Wrapping it all up

"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Ghandi

The Japanese Govt. has spent over $20,000 to afford me the experience of a life time. This investment is grounded in the hope that with understanding comes peace and a better relationship between our countries. We all know that relationships are tough in the best of circumstances, but to work on relationships with other countries knowing nothing about the heart of their people is useless.
My job as an educator and as a participant in this experience is to provide the bridge between our cultures, our schools, and our people. I am honored to have been chosen to do this for the country of Japan, and I will carry this country and its people with me always. After all, where else in the world do cars stop in the middle of streets and let walkers through by simple eye contact, or when people hear that you're a teacher, they bow in front of you, people on the streets and subways are willing to use their english at any time to help you when you are completely and totally lost, which happened pretty much daily. They don't only show random acts of kindness here, it's constant.
I look forward to talking to my school, students, and community about my trip. Meanwhile, I will be keeping this blog - although I won't post every day, come back and check - I'll be posting pictures and details of my follow -on plan that must be submitted by the end of April - complete. Lots of work to do - but it will be fun, too.

Sayonara!

Today was our last day in Tokyo. We each gave presentations on our experiences in our host cities this morning. This afternoon a Steve, Elizabeth, and I went to the Tokyo Tower and the Morri Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Morri Tower. The Morri was great - I enjoyed the exhibit by contemporary artist Annette Messager. The Morri Tower has a sky deck on it, and I was able to get a few photos of the awesome view. This evening was our 'Sayonara Reception' where we said our final goodbyes to the officials who sponsored our trip. Afterwards we went out for Karaoke and then we went back to work on packing for our big trip home tomorrow.

Japan's Philosophy on Education...

I've been working hard on getting all of this information down before I forget it! I'm finally getting 'caught up' from being gone last week. I'm looking forward to returning to the states, and in another way, I'm a little sad to be leaving. I've really gotten to know a lot of teachers, and we've become friends. Something about throwing complete strangers together for 3 weeks that helps you go the extra mile and work together. I've really enjoyed getting to know teachers from all over the US, learning about their schools and lives, and just spending time together. Shoot, we haven't done anything but that for 3 weeks - no cooking, no teaching, a lot of discussing. We're already planning a little reunion of our Unzen group in Philly this summer.

I've found it interesting observing the similarities and differences in our cultures. I think it's interesting that Japan considers it's education system broke - sound familiar? That when it measures itself, it measures itself against the United States, rather than other countries.
As a teacher we are constantly hearing how the US education program is broke, and it is comforting in a way that other countries feel the same way about their education systesms, but are still comparing themselves to us.
The Japanese govt pays their teachers better than any developed nation in the world. The avg teacher makes between 60-100,000. They believe that the power of a society is the education that you receive. 100 years ago a family's fortune would be paid just so one person in their family could get a good education. This would not only bring pride to this person, but to the entire family. In Japan's culture, there is a focus on the well-being of society as a whole. People make decisions based on what would be best for their family or community. The philosophy would remind me of 'the nail that sticks up gets beat down..'. In American Education/culture, we teach more of an indivuality - we are trying to make each student the best they can be - we aren't thinking of the welfare of our community as a whole, although that would be our ultimate goal, it isn't what we base our decisions on - hence self is more important than group.

I was amazed at their great discipline without needing to do anything to get the kids to cooperate and work together. They described an aspect of their culture - that in Japan people are driven by the shame they would feel (and inflict on their families) if they didn't learn, or they didn't do their best, or if they didn't get a good education. This moral code is guiding the students to do what's right - without needing much discipline. Whereas in the states, people may feel residual guilt for not doing what they should be doing, or for not completing a course of study, yet the guilt isn't always enough to keep them from acting on their impulses, because they feel it only effects them not their family, school, or community.

Return to Tokyo

Monday, October 27 - At the Haneda Nagasaki Airport we found a Starbucks! How do you say nonfat cafe latte in Japanese? ( you point and say "tall"). It is a two hour plane ride from Nagasaki to Tokyo. We got a short peek at Mt. Fuji on our flight in to Tokyo. We arrived 'home' in Tokyo and felt as if we were back in the states. Many westerners, signs in english, kind of like walking around Manhattan. Our first order of business (after dropping off our luggage was shopping in the Harajhuku district. (they even have a 'Gap'). We went to a thrift store called "Chicago" and bought Kimono's. Mine was only $42.00 (used). I plan on wearing it to make my presentations at my schools. At the thrift store we were amused to find Levi's for $70, old flannel shirts for $25, everything we'd already 'Goodwill-ed' - you know, "the 70's called, they want your clothes back..." Those scratchy wool blankets you can buy for $4.00 in Mexico were going for $50.00. If only I'd known... We also went to a toy store. I was especially impressed that they had an entire floor devoted to Joe Cool himself, Snoopy. Lots of Hello Kitty and Anime/Manga characters, too. We then went to Oriental Bazaar, which was disappointing - too commercial, not enough character. It was pouring down raining so instead of winding our way back to the subway, we took a taxi to Hard Rock and bought hamburgers and t-shirts. I'm embarrassed to say we paid $18 just for a hamburger (beef is very expensive because it is all imported), but we were so hungry for American food, we probably would've paid more. It was like stepping in to the states with an english menu and old 80's mtv videos streaming on the tv's. Our group has to give a presentation on Wednesday, so we worked into the evening preparing. We're staying really busy.

Farewell to Unzen, Nagasaki

Our group was treated to an overnight stay at the Kyushu Hotel - a hot springs japanese style ryokan. The sulphur water is believed to have healing effects and is a popular tourist spot for the japanese. We had already checked this place out on Tuesday and had spied a cool little pottery place on main street - we were devastated when it was closed. The hotel actually called the owners and they opened just for us - (we made it worth their while). The owner had her own pottery wheel right in the back of the room, and she gave us a 20 % discount and pepsi, to boot! She was so happy to have such good customers, and I was so happy to find something that was authentic - not made in China.

We were treated to a beautiful dinner - very fancy, 5 courses, and the food was really presented beautifully. Unfortuneately it was raw squid and other unidentifiables, but it was really pretty. I'll post a picture. We were served by girls in kimonos, the food was cooked with little candles right on our little tables on the floor, and we wore our Jakkata, or bath robe. When you give a toast in Japan, you say "Kam - Pai" - it's like 'cheers'. After the meal we sang Karaoke - which is huge here in Japan. There are karaoke places everywhere. You can pay 2,000 yen ($20) and rent a room with a karaoke machine with yuor friends. We had a contest - like American Idol minus Simon Cowell. I sang ' material girl' by Madonna (inspired by my earlier shopping spree). It was pathetic. There weren't many songs to choose from in english though, so you'll need to let me off the hook.

At a Ryokan (pronounced YOKAN) - ther are communal baths in the hot springs. The maids lay out your beds at 8:00 pm (futons) on tattammi mats - (made of rice straw). You do not wear shoes, and walk around in bath robes called "jakkatta". It would remind me a little of an American Spa. We had a good time.

The next morning we stopped by the Unzen Dept. of Ed to say good bye. The whole staff waved American and Japanese flags as our bus pulled away. It was very nice. We were getting used to feeling a little bit celebrity, as we made the tv news every night, and the paper twice. There had never been a group of Americans stay in their town in this manner.

Now it's back to reality - on to Tokyo.

Homestay

Saturday, October 25, 2008
On Saturday morning I met my host family – Mikiko Matsuyama, a music teacher, and her husband Nadio Matsuyama, a technical (woodshop) teacher. They picked me up at the hotel – I was surprised to see that they drove a Chrysler, and they made sure to point out their American car. They were very nice – they didn’t speak a lot of English, and I know about 10 phrases in Japanese, so we used a lot of sign language. When we got to their house, I gave them a book on Missouri that I had bought for them, and they got the world atlas out and looked up exactly where I’m from. I showed them pictures of where I live and they couldn’t believe the space and the cows. In Japan, land is sold by Tatami mat – about 2 square meters for $2,000 each. It is very expensive, so most houses are right next to each other, and they build on a 2nd story. Nadio and Mikiko’s house was brand new, only 3 monthes old, plus, they had a small yard. It was very nice. When you walk in, you immediately take off your shoes. There is little furniture – no couches or chairs, only a low table on the floor and rugs. Everyone sits on the floor . The kitchen dining area is more similar to ours in America. After struggling through an hour of charades, Mikiko invited her colleague at school, Richard, to come over and interpret for us. I thought we were doing fine, but anyway, he was very nice, and ended up staying all day and evening until 8:00. This allowed us to talk much more freely . Richard is a JET from Iowa.
Saturday morning we went to their daughter, Tomoka’s preschool for a performance. The 5 year olds were in a drum corp. They did a great job! I couldn’t believe they were only 5 as they were able to keep time, and even march while drumming out a rhythm. We then checked out the preschool. I wish I had video footage of it to show you. After that, they treated me to a lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant. We sat on the floor around a table - noodles again – but this time we were supposed to break a raw quail egg over the noodles – then add some kind of sauce. I did it because I didn’t want to seem rude – and ate it, brave, huh?
We picked up their daughters and went to the grocery store to prepare for dinner, as Mikiko’s brother and sister in law and their two daughters were coming over for the evening. They made sushi for dinner – the raw salmon and tuna was actually very good. We rolled our own sushi in seaweed. It was better than the sushi that I’ve had in the states. We spent most of the afternoon/evening talking with the help of Richard. Everyone was very kind, continually apologizing when they didn’t know an English word. Mikiko’s brother and family spent the night as well.
Then I slept on a futon in my own room. In the morning Mikiko had me make the Miso soup for breakfast. We also had fish, eggs, sunny side up, rice, and salad. At the end of every meal they serve fruit, usually cantelope, asian pears, or grapes (large ones that you don’t eat the peels).

After breakfast we went to Mikiko's school. Their brass band was practicing, so we went in to observe, and I talked to the students for a brief few minutes. Most of the kids understand a little english. The arts are considered 'clubs' and practice on school off hours - after school, or on weekends. Also, there were only girls in their brass band. As children get older, the boys are encouraged to take what they consider 'serious studies' - math and science - so only girls were in the art classes, choirs, and bands. I think that's really sad. They played a piece called 'sing, sing, sing' it is a big band era song - American, I believe. I recognized it, and they were doing really well.

We then went for a long car ride to a japanese garden where the wild cosmos were growing - it was very beautiful, but very cold and started to rain, so we went back home. They prepared 'japanese pizza' for lunch. It is kind of like a pancake with cabbage, shrimp, pork, etc in the batter. They fry it like a pancake, then afterwards they put dried fish powder on top, then a sauce that is a little similar to barbque sauce and mayonaisse on top, no cheese. It was unusual, and I'd have to say I prefer st. louis style.... but the food they prepared was much better than any I'd had in Japan.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking - and at 4:00 they drove me backt to city hall where we met my group. Mikiko and Nadio gave me a set of chop sticks and little ceramic chopstick holders. Mikiko cried, we exchanged e-mails, and they promised they would brush up on their english and come over to Missouri to see me. I hope they do.

I was surprised over all by how similar their family life style is to mine. They are very liberal with their children, I don't know if that was because they had a guest (my kids know they can nearly get away with murder when we have company)... The girls were very sweet, though. Hamura was so shy that she wouldn't let me hold her the entire weekend, Tomoka and I started getting acquainted on Sunday.

Obama High School

Friday, October 24, 2008
We didn’t have to be at the high school until 9:00 a.m., so I was able to take a long walk along the coast line this morning. The beach isn’t a swimming beach, although it is certainly warm enough here, the water is very cold, and it has a rocky coast line.
We visited Obama High School in Unzen City, Nagasaki. It is only a 5 minute drive from the hotel. Again we were introduced to the teachers, then we were asked to observe classrooms. We met a J.E.T. teacher from Los Angeles. JET stands for Japanese English Teacher Exchange program. The program, funded by the Japanese govt. allows American teachers to teach English in Japanese schools. They get free housing and are salaried. The program is for 2 years. She had only been in Japan since July, so she had an interpretor in the classroom with her as she worked on teaching English. I inquired whether the states has a reverse program, as I think it would be very beneficial for our students to learn Japanese – particularly if they are interested in a degree in international business. But no, we don’t have a reverse program.
I observed an English class, World history class, and a music class. Then we went out and played soccer and volleyball with the kids. The morning was long because we didn’t understand the lessons. I also observed a web design class - they were teaching html. I was surprised that they were teaching html when there are so many programs for web design that do the html for you, dreamweaver, frontpage, publisher, etc.
During lunch we met with the student council. I had lunch with two young boys who were seniors. They spoke very limited English, and my Japanese is limited to about ten phrases, so we used a lot of sign language and charades. I figured out that their favorite movies are Harry Potter. Favorite actor – Johnny Depp – although that’s also my favorite, so maybe they were just being agreeable! This school is more for students who didn’t do as well on their entrance exams, and probably won’t be advancing to University. About 70% of the students will seek employment after graduation, the other 30% will go on to college or technical trade schools.
After lunch the principal and vice principal talked with us for several hours. Of the three schools, they were very forthright explaining the positives and shortfalls of their school. Most of the other schools would not say anything negative, as to only shine a positive light on their school district. We learned that Japan also has some trouble with bullying at the high school level, and that there are some problems with parents - the principal called them ‘monster parents’ defending their child even when he/she needs to be disciplined. It was a very enjoyable session – he had a great sense of humor.
At 3:00 it was time for clubs – my students would be interested to know that in Japan, you have to specialize – all of the clubs meet every day after school – and that includes sports and the arts. So if you are in soccer, you can’t be in boxing, or band, or choir. They all meet at the same time. It was fun to go around and see what all the kids were doing from 3-5 pm, the end of the school day. We watched boxing, which was great – they have a boxing studio there. Then Judo, kendo, and track practice. The baseball and soccer teams were practicing on the field. Inside the school, we participated in a tea ceremony. The ceremony is a Japanese tradition, and many girls are taught this ancient custom so that they might be hired at a traditional Japanese inn, called a Ryoken. They also have a tourism division, where students learn to make beds, serve tea and drinks, and act as a hotel cashier. Their vocational program is doing well.
Our horticulture team would have loved all of the ‘ikebana’ (flower arrangements) that the students prepared for our visit. I have lots of pictures that I will share with you. They were beautiful.
I’ve been wanting to buy some souvenirs from my host city, but I haven’t found anything other than dried fish. It’s everywhere. Tomorrow I will be going to stay with my host family. I’m a little nervous about meeting them and whether they will speak any English, or whether we will be doing charades all weekend. They have a 5 and 2 year old girls, and I brought them some polly pockets, so I’m planning on that being my secret weapon. If nothing else, I can play. I know that they are both teachers. One teaches music, (so I’m hoping they have a piano, as I play and that will be another connection….) the other teaches industrial arts.

Kumini Middle School

Thursday, October 23, 2008
Today we visited a middle school – Kunimi Middle school, about an hour away from Unzen. When we arrived we were greeted by the entire staff. The staff has a common office, where each teacher has a desk, this helps with collaboration efforts among the staff. The teachers are required to be at school from 8:00 to 4:45 – the students leave at 3:45 – but many of the teachers are there until 7:00 at night – as they sponsor clubs after school – usually sports or cultural activities (art, music, etc). They do not have an official plan period like our teachers, but they don’t have extra duties – they don’t watch the kids over recess, which is 45 minutes after lunch, the kids just patrol themselves. It works here.
First we introduced ourselves to the staff and students, then the students gave an assembly. The assembly was student led, the choir sang many songs, there was a kumini drum performance that is reminiscent of ‘stomp’ that was awesome , and there was a demonstration of sword fighting called ‘kindal’ which is an ancient samurai custom that was also very interesting. This school is famous for soccer, and has won Japan’s youth league many times. For this reason, some parents who have children that are very good at soccer actually relocate so that their child can play soccer at the ‘best’ school.
Some of the classes that are offered during the day are different from our middle schools. They have calligraphy class, English class, technical arts – wood shop, math, science, social studies, Japanese, music, and physical education. There is a home economics department where students were learning to sew, and the art department. I was impressed with the supplies their art department had – oil paints, canvases, gouache paints. Things that our art depts. in the states cannot afford. The work the kids were doing was fantastic. I noted that there were only girls in the section I observed, which is unusual for our middle school classes. The kids seem to have more grounding in the arts, as they are required to take calligraphy and origami in elementary school. This extra experience was evident in the quality of work they were doing.
We also observed a calligraphy class at the middle school level, and we each made a Japanese symbol and wrote our name. I wrote ‘peace’ and the children gave me a paper crane to put on it.
At lunch we each went to a classroom to ‘try’ to visit with the teacher and students. Lunch was a soup with eggs, shrimp, and other unidentifiables that I could not eat. There was rice, a banana, pickled vegetables, a milk, and some trail mix. The banana was really good, and I tried the trail mix until I discovered dried fish (anchovies) in it.
The afternoon was spent in discussions with the principal, and later the teachers of the school. We talked about curriculum, discipline, assessment, the regular teacher stuff.
This evening we went to a ‘noodle shop’ which is next to our hotel. I’ve been living on granola bars and apples, so real food sounded good, but everything here is in a soup like form – mine had a claw – with tentacles – so that was it – back to apples and granola bars! It’s hilarious, on the way back from the middle school, everyone was day dreaming about American food – you don’t know what I would pay for a salad or a turkey sandwich right now!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Today we got up early to observe at a local elementary school. When we got there we were surprised to see a playground full of children playing soccer, climbing trees, on the playground equipment, and not an adult in sight. There must’ve been 100 kids there already. After a few minutes the teachers showed up, but they didn’t stop in the playground, they went straight in to prep. So much for morning duty! Actually, I think it has a lot to do with the Japanese culture. If a child gets hurt, the parent will tell them they should’ve made better choices, rather than asking the adult why they weren’t watching the children better. It makes perfect sense to me.
The principal gave us an overview of their school day, special festivals, and calendar year in a power point presentation in the computer lab. We then had time to walk around and observe individual classrooms. I went in to a 1st grade classroom that was working on Origami. They had a guest in that was experienced in origami, and the students were making little bookmarks. They were doing a great job folding tiny pieces of paper. I then observed a 6th grade class making kites in the gymnasium. There were many elderly men who came in to volunteer. The kites were magnificent – they took 25 lessons (45 minutes long) to complete. The kids were using knives to whittle bamboo. In our school system that would be considered dangerous, or a liability, but I thought it was amazing, and the kids weren’t having any trouble.
After kite making I observed a 5th grade class harvesting rice. This school district is partially self sustaining, it grows it’s own food. The students get hands on experience planting and harvesting rice and irish potatoes, and a vegetable garden. It was amazing to see the kids with small machetes harvesting rice. The ground was very wet so I got my shoes muddy, but I got to help for a small second, the kids were having too much fun. They had a rice picker there, where they would put the stalk in, it would take the rice out, and spit out the stem. What a great experience for the kids.
I also tried my hand at calligraphy in a 3rd grade classroom, and visited a 4th grade art class that was turning out magnificent work. It was a really exciting day. Over lunch, a 2nd grader came and took me to her classroom, and I had lunch in the classroom with the kids. The teacher serves the food, they do pray, and the kids cleaned up after themselves. During recess we played soccer, but most of our time was taken up signing autographs, because I think the kids have never seen anyone write English before, so they were really fascinated with this foreign looking scrawl. After recess, there is a ½ hour time where the entire school population cleans the building. Each classroom is assigned a section. Students wer e sweeping, taking out the trash, hosing down the restrooms, and scrubbing the floor with wet towels. What a great concept. Giving the kids cleaning responsibilities helps them take more ownership in their school. We were then treated to a school assembly, which was the highlight of the day. The kids sang and danced for us for nearly 45 minutes. It was an awesome performance - Even the teachers sang. We were so blown away by their hospitality.
After the school day was over (3:45), we had a discussion with the teaching staff until 5:00, when we headed back for home. It was an eventful day, my favorite so far.

Site Seeing in Unzen, Nagasaki

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
This morning we visited the board of education in Unzen. Our first meeting was a question/answer session with the superintendant of schools in Unzen. Our next meeting was a question/answer session with 3 parents of the school district. I asked about student extracurricular activities. I learned that most students in the Nagasaki Prefecture take Judo lessons outside of school. They might also take soccer, tennis, ballet, and calligraphy lessons.
After our morning meetings, the superintendant of schools took us site seeing to various places in their district. The Unzen school district has many schools, at it is composed of many islands. Some of the islands have only ten children on them, yet they come complete with a teacher and a principal! Can you imagine?
We visited the residence of a famous Samurai. It used to have a castle, but the castle was gone. It was surrounded by a moat, and there were many beautiful buildings, and a garden. The grounds were surrounded by a stone fence. The stones could be used to hurl at attackers if the residence was invaded. There were also rows of bamboo planted around the exterior, and the bamboo could easily be cut into arrows upon attack. Pretty cool.

The locals here call the volcano and hot water springs ‘hell’. Probably because of the smoke and boiling water that oozes up from the ground in many places. The city of Unzen is fairly new because it was covered in volcanic ash and was mostly destroyed in the mid-nineties. We were able to go up Narita Pass as close as we could get to the volcanic mountain that still spurts smoke. It was amazing seeing a new mountain forming. We then went to the sulphur springs – there was water BOILING on the ground, as a lava bed was close to the surface of the earth. There are many shrines here, as the Japanese consider this a sacred place.

Monday, October 20, 2008

This morning we visited the University of Nagasaki. The University is celebrating the fact that a staff member has just been awarded the Nobel Peace prize. We were welcomed by the President of the University, and then Kathy Smith from our group gave a welcoming address.
The University is a research based facility, with an emphasis on fisheries, engineering, and science. There are very few foreign students, about 300, and only a handful from the states. We were a novelty, and got much attention during our stay.
My favorite part of the morning was a discussion with Japanese pre-service teachers. They were very willing to try out their English with us, for which I was grateful, because using an interpreter is so unnatural. When asked about the US, most of them would talk about California. When asked about a famous person, they would talk about Barack Obama.
There is a survey that says that the Japanese are actually MORE interested in our election than we are. When talking to the Japanese in our hotels, they are always up on the issues, they are listening to the debates, putting in their two cents. Apparently 70% of the Japanese are following the US election, while only 47% of US citizens are following the election – they are more educated to vote than most of our public!
This afternoon we finally arrived in our host city of Unzen. The view is breathtaking – reminds me of Highway 1 in California on the coastline – rocky cliffs jutting off to the ocean. It is warm, a rain forest atmosphere, and the city of Unzen is nestled in between mountains. It is right out of a movie. The houses are quaint rather than the industrialized apartments and skyscrapers of Tokyo. There is steam rising from all of the streams and duct work in the city. We’re sitting on top of a volcano. Tomorrow we will actually have an opportunity to tour the volcano.
When we arrived in Unzen we were taken to City Hall, where we were welcomed by the mayor of the city and the superintendants of education. We all introduced ourselves. It was a little awkward because we had to completely rely on an interpretor to talk, and the presentations were brief. They wanted to have a question and answer session, and we were not told that they would be doing this, so we were coming up with questions off the cuff. We are going to really prepare for our meetings for tomorrow to avoid the uneasy silence…
Our hotel turns out to be very nice instead of what we had envisioned. I got really lucky! I have a suite – so everyone is hanging out in my room this week. I have four rooms – a living room, western bedroom, Japanese tatami (bedroom) – and a bathroom with just a toilet, no shower. We are using a community bath – that has taken some getting used to, and no I didn’t take any photos, but you basically wash yourself under a hand held showers, and then the ‘bath’ is a soak in a large hot tub – 115 degrees, that is outside amongst rocks and gardens. Everyone gets in the same water, and you try to only have your head sticking out - it’s the getting in and out that is particularly uncomfortable. (to say the least, however the Japanese are very used to it and aren’t having a modesty issue).
I slept on a japanese bed on a tatami mat because I wanted to experience it. A little harder than your standard mattress, but not at all uncomfortable. For the first time I am finally sleeping more than 3 hours a night. I don’t know if it was nerves or the time change, but I had gone weeks without sleep, and I’m hoping I’m over that point now.

House of Rules

The more time I spend here, the more 'rules of etiquette' I pick up.
Here's a few new 'rules' to remember while in Japan:
1. In Japanese society it is unacceptable to show the soles of your shoes. You should always sit with both feet on the floor.
2. don't eat or drink while walking around, it is considered rude and can be messy - which they cannot tolerate. If you have garbage, you will have a difficult time finding a trash can. There are no trash cans on city streets or in subway terminals.
3. take off your shoes before entering a dwelling. If you step on a carpeted surface, you will quickly be reminded.
4. When in restaurants, whisper or don't talk.
5. ONLY use chopsticks to pick up your food - don't use your fingers!

I wonder what rules the Japanese discover upon entering the United States - I imagine we have some that we don't even think about....

About their trash - the japanese collect their trash through a vaccuum system underneath the cities. This trash is burned in huge incinerators - the energy that results from burning is turned into electricity to power their buildings.

Nagasaki

It's official - I'm really sick of Japanese food! Honestly, I settled for a handful of almond for dinner tonight, I just couldn't do it. There are a few American chains here, but for the most part, it's rice, fish, and seaweed, even for breakfast.

I'm pretty sure that's why the Japanese live so long.

I had to photogrpah the 'box lunch' we got for our plane ride to Nagasaki. These box lunches, called 'Bento Boxes' are available everywhere. They have a collection of mystery foods in them. It's kind of like a grab bag. Everything is cold in them. Mine had a cold hot dog, egg, 3 french fries, and a collection of sandwiches, egg salad, tuna salad, chicken, and a cucumber sandwich. Thank goodness for Fiber One bars!

We took a large plane to Nagasaki this morning. The flight lasted two hours. After we arrived we took a bus in to the peace park. You can see our group of teachers who will be traveling to Unzen, Nagasaki in the picture.

Our first stop was the Atomic Bomb museum and Peace park. The museum is built on the hypercenter of the atomic bomb impact. There were many monuments to the victims, and there is a large tablet listing all of the dead, 140,000 to date in Nagasaki. Because of the exposure to radiation, people are still dying today from thyroid cancers and leukemia. This can effect 2nd generation citizens, as well. It was a very sobering exhibit on the effects of the atomic bomb. I noted that the Japanese forgot to mention their part in the war - such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese citizens we've talked to consider the A-Bomb a sin of mankind, not a sin of the american people. The hope is that it will never be used again.

The long colorful chains are paper cranes that have been strung together and hung at the peace park. There are millions of them everywhere, sent in from schools all around Japan. One of the teachers in our group brought cranes, as well.

Tomorrow we visit Nagasaki University, and will be greeted by the president of the University. We will take a tour of their facility and have lunch there. Then we will move on to Unzen, our Host City, and meet the mayor at their city hall.

Since we've flown in to Nagasaki, there is much more vegetation. So far I haven't seen any animals, but at least there are beautiful mountains filled with trees. There are also rice farmers who plant their fields in the foot hills. Unzen will be higher in elevation, and it will be less populated - only 50,000 people.

I'll post again on the 27th - unless I get lucky and find a hot spot in Unzen!

Vendor mania!

Everywhere you look in Japan, you will find a vending machines. You can vend pretty much anything. Even hot dogs - which is disgusting. I had to take a picture of this vending machine with Tommy Lee Jone's picture on the front of it. Many of our American Actors make pocket money by doing commercials for foreign countries. Last night George Clooney was selling Hondas, and Sarah Jessica Parker is on the Diet Coke cans here. Of course Tommy Lee Jones is selling Boss energy drinks - something 'tough'!

last stop in Kyoto

Kyozmiduera Temple - I was starting to get 'temple' -ed out, as the tour started at 8 and it was now 5. The special thing about this shinto shrine was that it was way up in a mountain, and for the first time since my arrival in Japan, there were trees. It was so crowded that it was difficult to walk around.

After this I took the bullet back to Tokyo. Tonight it's midnight, and in the morning I will take a commuter plane to Nagasaki. My group will be staying in Unzen, but for tomorrow & Monday, we'll be in Nagasaki. We will have the opportunity to go to Peace Park and the A bomb museum.

I'm really looking forward to that. Yesterday we were able to interview a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima. His story was so vivid that it made me tear up. He was not bitter towards the americans, he greeted us very warmly. He even apologized for his country's part in the war. He said he speaks because he's one of the few who knows english, and he doesn't hate the americans, he hates the atomic bomb. He also assured us that had Japan had the technology, it may have been us, rather than them. We also heard from a second generation survivor who has suffered cancers from secondary radiation. She is a teacher in Hiroshima, and addressed how the japanese government is teaching peace education. So far, it was my favorite session.

I will post again tomorrow night if I can. Oh - by the way - when I'm in Unzen, starting Monday, I will not have internet access, ( or cell service, or beds, or my own bathroom!) We will be staying in a japanese inn, with futons, bathrooms down the hall, and a 'community' bath. When I return to Tokyo on October 27, I will try and update my poor blog! I'm sure that I'll have a lot to write about because this should be a real adventure. There are 10 of us going to this small town of 50,000 (that's very small for Japan). The town of Unzen was totally burned by a volcano not too long ago, so it's fairly new - like 3 years old. At least the chances of that volcano erupting again aren't that great! We start at Nagasaki University, visit city hall, one day at a high school, middle school, and elementary schools, each, and then a host family for 2 days. We will then spend the night at a japanese inn called a Ryokan before returning to Tokyo. Unzen is famous for it's hot springs - I imagine there are all kinds of them with that volcano rumbling!

Here are a few pics of that last temple.

Sanjusendango Temple

This temple was my favorite. It included 1,000 cannons, each one had 40 arms. The cannons are supposed to aid people's entry into heaven. Unfortuneatley, I couldn't take pictures inside, so this one is borrowed off of the internet. Each Cannon is different, and it took seventy artists 15 years to carve them for the temple. This was a buddhist temple, and the cannons surrounded a very large buddha.

Heian Jinku Shrine

This shinto shrine is 5/8 the size and is a scaled down replica of the old imperial palace, note the arch in the street acting as the gate into the place of worship. The tree that is covered in white has bad luck fortunes tied to it. The people believe that if you tie off your bad luck, good luck will come your way. Again, this shrine was surrounded by beautiful gardens.