until every bead has a plant showing.

On the next whistle blow, everyone moves backward one step, and smoothes the mud out in front of them with their feet (to prepare for the next row). I say “Squish, squish” when my feet make sucking sounds as I move, and my partners quickly understand that this is an English ‘word’ used to describe the noise. Soon, “Squish, squish” is heard all along the line near me; funny sounds travel fast with elementary students.

The string is moved toward us, about 6 inches away from the preceding row, and we start the planting process again. In all, we succeed in planting about 12 rows of plants, with a group of 120 or so students stretched out along a very large field – not bad for an hour’s work. (But it also explains why mechanical rice planters are beginning to replace field workers – labor costs would be sky-high.)

Nakagawa has promised to take pictures of me; because we are in the middle of this large field, he ends up taking off his shoes and rolling up his pants to join us in the mud, so that he can get better pictures. We end up with a leg shot each, showing our feet buried in the mud.

Then we walk back up to the sheds in the main yard of the farm, students and teachers alike saying ‘ouch’ as we find gravel (on the driving road) and hot baked soil on the walking path. There, hoses and large tubs of water are available for rinsing our feet and legs and washing hands.

Nakagawa gets some pictures of Quinton and me, then we climb back into his car and head back to our school.

I will have two ‘lunch’ times today, one at the usual time during 5^th period, and a second one during the preceding time. My usual lunch time will be spent with Ishii-san’s class, who have prepared posters and greeting speeches for me; pictures show the results of their handiwork. But I have been invited to eat with Matsumoto-san’s special education class, who have spent the morning learning how to prepare curried pork and rice. (And it is delicious.)

The students in his class are special-needs students, those with profound disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome and other significant learning disabilities, and they spend a good portion of their day in a separate classroom area with one set of teachers and aides, learning basic living skills along with book work. These students are not isolated – they have home rooms with the rest of their age level classmates, and join in music, gym and some elective classes, with a teacher or aide along to help with any issues that may come up. The separate-and-together model is also being used in American schools; it keeps these students from becoming frustrated with book learning that is far beyond their level, but enables them to participate in many of the same activities as their classmates.

(There is also at least one student here who has significant physical handicaps, but who participates in regular classes using a special wheelchair; the building does have elevators, so she can move from her home room to elective classes without problems. She is a member of the school’s culture club, which emphasizes learning about Japanese customs and history, and serves as their spokesperson during the afternoon gathering.)

Once the regular lunch period is over, tests are done, and the students do their regular cleaning (a common activity in Japanese schools at all levels – while the cleaning is not a spotless job, it goes a long way toward keeping the dust and dirt at bay, and it encourages students to take pride in their building). Then there is one more gathering in the school gym, for all of the activity clubs to tout their upcoming events to the student body. The sports and athletic clubs will all have ‘playoffs’ during the month of July; the other groups, such as the brass band and culture club do not have playoffs, but offer encouragement to the competing teams. Then the day is over, and students and teachers (and me) head for our homes.

Dazaifu, Day 6 - More school visits

2005-06-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

This has been a rather quiet day. As I mentioned previously, junior high students are taking their final exams for the remainder of this week, so rather than wander the halls and distract students, I have other things to do.

The morning begins with a visit to Mizuki Elementary School, next door. The principal greets us and takes us on a tour of the building. This is a big school, the largest in this district - over 800 students. As I walk through the classrooms, I am reminded of my previous visit to Japan (when I represented an elementary school and worked in one); first graders are bouncy, 4th graders are working hard, 6th graders are serious - all very much like their American counterparts. Since elementary students do not wear uniforms in most public schools in Japan any more, these classes look remarkably like similar ones in the U.S. The major difference is in the size of each class - 30 to 40 students, instead of the 20 - 25 students more common in the U.S.

One class is special - several older teachers are watching in the back of the room as a uniformed instructor speaks up front. I thought at first that this might be a general observation class (a common practice in Japanese education, where fellow teachers watch a lesson and offer critiques), but this is a bit more - a student teacher doing one of her first classroom lessons. (Thus the uniform - she is still attending university.) As I join the ranks of those watching, I can see that she is nervous (hey, you would be, too, if you were doing your first live lesson with teachers, principals, and a foreign teacher all looking at you), but she gains control of her young students and starts the lesson - an observation activity that requires the students to look at several pictures of transportation types and try to remember which ones were seen most frequently. The students seem to be interested in keeping track of how many cars, bicycles, etc., they can spot, so the lesson proceeds smoothly.

Then we return to Gakugyoin, and I have some free time, which I use to catch up on e-mail, journal entries and finally an IM chat with my family! They are fine, and we enjoy the chance to see each other (on our webcams) and catch up on daily happenings.

Members of the school board have arrived for a meeting; as that meeting finishes, the head of the school board asks me to meet him in the principal's office. As a thank-you for the cup I presented to him, he wishes to give me a traditional Japanese thread ball, very intricate and handmade by his mother, and a basket wrapping cloth, a decorated piece of fabric used to wrap packages for carrying (lunches, for example, are often wrapped in these, because the fabric provides some insulation as well as basic protection from the elements). I am deeply touched by the thoughtfulness of his gifts and thank him profusely.

Then it's time for lunch, which I share with another teacher and her class. The students seem to be interested in the fact that I made my own sandwich; when I tell them that it has peanut butter inside, another student smiles and opens her own sandwich a bit to show a similar filling.

After lunch is another open time. I knew that I would be involved in fewer activities on these few days, so I have planned to use this time for computer work, and I am just about caught up.

Finally it is time to go home. I need to do some shopping - I have spotted some straw hats at a local store and want to get one to keep the sun off my head when I walk around town. I have other items to buy as well.

Random Thoughts

During my last stay in Japan, I took to watching evening TV, channel-surfing to see what was available. Even with a language barrier, the images shown offer a good representation of popular culture. And I must confess to a fondness for Japanese anime, mostly the kids shows (and a few of the darker adult series).

So I've been watching TV in the evenings this week. Lots of baseball, plenty of news reports, all kinds of new anime' series, U.S. movies subtitled or dubbed, and - makeover shows! Hmm, this should be interesting.

I do not know the name of the series (it's on TVQ, according to the programming list in my weekly inn) but its premise seems to be based on Iron Chef, but for hair stylists. Two salons do a hair and make-up re-do on two different people, and a panel of judges decides which makeover was the best.

Interesting concept and the make-overs are fun to watch (ranging from wow! to what were they thinking???), but what caught my eye was some equipment being used by one of the stylists. This particular salon apparently prides itself on doing on-the-spot microscopic hair analysis; the stylist was shown using a computer and a USB Shot Microscope, displaying the pictures on the computer screen for the customer to view. This is the same microscope used by all of the MTP participants as part of their BUGS collection and classification projects.

Gee, and we thought that microscope could only take pictures of bugs! Amazing what you can learn on popular TV.

(Oh, and that particular salon won the night's competition. Science at work........)

Dazaifu, Day 5 - How to pick a good (high) school

2005-06-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

The rest of this week will be spent on visits to other schools and some extra-curricular activities, since junior high students will be taking their final exams this week. (They don’t need distractions like American teachers taking pictures.)

Before I describe today’s activities, I need to explain something about Japanese education. Compulsory (and free) public education is available for students ages 6 – 14 (basically 1^st – through 9^th grade in American schools), and ends with the final year of junior high school. All Japanese students have advanced education available, but they must pass entrance examinations and pay tuition, even at ‘public’ high schools.

In general, public high schools tend to draw from a geographic region (much as American schools do) and cost the least in tuition; as a result they are crowded, and because of the testing requirement, there is no guarantee that you may be able to enter the local high school. Private high schools cost much more, but generally have more slots available. Many high schools (both public and private) have specialties – fine arts, mathematics and science – and students who have those kinds of interests may elect to try for one of those schools to further their ambitions.

Japanese parents know that the best company jobs are reserved for those who complete both high school and 4 years of university, so they encourage (as most parents do) their children to study hard, and they work to find the best possible high school, one that has a high rate of college-bound graduates.

Today’s activities are an example of that kind of parental dedication. This is a school tour trip for mothers of 3^rd-year junior high school students, organized by the PTA. Three busloads of mothers (about 130 moms!) gather just before 9 AM and get seats on the tour buses, along with the principal and myself. The fee (for the buses) is quite reasonable – about $8 – and lunch will be provided.

The journey takes us from Dazaifu to Fukuoka City (about a half hour by bus), where we will visit two different private schools. Our first stop is an all-boys school, and the air is decidedly masculine and no-nonsense; I am reminded of private military-style academies in the U.S. (and the gym teacher running a group of students around the school yard certainly lends credence to that image – he had a great drill-sergeant voice). This is a very large high school – about 2000 students – and their graduation rate for students moving on to the best universities is quite good.

Even with the strict discipline atmosphere, though, there are unmistakable signs of teen-age boy here. The summer uniform is trousers, worn with a belt, and short sleeved shirt, tucked in, but I saw several students with shirts askew and more than a few with ‘low-riders,’ even with a belt. It makes me feel better to know that teenagers are still much the same in any country.

Then we travel to an all-girls school. This one is not only private, but parochial – it is run by Buddhist priests associated with a major shrine next door, and the curriculum reflects both traditional and religious training, much as Catholic or Lutheran high schools do. In Japan, as in the U.S., there have been a lot of studies done to determine whether single-gender or mixed-gender schools are better for girls interested in math and science training, and these studies (in both countries) seem to imply that single-gender environments may be more encouraging for girls. Working forward from this idea, the school has two basic education tracks – one that is general education, and another that loads up on math and science courses – and the results (as far as university acceptance) would appear to validate the single-gender theory.

At both of these schools, there are definite marketing ploys seen – slick, full-color brochures, cooling drinks for everyone (and Japanese bento lunches at the second school), careful discussion of the graduation and university acceptance rates, and an atmosphere of happy students in a clean and cheerful environment designed for study.

By contrast, the 3^rd school – a public high school not far from Gakugyoin – is almost utilitarian in looks: older buildings (still very clean), a fact sheet printed on plain paper (there are color brochures available, but we are asked not to take them unless we need them), no extras. Because the public high schools do not charge as much for tuition, they do not have the spare money to spend on fancy buildings and ‘fluff’ as some of the private schools do.

But…the presentation shows many cheerful students and a wide variety of classes and activities available for all. The graduation and acceptance rates are certainly equal to either of the private schools. And as we walk down the halls, nearly all of the students were working very hard in their classes; even those who recognized parents in the crowd (or saw my American face) did not, for the most part, respond out of hand. This is a very self-disciplined group – I could wish for a lot more just like them in my daughter’s high school.

We head back to Gakugyoin around 4:45 PM. It’s been a long day, but a very informative one; I think I have a better understanding of how Japanese parents view education and its importance, and I have enjoyed seeing several different schools today.

Dazaifu, Day 4 - My first class time

2005-06-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, and I will finally get a chance to be with some students. The morning is free time for me, which gives me a chance to work on a journal entry and answer some e-mails.

Sasaki-sensei comes over and tells me that I am to join her and the other English teachers (including the American ALT, also named Rebecca!) in an afternoon English lesson. She asks if I have any suggestions for a song with English lyrics that the students might be able to learn. After a little discussion, I decide on the Disney song, “It’s a Small World”. I find the lyrics without any problems and write them in a Word document, which I then copy to my trusty flash drive and pass along to Sasaki.

(By the way, this is much easier than trying to set up a printer directly on my machine; there are both network issues and enough differences between the American and Japanese versions of XP, that setting up certain hardware drivers can be problematic. As long as we are both using the same word processing programs [MS Word, in our case], we don’t have any problems with just transferring documents from one machine to another, and XP handles USB flash drives quite easily.)

Lunch is with Sasaki-san’s class – I sit at an empty desk and look at what people have for lunch. Unlike the elementary school, lunch here is an individual affair (but still eaten in individual classrooms); milk is provided to all students, but most bring lunches or buy breads from the school store/snack bar. Some pay for box lunches that are brought in (these are pre-ordered, apparently). I’ve got yogurt and a small sandwich to eat, so I am fine.

After lunch, we all gather in the room usually assigned for kendo practice – there are three English classes sharing this time today. Rebecca-sensei (the ALT) and I are both in front, with the three Japanese teachers spaced throughout the group. The lyrics have been turned into a worksheet; specific words have been replaced by a blank, and a word bank has all of the possible answers. Rebecca-ALT asks who has been to Tokyo Disneyland, and a sizeable group of students raise their hands; then she asks who has been to the one in California (she and I and a couple of others). Finally she asks who has been to Paris Disneyland (only her - that girl has traveled!), and then she indicates that this song is well known at all of those places.

We both sing the song a few times, then ask students to listen for the missing words and fill in the blanks as we sing it again, line by line. Then we have the students say the words, and finally sing them, in small groups and together. By the time class is over, we have succeeded in getting most of them to sing most of the lyrics correctly, and nearly all of the students seem to have written the correct words on their worksheets. I think my first class was reasonably successful.

Home to my apartment, where I make an early night of it – I am still feeling the effects of the heat and some lingering jet lag.

Dazaifu, Day 3 - Greetings at Gakugyoin JHS

2005-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

This is my first day at Gakugyoin Junior High School, and I am nervous. I will be making short speeches at both the morning teacher's meeting and the afternoon all-school assembly. The speech is written (so that I can give a copy to the English teacher who will be translating for me), and I plan to ask Ishii-san to print a couple of copies for us. Nakagawa-sensei is picking me up this morning.

I remembered to pack my school shoes today, so when we get the school, my first stop is to put my street shoes in my 'cubby' and put on the shoes I have brought for indoor use. I learned last time that my large American feet simply do not fit in the one-size Japanese slippers (nor can I easily buy shoes unless I buy men's styles), so I came prepared.

We arrive at school and I am shown to the principal's office, then we go to the teachers' room. Unlike American schools, Japanese teachers do not stay in one room all day; instead the students stay mostly in one room (their home-room), and the teachers come in to teach the various subjects during different class periods. Teachers all have desks in the teachers' room, where everyone can confer with each other between classes, and meetings and work sessions are held.

I have a desk waiting for me in the teacher's room, and my first order of business is to set up the computer and try to get it working. I have a separate cable to use, and my machine seems to recognize that there is a network somewhere out there, but I cannot get connected. Nakagawa-san looks at my settings, then calls over the computer teacher, who determines that I need to establish a specific IP address and gateway, as well as a DNS before I can connect. Once that's done, I finally get online.

All kinds of mail is waiting for me, including a reminder that we will start our weekly video conferences (between JFMF and the American teachers) this afternoon. Before I can get too involved, however, the morning teacher's meeting starts, and I'm on.

I stumble a bit on the school name, but manage an opening paragraph in Japanese, then complete the rest of the speech in English, with translation provided by another teacher. Everyone seems to be very happy to see me here. After that, Sasaki-sensei takes me on a short tour of the school.

Then I get to spend more time on computer chores - uploading journal entries and pictures, answering e-mail and getting caught up on things in general.

When lunch time arrives, one of the English teachers asks if I would like to eat lunch with her. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, though, and decide to concentrate on keeping liquids in me (it's hot, and while the teachers' room is air-conditioned, the rest of the building is not - and I am really beginning to feel the effects of the heat). Shortly after lunch the principal and I drive over to the City Hall building, where the office of the board of education are located. We meet the superintendent of the district there and talk for a short while; he has apparently spent time in the north because as soon as I mention Komatsu, he describes a view of Mount Hakusan, the most famous mountain peak in that region.

After our return to school, it's time for the afternoon all-school assembly, which is a welcome ceremony. I listen to speeches presented by the principal and student council members (who did a fine job on their English readings), and give my speech. I also present one of Jefferson's mascot dolls, a jaguar. Then I get the opportunity to hear the school brass band play a selection of numbers (they have some fine soloists in their ranks, and the group itself is very good), and a presentation by the Taiko Drum Club. I am especially impressed when the prinicpal tells me that they have only been practicing since March - this is a new club for the school.

Finally I am presented with gifts from the school - a book filled with pictures and notes created by the students, and a name stamp, something I have seen but never expected to have! Name stamps are used in Japan and China as legal signatures; they are created by special artists who guard their equipment and processes very closely (to avoid the danger of fraud). To do financial business or get a driver's license, one must have a legally verified name stamp; most children receive theirs at some point after they start school.

Because my last name is not easily written in any form of kana or kanji, the school has elected to have a stamp created using my first name, Rebecca. As I have already discovered, that name is easily written in katakana and the syllables also correspond to known kanji. I am very impressed and touched by the thoughtfulness represented by such a gift. Now all I need is one of the red ink pads that are traditionally used for stamping (and those are available at any stationary shop here in Japan).

Back to the apartment after a long day - I am exhausted and head for bed early.

Dazaifu, Day 2 - A Day of Rest?

2005-06-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

Now it’s Sunday, my first complete day of rest. But I’ve got things to do, so I get started on the day.

First job is to install the drivers and such on my computer so that I can upload some of the video that I have filmed on the new camcorder. The kit included an install disk with the Canon ZoomBrowser software and USB2.0 drivers that I need, and I also found updated versions of both on the Canon website, so I start by installing all of the necessary software. Except for a glitch involving PhotoStitch (which I most likely will not be using), everything seems to install correctly, including the updates, so the next step is to plug in the PC Card that has a USB2.0 connection, and then the camera.

I read through the information about uploading video and pictures. Among other things, I find out that the camcorder does have FireWire capability – it’s part of the AV-to-DV converter – but you have to buy a separate FireWire cable. Not a problem for me, though; the camcorder came with a USB2.0 cord (which is actually faster) so I will use that.

Plug in the camera, turn it on – okay, the machine seems to recognize the equipment and even realizes that there are videos to be processed. The manual indicates that Windows Movie Maker 2.2 is needed to process the videos; I have no idea if I have the right software, but I will give it a try.

Windows Movie Maker seems to be installed and appears to know how to handle the 13 minutes of video it has found on the card; it even realizes that there are several clips within those 13 minutes, and saves them correctly. For now, I am using this function as backup; I will not erase any of the tapes until I get an opportunity to view them directly on TV.

(A check of the Help information appears to indicate that I have MM 2.1.something installed, so I will probably need to do some upgrades when I get connected to the Internet again, but it’s working for now.)

As I finish up the tape work, my phone rings and Matsumoto’s voice is heard – would I like to take a short drive to the top of a mountain that overlooks Dazaifu City? He picks me up about an hour later, and we drive up a mountain road reminiscent of those I traveled in Komatsu or roads going to the mining towns in Colorado, where my father grew up. Matsumoto has interesting tastes in music; he has a CD with vintage Bob Dylan, and I enjoy it greatly.

Near the top, we park and walk up a steep set of stone steps that lead to a large, flattened area. Matsumoto-san indicates that an old castle once sat here overlooking the city; its inhabitants provided shelter and defense against Korean invaders who crossed the short distance from the mainland on a regular basis. Now this area provides a spectacular view of the valley that includes Dazaifu and other cities in this part of Fukuoka. Out comes the camcorder, and I become a travelogue producer, filming the view and offering a short commentary. (Very tourist-y, but I can show this to my family and students.)

Then we head back to town; Matsumoto needs to be at school this afternoon, and I have some shopping to do for the week.

Grocery shopping is the next item on my to-do list. I need more breakfast things and something with which to make lunches. The supermarket down the street is a ’15-minute walk’ according to my partners (which means it’s more like 25 minutes for my leisurely pace), but well worth it. I find just about everything I need, including peanut butter and jam.

Journal updates are another task for the day; I also need to write a short ‘speech’ to give during the welcome ceremonies planned at the school on Monday. I’ve got BUGS and Soil data to finish processing and prepare for a XOOPS report, and I need to be sure I know what to take with me tomorrow morning.

Did I say this was a day of rest? Yeah, sure……

Dinner is with Ishii-san and one of the English teachers. Ishii tells me that he wishes to pay for this dinner and that it is a special one to thank me for my concern and care during his visit to St. Charles (see Visiting Our Schools). The restaurant is a famous one in nearby Tosu, one that also specializes in wedding parties and receptions.

Beefsteak and other things are the order of the day; a new twist to the ‘sizzling platter’ appears, but this one actually cooks your food! The steak is grilled on a pre-heated iron plate, and you must turn the meat to complete the cooking once it arrives at your table. It is a very popular way to serve steak in Japan, I am told.

Of even more interest to me is the dinner entertainment – a violinist and pianist who are both quite good, performing a nice selection of classical repertoire and modern melodies. The first set finishes with one of the Slavonic Dances written for violin; the performer takes it at full speed and never misses a note. Brava!

The second set of music features a piano solo, then more violin selections (including Mozart’s ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ in a traditional solo arrangement). Then we have a surprise; she sets down the violin and picks up another insttument – a viola! She plays a couple of arrangement of well-known Japanese melodies, which sound quite nice on the lower-pitched instrument. She finishes on the violin – a twentieth-century sonata for violin and piano.

When we leave, I offer a compliment on the music (through the English teacher), and the cashier indicates that she is a well-known musician in this part of Japan. I can see why – she obviously enjoys playing.

Home to finish the evening and prepare for my first day at Gakugyoin JHS.

Dazaifu, Day 1 - Learning my way around

2005-06-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning, and I get to do something I haven’t done since I got to Japan – sleep in! That’s quite a luxury, so I take advantage of it. Once I am up, it’s time to try some breakfast. I’ve got tea, and yogurt and bread to eat.

One of the teachers mentioned yesterday that I didn’t need a toaster (when the office clerk asked) – the microwave oven can toast bread. He showed me the button that starts it; the instruction book confirms that but also shows that the bread should be set directly on the rack underneath the glass tray in the oven. Okay – I remove the tray and place the bread, push the button and set it for one slice, and hit “start”. Three minutes later, I have a piece of toast to eat! (Apparently this oven also has a convection function.)

After breakfast, I decide to work on some basic chores – I want to wash the dishes and work on my journal. While I work, I find a baseball game on TV, with both English and Japanese play-by-play (depending upon which channel you watch). The Cubs vs. the Yankees – the Cubs get a lead, but Matsui (of the Yankees) hits a three-run homer that turns our to be the game winner. Announcers in both languages get excited about it – Matsui is very popular in Japan because he played for the Giants before he moved to the U.S.

Another game starts just as the first one finishes. Let’s see, I’ll bet I can guess what one of the teams will be…yep, it’s the Seattle Mariners vs. the NY Mets. Ichiro is a member of the Mariners and almost as popular as Matsui, so one can usually find games by their two teams on Japanese TV. And (as I learned the other evening), one does not have to hear play-by-play to follow the game of baseball in either country.

At lunch time, my partners arrive, along with another English teacher, who has her young daughter in tow. Daughter (3 years old) is very hesitant when she sees a strange face, and refuses at first to sit near me; Mom helps ease things when she pulls a picture book from her purse. The story is about Dumbo, the flying elephant; as I read along with the story, the youngster begins to relax and, by the time we arrive at our restaurant for lunch, she is very willing to smile at me across the table. We have noodles in soup broth, rice with egg and vegetables (or meat), and a small salad.

Ishii-san has a set of maps showing the local streets with several places of importance marked for me. After lunch, we head back to my home, and begin to walk down the street near my building. There are several shops along here – food, general goods, a place that sells CDs – and a number of office-type buildings, including a couple of hospitals and a bank. A bit further down, we find a convenience store (7-11) and, after turning the corner, we come to some larger stores, including a supermarket and a department store, which also has food. (Both of these places have Y100 shops inside as well.)

I have brought a list of things that I need to purchase and find most of them in the last couple of larger stores. After I finish my shopping, we get into Nakagawa’s car and head for one last stop – Yamada Electronics, where I have been assured that I can get the larger camcorder battery that I need. They have it, so I purchase one (I also take a quick look at their price on the camcorder and see that I did indeed get a great price in Tokyo).

As we drive back, I ask them to show me where I might find an internet café – I really need to let my family know that I have arrived safely, and haven’t been able to find an international phone yet. We drive by one and I note which direction to turn if I want to come back later.

(Matsumoto-san calls me later and says that there may be an internet connection kit available at my place for a monthly fee. The office doesn’t have one, but indicates that I may come in and use their computer to send a short message, which I do. I should have internet available at school on Monday, so this will cover things until I can get online for a longer stretch.)

Once back home, I take a load of laundry down and start it. I suddenly remember that a store just down the street had sturdy plastic hangers in a box out in front, apparently free for the taking, so I walk around the corner to see if they are still there. They are – I grab half-a-dozen, show the clerk what I am getting (she smiles and waves me on), and return just in time to pull my clean clothes from the dryer and head back upstairs.

Dinner tonight is with my partners and one of the English teachers, at an Italian restaurant not far from my apartment. (Italian-style cooking is quite popular in Japan.) We all end up with spaghetti alla carbonara, but each of us has a different style of sauce; mine is the traditional one with fresh asparagus added, and the others have tomato-based, cream sauce and a Japanese sauce made with shoyu.

The restaurant has an attached bakery that appears to have both Italian and French-style baked goods. After sampling some during our meal, I decide to buy some bread for my breakfasts. Then it’s home and time for sleep.

On to Fukuoka

2005-06-17T19:50:00.000-05:00

It’s Friday morning, and time to go to my school community. Packing is interesting; while I haven’t accumulated too many things yet (I did learn a few things from 2003), what I have to add to the suitcases is bulky, starting with the box for the camcorder (I need that to prove that I bought it here). Again, I call on my last experiences here; the formed-plastic ‘innards’ are discarded, as are all of the little plastic bags for cords, etc. (except for those that I am unlikely to use while I am in Japan – those stay sealed up until I have need of them), and the box itself is collapsed. Ah, now it fits nicely on top of the rest.

Most of my clothes are dirty – rather than pay hotel prices for laundry, I will carry the wash to Dazaifu and make laundry a first priority there. I made certain to pack enough underwear to make it to my main destination (and I have a set to spare, so it has worked out well). That does mean that most of my clothes are now in plastic bags, so I rearrange the stuff inside the suitcase and add in the last of the souvenirs from the baseball game.

Hmm, these bags seem to be heavier – did we get that much paper in our meetings? Oh well, things will lighten up once I get to the school.

Breakfast and check-out – my partner has requested a taxi for 10 AM, and it arrives on schedule. We load up (one of my suitcases ends up riding in the front seat) and head for Haneda Airport, where we will catch a flight bound for Fukuoka.

The flight is uneventful. I had forgotten that Japanese planes use a nose camera to show you the takeoff and landing; we get a good shot of the southern part of Tokyo before the plane climbs above the clouds (and later a nice picture of Fukuoka as we arrive).

Upon our arrival in Fukuoka, we are met by Ishii-san and Nakagawa-san (now fully recovered) and one of the English teachers at our school. We load into Nakagawa-san’s car (actually an SUV, one of the first I have seen in Japan – almost as big as an American one!), and head for Dazaifu City. Our lunch stop along the way is at a local eatery known for its tempura; you decide on what combination of items you would like (vegetables, fish, or a few other things), buy a ticket from the machine near the front door, and enter the eating area, which is set up much like an American diner (stools around a long counter).

Once seated, one of the servers takes your ticket and puts a colored token in front of your place along with a bowl of rice and some miso soup. Side items are found in serving containers placed at intervals – pickles and relishes of various sorts – and a small bowl with something like soy sauce is sitting beside a small metal tray with a wire rack inside. Unlike most Japanese restaurants, green tea and water are self-served at dispensers around the edge of the room, so free refills are readily available.

The reason for the tokens soon becomes clear. Tempura is best served directly from the fryer, but things cook at different speeds and temperatures. This shop accomplishes the task of keeping things piping hot by cooking items one set at a time and serving them to everyone within a defined area immediately. A piece of fish appears on my metal tray, and one of the other teachers shows me how to dunk it in the soy sauce. Almost before I finish that one, my next item appears in the tray; I watch as the server takes a small tray with several of the same items and walks along the counter edge, serving it to those whose colored token indicates that their order includes such. Once you have received all of your items (which are apparently served in a specific order), the server removes your token, indicating that your meal is complete. By the time lunch is finished, I have eaten several kinds of fish and quite a few vegetables (including slices of pumpkin and eggplant) that are delicious and quite filling.

After lunch, we head for my new home, a Weekly Inn in Dazaifu. I have already seen some pictures online, so the size of the room is not a surprise (it’s small), but I discover that there are some new things to learn about this style of living in Japan. (I stayed in a residence-inn style of hotel in 2003.) The first surprise is when I enter the room – the office clerk shows me that I must insert my room keycard into a slot on the wall, which turns on the electric power for the lights and microwave. Hmm, that’s a new one, but it seems to make sense.

There is some soap and shampoo, and toilet paper, but not enough for a month-long stay, so I will have to plan on buying those things as I need them. The tiny kitchen does have a microwave oven and refrigerator as well as a single burner gas hotplate, and we discover that a set of dishes, pots and pans are included in this room, so I will be able to cook without difficulties. Dishwashing soap and a scrub sponge are sitting on the counter, so I don’t need to buy those items.

A short discussion with the clerk provides the information that weekly cleaning is done – in my case, on Thursdays – and that linens and towels will be changed then. That should work well; I will just need to remember not to leave things strewn about on that day each week.

I get some instructions on how to use the TV (which does offer one of the English language channels so I can see some news and other shows in English) and figure out basic settings for the microwave, lights and air conditioner. Then my partners ask what I need immediately to settle in; I mention that I want to get laundry soap and something for tomorrow’s breakfast, and some tea. They decide that they will go to a grocery and pick up those basic items while I get some things unpacked, and a short time later, they return with the basics and some ice-cream (Haagen-Daas, no less!) for all of us to share.

Then I am left alone, to settle in and unpack in earnest. Laundry first – there is a coin-operated washer on the first floor, and wonder-of-wonders, a tumble dryer (the first I have seen in Japan – while they are available, the cost of electricity makes them expensive to run, so most people do not have them). The clerk comes out of the office and helps me determine the correct settings for water level (as well as how much soap to use – Japanese laundry detergent is much more concentrated that most American brands, so a very little bit goes a long way).

She even starts the machine for me, using a token that she apparently keeps handy for running the machines to wash towels, but indicates that I should bring Y100 coins the next time. I hold up a coin as an answer, and she and I both smile. I manage to do two full laundry loads, which takes care of immediate needs – I will do the last load on Saturday or Sunday, and be ready for the week.

Nakagawa-san picks me up at 7:15 PM, and we head for the school, where I get to meet the principal and a few more teachers. The principal is the administrator member of this year’s MTP team, and he is eager to meet me and discuss his impending visit to our school in the fall. His English is quite good; during subsequent conversations, he tells me that he has been working to increase the amount of time spent on English conversation in the school because he feels that his students need to improve their speaking abilities to go along with the reading and writing studies.

A PTA meeting (yes, they have those in Japan) is in progress, and the parents have planned a welcome dinner at a local yakitori (Japanese barbecue) after the meeting is finished. We walk over to the restaurant and join others around a long table. Introductions are given all around, some in English and others in Japanese (I manage a decent introduction of myself in Japanese, so I have remembered some of it).

Appetizers are on the table, beer (and later sake) appear at every place, and the leader of the parents’ offers a toast, then various types of barbecued foods appear. The remainder of the evening is long but very enjoyable; I get a chance to talk to several of the parents and have more than enough food and drink to fill me. It was a good party.

Back to my new home (via taxi, with my partners – we’ve all had more than enough alcohol to drink, and no one needs to be driving), and I crawl into bed. Tomorrow I get to sleep in!

Tokyo, Day 5 - The last of the meetings

2005-06-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

Today's meetings start with a discussion by Jones-san about a project called the Cooperative School Science Network. This will involve work with museums, universities and middle and high schools to develop and use science kits that explore various aspects of future life (perhaps on the Moon or Mars).

The discussion rapidly moves to a discussion of science education in general - how it is currently implemented and what kinds of changes may need to be made to continue to foster an interest in science with future generations (something that has become a concern in both Japan and the U.S.). Some of the issues involving science education are very different between our two countries, particularly the issue of teaching evolution and/or creationism in science classes in the U.S. (which creates a lot of puzzlement in Japan - "Why are you teaching about folk tales in a science class?" is a common question, since our Jewish/Christian Bible is not well known here, and close-knit connections between religious belief systems and basic education simply do not exist in Japan).

Before the discussion can get too heated, we move away from that discussion (most folks are more than willing to do so - none of us are interested in fighting any wars here). Now we actually try to get our computers to connect to the 'Net, a very involved process. The group is almost equally divided between wired and wireless connections; while those of us with wireless cards are up and running, the wired connections require that some network hubs be brought in.

Soon the room assumes the properties of a network support center in disaster recovery mode - rainbow-colored wires snake all over the room, adding to the maze of black, white and grey power cords and extension cords coming from every available outlet. At one point, someone from the building tech support staff comes in and asks if someone has gotten a shock - the equipment monitoring the power consumption of the building has detected a short circuit somewhere in the room. It is determined that someone did indeed throw a spark when they plugged in to their outlet - most likely a static electricity discharge which did not cause further harm. (That is some monitoring system!)

Everyone that can get connected does so, and several of us soon find family and friends online, so multiple conversations spring up all over the room. I get to see my husband and daughter, and we chat and wave; daughter grabs cats as they wander by and holds each up to see the screen (one of them promptly tries to climb on the screen when she sees me there). Theckla and her partner are sitting behind me; when they see my husband and daughter (who they met during the March visits), they wave and my family waves back.

Meanwhile, several people are having problems, Theckla among them. Unfortunately, her computer is a much older system, one with very little in included hardware, and (to make matters worse) the tech who set it up has locked out the administrator functions. Theckla has a PC Card with an Ethernet connection, but no drivers were loaded for it, so the only connection she has defined is an AOL dialup; that's not going to work over here. After much gnashing of teeth (and some muttered curses), she decides that she will contact her administrator as soon as possible and try to get the needed passwords. If she is successful, I will help her tonight or early tomorrow morning to get things loaded; otherwise the tech in her Japanese school will have to work on the machine.

(Note for future participants - always insist on having admin privileges on whatever machine is traveling with you. Remind the tech support person that it will be rather difficult to make a house call if the machine is in Tokyo and the tech is in Missouri.....)

After lunch, we have one more set of discussions, this time about building working communities as we go through our year. While this is old news for those who have already participated in MTP, it is very useful information, and provides valuable information for the new MTPers.

We head back to our hotel earlier than expected; a discussion ensues about what to do with the evening. I would like to go back to Shinjuku to get another battery for my new camcorder; several people are thinking about going to the baseball game, between the Giants and the Eagles (Japanese baseball league). My stand-in partner assures me that I can find good electronics stores in Fukuoka, so I join the baseball party.

We arrive at Tokyo Dome in plenty of time, get fairly good seats in the upper area directly above the visitors' dugout, and settle in to enjoy the game. And it turns out to be a spectacular one - the home team Giants' pitcher has a perfect game going until well into the 7th inning (the final was a three-hitter, with the last two hits coming off a reliever), the home team wins 4 - 0, and the game is played without a single error on either side.

Japanese baseball games are noisy - the bleacher section is much larger than the usual ones in American baseball stadiums, and it is full of partisan, vocal fans who dress the part, have plenty of energy and keep up the organized cheering throughout. (Even the visiting team has a sizeable group of cheering fans in one area of the bleachers.) They also have cheerleading squads who provide entertainment between some innings and offer things like slingshot prizes (t-shirts, etc.) thrown to the crowd. (American baseball in the major leagues have gotten too 'sophisticated' for most of those activities these days, but teams in the minor leagues still offer such attractions.)

I enjoy the game enormously - I have not had the chance to see a live major league game in a couple of years, but I do follow the scores and listen to games on the radio and TV (and I have seen several games with our local minor league team). It's fun to be in the ballpark, watching the action, questioning the umpire's calls (this one seemed to have a strike zone that was rather high, but he was consistent with his calls), and cheering when the home team gets a run.

When we return to Akasaka, my partner asks if I am interested in finding some dinner. I say yes, since I did not eat before we went to the game (and ballpark food in Japan is exactly like that in America - long lines and very high prices). We go to a good Japanese restaurant just down the street from the hotel, and enjoy a very traditional meal with chicken and tofu. Then it's back to the hotel, where we agree on a meeting time for tomorrow.

It's time to go to my partner's community.

Tokyo, Day 4 - The Big Reception

2005-06-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

Today's schedule sends us to another campus of Tama University, in Shinigawa Inner City. While it is possible to get there via subway and train, we have been advised to take a taxi, since we will be carrying our computers. The drive is not too long, except that we have to wait for several trains to pass at the crossing just before we get to the campus.

Once there, we find out that "we won't be using the computers very much today - this is a discussion session". Oh, well, it's a chance to work on setting them up and testing wireless network access, so most of us do just that. Those who are veterans have (for the most part) remembered to bring things like extension cords (purchased during our last visits when we needed them before), so everyone eventually gets connected. A few do not have wireless cards; hopefully there will be some wired access available tomorrow when we test.

I have my wireless card, but suddenly remember that I did not reload the drivers for it after I upgraded my hard drive. Fortunately, I also remembered that driver install disks are an important thing to carry, so I dig out the CD wallet and find the correct disk. A few minutes later, I have a working card again, and it swiftly locates a couple of possible networks for connection. One is labeled 'computer-to-computer' - I suspect that it is for internal connections only (no 'Net access), so I opt for the other one, and it works.

While we are describing our paired projects, I use the time to check e-mail and work on getting my webcam running (something that is still giving me trouble). As I sign on to Yahoo IM, my daughter hops on and says Hi; we chat for a minute, until she has to leave for a dance rehearsal. She likes the two pictures that I sent showing the dance team from Tama HS, and I tell her to look for more when I upload pics to Dad's web space. As she leaves, husband signs on.

I have been looking at FAQs regarding Yahoo IM webcam access and my firewall (Zone Alarm) and am busily checking settings as I listen to the other teachers. I know the camera will work; I used it for my online Japanese lessons during April and May. The problem seems to be the difference in security settings between my home network and the public ones I am using now. I don't want to turn off my firewall (which has been suggested), so I need to find a solution that will connect properly through it.

As I read, something catches my eye; a couple of users indicate that Yahoo IM needs to be set up with 'No proxies' to work correctly behind certain firewall products. Hmmm, I didn't think I was using a proxy server, but let's go check....aha! I've got 'Firewall with proxies' checked! (Why did I do that? Oh, yeah, our home network does use an automatic proxy setting, for security purposes - ack!) Change that to 'No proxies' - hey, now I can see me!

Husband is still on, so I ask him to turn on his camera and try to view mine. At last - we can finally see each other. We wave and say hi, then he indicates that he wants to head for bed (it's late there).

After lunch, I return to the meeting area and visit with Jones-san. As I am sitting, someone asks if I am Rebecca-sensei; I indicate yes, and he introduces himself as Matsumoto-sensei, a 'stand-in' for my teacher partner from Dazaifu. My partner became ill this morning and could not fly up to meet with me. I immediately ask if my partner is okay, and Matsumoto assures me that it is not serious; Nakagawa-sensei will be able to meet us at the airport when we arrive on Friday. Whew! That's a relief.

I actually have already 'met' Matsumoto via e-mail; he was the MTP2004 participant from his school and wrote earlier to introduce himself and find out some of my interests on behalf of my current partners. We chat for a bit, then move into the meeting area. During the afternoon session, all of the teachers get an opportunity to describe how our initial BUGS collections went; since Matsumoto was not involved this spring, he described his last collection from the previous fall.

Then it's back to the hotel and time to dress for a formal reception introducing the newest group of JFMF Teacher Program participants (200 of them). The Teacher Program folks have just arrived for their three-week visit and they are excited and nervous (as is to be expected). All of the MTPers have stickers saying 'Ask me about MTP' and several teachers do ask, so we get an opportunity to explain the longer program and its benefits and interests.

Quite a few teachers have already read about our program, but several indicate that they thought only science teachers could apply (because of the science requirement for the paired projects). I assure them that while one has to be willing to do science projects, one does not have to be certified in science, pointing to myself as an example since I teach music. I also explain that in our group of 25 teachers, roughly one-third are not certified in science; our subjects include history, art and computer technology as well as music.

The reception is quite good; we hear Japanese music on koto and shakuhachi and have many kinds of foods (both Japanese and American) to eat, as well as wine and beer, juice and soda, and later coffee to drink. My partner and I enjoy a great dinner, including sushi, and some wine.

Then it's back to the hotel to sleep.

Tokyo, Day 3 - Tea Ceremony

2005-06-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today is more of a general 'life in Japan' orientation, but it's fun. We meet the Tama University MTP staff at our hotel, and go to Shinigawa History Museum, a process that involves both a subway trip and two JR train rides, as well as a walk.

One of the Tama teachers is a graduate of Sofia University; while there, she was very active in the Tea Club. She and other club members have arranged to serve tea to our group in a traditional Japanese style, using the large tea room facility at the history museum. This is an informal setup; picture-taking is encouraged, and parts of the ceremony are explained as they occur. During my two trips to Japan, I have been able to participate in both formal and informal ceremonies, and, while I enjoy the formal process, I am always glad to see a more informal ritual, since it allows me to learn more about it and feel comfortable that I will not be making too many faux pas.

The history museum has a small but very complete Japanese garden as well as a much smaller tea house (suitable for only 2 or 3 participants) along with the larger room. After our ceremony, we wander in the garden, taking pictures and enjoying the views available.

Lunch is on our own, and we are also on our own to find our way back to Tama's Meguro campus (where we met yesterday). This is again part of our orientation; while a few people are still a bit hesitant about it, most folks have begun to figure out how to read the signs in the stations and retrace a path. We do still tend to stay in groups, but now the groups are smaller.

Once I get to the Meguro area, I walk towards the university campus, looking for likely lunch prospects. There is a shop along the way that seems to have lunch things to take with you, so I stop and look around; I end up getting a small sandwich with what tastes like tuna salad (it was good), a bottle of orange drink (but it has a lot more actual juice in it than similar drinks in the U.S.), and a package of what I think are wafer cookies with chocolate filling (they are).

As I look a bit longer, I realize that this shop, unlike many of the convenience shops I've seen, seems to have different items, all priced the same. Ah, I understand - this is a variant of a well-known type of Japanese shop, the 100 Yen Store, only this one is competing at a new level; everything here is Y98! Cool, even the Dollar Stores have competitors.

When we all meet at Tama, we have a discussion of what to look for on food and product labels (for example, milk does come in both whole and low-fat forms, but you have to find the part that gives the percentage of milk-fat to determine which is which). We then break into groups, and students from the Tama JHS/HS International Club join us for a shopping trip; they will be available to answer questions about labels and help us find things we might be needing. This time, we head for a grocery store that also has a Y100 shop in it; those who have not seen these stores are amazed at the variety of items one can buy.

When we head back for dinner, my group makes one misstep on the subway ride; we didn't pay close enough attention to our maps (or the color of the stripe on the train, which tells you what line it follows) and go a couple of stops beyond our first transfer point. So we get to get off and backtrack just a bit. It's not a problem (and was probably a good thing to have happen for the new people in the group), but it does help reinforce the need to look at the signs and train indicators. Other than that, most of us are beginning to feel comfortable with daily travel.

I want to go look for a digital camcorder in Shinjuku, but am not particularly comfortable with the idea of going by myself at night. (It's a reasonably safe area, as long as you stay on the main streets, but it's usually better to go with someone rather than solo when it is dark, much as it is in many American cities.) Jim doesn't need to shop, but is willing to go with me, and we plan to get dinner afterwards.

We get to the area without a problem, and find several well-known electronics stores. I browse through two or three - surprisingly, the shop I remember best has the least selection in camcorders (although they do still have a great supply of translators and still cameras). I end up with a Canon - it's a very new model, and uses both MiniDV tapes and SD Media cards (for video and still pictures). It is lighter than the Sony camcorders I look at, and has some features that the Panasonic I liked didn't have (specifically an anti-shake focusing system for handheld video filming).

Unfortunately, the store does not have a user manual in English, but they assure me that one can be ordered for later pick-up (I will get it when I return to Tokyo in July). We spend some time while the store clerk helps me learn the basics of how to use the camera; even with Japanese labels, it is surprisingly easy to figure out how to use it. I leave with the camera, some MiniDV tapes, a larger SD Media card (256 mB; 16 mB never holds very much, and it's easier and cheaper to buy it right then), and a bag and extra strap (thrown in as a bonus).

A quick check online later confirms that I have gotten a very good price, and the store had the proper forms for tourists to avoid paying the Japanese sales tax (legal as long as you are a foreign visitor and have the store fill it out and attach it to your passport for the customs people to take later), as well as a properly validated warranty.

I like shopping in Shinjuku - there are always good buys on electronics equipment and you can usually see a lot of new things.

Jim and I head back to the hotel, and find a small restaurant that specializes in Italian cuisine. He orders pizza, I get Fettucine alla Carbonara, and they are both delicious. There are a couple of interesting items in the alcohol list (for an Italian restaurant, at least): Tio Pepe (a well-known Spanish sherry) is available by the glass, and they offer a "Homemade Sangria" (also a Spanish specialty), which I decide to try. It's good....

Back to the hotel, where I play with the camera for a bit and then plug it in to get a full charge on the battery pack. I end up going to bed much later than on other evenings; I think I'm finally acclimated to Japan time.

Tokyo, Day 2 - Meetings and a school visit

2005-06-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Today is Monday, and it is our first 'working' day.

The morning is spent over at the JFMF offices in Sanno Grand (about a block from our hotel). This is another orientation meeting; we get a lot more paperwork, turn in our first receipts for the research allowance, and discuss what to expect when we first arrive in our partner communities next weekend. Lots of good information is given about how to live comfortably in a strange environment - ways to shop, and how to find places that you might need, such as the post office or a grocery store. There is also some discussion of security, with a warning that we need to carry our passports at all times since the police are being more vigilant about checking on people who are obviously not part of the local area (the Iraqi war has created a lot of nervousness here because of Japan's participation and a previous hostage situation that ended tragically).

We actually finish a little bit early, and everyone scatters to find lunch. I head back to my room to check on e-mail, grabbing a McDonald's along the way (just like home, but the fries are hot!). I find my family still up and online, so we get the chance to chat via Yahoo IM; I cannot seem to get the camera going (firewall issues), but promise that I will check it further when I have more time.

Then, it's back to Sanno Grand, to meet some of the Tama University language instructors. We are headed to the Meguro campus, where a Junior/Senior High School complex resides. We are given a school tour and allowed to view a number of classes at all levels of study.

When we take a break for tea and something to eat, several students arrive to ask questions about American schools and teenagers. I get to field answers about fashion (what's hot with American teens in clothing - shopping with a teenage girl does have some benefits - thanks, Marjorie) and what Japanese comics (manga) are liked by Americans (Thank you, John Joseph!); other teachers answer questions about testing, what classes are offered in American High Schools and how students plan for university attendance.

Then we have a back and forth discussion with the Japanese teachers, talking about discipline and how curriculum is arranged. It's a great opportunity to learn quite a bit about the similarities and differences between Japanese and American education.

As we leave the meeting area, we find students who are practicing various sports and other activities. One group in particular catches my eye - a group of girls in a single line, with a CD player sitting on the ground, playing good beat music. Hey, I recognize this - it's the school dance team (cheerleading), and they're practicing a kick routine! I stop to take pictures, and explain that my daughter is a member of the dance team at her high school, which elicits a cheer from the girls.

Back to the hotel - a couple of groups are headed for specific activities this evening, including a visit to a fine restaurant and a local country-western bar where line-dancing is available. Some of us, however, just head for the noodle shop up the hill, and then back to our rooms for bed.

Tokyo, Day 1 - Scavenger Hunt

2005-06-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

This is our "get-acquainted-with-Japan" day; our language teachers from Tama University are in charge. The primary purpose of the day is to give people a chance to become acclimated to finding their way around in a strange city and culture in spite of language difficulties (especially written language).

Our teachers have put together a short picture-based 'scavenger hunt' - we are to find our way to the large temple at Asakusa, using the Tokyo Metro system (subway) and then find our way back to the hotel. Additionally, several of us have opted to take advantage of an opportunity to view an afternoon performance of Kabuki, so we also have to find our way to the National Theatre of Japan, both to buy our tickets and to attend the performance.

We divide into groups of 5 or so and, with a teacher or mentor in tow, head for the subway station to learn how to buy tickets and read the signs. Since this is my second trip, I've got a reasonably good idea of what to do, so I buy a metro pass (Y1000) and follow our leader as she takes us to the Hanzomon subway line to go the to the theatre. We ride to the next stop and leave the train; the theatre is a short walk from the station.

When we get there, we discover that the box office doesn't open until 10 AM. We have a half-hour to kill, so we walk across the street and down a block or so to the back gate entrance to the grounds of the Imperial Palace. That entrance is not open (it usually isn't) but it gives us a good vantage point for pictures, showing the huge moat and wall system that have been in existence for over three hundred years, and serve as protection for the Palace. I have not seen this portion of the wall and moat - we viewed the grounds from the Tokyo Train Station side two years ago.

Back to the box office, where our teachers confer with the ticket sellers to find a good seating area. We pay our money (Y1500 per ticket - not a bad price for a theatre matinee), and receive our tickets. Some of us also pick up some of the playbills available for patrons - they make excellent wall posters in American classrooms, since they usually have good pictures of Kabuki actors in full costume and makeup.

Then it's back to the subway to find our way to the temple. This involves riding one subway line and then transferring to another (the Ginza line), which is a bit trickier (you have to go through a particular set of turnstiles to avoid paying an extra fare), but still very doable. In Tokyo and other major Japanese cities, the exits are clearly marked with numbers, and station names are written out in romaji (western alphabet) as well as kanji, so as long as you know the name of the station you wish to use, you can usually find your way around. The various subway lines are marked on the maps with different colors, which also makes it easier to figure out when to change lines.

Asakusa is crowded - it's Sunday, which is a day for family outings in Japan. Lots of people are here to see the sights and visit the shrines, and the shops that line the street leading to the temple are busy. I've been here before, so I buy very little, but I do find a clip on watch to get (I managed to leave the U.S. without a working watch).

Before I left the U.S., I had felt that I was leaving something out of my packing, but could not remember what it was. Today, I figured it out - I left my temple book back home. This is a bound paper journal used to record one's visits to the various Buddhist and Shinto shrines; a priest at each facility will sign and stamp a page of your book for a small offering, which provides a record of your visit to that shrine. So, I now have a new book, with stamps from three shrines. One change for this one - you are encouraged to write your name on the front cover of your book, much as Christians write their names inside their personal Bibles, so I ask the first signer to write my name in katakana, and she obliges.

After our temple visit, we eat lunch at a small restaurant at the edge of the temple complex - they have pork cutlets with rice and curry sauce, which is a favorite of mine. Then we head back to the subway to return to the theatre for the performance.

This afternoon performance is designed for Kabuki novices - there is a short lecture before the performance, where basic information about the staging and story are given, and the particular play is a light story, suitable for anyone. There are English-language radio receivers available to rent that have translated dialogue and side comments about the story - many of us take advantage of those, and they were definitely helpful.

The story is a hero-vs-villain type, with an improbable plot, one designed to show that the good guy always wins. I had read previously that Japanese Kabuki plays are similar in style and substance to American melodrama, and this does seem to be the case, right up to the use of makeup to clearly identify the players (white face for the hero and red for the villain, much as melodrama uses white hats and black hats). Having been raised in river towns all my life and being very familiar with the idea of melodrama as a common performance venue on the old paddlewheel steamboats that used to make the river runs, I enjoy the performance greatly.

We head back to the subway after the show; a few hardy souls confer with our teachers to find the correct subway stations to go do some shopping. Most of us, however, are really feeling jet lag (myself included), so our tired group heads back to the hotel for an early meal and lots of sleep.

Tokyo, here we come

2005-06-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

Friday morning (June 10), and we pack up, check out and head for the airport, after getting breakfast. I have opted for the late shuttle (our flight doesn't leave until 1:35 PM), so I have a leisurely meal and take my time getting ready.

The airport run is straightforward; the lines to check-in are long (obviously this is a full flight), but we get through without a problem. Security is...security, but it's not all that bad, if you know and understand the process. (I still marvel at the folks who try to argue about things like unpacking laptop computers and removing shoes, and anyone who insists on wearing half a ton of jewelry on a plane deserves whatever happens to them at the scanner.)

We finally board - I've got a window seat, so I watch as our luggage is loaded and then as we take off. The pilot tells us that we will fly almost directly west, rather than making the northward loop; my guess is that all of the rainy weather in the Pacific Northwest is making it problematic for flying. It will cut down on the time it takes to fly over, so that is a good thing.

The flight entertainment system has 'issues' - we end up seeing "The Pacifier" (a fluffy Disney flick) and the first of the Bridget Jones movies instead of the scheduled "Sideways" and "Coach Carter", but X-Men still makes the cut. However, somewhat to my surprise, I manage to fall asleep, so I miss out on most of them.

We had one small piece of excitement 2 hours into the flight; the attendants come on the intercom and ask if there is a professional doctor on board, as they have a "medical emergency" up in Business class. Shortly after, the seatbelt signs come on (to prevent gawkers, I think), and then nothing more. A couple of people sitting closer to the front later say that someone was having breathing difficulties, but it may have been just a panic attack. We didn't have to turn back to SF, and no one was carried out on a stretcher when we arrived at Narita Airport, so I presume things turned out okay.

Food was good - Beef brisket and stirred-fried beef and rice were my two meal choices, and we had plenty of beverages. (I ended up not drinking any alcohol - I'm already asleep; I don't need anything else - but I did have lots of green tea, which is better for me anyway.)

We arrive at Narita Airport on Saturday late afternoon (the International Date Line strikes again!), go through immigration and customs (no big deal), find our JFMF language teachers and board the bus for the hotel. I am happy to discover that as we get close to Akasaka, I remember landmarks and some of the roads - that gives me a good feeling about my upcoming stay.

Ed Jones is waiting for us at the hotel, with money in hand. We check in, group together to go find dinner (Angie and I, and others, opt for a Royal Host across the street from the subway station - it's a Denny's-type restaurant, with American style food, but Japanese twists on some of them), then turn in for the night. Sunday will be our first full day here.

On the road again...

2005-06-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know that's not an original title, but it rather accurately describes the next few days.

We left bright and early (and I do mean early) on Thursday morning, flying out of St. Louis at 6:30 AM. Land in Denver, and sit and wait...and wait...and wait; a 3+ hour layover. Joy and I are flying together; apparently Theckla was on a different set of flights. (Turns out she left St. Louis on a later flight, but had to layover at Chicago O'Hare - okay, there are things worse than getting up at 3:30 in the morning to catch a plane. I'll take the Denver run, thankyouverymuch.)

Apparently Denver, as a United hub, is being used to gather a number of us; by the time our flight boards, the JFMF group has swelled to 7 and we are (for a change) sitting more or less together on the plane. Trip to San Francisco is uneventful, and we acquire our luggage and catch the shuttle for the hotel.

After we arrive and check in, we meet as a group for the first time since late March. It's great to see everyone; we've already become a true working group with our initial meetings in D.C., and online Japanese lessons since the beginning of April. Today's meeting is an initial orientation about what to expect once we get to Tokyo - first stipend payments, a brief overview of the schedule, some hints and tips about Japanese culture and etiquette - and a slightly longer discussion about a proposal to create a reunion gathering/conference sometime next year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the JFMF MTP program. Most of us have ideas to pass along; several folks volunteer to form a steering committee to put the plan together. (I am not volunteering for this one - next summer will be busier than usual because my son is getting married - but I pass along what ideas I have, and will stay in touch with the planners.)

Dinner is held in the bay overlook room at the hotel restaurant, and it is quite good, but a lot of us are beginning to feel the effects of being up too long. Several folks (including me) set out on a walk along the bay shore path just outside the hotel, but some of us (again including me) take the first cut back to the hotel (about 1/2 mile) and head for our rooms. I get ready for bed, turn on the TV, lay down and realize that I'd better go ahead and shut it off because I will not be able to stay awake much longer.

Gearing up for Round Two

2005-05-12T08:25:00.000-05:00

It's a while since I added to this blog, but that's only because I have been busy with "regular school" stuff. No matter how hard you try to organize and plan, the end of the school year always sneaks up and jumps out in front of you without warning.

So, what have I been doing?

Well, "end of the year" for most music teachers also means "concert mania", so I've been preparing for our spring concerts. In our school district, each teacher has at least one spring concert with individual schools, but we also have an All-District strings concert. I am not the one in charge (that is reserved for the high school orchestra instructor), but I do have to confer with the other middle school orchestra teacher to select two numbers for our combined groups and make certain that all of my students (elementary and middle) know all of the ensemble numbers.

If you've ever seen a Suzuki concert, you'll have a pretty good idea of how this concert works. All elementary students play every song they have learned, from Hot Cross Buns to Bach Minuet 1; as we reach the more difficult songs, younger students sit down until the only ones left are the 6th graders who have had two or three years of playing experience (and have covered everything in the repertoire).

Then the middle school and high school orchestras play combined numbers (usually something that was initially presented at Large Ensemble festival ), and the entire group finishes with Twinkle, Twinkle (with variations), and a piece called Happy Fiddlin'. Even parents of seniors in high school seem to enjoy the last two numbers - any time you get 300+ students all playing together, it can be a neat thing.

That's one concert. Our middle school spring concert takes place one week later. I try to avoid duplicating our performance music (it's not much fun to sit through two renditions of the same piece, one with fewer players than the other), so my spring concert tends to have fewer large ensemble numbers, but I do allow interested students to apply to perform in solos and small ensembles. This year, we had a cello solo, one violin duo, and three mixed trios, all of whom did quite well for middle school students.

Now I have the usual end-of-the-semester grades to finish - solos and practice records from each of my orchestra students, and report presentations (on musical instruments) and a quarter test that finishes the unit for my general music classes.

Then I have stuff to pack - I am changing rooms again, and since I won't be here for much of the summer, I have to label everything that must be moved. (I can't complain too much - my predecessor had to teach in the school cafeteria. At least I've been able to maintain my own classroom, and a secure storage area for instruments, and this will hopefully be the last move for the immediate future.)

End of the school year - another indication that time is passing.

Goodbye - for now

2005-03-27T12:30:00.000-06:00

Early to rise - gads, it really is early! The Japanese have a flight that leaves at 8:05 AM, so we meet them at the hotel at 6:00 AM. Everything gets loaded into the cars, and we head for Lambert Saint Louis International Airport.

Check-in is not too bad, except that two of the partners have overweight luggage. One suitcase is only about 4 lbs over, so a little redistributing seems to take care of it, but the other bag is seriously overweight - 15 lbs! The overweight charge is dreadful, but my partner opts to pay it. (Note to self - bring an extra suitcase to the airport next time! It would have been a lot cheaper to check another bag.)

Theckla's group arrives while our partners are checking in, so after her group finishes, we get everyone together for some group pictures. Then we head downstairs to the security checkpoint.

Here we visit for a few more minutes, but as the line moves towards the "no-pass" zone, we finally say goodbye, and move off in opposite directions, the Japanese to a long plane flight home and the Americans to church and home activities here.

It's hard to believe that a little more than a week ago, none of us knew more about each other than names and faces. We already have a shared set of memories from the Washington, D.C., meetings and our sightseeing and school visits during the past week, with many more activities and experiences yet to come. I look forward to our Spring BUGS count and the return visit this summer when I head for Japan.

A Bit More Sightseeing and Shopping!

2005-03-26T22:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning dawns; we have all agreed that today will be a later start, so we meet our partners around 10:00 AM. Our first stop will be in downtown Saint Charles again; one of our partners has asked for more information about the City of Saint Charles, which is readily available at the Visitors Center. We find several interesting brochures for everyone to take, and head back outside.

Frontier Park adjoins the Missouri River, just one block away from the downtown area, so we walk over to get a closer view of the river. This is a typical small-town "city park": we have a large bandstand (used for the Municipal Band concerts in the summer and other events and presentations all through the year), walking paths, the old MKT "Katy Line" railroad depot building (no longer used for railroad activities, but available for private meetings and gatherings), and (the latest addition) a large statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, placed in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore and map the lands gained by the Louisiana Purchase. It's a nice park, a pleasant place to walk and enjoy the outdoors, even on a cold and windy day.

Then it's off to the main event - shopping at Saint Louis Mills, the newest outlet mall shopping center in the region. While some people do not see shopping as a tourist activity, it can be a very good model of the "Great American Dream" - lots of specialty stores, entertainment venues (cinema, skating park, indoor paintball maze and outdoor mini-car racing, etc.), and a food court that offers examples of many kinds of American-style "fast foods".

Our partners enjoy the opportunity to pick up last-minute souvenirs and specialty items to take home. Eventually, tired but happy, we head back for the hotel. Tomorrow is the flight home, and there is packing to finish (for the partners) and a very early start (for all).

Sightseeing again, Thursday and Friday

2005-03-25T22:30:00.000-06:00

Now that we've had an opportunity to visit our schools, it's time to do some more sightseeing. The Saint Louis, Missouri, area is filled with places to go and things to see, and it is always fun to show visitors some of the special sights here.

Thursday, we spend the morning over at the Missouri Botanical Garden. This is a walled estate in the heart of South Saint Louis, once the home of Henry Shaw, a businessman and philanthropist who came to Missouri in the early 1800's and amassed a fortune which he then used to buy land and create a series of gardens for pleasure and for study. After Shaw's death, the land and much of his fortune were converted to a charitable trust, ensuring that the gardens and the study started during his lifetime would continue to be accessible to all.

While much of the outdoor area in the garden is still dormant at this time of the year, there are early bulbs beginning to bloom and some trees showing buds. The Garden is known for its Japanese garden, Seiwa-en, and the Climatron, a geodesic dome containing a tropical environment year-round, among other attractions. My partners seem to enjoy walking through the various garden areas.

Lunch is just down the street, at Rigazzi's Restaurant on The Hill. Italian immigrants settled in this part of Saint Louis in the early 1900's, and the area is known for its Italian-American cuisine. Those of us who call the Saint Louis area home have our special favorites among the restaurants, and Rigazzi's is one of the best known.

The remainder of the day is taken up with webposting, in the computer lab at Jefferson Middle School, and later at the hotel, when we realize that our joint postings need both English and Japanese text, and it is extremely difficult to enter Japanese text on standard American keyboards.

(I recall this as a problem 2 years ago, one that my then-partner and I solved with a little bit of creativity - I created an e-mail with the English text on my laptop, then sent the message to a Yahoo account that could be accessed from a hotel computer in Tokyo, one with a Japanese keyboard that my partner could use to add the Japanese text, which we then saved to CD and took over to Kinko's to have printed.)

With our initial postings uploaded, we separate to individual activities, the Japanese to dinner and the Americans to Holy Week Maundy Thursday services.

Friday is the full day of sightseeing - we head for Forest Park. There are quite literally far more things to see and do here than can be managed in a week, let alone a day, so Joy and I have decided that we will list several of the best attractions and let our partners decide which ones to visit.

Our first stop is the world-famous Saint Louis Zoo, known for many years for its association with Marlin Perkins (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) and currently rated as America's #1 Zoo. The morning is warm enough to encourage quite a few of the animals to venture forth from their lairs; only the true warm-climate animals stay snug inside, so we are able to see a large number of creatures of all sorts.

My partners and I decide to have lunch at the Zoo; while there, my daughter notices one of the penny-stamp machines (with Zoo motifs available) and asks if she can have some change to make souvenirs for the Japanese. I hand her my coin purse, and she asks the teachers to join her over by the machine, where she proceeds to demonstrate how it works and asks each teacher to choose a design to be stamped. They are very intrigued with both the results and the fact that such a thing can be done with actual money; I explain that, because the end result produces something that cannot be mistaken for regular coins, the process is permitted. We discuss whether a Japanese coin could be stamped in the same way, but decide not to give it a try; the only coin that is about the right size and thickness is a 1-yen piece, but it is aluminum and much lighter in weight than an American penny, so it might cause problems within the machine.

After a Zoo visit, Joy and her partners decide that they need to finish some webposting work, so they head back to the hotel. My partners and I continue on to the Saint Louis Science Center and McDonnell Planetarium; Ishii-san is an amateur astronomer and star-gazer, and I want him to get the opportunity to see one of the star shows. We get to see many of the Science Center exhibits, and also view a star show about the Spring Equinox sky, a great way to end the afternoon.

Tired, we head back to Saint Charles and the hotel. Dinner is again an individual affair for all.

Visiting our schools

2005-03-23T22:47:00.000-06:00

Wednesday has come, and we finally get to show off our own schools. We arrive at the hotel to pick up our partners but discover that a problem has arisen: Ishii-san has been having problems with his eyes and needs to see a doctor. The traveler's insurance carrier is consulted, and they recommend a trip to the local hospital emergency room.

Since Saint Charles High School is the first stop of the morning, and Ishii-san is one of the junior high school teachers, it is decided that all but myself and Ishii-san will go over to the school, while I drive Ishii-san to the hospital. He demurs a bit, saying that he will take a taxi, but I insist that I should go with him - he is my partner, and it is important that he have someone else with him to help with any details or issues that might arise. So, we head for our various destinations.

Fortunately the nearest hospital is less than 2 miles away - there are advantages to living in a smaller town. We get in to see a doctor rather quickly (our timing was actually pretty good - just as we were finishing up, several ambulances arrive from an accident scene and the ER quickly fills up). Some special eyedrops are prescribed, and we are out in about an hour.

We make a stop at the pharmacy to fill the prescription, then go back to the hotel so that Ishii-san can change into more professional attire. Back to the car - we get to the high school in time to see a couple of the classrooms and have a short conversation with the others (who have had a complete tour already).

Then we head for downtown Saint Charles to meet the mayor. This visit goes quite well: our partners have gifts to present, and Mayor York also presents some mementos to each teacher. We take a quick tour of the City Council chamber and then go back to our cars.

Lunch today is at Golden Corral, a local all-you-care-to-eat buffet. After we manage to find lots of good things to eat, we head for Jefferson Middle School.

Students had been invited to join the tours at both schools, but only my daughter arrived for the morning high school visit. I have better luck when we get to Jefferson; 8 of my orchestra students are waiting to help with a tour. We see several of the classrooms, including most of the specialty classes, and rooms where the students pursue core studies. They also show off their lockers (which are not nearly as messy as I expected them to be - the school has new lockers, and the students really are trying to take good care of them this year), and demonstrate the favorite reading chairs in the library (rocking "Bubble" chairs) and the climbing wall installed in the gymnastics room last year.

Our partners go back to the hotel to relax for a bit, then join us for an informal dinner at Joy's parents' house. While we are there, Miki (who has worn a traditional kimono to the gathering) brings out a portable tea service, and gives a brief demonstration of the elements of the Japanese tea ceremony. Joy is presented with a special tea cup and a hanging for her school. I am delighted to see the tea ceremony performed, not only for Joy but for my daughter as well - she has heard me describe it from my past visit, but this gives her the opportunity to learn about some of the important details in the ceremony.

Home for everyone - tomorrow will be not quite as early, but we have much to see and do then.

Time to visit school

2005-03-22T22:17:00.000-06:00

Tuesday is a "school visits" day. Since our school district is in the middle of its Spring Break, we have made arrangements to visit a neighboring district's buildings. It's also raining rather hard; I'm glad we are going to be mostly indoors today.

We start with Fort Zumwalt West Middle School, where we are greeted by the principal and the head of the guidance department. She gives us some information brochures about the school district, and shows us around; included are quick visits to the school library, a science class, and groups meeting in the Industrial Tech, FACS and art classrooms. A final stop to see some classes in the gym (playing ping-pong, and working on rotation exercise stations), then we head for the car and our next stop.

Fort Zumwalt West High School has some special activities - a short performance by the school's select choir, visits to science and math classes, and an advanced level business accounting class, and a quick view of computer drafting and some of the music classrooms. Then we head for lunch in the school cafeteria. We take our trays to the career center office, where we find a string quartet waiting to offer incidental music for our listening enjoyment (and they are quite good!).

After we eat, there is time for a question and answer session with the school principal and other staff members; we also get to talk with several students for a few minutes, to get a "feel" for what life is like in American schools. Fort Zumwalt has provided an excellent tour experience for our teacher partners, and we thank them profusely.

Our next stop is another favorite activity for the teachers - we head for Bookmark, a teacher supply store in Saint Charles. Japanese teachers have told us previously that there are no stores in Japan that carry primarily teaching materials and supplies (such as bulletin board creation materials, lesson plan reproducibles, and various charts and posters for classroom walls), and they have always been quite excited to see the array of items available for teachers in this store; today's group is no exception. An hour or two (and plenty of purchases) later, we head for the car.

Originally we had planned to go on down to Main Street for more shopping and sightseeing, but the rain is coming down harder than ever, and the temperature has dropped considerably - it's not freezing (thank goodness!), but it's very cold and not at all comfortable to be in. The group decides to head back to the hotel, where our partners will have a free evening, and Joy and I will head back to our houses.

Back home, and Sightseeing, Day 1

2005-03-22T21:38:00.000-06:00

So, on Sunday, we fly back to Saint Louis with our partners. One group heads for the Central West End (Theckla, with the elementary school teachers), and the rest of us drive across the Missouri River to Saint Charles, where we introduce our partners to their home-away-from-home for the next week. Comfort Suites has been hosting our Japanese teacher partners for the past 3 years, and the manager has gotten quite good at helping these guests feel comfortable.

Joy and I head for our houses to unload luggage and greet our families, then we return in the evening to pick up the teachers and go to dinner; Lewis and Clark Restaurant, on Main Street, is a good place to start a week of shared activities. Theckla and her partners join us, along with our various family members and a good time is had by all.

Monday morning is cool but clear, which is good since we have a day of sightseeing planned. We start with a trip into Saint Louis, down to Pestalozzi Street, home of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. This is a favorite tourist activity; we get to see how the world's most famous beer is made (and sample some, too!), and we even get to see the Clydesdale horses. Next stop is Busch Stadium (home of the Saint Louis Cardinals Baseball Club), to see the "old" stadium (scheduled to be demolished after the 2005 season is over) and the construction of the "new" stadium just to the south. Unfortunately, there are no tours scheduled today, so we content ourselves with a visit to the gift shop and a walk around to peek in at the gates.

Lunch is during weekday lunch time at a local fast food eatery, Wendy's, and surprisingly takes less time than we expected (an efficient lunch shift crew). Then we head for the best part of the day - a visit to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, otherwise known as the Gateway Arch. Just walking up the hill is an adventure; until you stand at the base, you cannot fully appreciate the sheer size of this thing. Getting into the underground museum and tram station takes a bit of time; one entrance is closed for renovations, and the other is doing a full TSA-style security check. But we finally get inside, and immediately head for the counter to buy our tram ride tickets. While we wait for our scheduled time, we browse through the gift shop and take a quick peek at some of the museum exhibits.

Then it's time for the ride to the top. We head down to the tram entrance and wait our turn to board the small capsules, and start our journey up the north leg of the Arch. When we arrive, we climb out and walk up the steps to the highest point.

Did I mention that it's a bit windy outside? It is - and you can feel it inside once you reach the top. Fortunately none of us seem to be inclined to mal der mer, so we spend quite a bit of time up there taking pictures both inside and peering out through the small windows. This is usually the highlight of the day for visitors to our area, and today is no exception - our partners are very impressed with the view from the top.

We finish the day with dinner at Blueberry Hill, a well-known venue for good food and music in the U City Loop.

DC, Days 3 and 4

2005-03-19T20:04:00.000-06:00

I'm going to double up on these two days, because they were both devoted to orientation and project discussions.

Friday morning we get up a bit earlier and meet in the hotel lobby to board our buses. We travel to Bell Multicultural High School, which is a District of Columbia public school, currently housed in what was Bell Vocational HS. It was created as a charter school, and still draws its student body from all over the city. With a 90+% free/reduced lunch population, one might expect that this school would have problems with high dropout rates and low test scores, but through the hard work of administration and staff, such is not the case.

A presentation on the school's educational philosophy and curriculum development methods is given, and then the MTP teachers are taken to various classrooms to observe. This is followed by a short question and answer period with students and staff, discussing what was seen in the classroom (the short answer is a lot of innovative and interesting learning techniques). The morning provides a good opportunity for both Japanese and American teachers to see modern U.S.-styled education practices at work.

After a return to the hotel, we scatter for lunch, then meet again at JICC to learn some basics about the JFMF MTP program and its requirements for the year. I have heard most of this before; what is different is the presentation style (much more concise) and the information about a new approach to the whole journal/website reporting requirements (a forum-based blog area and a separate directory for pictures, with specific topic headings for each teacher's reports, and the ability to upload the information directly from a home or school computer). This is a distinct improvement over previous years, where teachers on both sides were required to post reports directly on their school's webpage (relatively easy on the Japanese side, but a major nightmare on the U.S. side, where access to school webservers requires something approaching an act of God or at least school board approval).

There are questions about the video conferencing as well - JFMF stopped using CUSeeMe last year, when the package was rewritten and support for Macintosh systems was dropped. Yahoo IM is now the software of choice - it works well for Windows users, but the Macintosh version doesn't handle video cameras and voice chat. Mac users wonder why AOL IM (AIM) wasn't chosen instead (school firewalls are even less tolerant of it, for one thing). I don't suppose that we will ever find a package that will satisfy everyone, but I think that Yahoo IM can be made to work.

Back to the hotel for dinner, and I discover a problem - my room lock is not working. After time spent by hotel maintenance, it is finally determined that I need to have a room change; a bellhop brings up a new key, and takes my suitcase to the new room, and I follow after packing up the odds and ends I have spread out all over the place. I get settled in and go down to meet my partners for dinner at a local Subway shop.

We get a treat for Friday night; one of the translators has a relative who is manager for an exclusive hotel directly across the street from the White House. He has invited us to come over in the evening to get a photo opportunity from their rooftop patio. We end up riding the D.C. subway (more like Tokyo's system than I thought), and getting some spectacular pictures. An interesting note - before the manager could take us to the roof, he had to contact the Secret Service office to let them know that guests would be viewing the White House from the hotel patio. Apparently, this is a requirement whenever any events take place in that facility....

Saturday morning is another early start; we head back to Bell MHS for a series of workshops explaining the overall science projects (BUGS and Soil and Fast Plants), and giving us some valuable resource information about these and other projects likely to be suggested as paired projects during the year. Again, much of the information is not new to me, but it does provide a good "refresher" course, and helps me to direct my thinking towards the "how-to's" of getting our projects done this year.

Back to the hotel for a dinner and packing; we leave tomorrow morning for my home town, where my partners will stay during the next week. We have a full list of activities planned - sightseeing, school visits, web journal work.

3-19 ADDENDUM: Late in the evening, we began to hear first news reports about a major earthquake in Japan. Four sets of teachers are in Washington from the affected area (Fukuoka), but all are able to get in touch with family members and allay fears about their safety. We will find out more once news reports come in; apparently there was a "whole lotta shakin' going on" over there.

DC, Day 2

2005-03-17T20:49:00.000-06:00

Up in the morning hours - my body says that it is 5 AM, but the clock is certain that it's 6. Oh, well....

Meet Joy and Theckla in the lobby, and we start up the street to a collections of shops on the edge of George Washington University. The French bakery that I remembered from two years ago is still there, so we get breakfast and wander back down the street to the Japan Information & Cultural Center (JICC) for our first gathering.

More than one familiar face is here (MTP-ers from previous years) - there is Brian, and Angie, and here are Steve and Gary. And finally there is Ishitani-san, with our packets and nametags. Just as we finish passing out the paperwork, here come the Japanese teachers. With little difficulty, my partners find me, and we begin the process of getting acquainted. After a short meeting, our group heads for two tour buses to start our round of sightseeing.

We drive past the White House and make our first stop at the Jefferson Memorial. All of the planned stops highlight someone (or something) in American history that had a great deal to do with education and/or Japan. Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, the statue of Ulysses S. Grant in front of the U.S. Capitol building, and the Smithsonian are all featured on this trek. Other stops or points of interest include the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, and an interesting modern sight - baseball greats coming out of the Capitol building after testifying before Congress about the steroids problem. Hmmm.....perhaps there is some educational value in that sight as well.

We eat lunch with our partners at the food court in Union Station, take them over to the Natural History Museum in the Smithsonian complex, explain how to find a taxi from that area, and then head for an orientation session for the American teachers. This is actually a FAQ session for new MTP teachers to ask questions of those of us who have made this trip previously; I wish we had had something like this two years ago, and am glad to pass along what I learned from my first trip.

Dinner with our partners, but before we go, I help my partner get his internet connection working again. After a discussion with Wayport tech support (I was translator for both halves of the phone conversation), we realize that Ishii-san's computer isn't handling the auto-connect that it needs for the hotel network. The technician tells us what parameters to set in the manual connection setup, we make the changes, and - he's in!

Dinner at Bertucci's - good Italian food, beer and wine available, and lots of interesting conversations. Then it's off to bed - tomorrow, we will be visiting a local high school and then holding our first joint orientation meetings.

DC, Day 1

2005-03-16T21:21:00.000-06:00

Okay, we have "officially" started - sort of. I headed for the airport this morning with my counterpart from our high school, and met a third teacher who is representing an elementary school in our area. Several hours later, we are in Washington, D.C., preparing to embark on orientation.

Flight is relatively uneventful; I was even able to nap a bit (something I don't do well on airplanes). We were in what is usually called a "regional" aircraft, which means that any luggage bigger than a briefcase got checked at planeside, and the seating was 3 across - total. But it wasn't too bumpy and having a seat to myself is rather nice - no one to bump elbows with.

We finally get to our hotel; the first person I see when we enter the lobby is Angie (a fellow MTP-er). Greetings with hugs, and I introduce her to my traveling companions, then we check in.

Food is a top priority, so we decide to splurge and go to the expensive steakhouse restaurant in the hotel. Yes, it was pricey, and yes, it was worth it, right down to the chocolate lava cake dessert.

We waddle back upstairs and work on getting our computers hooked up to the hotel internet connection. Mine is quick and simple; the only question mark about my setup was whether the wireless card would work, since I could not test it in advance. (It does.) Joy's setup is a bit more involved but still connects within minutes.

Theckla's machine is a Mac; I am a Wintel person. She doesn't seem to be able to get to a network either through a wireless port or a plug-in port. After some head-scratching, I sit down and start digging through various system files, eventually coming across a Network folder that shows several possibilities. We finally figure out that the machine is set up to look for a dial-up connection first, so that moves to the bottom of the list. Then we determine that the machine thinks that a wireless connection should be automatically configured - okay, if you're connecting to a secure school system, but lousy for a wide-open hotel connection. More digging, and voila! There's the configuration stuff. We're in.

Sort of - this hotel has a sign-in system, using either a credit card (to pay a daily charge), or your travel points number (to get it for free). Theckla has a travel points number, but doesn't remember it. Hmmm.....

Okay, go to my room, sign on (I had my number written down), and look at the travel points login page. Yes! you can request that your number be sent to your registered e-mail address, which is accessible via the Web on my machine. Two minutes later, we have a working number and head back to her room.

We try to sign her on - it acknowledges her number, but says that it hasn't been associated with her reservation (your room number also has to be entered when you sign on - that is how they avoid having numbers passed around). A call to the front desk takes care of that problem - five minutes later, Theckla is logged in and checking mail. I believe this may be a first; all three of us hooked to the Internet in less than an hour!

On my way back to my room, I meet three Japanese teachers coming off the elevator. One of them looks familiar - it's another teacher from one of our partner schools from two years ago! More hugs and she introduces me to her traveling companions. She was aware that I was returning, but I had not yet spotted her name on the list, so that is another happy surprise.

I am headed for bed - tomorrow is a get-acquainted day with sightseeing in D.C., and it will be a long one.

Things are getting busy....

2005-03-08T20:00:00.000-06:00

In my "day job", I teach music, specifically orchestra. March is traditionally an active month for music educators in general - it is Music in Our Schools Month, and most school performance groups do some sort of, well, performing now. I've already had short evening programs with my elementary students, and now it's time to take the older ones to Large Ensemble Festival, which means....it's field trip time!

Some people think that field trips were created so that teachers don't have to do any work - wrong.....

I've filled out all the paperwork, notified the rest of the teachers, sent out and collected the permission slips, ordered the bus, labeled and numbered the scores, checked to be certain I have enough music for all of the performers, written up lessons plans for my sub for one class...what's left? Oh - rehearsal - yep. They're ready - I think. At least today's run-throughs were staying together. We'll see what stage nerves do tomorrow morning.

Actually, I think the kids are less nervous than I am - these students have been playing for at least two years, performed in a minimum of three concerts per year, and have really worked hard on this music. And, besides, it's a field trip; a day away from normal classroom activities, and a chance to eat lunch at the food court in the mall. What's not to like?

Dealing with Details

2005-02-28T21:42:00.000-06:00

The listserv for MTP 2005 participants has been open for approximately 5 days; it contains messages in both English and Japanese sent by and in support of everyone registered for MTP. Already, some American members are confused about why they keep getting "garbage-looking" messages.

It's probably time to send out a message reminding folks that, if you want to see the Japanese messages correctly, you will have to load Japanese (Asian) language support in your browser/word processor/spreadsheet/whatever program. Fortunately, it's not nearly as hard as it used to be.

IE/Outlook Express support it with a specific download; Firefox appears to fix it "on the fly" if you tell it to support Asian languages in general. MS Word and Excel fix it with additional install support (included in the basic install CD as far as I can tell); Open Office also has a general support setting that seems to cover it.

Adobe Reader used to require you to install the Japanese version, but they seem to have cleaned up that problem by allowing you to add Japanese language support to the English version whenever you first open a document that needs it (assuming you are connected to the 'Net). You do have to be in admin mode in Win2K or XP Pro.

Now, if only there was a quick fix for learning how to read Japanese. Maybe I will just settle for improving my ability to recognize basic katakana.

(note to self: pull out those language CDs soon......)

And I'm off....

2005-02-27T20:01:00.000-06:00

This is my attempt to describe my trip to Japan as a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Master Teacher Program (hereafter noted as JFMF MTP).

This is actually my second trip with JFMF; I went to Japan two years ago and worked with a partner teacher in an elementary school in Komatsu, Ishikawa. It was my first trip outside of the United States, and my first opportunity to work with students in a completely different environment from my own.

I said when my yearlong partnership was complete that I definitely wanted to apply again, so I did. This time, I am partnered with a junior high school in Fukuoka.

Our partnership officially begins in March when all of the partnered teachers meet in Washington, D.C., for orientation and some initial sightseeing.

As I progress through the year, I will keep a journal of my activities here. Stay tuned...