Reflections, one month later...

One month ago today I got on a plane and came home.
One month ago today I finished an amazing trip, one of a lifetime, one that I am sure I will never experience again.
Now, one month later, I find that I am still having trouble finding the words to accurately sum up my trip.

Many people have asked me how my trip was. How can I put it into words? I know that they want a quick answer, so I throw out an "Awesome!" or "Fantastic!", knowing that these words are too little for a trip so big and with such an impact. What I really want to say to them is, "Come here, sit down, and let me tell you about it..."

I have so much to tell.

Can anything really compare to seeing the bent and twisted frame of the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima? That can't be summed up in a word. In fact, there will never be enough words. I am still in shock that I was able to go there. While my time in Hiroshima was so short, I learned so much, and felt so much. I tried to blog how I felt, but there was such raw emotion that I held back. I think Hiroshima is something you have to experience in order to truly understand.

What about that delicious food? I've not eaten much rice, seafood, or sushi since I have returned home, but I crave it. Oddly enough, I crave it. I want miso soup. I want fruit so sweet that it hurts to taste it. I want that bread that had custard kneaded throughout. I didn't ever find the seasoning for rice that I had on that first night in Tokyo, and I want that too. I miss slurping noodles. And, God help me, I miss those school lunches, because that was some good eating!

I miss the subway. I miss the cleanliness of Japan. I miss the politeness of its people, and the gentleness that permeated everything. I never felt unsafe in Japan, never ill at ease unless I was trying to order something. I miss the easy routine of my days, knowing where and when I had to be everyday and what I needed to be wearing. I have found myself missing that routine since I have been back, and missing that program book more than I thought!

What are the greater lessons that I have learned?

For one, people are the same no matter where you go, although they may be more polite than what you are used to! My eyes were opened while in Japan to what a raucous group Americans are! We are proud, independent, stubborn people...not all bad things! But we don't acclimate ourselves well to our surroundings, and at times, I was embarrassed by the actions of my colleagues. So, I learned acceptance, and came to terms with the fact that people are people. Towards the end of the trip, I saw that some younger Japanese acted as we did...talking on the subway, eating and drinking while walking, and it made me sad.

Two, kids are kids no matter where you go. They laugh and cry, and when they get angry, beat up on each other. I think that the Japanese education system has its own problems, as does ours, and maybe we could benefit from sharing those problems with each other. For some reason, though, I think pride will stop us from that. Why admit problems in your country, much less share those with another? Oh, we could learn so much from each other, everywhere, if we just allow ourselves the pure and simple luxury of communication.

Three, I am blessed and fortunate to have been given this opportunity. This was the last trip of its kind sponsored by the Japanese government. How lucky I am to have been selected! I was treated like royalty, given gifts, provided rare opportunities, and created memories that will last a lifetime.

I simply cannot find the words to express all that I am feeling...

So, in parting, domo arigato gozaimasu to the people and government of Japan, who have given me this precious gift. Thank you to the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund and the Institute for International Education for the preparations made for me, and for taking care of me while in Japan. Thank you to my parents for taking care of my house and my cats while I was gone, and more importantly, instilling in me along the way some desire to learn and to be independent. Thank you to my school corporation and its administrators who allowed me to partake in this experience. I am extremely lucky and fortunate to work with people who value these types of experiences for their teachers. Finally, thank you to my students, who read the blog and asked questions. Some of you waited until I got home to ask, but I was touched that you followed the blog and showed interest.

Laozi (or Lao Tsu) said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I hope that this blog has inspired you to take that first step on your own journey, to find something that fulfills a part of you. I had always dreamed of a trip to Japan, and I could not ask for more than what I experienced. The good, the bad, the surreal...it all is wrapped up into one amazing and unforgettable experience.

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. - Matsuo Basho

I couldn't agree more...

Home Sweet Home

Quick note!
I have safely made it home. I had an awesome seat on the flight from Tokyo...window seat right behind the bulkhead, so extra legroom for me! I got some pizza at the airport in Chicago and found it disgusting...this is clearly a sign that I have lost my senses or that I have just become accustomed to Japanese food and couldn't stomach cheese. I slept the entire flight to Louisville from Chicago, and am now nestled on my couch.
When did it get so cold here? It was hot when I left!!!

Sayonara!

Last Post from Japan

Well, it is finally here. I've been ready for this day for about a week now, and now that it is finally here, I am wondering if I got everything in that I wanted to do. In the days ahead, I will post about my final journey home, and will also reflect on what this whole trip was about. I think I will be very pleased with what I did. There were some definite negatives, but they have been so grossly outnumbered by positives that the negatives don't seem to matter that much. And in time, I know that I will forget those negatives and take the positives with me.

I got up very early today to go hit a couple shrines with Shannon. By early, I mean 5:00am. At breakfast I enjoyed some tasty treats for the last time. Miso soup may never taste as good as it did this morning, and why I can't find custard bread in the US is beyond me, but probably a good thing. It was strange to be on the subway so early. Rush hour was a few hours off yet, so it was peaceful.

I went to two major shrines in Tokyo that had been on my list for quite some time...pretty much dating back to when I first found out that I had been awarded this trip. The first was Yasukuni. Yasukuni is a Shrinto shrine dedicated to those who lost their lives fighting for the Emperor. I had been very interested in this shrine because of its museum, which I had hoped to see but it did not open until 9:00. My Chinese history professor told me in the spring that the Japanese clean up their history at this shrine, and leave out the really bad parts (want to read about an absolute atrocity in World History? Look up the Rape of Nanking - or Nanjing - which has been mentioned at a minimum in the Yasukuni Museum). The odd thing about this shrine, for me, was seeing the strings of cranes here that we saw similarly hung in Hiroshima. Peace cranes at a war museum. I am still trying to wrap my head around this one. I get the surface of it, but at the same time, this is a shrine that glorifies the military strength that Japan once possessed. It seems odd to have those cranes there.

The second shrine was the Meiji shrine, built to honor the Emperor Meiji, who introduced sweeping reforms across Japan and helped to modernize Japan and bring it into the 20th Century. It was extremely quiet, and extremely peaceful and beautiful. I didn't get a chance to do the museum, but that's okay. I think I will be okay! I found a little souvenir shop that finally had a geisha doll at the right price. Now I just need to find a place to pack that!

I have to wrap up packing, get my bags weighed, and start my checking out process. My plane leaves at 5:55pm Tokyo time, and I will get home tonight around 8:30pm Corydon time. And before you as, no, that does not mean I have a short flight. I will be on the plane to Chicago for 11-12 hours, and then from Chicago to Louisville for a little over an hour, with approximately a 3-hour layover in Chicago. Today is the day that time will stand still for me. It should be very interesting. I am EXHAUSTED, so I am sure I will get ample amounts of sleep on the plane. I am supposed to have a window seat, so that should help out a lot!

The next time you hear from me, I will be back home in the States! Woo hoo!!!

Woeful Wednesday

Well, today was the last full day in Japan. I headed up to the restaurant on the 40th floor again in hopes of catching another glimpse of Mount Fuji (did I mention I finally saw Fuji yesterday? It was a little hazy, and wasn't snowcapped, but I did see it), but it was way too hazy/foggy to get a nice clear view. Breakfast was still tasty...I am going to miss the fruit. It somehow tastes fresher and sweeter here.

Our group presentations were today. On the record, our group worked really hard to put together a nice presentation. Off the record, it was very nice, but it was a bit dull in my opinion. When you see how the other groups had everyone participate, and how they had such a good time, I admit to being a little upset. My students know that I am not a push through in a boring manner kind of teacher. Our presentation was like that. It was a little frustrating, and I did get upset about it. After our presentation, we had a break during which we presented Kyoko-san with some parting gifts. During this time, one of the group members offered to make a CD-ROM for everyone in the group about the presentation, which was very nice of him (he's a great guy, so I am not surprised). Someone mentioned meeting for breakfast at 8:00am Thursday so that everyone could get their disks. Several of us (including me) had already made plans...you can bet that I wasn't going to sit around and wait in the hotel all morning when I could be out exploring. When I voiced this, another group member took the opportunity to berate me in front of the entire group. Combine that with the fact that I felt shut out during the entire presentation process, plus just really being ready to go home, it made for a situation in which I became very upset. Very upset. To have someone who is a professional (or claims to be) speak down to someone else who is of his same level is a bit ridiculous. I am so ready to be away from some of these people!!!

Luckily, I made it through the rest of the presentations as well as another lackluster hotel buffet lunch (you should have seen the take on Mexican lasagna today...tortilla chips, grilled eggplant, some tomato sauce, and cheese...although come to think of it, it was probably the best thing I ate...weird). I registered and paid for the graduate credits I will be receiving through the program, and then headed out to do some last minute souvenir shopping. I had about an hour to rest before the Sayonara Banquet.

The Banquet was interesting. It was another no-chairs situation. I can see why that is useful, as it allows you to mingle freely, but let me tell you...this girl has done a LOT of walking. The feet were not happy about being thrust into another pair of pantyhose and dress shoes. But, the two hours went quickly. We heard speeches, drank a toast, mucnhed on some fancy food, watched an akido demonstration (a pretty fascinationg Japanese martial art where you use the energy of your opponent to defeat them), and sang "Auld Lang Syne," which is what the Japanese sing for departures. You could have sworn that it was New Year's!

After the banquet, some of us ventured out to go to Tokyo Tower. We just barely made it before they stopped selling tickets. It was awesome to see Tokyo lit up at night! Very pretty. Hopefully the pictures turned out well...I haven't had a chance to put them on the computer yet!

I spent the rest of the evening packing and ignoring my blog. Sigh. Pictures someday, pictures someday...

Memoirs of a Micky

Okay, Tuesday...time is slipping through my fingers and I am having trouble keeping up! But, I'll get it done somehow!

I am writing this Wednesday around 1:00, so the verbs may be off. I apologize!

Tuesday we were back to a semi-regular routine with our meetings in Tokyo. I attended a seminar on art education, and it was so much fun! The leader of the seminar is the owner and operator of the Tokyo Toy Museum, and if I had more time I definitely would have liked to have gone there, but I can only do so much in the time that I have left. We made a couple of toys out of paper, which was fun. It was about time that we got some hands-on activities to do during a meeting! Had we done the same with the meeting with Sanyo-Onoda's mayor, I would have been at the top of my game! I think the most striking thing that was said during the presentation was that we can only have art education during a time of peace. There's something for you to think about! It was a very interesting presentation, and I am glad that I chose that one out of the four options that were presented to me (the others were on special education, kindergarten, and environmental education).

For lunch I did something I shouldn't have done, but it was all in the name of research! I went to McDonald's for the sole purpose of getting a McShrimp burger. In Japan, they call it the Filet O' Ebi (ebi means shrimp in Japanese). It was truly bizarre. I wouldn't say that it was bad, but I don't see myself rushing back to get another one. It was like a crabcake only it was made with shrimp. It, of course, had mayonnaise on it.

The afternoon session was spent at a question and answer session on Japanesse education. It dragged on a little longer than it should have. I honestly feel that most of the questions asked had been asked before we left Tokyo, and the answers didn't change that much. Of course, a couple of people from my group had to stand up and ask the same questions they asked everywhere we went. I am telling you, humans can be quite predictible creatures! We would be great in zoos because we do things the same way all of the time. It's pure and utter craziness, let me tell you. I had a hard time keeping my mind focused because of what I had planned for the evening.

That's right, kids...Tuesday night was Geisha Night. The Fat Geisha came to life!

Four of us went...Holly from the Sanyo-Onoda group, Cyndi, and Kathy. Cyndi, Kathy and I go way back to the early Ning days (I like to call it the Early Ning Dynasty). It was fun to hang out with them! I plan on documenting the entire process on the website in the days to come, but yes, it did get done, and when it did, I looked like this:



It took a lot of baby oil and time to get all of that make-up off, let me tell you! When I woke up this morning, I found traces of it behind my ears. As I don't recall having that make-up put on behind my ears, I am pretty confused as to how it got there!

After the geisha experience, we headed over to Oriental Bazaar to do some last minute shopping, but they had just closed (it was around 7:15...becoming a geisha takes a lot of time). So, we consoled ourselves over hot bowls of noodles and some nice fresh gyoza. Dad loved gyoza when he was over here and he kept telling me to try it. I'm glad I finally got the chance...he was 100% right, it was fantastic! I got home pretty early (home meaning the New Otani...I've been here long enough that it feels like home), around 9:00 or so. I decided to start going through paperwork and trashing some stuff. Let's face it...most of the literature about my host city was in Japanese and I will never be able to read it, so it went away. I don't think I am going to have problems packing, which is a HUGE relief!

Tonight I am going to try to fully catch up on the blog as well as go back and add pictures in where I couldn't. Check back and see what I've been doing!


Parting shot...I kind of feel that I look like Darth Vader right after they took the mask off. Pretty scary stuff...

Monday, Monday...

After an extremely rough night of sleep (the futons were hard, and that buckwheat pillow thing needs to be set on fire...add that to the snorer in our room who woke so many of the dead that I lost count), I got up and decided that I needed to go for another dip in the hot springs. Well, I kind of had to because we didn't have showers in our room, so we at least had to go down to the bathing room. I figured since I had already out myself out there, I might as well go ahead and take a dip. By that point, I was already used to the whole bathing process. It's actually quite liberating in a weird way. Extremely liberating considering the fact that I was the only one down there so I could walk around freely and not scare anyone or myself!

I tried to do breakfast after that. It was a nice set-up, but man, there was a little dish of sardines there, just staring at me! I tried some (because I am trying everything but natto while I am here) and they weren't bad, but I'm not going to rush out and buy any soon. There was the usual rice, seaweed, pickled vegetables, etc...but the weird thing on the table today (minus the sardines) was a bowl of this pale yellow creamy liquid. The host came over and lit a fire under it, and according to Kyoko-san, our fearless leader, I was supposed to let this cook until the fire went out, and then it would be a custard. A soybean custard. A tofu custard that I would put ginger and scallions on. I tried it. I hated it. Yuck.

I finished packing things up and went downstairs. I had seen a massage chair (one of those vibrating kinds) downstairs that you could sit in. 200 yen for 15 minutes. That's a $2 massage, people! I had to do it! I couldn't read anything on the contoller, so I just pushed buttons randomly. Ah, heaven. A girl could get used to this ryokan thing, as long as they brought me toast and Life cereal instead of tofu custard and sardines.

It was time to head off to Tokyo...finally! We crammed ourselves on our little bus and it was off to Ube Airport, where we had flown into a little over a week ago. We stopped at a grocery store (yes!) to get box lunches. These were much better than the box lunches we had eaten previously. The guy who made them came out and talked to us. He had been a travel agent before he went into his bakery/deli business, and has been to the States something like 27 times. Very nice man. Kyoko-san told us that he was happy to speak English with native speakers.

At the airport, I got to eat fugu again because one of the souvenir stands was handing out samples. You can buy fugu all over the place here! It was truly taking life into my own hands to eat fugu at an airport...for free...but I did it anyway. You only live once, right? At any rate, the 24-time period has elapsed and I am still alive, so no worries. Some host families showed up to say goodbye to the people who had stayed with them. I didn't look for mine, because I had a feeling that they wouldn't be there. They didn't disappoint! Luckily, I wasn't the only one whose host family didn't show up, but I think that this lends a little credibility to my host family story. I didn't want you guys to think I was making all of that up or being overly dramatic. They just didn't come. I felt like the last kid picked at the playground or even worse, the dog at the shelter that does not get adopted, even though every other dog did. Oh well. Like I said before, it's over now, and I can close that chapter!


Eating airport fugu

The trip back to Tokyo was uneventful save for landing. That was truly the worst landing I have ever experienced. The plane kind of shifted sideways when it landed. It was crazy. I hope to neer relive that one!

My group wanted to meet right after we got off the airport bus to talk about our presentations. I am in the Culture group for our presentation, and we weren't anywhere close to being finished because of all of the cultural stuff we had experienced over the weekend. The other groups (School and Community) had worked on theirs and were basically finished. They said that we should meet that night to get it done. What? I have a half day free in Tokyo and you expect me to sit around a hotel? Forget it. The presentations weren't until Wednesday, so we had plenty of time. I had decided to go to Yokohama, and nothing was going to change my plans.

Yep, Yokohama. Remember what's in Yokohama? The International Ramen Museum! Woo hoo! It was definitely an adventure. I had to take the subway to the largest train station I have ever been in, and then find the right line to get to Shin Yokohama (New Yokohama). I only got lost once and screwed up my ticket once, so it was okay. Luckily I was by myself so I didn't look like an idiot to a large group of people. Yes, I went by myself. I really needed some alone time, and besides that, people didn't think I was serious about doing this! Anyway, after about 35 minutes, I finally made it to the museum. I had the most amazing bowl of ramen I have ever eaten there. It was so good that I had another bowl. The museum itself was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe if I had at least one more person it would have been okay. Also, the place were you could make your own cup of ramen was closed down, and wasn't there anymore! I was so sad! I was looking forward to creating my own Cup O' Micky, and those dreams went up in pork ramen-flavored smoke. It's about this time that I started to feel guilty, so I decided to head back to Toyko and work with my group. I got there right as they started, so I didn't miss anything. I managed to get my ramen in and make the meeting.

We decided in our group to pick out the pictures showing culture that we loved best and put them in a PowerPoint (sigh) that would change the slides every four seconds. That way, we could show many things and get the most info out without boring everyone to tears. We ended up with 108 slides. We really didn't feel as if we could narrow it down because we felt they were all important. However, when Debi took our presentation to the people who put themselves in charge of the presentation, they immediately said we had too many...couldn't we cut it down to like 20? What?!?! They wanted narration for each slide, whereas we were content to do a general overview and then let the pictures do the talking. Very frustrating. Debi said they cut it down to around 50 or so. What stinks is that they arbitrarily cut the slides. They don't know why we picked each one. Let me tell you, I am so ready to get away from some of these people! Too many Type A, domineering personalities in that group! I had gone back to my room after we had originally met in our groups, and Debi filled me in on most of this Tuesday morning. I started to rearrange bags and began to sort things in preparation for packing. Thursday is right around the corner!

Breathe easy, Mama...

Okay, lots to update here...I am going to do my best. First off, I am back in Tokyo, finally. Tokyo is where I have had the best time so far, so I am glad to be back here. I do need to fill you on on the rest of the time in Sanyo-Onoda though. I have three days' worth of stuff to post, so this is going to be a loooooooooong post. Work with me here, people...I am the one who has to sit here and type it all out. I'll add pictures later...this will take long enough!

SATURDAY

Let me tell you, the one and only thing that has had me worried this entire trip has been the home stay part. Judging from the Japanese that I have already met on this trip, I knew that they were going to be really nice people. However, that doesn’t change the fact that I was going to go live with complete strangers for a 30-hour time period. Furthermore, I had no idea if they would be English-speaking or if I was going to be playing charades the entire time. It was definitely nerve-wracking.

I woke up at 6:30 that morning because my nerves were so shot by this whole ordeal that I couldn’t sleep well. We were to meet our host families at 10:00, so I pretty much just sat around and waited. We lined up in a single file line and then walked into the banquet room where we were meeting. Each host family group introduced themselves, and then we introduced ourselves in Japanese. I could not pick out my family! For one, I had forgotten their names and was completely and totally lost. Finally Kenji matched us all up…I think most of us Americans had no idea what was going on. We were told to expect a formal tea ceremony, but we just had coffee and water. Has that become Americanized as well? We sat down and chatted for a bit. My family was represented by Kana, the daughter who is in college studying English (YES!!!) and the mother, Chisako. Very very nice people. Most of my worries were put aside immediately, but I won’t say that they were gone altogether! They asked what I would like to do, and I told them that I had no idea what there was to do in Sanyo Onoda. Kana told me that we would be going to the seaside and then to the grocery store. Yes! Two of my favorite things! I love the beach, and there is nothing quite like going to a grocery store in another country.

We climbed into Chisako’s car (a Toyota Crown…very big for a Japanese car, and I think quite expensive…it was pretty well loaded down with features, so I know it couldn’t have been too cheap). I had no idea where we were going until Kana mentioned Kyushu. Kyushu? That’s the next island (I am on Honshu right now)!!! Did they live in Kysuhu and drive all that way to get me? I had no idea what was going on, but Chisako started driving, and sure enough, about an hour later we stopped at the Kanmon Bridge that spans the Kanmon Strait between Honshu and Kysuhu. Oh, dang! I was really confused…but I rolled with it.

We stopped before we crossed the bridge and took pictures. It is a beautiful bridge, and the water was pretty, and the mountains of Kyushu and Honshu were so green! We also ate lunch here, and here is where it happened…

As I type this, the lyrics of a Pearl Jam song are running through my head. “Ohhhhhhh I, ohhhhh, I’m still alive, yeah…”

That’s right, kids. I ate fugu. It was chewy and wrong and clear, and I ate it. I was in Shimonoseki, the fugu harvesting capital of Japan. Fugu here is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than in Tokyo. I got a little fugu plate for around 1000 yen ($10). It came raw and cooked. It honestly didn’t have much of a taste, so I am glad that I did not spend a fortune on it. So, cross that one off of the list, y’all! I ate my fugu! By the way, it came as sashimi (raw) and deep fried on my plate. Both were good.

We crossed the bridge into a city called Mojiko, in Kitakyushu (I think that means Northern Kyushu). We went to the Kyushu Railway Museum, which was okay. It was hard to understand everything because it was all in Japanese. I mainly just looked at pictures and the exhibits and pretended to know what I was looking at! As we were leaving, there was a huge set-up at the entrance of the museum. As we found out, the museum was getting ready to welcome its 1,000,000th visitor, and I saw it happen! Guess what though? I was probably Visitor 999,995. I was *this* close to getting all kids of honors and stuff. Very sad moment.

We then went to a really cool museum called the Kaikyo Drama Ship. This was cool primarily because I was given a headset that explained all of the exhibits in English (apparently they knew that I didn't speak Japanese...wonder how that happened?). It explained the history of the Kanmon Strait through dioramas of exquisitely crafted dolls. I unfortunately was not allowed to take pictures in the museum and they had no museum guide book for sale (because that would make logical sense), so I don't have a pictoral record of this. That's kind of sad for me because this museum just made my Top Ten List of Museums. Sigh.

At this point, I was still confused as to whether or not my host family lived in Sanyo-Onoda or Kyushu. Turns out, Sanyo-Onoda. On the way back to the house we stopped at the mall (seems like it truly is the big place to go in S-O). There is a grocery store in the mall that I didn't know existed, and my host mother wanted to buy ingredients for dinner. It was fun to walk around the grocery and see different things. They had raw horsemeat, and when Kana saw how exited I was, they bought a little of that too. You eat that raw as well...horse sashimi. I had it at dinner, but while we're on the subject: very tasty, chewy like beef jerky, fantastic with coarse salt and a little soy sauce.

To the house! My family had a garage across the street from their house, which is a pretty ritzy thing. The house really wasn't that impressive from the outside. It looked pretty modern actually, so my dreams of staying in a traditional Japanese home were shot out the window. Not a problem though. I tried to pet the dog, but he wasn't having it...stupid dogs. No sense at all. The house was typical on the inside. The very few Japanese homes I have been in here share the same characteristics: small rooms, fantastic appliances, lots of storage in the rooms. I was shown to my room, in which I was given a real honest-to-goodness bed to sleep in. We were told to expect futons in a tatami room, so this was MUCH different! I admit to being a little disappointed, but as I would find out later, double yay for that bed!

I met the rest of the family, and then Chisako started making dinner. We had okonomiyaki, which is a a weird omelet/pancake/quiche thing. "Okonomi" means "what you like," and the ingredients change from region to region or by whatever makes you happy! We had potato, green onions, bacon (mmm...bacon), cheese...we fried it up, and served it with teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise on top. I'm not sure what it is, but the Japanese love their mayonnaise. Very weird. We also had the biggest grapes I have ever seen in my life and some tangerines. Quite a tasty meal. I tried to get the recipe from them, but a lot got lost in translation so I will need to look it up later!

After dinner, I gave my host family their gifts. I think that they liked them, especially the chocolate (those people at Schimpff's really know what they are talking about). I then took my bath. The Japanese generally bathe at night. I am a morning bather, so I knew this would completely wreck my system, but hey, I'm a team player when I have to be. At our program orientation, they informed us in detail about the Japanese bath. As the guest, I would be allowed to bathe first. You go in, lather up and clean yourself, rinse yourself off, and then get into the tub which has been filled with scalding hot water and soak. But, not in my family's house! They told me that they would rather I just shower. A soak would have been nice (I was really cold), but I did as instructed. After the bath, I went upstairs and went to bed.

SUNDAY

Since I was told by my host family that they sleep in and to not come downstairs until around 9:00, I happily obliged them and stayed in bed as long as I could. When I came downstairs, they had breakfast for me. It was an interesting combo...miso soup (Host Dad made it...very good), onigiri (traditional Japanese rice cakes...was fantastic), ham and cheese panini with eggs (random), and grapes. It was a rainy and cold day, so our options were pretty limited. The city festival was going on, and I did want to go to that. We first went to the seaside in Sanyo-Onoda. It was sprinkling lightly, and Chisako and Kana both did not want to walk down to the beach, so we got out and took a few pictures and then headed back to the car. We then went back to the mall (sigh) and walked around. That wasn't too exciting. It seemed that they really did not know where to take me. Maybe Sanyo-Onoda really didn't have anything to do! It made me wonder what the rest of my group was up to, so I kept looking around the mall for everyone. We FINALLY left the mall and headed to the festival. I don't think that they really wanted to be there, but by this point, I was just really beside myself. This host family thing was not panning out the way I've heard that it does, and I really started to get down in the dumps. My family seemed bored with me and with the entire process. They were nice to me, but I just don't think they knew what to do with me, and it carried over as a general feeling of not caring. I decided to make my own fun, and started going up to various booths just to see if anyone knew English. Very very very few did, but they kept giving me stuff (Kleenex packets, reflectors for the boke I don't have, etc) so it was fun. I was also the only adult, and American, that day to get a child's driving license for Japan, so that was cool. Obviously, it is not valid. I got a painting lesson from a very nice lady who taught me how to use Japanese black ink and brushes. This took up a good chunk of time, so I had just enough time to stop by a store and pick up a few things before I was dropped off at City Hall. While many people appeared sad to leave their host family, I was just glad it was over.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I was uncomfortable the entire time and never could relax. When I started to hear about the shrines and museums that others went to in Sanyo-Onoda, I got a little upset that my host family didn't take me to places like that. I would have much rather spent two hours at a shrine than two hours at that silly mall. I was really fortunate to go to Kyushu, but I feel as if I missed out on Sanyo-Onoda. I still know very little about the city where I lived for a week, and that kind of makes me sad. I hate that my host family experience was so different from everyone else's. Maybe others are lying when they said theirs was awesome. I don't know. I know I built it up too much, but still...oh well. Whatever. I'm in Japan. I have no right to be upset.

At City Hall, we boarded the bus for the ryokan. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. Ours was up in the mountains, and it was really nice. The first thing we were told to do after the innkeeper talked to us was to cahnge into our yukata and go take a bath. Here is where things get really interesting.

A yukata is a summer kimono, traditionally, but can be used as a regular robe year round. We had been measured, but for height, not girth (man, what a terrible sounding word). I knew my yukata would be long enough, but I wasn't sure about it going around as the Japanese are too skinny for their own good. Mine fit around, but I knew things would get ugly if I sat down in it, so I donned my ever-so-fashionable scuba-diving sock monkey pajama pants. They clashed horribly, but hey, I liked it after a while. I went downstairs to the bath.

See, in a ryokan, there is a large onsen, or hot springs. You do the traditional bathing thing that my host family had me not do, and then you soak in the bath. The only difference is that you are not alone. That's right, kids, it's group bathing time. AHHHHH!!!!!! Good thing though, the baths are separated by gender. Still, you have to get naked in front of people you've only known for a week or so. Not cool. Honestly, I was nervouse for about 2.5 seconds. I finally said, "What the heck?! I'll never see these people again!" and from that point, I was in. Over the course of my ryokan stay, I took three different baths in under 24 hours. They were really hot, and very relaxing. I am glad I did it, but let me tell you...NO ONE is talking about the bathing experience. We've been told that the Japanese are masters at not seeing what they shouldn't see. As Americans, we're practicing not talking about what we've seen, as we have seen too much. Thankfully, no cameras were allowed anywhere near the baths.

We had a formal Japanese dinner that night. It took 2.5 hours to get through. It was really very good, but there was a LOT of food to eat. I can't begin to list it all. I was very full afterwards, and had to take another bath to feel better about myself and to test if I was more buoyant after eating enough for an army. I was.

Our beds were laid out when we got back to the room. We slept on futons in our tatami-matted room, so I get to cross that off the list now!

MONDAY
will finish tomorrow...too tired to think any more!

Finally! A high school!

Today, Friday, is the day that we were scheduled to go to the high school. We went to Onoda Technical High School, which is a vocational school. I didn't care what kind of school it was...I was finally going to get to hang with my people! The bonus? We were able to get up later than usual to go...you can see the high school from my hotel window. We could have walked, but right now the JFMF program has us so spoiled that they picked us up in a bus to drive the half mile to the high school (and that half mile may be a generous guess...it really is very close to the hotel).

I immediately felt better about the high school when I walked through the door. I felt welcomed, which was something I didn't get a general feeling of at the junior high. In retrospect, maybe those teachers were told to ignore us...I don't know. At the high school, we were ushered into our own room, as usual, and then we went to the morning faculty meeting. We once again (and I think for the last time) introduced ourselves in Japanese. I also added that I taught at a high school and that I taught history. Don't be too impressed...I still have trouble ordering at restaurants, and I can't decipher numbers for love or money! The principal then met with us in a small group and welcomed us, and gave us free textbooks. They didn't have any history/social studies so I picked up some English books.

First period I went to a Communications Technology class. The teacher there was a dead ringer for Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid. I have seriously been looking for a look-a-like since I got here, and Miyagi Sensei (as I now call him) did not disappoint. To top it all off, he was extremely friendly. He came out of his room to invite us in, and once in, he made his class stand up to bow to us. Such respect! If only my students would do that... Anyway, the stuff they were learning looked pretty complex. Most of it was in English! At the end of class, Miyagi Sensei had the students bow to us again.

Second period I took in an English class, where once again we were warmly welcomed. The teacher had us introduce ourselves and what we taught in English, and then she used that as a learning tool for her students...answering questions like "What is her first name?" or "What is her family name?" or "What does she teach?" You'll be pleased to know that people do not just confuse Emily as a last name in the US...it also happens in Japan. The teacher literally said, "Really? That's your family name?" I can't escape it. Kenji the Great said that most of the students do not understand why they must learn Japanese at this school. Sanyo Onoda is the Pittsburg of Japan...heavy industy (pharmaceuticals, petroleum, chemicals, energy)...and when the students graduate from the high school, they generally have their choice from four different jobs. There is a hig demeand for tech education here. Kenji says English is still the preferred language to learn. In fact, I saw no other languages being offered in the schools. Interesting.

Third period I took a little break and then went to watch judo. Judo is an old Japanese martial art, and it was fun to watch the students practice. We had to take our slippers off to go into this building because it had tatami mats (on further inspection, I saw that these were rubber "tatami" mats, but manners require that you take shoes off regardless). Students wore traditional uniforms for this.

Fourth period I took another break (we only had 15 minutes or so) and then we went to the cafeteria to get lunch. This is the only cafeteria I have seen so far. Students generally eat in their classrooms. The cafeteria was very small so it is obvious that most students still do this. I managed to sit near some people who didn't talk about schools (their own) the entire time, so that was nice.

Fifth period I watched a calligraphy class. Here I was able to make the assumption that 25% of the girls in this school wear the Playboy bunny on their socks. Easy assumption to make since there are only four girls at this school. Four. Out of around 300. Isn't that strange? Anyway, I thought it was weird that she had those kinds of socks on, but when you are in a school wear the principal is wearing Guinness house slippers, you learn to keep your mouth shut.

We then had a discussion with teachers. This time, they actually asked us questions, which was a refreshing change. I've decided that listening to our translator is like hearing a lullaby. Her voice is VERY calm. After the meeting, we observed club activities. I watched more judo and also some kendo, which is Japanese fencing. Very cool. I then watched two kids with some robots that they had built themselves. High school visit was awesome! I could have stayed longer but Kyoko-san was mad at us all because we were late getting back to our meeting room to go back to the hotel.

I took a little break for a couple hours and then went to the Sanyo Onoda Sunmall. Huge mall, and essentially the only thing we have found to do except for karaoke (in our immediate area). I bought a few things, and then headed back to the rotating sushi bar. LeeAnne and I love that place. We got the manager's meishi and everything! It was sad, because it was our last night there. Sigh.

Tomorrow we head out for a stay with our host family, and then on Sunday to the ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. I don't anticipate having internet access until Monday when we get back to Tokyo. I'll write more then!

Sayonara from Sanyo Onoda!!!

Bad Day + Karaoke = Good Day!

Okay, woke up Thursday morning and looked outside, and it looked miserable. Completely miserable. Combine that with the fact that I was getting a bit homesick, and you come up with the fact that Thursday was simply not looking good. At all. But I always find junior high schools interesting, so I was certain it would pick up.

Wrong.

It started off interestingly enough. Actually, it was almost freaky. We had a welcoming ceremony in the gym. When we got inside, there were around 400 students kneeling on the ground. It was EXTREMELY quiet (those of you with junior high teaching experience know that this is a rarity), and the students were in straight rows. One row of boys, then girls, boys, girls, etc. We were led around them to the stage. There was a row of chairs for us on the stage, but I am not sure what purpose they served because we never used them. We just stood. At a command, the students all stood at the same time and bowed to us. One of our teachers gave a really long speech, and then at another command, a student came to the stage and gave a formal speech welcoming us to the school. I thought I had died and stumbled into some weird junior high alternate universe. I had never seen such disciplined kids! Today I would certainly see the regimented schools for which Japan is so well known.

Wrong.

Today's school visit was not good. The building itself looked *this* close to being condemned, and probably would have been if I had been in the U.S. We met with the principal, who was an extremely nice guy. He welcomed us to his building and asked if we had any questions. It's at this point that the day started to get a little interesting. People's personalities were in definite conflict. Maybe everyone was feeling a little cranky and homesick, but one thing was certain: everyone's personal agendas started to come out and show themselves. I understand that everyone has a follow-on plan, but taking up other people's time to get your own questions answered is a tad bit ridiculous. When it cuts down on time for the principal to give us a tour of the building, it's just plain rude. Finally we were able to get out in the building and see the school, instead of sitting around and comparing/contrasting Japanese and American schools. That's something you can do on yoru own time, you know? Anyway, I was just glad to get out into the building. Lot of good it did me though...

It seems to me (and to several others in the group) that these teachers didn't really want us there. One teacher even reported seeing a teacher draw a picture of a person holding a camera on the board, which he then labeled "American" and then said "annoying". It was about that time that the teacher cleared her throat, and he quickly erased it. But that should give you a pretty good idea about how that school day went! Needless to say, I didn't get much out of it. After lunch (which was a bizarre affair...I sat by myself on a platform and ate my lunch while being laughed at by the students making fun of my chopstick skills and listening to Madonna's Greatest Hits...oddly enough, most of them don't know who she is), we had a meeting with teachers. I don't think that they wanted to be there, and it was dreadfully dull, so I kept myself occupied by counting passing Shinkansen trains...I counted 14. We then had a group meeting on our final presentation that we are supposed to give. Here again everyone's personal agendas came out. For my students, you guys know that I do get serious at times, but I like to have fun while teaching. The rest of you know that I like to do things with a bit of humor. Well, some of the people in this group are wanting to give this huge formal (read: boring) presentation that I think will bore others endlessly. That's not my style. I voiced including things like culture, since that is the chief reason why I came to Japan. A lot of people said no, that we needed to just focus on schools. I was definitely upset. I think that we should include school, community and culture, and have some fun with it, but I think I am going to get outvoted. Whatever. I am getting a little tired of some attitudes in my group because they only think about themselves and it is very frustrating. One person even asked me to not walk into a classroom when he was in it because he wanted a picture with just him in it, so he would look good, I guess. I'm just not for being in a big group all of the time, and I need some space.

My plans for the night were to come home after school and blog a little, and then go to bed. But, things changed, and I am glad they did because the evening turned out to be one of the best nights in Japan so far! Kenji, our ever trusty city official, wanted to go out and do karaoke with a group of us. So, Anastasia, Chris, Debi, LeeAnne, Sam and I all hopped into Kenji's minivan and it was off to the karaoke bar! We stopped at 7-11 first because Kenji told us that we could take our own refreshments in. Yes! I had a Diet Coke and a Snickers...are you surprised? We were in there a little over two hours. My voice today is very sore, and I hurt something in my neck while headbanging, but it was a blast! I have pictures, and I will post them when I get back to Tokyo (can't post here for some reason). I don't have one of me headbanging (as I was busy), but I am sure that I can get a copy. It has been ages since I laughed as hard as I did last night.

After that, we did as promised and went back to the rotating sushi bar. We were horribly afraid that Baskin Robbins would be closed by the time we left the sushi bar, so we ate dessert first...makes sense, after all...what if you die during your meal and you never get dessert? Better safe than sorry, I say. I had pumpkin ice cream. Pretty tasty! Sushi bar was a riot. We were the only ones there, so we had to order each time we wanted something. That was hard as our Japanese is still bad. We finally did get enough food though, so it's all good! You should have seen me trying to act out calamari (fried + squid...quite funny). My jaws still hurt this morning from laughing so much!!!

Hanging with the Little Kids

Today we made our first school visit. We had to get up really early, because we were headed to an elementary school, and for some reason they wanted us there early to see the kids arriving to school. I wasn't sure what that is all about, but once we got there, it was a lot of fun. Those kids were cracking me up! Most of them said "Good Morning" as they walked by. You could tell that some of them were really intimidated by us, and would duck their head when they walked by us (you would too, I bet...16 teachers all pointing cameras at you). I felt bad for those kids. However, there were some that absolutely loved it, and would hang around trying to get us to take their pictures. Of course, you know how that went over with me...I'm not amused by kids who are overbearing, so I just ignored them. Most of them played on the playground before school started. We would NEVER see a playground like this around home. It was a ticking timebomb of a lawsuit. But, right now I am not in a country where people sue each other left and right, so I guess it was okay. We headed inside the building and saw what some of the other kids were up to. Many of the girls were bustling around picking flowers and arranging them. This is the Japanes art of ikebana, and let me tell you, these arrangements were stunning. The ages of these children? First through sixth grade. Had I been the one arranging flowers it would have looked horrible.

We had our official meeting with the principla, who warmly welcomed us to her school and told us to feel at home and walk from room to room with no supervision. WHAT!?!?! I cannot imagine people freely walking into my room at home. But, hey, I wasn't going to let it stop me, so off we went!

The first period of the day is spent on module lessons. Sanyo Onoda is a leading city when it comes to these. It's a pretty bizarre thing to witness. A lot of it involves math drills, recitation, and quick reading. The recitation was LOUD. Now, understand, this is an open classroom environment. Every room has windows to the outside and also into the hall, which are kept open (by the way, it was our first cold day in Japan...really cold...and I left my coat back in Tokyo, which was just stupid), so when these classes begin reciting, the class next door, which may be working on a math drill, has to deal with the loudness. It made me crazy. I don't fully understand the module system, a lot gets lost in translation, but their test scores are going up so I guess it works for them!

Second period I watched a calligraphy lesson. This was really fun, but very messy. I even got a chance to try! I wrote three Japanese letters, and as I was writing, the kids would gather around and ooh and aah...okay, they would mostly laugh. I had a great time with this class, which is good, since I would wind up eating with them later.

Third period I did a number of things. First, I had been up for a while, so it was time to pee. Unfortunately, all of the toilets were Japanese style. Sigh. Squatty potties. And, this is the first time that I ran into the phenomenon of changing your slippers for the toilet. Today was our first slipper day, which is kind of fun. But when you go to the bathroom, you don't wear your regualr slippers. The bathroom is considered dirty, and I suppose because people may not hit the squatty, you don't want to wear your good slippers there so I had to switch my slippers. They keep a pair in the bathroom...you don't wear them anywhere else. It was weird to put on shoes that many others had put on, and they weren't big enough. It was definitely an experience. I then went for a break in the library, which had become our room for the day. I drank some green tea and talked with other teachers about the module system. I then went to watch a social studies class. When I got there, I kidd you not, a little boy got up from his seat, walked over to another kid, and proceeded to beat the tar out of him. It was amazing! The teacher got up, escorted the hitter bck to his seat, and kept on teaching. No trip to the office or anything. Once he got the class working on something, he talked to the two boys. Very different from what we do, don't you think?

The kids had a short break after this class, and I was in the hallway when it happened. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a herd of children who all wanted my autograph. Not really sure what that was all about, but I kept on signing. By the end, I was making my signature fancy and adding things to it. Let me tell you, it does not take long for fame to go to one's head!!!

Fourth period...arts and crafts. The topic for the day was painting, but a lot of the kids were not interested. In fact, some of them never did any art work, and they were never reprimanded. It was loud and seemed unorganized, especially when you turned your head and saw an English class at the other end of the room (it was a long room). How did they get any work done with this racket? One kid even took the paint bottle and held it as if he was peeing when he was getting the paint out. Seriously. Kids are the same no matter where you go! This class literally made me crazy, and made me extremely glad that I teach high school. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...there is a special place in Heaven for elementary school teachers. I'm not sure if it is a land of wonder or a padded cell, but there is a special place.

Lunch time! We had to go back to the principal's office to pick up our lunch, and then I went to the class where I observed the calligraphy lesson. I wasn't allowed to take pictures here, so I took pictures from another class. The kids do all of the serving and cleaning up, which I thought was pretty cool. It took a while to organize everything, but you could tell that there was a pattern to it all. I handed out my meishi (business cards, remember?) to the kids. We then had a tea ceremony in the principal's office. It wasn't an official ceremony, but the tea was made traditionally with powdered green tea and the bamboo whisk. We had two litte sweets to eat with it. Not bad at all!

Fifth period I watched an English class. TO me, this was the class more in line with our style of teaching. The class was led by Marck, who is from Cheshire, England. Fantastic accent. He played games with the kids, and he and I (and Sandra) got into a discussion over whether or not the kids should say "to-may-to" ike we do or "to-mah-to" as they do in England. He's the teacher, so naturally they had to learn his. Those English, so stubborn.

Okay, after English, the sixth grade had a special presentation for us. We went to the gym and got to observe taiko drumming. This was really cool! We saw two perfomances, one by the boys and one by the girls. It was definitely very cool to watch and hear. You can see where there is a bit more discipline in the sixth grade as compared to the lower grades. They were very precise with their technique, and they were truly a joy to watch. The kids even brought us benches to sit on so that we didn't have to stand.

After school we drove up to one of the highest points in Sanyo Onoda to get a bird's eye view of the city. We drove by the beach on the way there, which appears to be gorgeous. Since it was cold, no one was out there, but I think I am going to try to convince my host family to take me there at some point. Not to swim, but just to go. I love beaches! Anyway, the high point was really cool. It was very foggy, so we couldn't see too far out, but you could see the outline of the mountains of Kyushu, one of Japan's four big islands, not too far off. Awesome! I may not have been able to visit Kyushu, but I have seen it!

At this point, I was worn out again. I came up to the room to blog, but instead took a short nap. LeeAnne and I decided to check out the rotating sushi bar, so we took off toward the mall, which is where the sushi bar is located. We ran into Mel, Nick, and Sam on the way. Mel and Nick had eaten at McDonald's but Sam was up for some sushi, so he joined us. We had so much fun! The place was busy and there were all kinds of sushi on the bar. We wanted to get some sea urchin for Sam since he had never had it, but we couldn't figure out the word. LeeAnne went up to a poster and pointed to a roll that had sea urchin in it. It was taking forever! We figured that the roll would be ready in no time, but time kept dragging on and on and on...before we knnew it, a waitress came by and presented us with this huge platter of sushi. What?!?! Turns out, a LOT was lost in translation, and instead of bringing us one sea urchin roll, we got a platter (which interestingly enough did not have sea urchin in it). The manager was extremely apologetic, and although we offered to pay for it, he knew there was a misunderstanding. Instead of taking it back, he gave it to us as a gift. Dang it...these Japanese are way too polite, and we felt awful about the whole thing. We promised to come back to eat again (oh, to have been able to read the thoughts in their head at this point...), and the manager told us we had to eat the sushi tonight, not tomorrow. Oh, man! We were stuffed, and didn't know what to do. On the way back to the hotel we decided to give it to the hotel desk clerk. He was amused but very happy to receive a whole sushi platter for free. What a day!

Note: It turns out that the platter cost around 1000 yen, or roughly $10. We figured it to be around 2000 yen, easily. So, that helped put aside a little bit of guilt. Still feel badly about it though...

Randomness

Things I have observed:
1. Toilets here run the gamut from high tech (amazing seats of wonder at the airport) to low tech (the lowly squatty potty), but there is no question at all when it comes to toilet paper. Low tech. Next time I come to Japan I am packing some Charmin. This stuff makes the school toilet paper feel like Egyptian cotton.
2. People in Japan apologize to you for not speaking English. They politely listen to you butcher their language, and still try to get you what you want. If they mess it up, they just give you stuff for free (as in the case of the large sushi platter tonight...more on that later).
3. No matter how hard you try, you cannot keep a group of Americans quiet on a subway or train. It can't be done, not even with stun guns (that's just a guess...I didn't actually use a stun gun).
4. Sometimes it is best to just eat what is in front of you and to not ask questions about it. Above all, smile and nod your head when asked if you like it, but don't be too enthusiastic about it...they might (and probably will) bring you more.
5. Happiness is the laundry room at the hotel, especially after a week and a half of not doing any laundry. If your clothes are carrying on conversations with you, it is probably time to have a meeting with some Tide.
6. The comforter on my bed in Sanyo-Onoda is a gift from God, or Buddha...your choice. I will miss it when I am gone.
7. The 7-11 has brought new meaning into my life. The ladies there already know that I am there to buy a Diet Coke. If it has been a long day, I'm probably going to top it with a Snickers. I'll already have the money ready...270 yen.
8. Tommy Lee Jones is advertising Boss coffee here. It comes hot out of one of the endless vending machines. He just doesn't look happy about it.

More about today when I get up tomorrow morning!

Arts and Crafts Time

So today we had a meeting with the superintendent of Sanyo-Onoda City Schools. He was a very nice man, but the meeting dragged on a bit. It was twice as long as it needed to be because of all of the translating that took place. I have a really hard time being quiet and sitting still for a long time, so it was difficult for me to be alert the entire time. He truly did have some interesting things to say about how students need to get more sleep, stop watching so much television, and that they need to eat breakfast. He showed us charts that show how test scores improved in the district for those students who made improvements in at least one of these areas. We then met with some parents. We were asked not to videotape this discussion so that the parents could speak freely about what was going on in the schools. All of them agreed that the schools needed to be stronger in the area of discipline, which is something I agree with (sorry, kids) because I sometimes feel that we allow our students to get away with far too much.

After lunch we went to a community center where we learned how to make raku pottery. This was so much fun! It was at a senior citizens community center, and the members of the pottery club have only one requirement for membership...you must be over 60. Luckily they made an exception for us today and taught us some new tricks. I'll let my pictures do the talking here...

**Blogger is being a pain right now and is not letting me upload...I'm going to go ahead and post it so I don't lose it, and will post pics later!**

After we got back from making pottery, I relaxed in the room for a bit. I'm not really sure what there is to do in Sanyo Onoda, so I didn't feel a pressing need to get out and explore. It was nice to be able to sit back and relax though. Around 7:30 I went out with Chris and LeeAnne to a noodle shop. I am 100% certain that the guy working there thought that we were crazy (I now call him Noodle Man). Noodle Man laughed at us quite a bit. He was a funny guy. Since many don't speak English here, and because our group knowledge of Japanese is extremely limited, you generally have to resort to charades to get what you want. I had udon, as well as Chris, but LeeAnne wanted soba. Udon is served hot, whereas soba is cold. To make sure that Noodle Man understood us, LeeAnne acted out hot and cold. Very funny to watch.

That's all!

Deep in the Land of Fugu

Okay, to finish yesterday...we managed to get back on the train to Yamaguchi City with no problems. By that point, my feet were on fire. Yamaguchi has a famous legend about a fox who dipped his paws in a hot spring, and right behind the hotel was a hot spring area just for soaking one's feet. About six of us decided to hang out there. We had a blast! We talked to two Japanese teenagers and an older guy who was with them. We mainly talked about music. There was a definite language barrier. The real fun came when six Taiwanese came up to soak their feet. After deciding that we were cool because we had acknowledged that Taiwan was not part of China and was a country in their own right, they hung out with us. It was so much fun! They were on vacation, and somehow ended up in Yamaguchi. It's not real high on the travel radar in the US, so I am not sure what pulled them there. Still, it was nice to be able to talk to them and have fun. I am sure that we would have stayed there for hours, but at 10:00pm the hot spring closes so we had to go. I went back to my room, which wasn't near as nice as the New Otani in Tokyo. In fact, the whole place threw me off. I'm a little ashamed to admit that it took me a few hours to figure out how to flush the toilet. I am going to attribute that to being tired.

Fun stuff, though...on the way to the hotel from the train station, I passed a fugu restaurant. They even had a tank in the front window full of fugu swimming around. I wonder if it is like Red Lobster and you can pick out your fugu just as you would a lobster? Back in the room, there was a cracker wrapped in a sleeve decorated with a picture of fugu. Turns out it is fugu flavored. You could buy a whole box of fugu crackers in the gift shop, not to mention dried fugu and preserved fugu! I bought a fugu keychain and fugu shaped chocolates. I would have bought some crackers but they weren't that good!

Okay, today was our first full day out of Tokyo. We did all kinds of things, and as I am still exhausted and craving an early night in for once, I am going to move through this rather quickly. I probably won't even post pictures, so you will need to get over your disappointment pronto.

I got up and ate breakfast. Here's something I haven't talked about...scrambled eggs. I'm not exactly sure what is up with the scrambled eggs here. They lack shape and are a weird orangey-yellow color. It's not right, I am telling you. I haven't touched them yet, nor do I plan to. Breakfast was an international affair again, a combo of Western and Japanese. I did a little of both. Today was also the first day that I got a glimpse of natto. Natto is fermented soy beans. Okay, for one, I don't like beans. The fact that they are fermented makes me nauseous. And there aren't words to describe the smell...rest assured, I am not touching them. Sweet potato ice cream, yes...natto, no way.

We began our day at Yamaguchi University. It was a hot day, and the rooms are not air conditioned, so it was a little trying. We observed a music class and a physical education class. The cool part of the university visit was sitting down to talk with students at the university. The language barrier was pretty obvious at first, but after a while you don't notice it...you just find a way to communicate through other means. I drew a fantastic map of the US to point out where Indiana was. My student, Eriko, had never heard of Indiana but she knew about the Kentucky Derby, so I was able to explain where I lived by referencing that. We also got some gifts at the university. We received a tote bag and a little collection of cards that had paintings of famous landmarks in Yamaguchi City. Very nice.

After a BIG lunch, we got on the bus for an hour drive to Sanyo Onoda. I fell asleep. I was a bit disappointed that I did because I wanted to catch the scenery on the way in, but I was just wiped out. When I woke up we were about 15 minutes from Sanyo Onoda City Hall. We had a courtesy visit with the mayor. He was a very nice man, but he spoke for 45 minutes. It was very long. We did introduce ourselves to him in Japanese, and afterward he came up to me and shook my hand and told me that I spoke very nice Japanese. I only saw him shake a few hands, so that made me happy that he would single me out. For the record...Watatashi wa Indiana no Emily Micky desu. "I am from Indiana and my name is Micky Emily." Cool, eh?

We then toured a sake distillery. That was fun! They weren't actually making sake at the moment...they don't start until November...but we got to learn about the entire process. We were then invited into the owner's home to sample sake and relax! How cool is that? I had two types of sake (the first tasted like rubbing alcohol, no joke), but the second was good. They also served us wine that they had made, and that was good too. It was a fun experience, and before you ask, they were samples. They were not full drinks. I am fine.

After making it to the hotel, I joined a group that went out for dinner with two city officials. We went to a yakitori restaurant, and I ate a TON. There was food everywhere! Tempura, yakitori (grilled meat on skewers), edamame, this delightful fried rice and cheese thing...very very good. We ate in a tatami room, and we were there for several hours. It was so much fun! I am glad that I went. Several chose not to, and I think that they made a huge mistake.

Now, I am headed to bed. I am worn out!!! More to come tomorrow...

There just aren't enough words...

So today was the day that we left Tokyo to go to our host cities. We had to pack a bag to have sent to our host cities and leave it at the hotel to be transferred by express courier, and in the case of those of us who aren't going straight to their host cities, pack another bag to contain professional clothes to be worn on Monday. My backpack, which once weighted as much as a toddler, now weighs about the size of a middle schooler. That sucker is heavy! I had to eat at the same restaurant at yesterday because it was the only one open that early. Same food, the only difference being that instead of corn today we had carrots. Mmm!

We took a chartered bus to Haneda Airport. It is south of Tokyo and is one of Japan's major domestic airports. It was a fair walk to get to the gate. I tried searching in vain for an ATM, but couldn't find one. My money is holding out, but I would rather be safe than sorry, and I don't know what is going to await me in Sanyo-Onoda as far as getting money. I decided I would just keep looking once we made it to our destination.

Our flight took us to Yamaguchi-Ube airport. We're staying in Yamaguchi tonight because Sanyo Onoda apparently does not have a university, so we're doing the university here tomorrow. Kyoko-san, our guide, told us we would be able to see Fuji-san (that's Mt Fuji to you) from the plane, so I had my camera out, with my forehead leaning against the window. Remember from an earlier post how I wrote that I was exhausted? Here's proof...I fell asleep with my head up against the window. I had a red spot on my forehead and everything. I looked like a complete dork.

This airport was really small. We're out in the "real" Japan now, and the hustle and bustle of Tokyo seems light years ago. Kyoko-san is from Yamaguchi, so she told us about all the things we could do there. We're staying in the Yudo-Onsen area. An onsen is a hot spring, and there are hot spring baths all over the city. I am sure that there were plenty of things that I could have done in Yamaguchi today, but I decided to go on a little field trip instead...

I've kept this one under wraps, but I wasn't 100% certain that I would go. Our first day, Kyoko-san asked how many in my host city group would be interested in going to Hiroshima. None of us knew that was an option, so we were pretty dumbfounded. I didn't know how I could pass it up, but I wasn't sure about it. Well, I went. I got on the second bullet train in my life (the Shinkansen again...as with yesterday, this was the Nozumi, the fastest and most advanced of the Shinkansen) and made it to Hiroshima. To be perfectly honest with you, I am still in a bit of denial about the fact that I was there. It doesn't seem real. I've studied the history of the atomic bombing of the city so many times, but I am here to tell you, it means so much more when you can experience it. I'm not sure if you will all have the opportunity to come here. Most of you won't. But remember this: history is best learned when it is experienced, and I learned so much today. For the record, it doesn't have to be some huge historical place or event. Find something local...how many of you have been in the First State Capitol building downtown? You have to go in there and think of the fact that in that very building, on that floor, walked those men who first shaped our State. Seriously, you need to go check it out.

Anyway, back to Hiroshima. The first thing I saw when we got off the city line was the Atomic Dome. And that is when it hit. I was standing in a place that knew great destruction and tragedy, horrible things that I hope to never experience for myself or those anywhere. The day was beautiful, nice and sunny, and to see the contrast between the sunny day and the twisted frame of the dome was pretty remarkable. It was about 3:30, and the Peace Museum closed at 6, so I hurried through the park so that I could fully experience the museum. It was spectacular, horrifying, educational, insightful, heartbreaking...oh, you name it, you felt it. I would feel tears welling up from time to time. It was unbelievable what was housed in that museum. Clothing, lunch boxes, human skin (yes, that's right), rubble, fused glass...I could go on and on and on about it. Let me tell you the hardest part: being there. There isn't a doubt in my mind that the bomb is what ended the war. I think that our country made the best decision that it could. The loss to the Japanese was heart breaking, and the great loss of humanity can never be atoned for. But, it ended the war. So there is this conflict going on in your head, right? You don't know how to feel. As I posted earlier, had we not done it, it only would have been a matter of time before someone else did it. But standing there, tears in your eyes...I was floored. Again, I really felt no hostility. There was one gentleman who was there who would often get between me and the exhibits, and he stared at me, but he was the only one who made me feel uncomfotable. I am not sure if he was doing it deliberately. I like to think that he wasn't and I am just being hyper-sensitive to where I was. Seriously, there aren't enough words to describe Hiroshima and what it meant to be there. I have a lot more to post about today, but to talk about anything else right now would cheapen the experience, so I am going to post some pictures and let them do the talking...


The Atomic Dome


Memorial cenotaph and eternal flame, with the Dome in the background


Memorial to Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes


Close-up shot of some strings of cranes

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, hey!

Okay, so Friday night I was exhausted. I blogged and went to bed early so that I could get up and be ready to go at 6:30 Saturday morning (I'm writing this on Sunday). I actually woke up at 5:15...I had asked for a wake-up call the night before, and I did something rude. It was an accident. You know how most hotel wake-up calls are now automatic? I assumed this one was as well...turns out that it was a live person. I hung up on her thinking it was a recording, so they called back. What's more, they apologized for disturbing me, but I had asked for a wake-up call and they wanted to make sure that I was up, if that was okay. I love Japan.

I ate breakfast...this time at another resturant that served both Western and Japanese breakfast. It was bizarre to have omelets, miso soup, and corn at the same breakfast (yes, I said corn), but I made it. A group of us met up at 7:20 to go to Kamakura. Kamakura was an ancient capital of Japan, is located on the coast, and is known for the giant statue of Buddha (the Daibutsu). It was kind of touristy in places, but overall it was a really nice trip. I was a little bummed at times because I was on a tour, and that didn't allow for a lot of flexibility. But, you win some, you lose some. The views were stunning, the temples and shrines were amazing, and I felt that it was nice to be out in the countryside. I am going to post a group of pictures here for you to see what I was up to. I like to include them in as I write, but I am tired and want to make sure that I get in as much as possible!


First tea ceremony...it was informal, but was still pretty cool. They gave us cookies in the shapes of pigeons to eat before we drank the tea to offset the bitterness. Wasn't bad, wasn't bad... I look pretty terrible here. There seriously isn't a good one of me from this day. I essentially look drugged, but really it is the fact that I was EXHAUSTED. I am sleeping around 5-6 hours per night, which isn't enough.



This little girl and boy were celebrating their third and fifth birthdays at a temple in Kamakura. Girls celebrate their third and seventh birthdays, and boys their fifth and seventh. There were MANY kids dressed in traditional Japanese clothing at the temple. Very cute. The little girl looks unhappy, but understand that there were about a thousand American teachers pointing cameras at her. She's flashing the peace sign, so all is well. The little boy was completely unimpressed with us.



The group at the Daibutsu.


That's right...I finally had a bottle of the infamous Pocari Sweat. It was really quite good despite its unfortunate name. It kind of tasted like it had a grapefruit flavor.


On the Shinkansen (bullet train) with Tammy and Cindy. This sucker was fast! We made it from Shin-Yokohama to Tokyo in about 18 minutes.

More about Kamakura and Saturday:
1. Lunch was huge. I can't begin to identify all that we ate, but let's just say it was a lot, and since I walked over 7 miles on Saturday, I don't feel so guilty about it. Salads (two types), soba noodles (extremely good...I could have sat there all day and ate them), pizza, edumame (steamed soybeans), breaded chicken cutlets stuffed with some kind of fish eggs (MUCH tastier than it sounds)...seriously, it was disgusting how much food we all packed away, and it only cost us around $15. I also bypassed a fork in lieu of using chopsticks. Go me.
2. I saw a cat at the Hasedera Temple that made me miss George and Oscar. I stuck around to pet him for a while. Cute cat, pretty fat, and became quite popular after people started to notice that he was there. That cat knew what he was doing.
3. After making it back to the hotel around 6 or so, I finished packing the suitcase that I was leaving in Tokyo. Seems that packing is becoming a serious issue. I'm pulling a Scarlett O'Hara on this one and will think about how I am going to get everything home tomorrow.
4. Finally went to a conveyor belt sushi place. It wasn't that good. Surprising? Not really...sushi is prepared and stuck on plates, and then it rotates on a belt throughout the restaurant. You take what you want, and you pay according to the color of your plates that you have when you are finished. I spent around $5. Not bad!

Laid-back Friday

Today I decided to just lay low and not get stressed out. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I didn't see the point in trying to do a lot today. I guess I acted very American today, even down to my choice of food. Let me explain...

I decided to not eat Japanese breakfast today for two reasons: one, I need a break from rice (that bloated feeling is not fun) and two, my hand is starting to cramp up from using chopsticks. It's making me crazy. Besides, there is a restaurant on the top floor of the hotel (on the 40th floor) that has a fine view of Tokyo all around the room (circular room with continuous windows). Someone else told me that Fuji is visible from the restaurant, but it was much too foggy this morning to see anything. I ate my very weird take on American breakfast, which included seafood chowder for some reason as well as two preparations of bacon, and then went shopping for postcards.

At 9:30 this morning, I had the amazing opportunity to listen to a first- and second-generation survivor of the bombings at Hiroshima. I know that my blog has been rather light, which shouldn't come as a surprise, but I would definitely be doing these two people a massive disservice if I did not approach this with a fair degree of seriousness. For two hours I sat silently and in awe as they told of their experiences. What surprised me most was that they felt no ill will toward the United States. Rather, they felt anger at the bomb. Isn't that interesting? One even said that had the US not done it, it only would have been a matter of time before Japan developed her own atomic weapon and used it. I am telling you, it was a heartbreaking session, and one that made you feel quite badly. No matter what your opinions are concerning the use of the atomic bomb (and there are serious academic discussions that constantly debate sides), one cannot deny that its effects were massive and of serious consequence, no matter who they were used on. I wonder if we would have been so forgiving? I am amazed at how close our relationship is with Japan today, even with bombings done against each other by both parties. I have heard many people here in Japan refer to the US as a strong friend and ally, and as the world leader among countries today. Our market has directly impacted the Japanese market, and I sit here in Japan watching the dollar fall against the yen bit by bit from day to day. Our countries, once such strong enemies, have overcome so much to be as close as we are today. I see this manifested in the JFMF program itself, a program through which the Japanese government invites and truly pampers the teachers of its once greatest enemy to come into their country and learn about their culture. That bombing was 63 years ago...look at how far we have come! True, yes, we did do a lot to help Japan rebuild after the war, and maybe this program is done in part to help repay that, but my goodness! Could we, would we, be able to do the same if our roles had been reversed? It's an interesting question, I think. I know I have kind of rambled on about this, but has been something I have thought about a lot today.

We broke for lunch after that. I had some pumpkin and sweet potato soup today, which was quite tasty (Mom, we need to make some of this kind of soup...I think you would like it). For some reason, they aren't serving us Japanese food for lunch. A bit disappointing, but I suppose I will get over it! After we lunch we had a good break. I kind of milled around for a bit and then settled in for the next session, which was on kabuki theater, complete with a performance of kabuki dance accompanied by two kabuki singers and a shamisen player (the shamisen is a stringed instument). It was pretty cool, and I really did enjoy it. You might find it weird. I'll get the videos posted as soon as I can!

We then had our prefectural city-group meetings. For the next hour, I did get a little stressed. It seems as if everyone was trying to get things done at the same time, and it turned into a giant cluster of doom. The worst news was that we would only have 5 rooms with internet access in Sanyo Onoda. We seriously played paper-rock-scissors to determine who would get a room with internet. I managed to win a room, but am still not sure how as the judging was pretty arbitrary. The only thing to complain about is that the internet rooms are smoking rooms, but I am not complaining too loudly because there were plenty of people who wanted internet but who will not be able to use it in their rooms. I offered to share because that is what nice people do.

After that, I met up with a small group to go to Harajuku. It's quite a happening place, let me tell you. I went to Oriental Bazaar, a huge store that sold all matters of things Japanese, including some fabulous kimono that sported equally fabulous prices. I was a little tired of being in a large group (no offense to anyone in the group, but I was starting to feel like part of a herd), so Judy from Philly and I split off. We decided we needed comfort food for dinner, but with a twist, so we went for pizza. Judy doesn't eat meat on her pizza so we had a mushroom and tomato pizza that was tasty, and then a potato pizza. Sounds weird, but was quite good. We then headed to the 100-yen store. It is exactly like our dollar stores at home. I bought some origami paper among other things that I probably didn't need, but bought anyway! We then decided that we needed dessert, so we bought some crepes. That's right, we were Americans eating French food in Japan. It seemed right at the time. I got back to the room around 9:30pm, and have been working on e-mails and this blog since then. I have an early day out tomorrow morning, so I will be crawling into bed soon. You more than likely will not hear from me tomorrow. My internet time expires around 4:00pm, and I don't expect to get back from Kamakura before 6:00. I don't want to buy another day's time because we are leaving Sunday morning to go to our host cities. I'll be able to write then.

By the way, it would be nice to have some e-mails or some blog comments to read. Quit slacking, people.

More about yesterday...

It was such a long day...I really don't know where to begin. I'll start with the fish market since that is where I first began this really long day.

We took a taxi from the hotel to the fish market. It was around 5:00am, so the subway wasn't running yet, so a taxi was the only option. Taxis here are pretty neat. When they pull up to let you in, the driver opens the door automatically using a lever inside the car. It felt very Night Rider-ish. The cabbie didnt' speak any English (apparently this is universal), so the bellman at the hotel told him where we wanted to go. From that point, we were at the mercy of the cab driver. It took us about 15 minutes and 1700 yen total to get there...that's around $17 or so. He was pretty reckless, so it was nice to get there. However, we had a slight crisis when we arrived because the cabbie dropped us off at the Tsukiji metro stop (the subway) and not the actual market. We had a 10-15 minute walk. It wasn't bad, but it was very busy and very crowded.

You would think that a fish market would smell fishy, but there was none of that. This is an extremely fresh market, and fresh fish doesn't stink. Fish are flown in here or shipped in from all over the world, and there were many varieties. We strolled through the market vending areas first. If you don't like the sight of blood, this would not have been the place for you. Eel was especially bloddy and nasty. To tell you the truth, the market is a bit disgusting. Everywhere you look someone is hacking into some piece of fish, and it was scary. There were knives everywhere! On top of that, there are motorized carts all over the place. I also got to see a live tuna auction, which was definitely entertaining and pretty cool. What you have to remember is that the fish market is a work environment; it is definitely not for tourists. As such, the guys driving the carts or pulling handcarts will run over/into you, and not care. And that is their right...this is there place of employment! They daily have to deal with a bunch of gawking tourists. I felt really bad about it, and was aware the entire time that maybe I shouldn't be there. It seems that most tourists are pretty inconsiderate too. I think the whole thing kind of made me sad and a little frustrated at how most of us don't think about what is going on around us. Anyway, here's a shot of some interesting stuff I found:



We took the subway back (my navigation skills were right on, but I did double check and ask if I had it right...we were pretty far from the hotel and I didn't want to mess things up). I came up and changed, and tried not to think about the fishy nastiness on the soles of my shoes. Sick. I had Japanese breakfast again. I am getting reaaly good at chopsticks, and can even pick up single grains of rice now. We had a series of sessions today on the Japanese education system, economy, and government. Most of you would have been bored beyond belief. It wasn't bad, but got a little tedious after a while. We've been moving so much that it was hard to sit still all day. The feet were happy though.

We have a bulletin board set up near our meeting rooms so that we can post notes on where we are going/would like to go and see if anyone else is interested. So far I am getting to do all that I want to do, so life is pretty good. There are 158 of us, after all...someone has to be interested in what is going on! I know I need to get to Yokohama at some point, but think that if I go, it won't be until the last week and that is if I have enough money. Tokyo is pretty expensive. I did manage to score two JFMF t-shirts today for 200 yen ($2), so that was cool. I asked for one but they gave me two. I love a good bargain. We were also presented with two Japanese storybooks today (in English, with Japanese translation). Very cool.

After the seminars ended, I came upstairs and changed quickly and headed back down to meet up with the crew interested in going to Disney. Since I had been on the subway, and since Disney was my idea, I was elected unofficial group leader and had the responsibility of getting everyone to the park. That meant teaching others how to buy tickets, read subway maps, figure out the right line to get on, how to transfer to other lines, and where to get tickets at the park. It got a little frustrating, but I managed. There were 15 of us, so it was a good crowd to watch over, plus we were at the beginning of rush hour, so it was crowded. My whole idea was that I would get you there, but you were responsible for getting back home. You just reverse the directions. However, once we made it to the park, it was decided that we would wait and go together. Ehh. Whatever. It didn't really matter because I was now at Disney and I was happy (a common occurrence). We walked around DisneySea for around 4 hours. It wasn't crowded at all...in fact, we never waited more than 5 minutes to get on a ride. The only problem was that there is not a lot of signage in the park, unlike at Disney World, so we kept getting turned around. Luckily we were a smaller group by that point, and my group was pretty cool about getting confused a lot (thanks to Mariellen, Rebecca, Kathy, and Kathy!). The Indiana Jones ride was fantastic! He spoke Japanese though, which was weird. In fact, all the rides were narrated in Japanese, so we never really knew what was going on. It was an interesting lesson of things being lost in translation!



We did some shopping, and I was a little disappointed to not find Minnie Mouse in a kimono. In fact, the souvenirs there were a little strange. Lots of washcloths (huge gift in Japan), cell phone charms (you clip them on your phone), and boxes of candy. Want a magnet? You're out of luck. Just randomness in the gift shops. I did get a souvenir popcorn bucket...popcorn there was in all kinds of flavors...strawberry, chocolate, sea salt, etc...I had the black pepper and it was pretty tasty. By this point, I was pretty cranky and tired, and my feet were in serious bad shape. We hopped back on the train and settled in for our one-hour trip back to the hotel. Some of us decided to go to McDonald's when we got back. We hadn't eaten dinner, and we were honestly craving some good American food, and only McDonald's could satisfy that. Unfortunately, the stupid sign outside said that they were open 24 hours, but they just happened to be closed. It truly was not good. I could have cried! I was starving, in pain, and I really wanted a double cheeseburger (by the way, no sweet tea here...and my close second, the Diet Coke, is also hard to find). We ended up stopping in the 7-11, where I bought some weird sandwich and thankfully, the first Diet Coke I have seen here. I came back to the room and crashed immediately. My feet still hurt this morning, but it isn't anything a few ibuprofen won't help. I'll write about today later on tonight (it's 7:00am Friday as I write this...you guys are probably watching the evening news for Thursday right about now, or at least you should be). Talk to you later!