Kumamoto, Japan

Today I flew out of Tokyo into Kumamoto City, Kumamoto, my host city. I will be here for the next 6 days! We are now in our small group, me along with 15 other teachers, our host Oka and a translator named Yoko. Today I went to a beautiful Japanese garden and saw a demonstration of traditional japanese dance and also saw a glass blower working. The day ended with a tour of the famous Kumamoto Castle, an old castle that looks like something from a movie. It was so cool! We also saw several people who were acting like samurai swordsmen and there were some ninja warriors there, too.

BES had a very busy day, taking in all of the sights. BES especially enjoyed seeing the "warrior" at the castle. I will be very busy each day this week.

On Monday our group will go to Kumamoto University where we will meet with their president and the students. In the afternoon we will meet with the Mayor, the superintendent of the school board and parent association. They are hosting a reception for us in the evening. Tomorrow morning we must practice our Japanese during our drive to the university. We will be introducing ourselves in Japanese.

So...that brings me to our question for the day. How do you say "good morning" in Japanese? Good luck and I'll talk with you again on Monday! Have a great week. I miss you all!!!!

Sights from Japan

OK, I was off line for a couple of days, but I'm back! Tokyo has been unbelievable. We have been seeing lots of sights and of course, taking time for classes and sessions that are teaching us about the school systems here. On Thursday we had amazing speakers from the Japanese Educational system and Japanese Government who spoke on eucation, the economy and politics. Lots of people here are interested in seeing who will be our president! Also, Japan is going through a lot of changes in their leader, too. They expect to have an election sometime in November.

I have added a slide show for BES the Bear. BES traveled with me to Japan. I have been documenting some of the places I have visited with BES as I travel with the other teachers. When I visit with my host family in Aso-Chi, Kumamoto I will leave BES the Bear with them as a special gift from our school. But, when I return I will have a special surprise for all of you at Ballentine! Keep watching and see if you will know what that surprise might be.

I am trying lots of new foods and experiencing Japan by putting myself right in the middle of their culture. I have also enjoyed meeting some of the people. As our teachers went on a "field trip" to The Diet (one of their largest government buildings similar to our House of Representatives) some students were there on a field trip. Many wanted to meet us, but one special student asked me come talk with me. Her photo is on the new slideshow. They all wore yellow hats so that they could be identified easily. On Friday we will learn about our host cities. Mine is Uki, Kumamoto. I will be flying there on Sunday morning with 15 other teachers. Up until then we have all been together here in Tokyo...all 160 of us. We usually break into small groups when we have time off so that we can see different things. There is a big bulletin board in the lobby where we all leave notes for each other about places different people want to go. Today I will be meeting with all of the visual art teachers. There are a lot of us on this trip which is exciting. I will write again later on. Enjoy the slide show and see if you can tell where she has visited so far.

OK, here is your question for the day... What is the main transportation system used here in Tokyo? Until next time...

WOW...I'm in Tokyo!

This trip is so incredible! I have so much to share and now that I'm finally on-line I don't know how to begin writing all of the amazing experiences I have had on my way here to Tokyo. I am writing a journal each day and will be sharing that when I get a minute, so for now let me just start with my arrival in Tokyo.

First of all, it is beautiful! So many lights and buildings that reach up to the stars. We landed around 4:45 Japan time at the Narita International Airport which is 13 hours later than there in Ballentine. When we arrived we went straight through the customs area. After giving our fingerprint reading and getting our photo taken we went to our luggage claim area. My luggage is easy to recognize (hot pink with black and white giraffe print of course) so I was able to just stand and watch all of the people who were traveling through the airport. As you can see, BES the bear is traveling with me. That bear has been very popular with all of the people I have met along the way and I'll have lots of great photos to show you all of the places and people BES has come in contact with. Here you see BES in the luggage cart that we used to take our luggage through the Duty Line. (See....even when I'm not in school I still had to do the "duty" thing). Walking through the airport was surreal. I mean I knew I was there, but everything was in another language and even the signs looked different. The Fulbright organization is so organized. I can't explain how much they have done for us to accomodate our travel. They are with us every step of the way which has been reassuring. Once through the airport we boarded a bus with our group. My group is the Uki group because I am traveling in one week to Uki, Kumamoto. 16 of us will travel there and focus on the school system, signs and points of interest specific to that prefecture. We traveled another two hours into Tokyo where we stopped at the New Otani Tokyo Hotel. It is huge. I couldn't get a lot of good pictures tonight because it was raining, but I will get lots on Wednesday. When we traveled here to Japan, we crossed the "International Date Line" which moved us into the next day. So right now we are ahead of you in time.

Tonight we met with a local college student who took a small group of us out in Tokyo for dinner. We went to a local restaurant called the Shirokina. Our student was Shogo Yoshida, a student who is studying physics. He has been to the US twice, but would like to study international business. We tried lots of great new foods. I've loaded a couple of photos.

On Wednesday we will spend the whole day touring the city and the afternoon is filled with teacher meetings. I am so excited about keeping all of you up to date on my trip. I wish you could be here. It is overwhelming in the most incredible way!

OK, here is your question of the day...Name the coins used in Japan today and name their value.

Until next time...

My Beautiful flight into San Fransisco

Well, words just can't describe the beauty I saw today as I flew into San Fransisco from across the United States. I had a connector flight in Washington DC and from the moment I left the Dulles Airport, I was fascinated with the way the land formations changed from area to area. I literally saw flatlands and the next thing I knew there was snow on top of mountains. It was incredible. I had a very hectic day, but I am now in San Fransisco, California!

After our orientation this afternoon, we were hosted by the Consul General of Japan at his home in San Fransisco. It was so beautiful, lots of art and artfully prepared food. I will send photos tomorrow for you to see. You could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from his home. The weather has been perfect! Tomorrow is the big day. I will be flying in to Tokyo, Japan.

I will try to e-mail you when I get settled in Japan. Please keep in mind that my cell phone will not work while I am out of the country, but you can certainly e-mail me. I would love to hear from you!

OK...here is your question of the day. What does the word "sushi" actually mean in English?

Until next time...

New Links for Kids Added

Just for fun, I have added some great websites and links for kids. Check out the new places YOU can visit to learn more about the kids and culture of Japan! Just click on the links at left to start now! (Adults, you'll like them too!)

5 days and counting...

Today while my students and I located places on the world map that I will be visiting in Japan I just had to stop for a moment and think about what I was saying...I will be in Tokyo, Japan this time next week! It is real! I can tell as we talk in art class about the trip that BES students are just about as excited as I am. I have been busy trying to get last minute things taken care of, things that I just have to do like getting travelers cheques, memory cards and battery chargers, lesson plans, lesson plans, lesson plans and finishing up gifts for the host family I will be staying with. I decided to make a palmetto tree tile from clay. I wrote a special note on the back into the wet clay so they will remember my visit from SC! Today I finished it up by glazing (painting) it and tomorrow I'll wrap it up and pray it doesn't break during travel. Since I won't get the info on my host family until I get to San Fransisco, I really don't know how many gifts to take for the family, so I'm going to just take a few things and hope for the best. Most of the host families don't speak much English, so I'm just going to smile a lot and eat what they feed me.
My goal...to leave them with a great feeling about people from the US, oh and of course I'm going to teach them to say "Ya'll"!
I will be leaving Columbia Airport at 6am Sunday morning while all of you are snoozing. My poor family will have to get up so early to see me off, but I hope they all can be there. I have never been away from them this long at one time. That is going to be the hardest part for me, especially since my phone won't be of much use in Japan. I plan to use e-mail a lot as long as I can get on the internet. I will be flying to Dulles in Washington, DC where I will catch my connector flight to San Fransisco, CA. I will be arriving a little after lunch time on Sunday. We have a special dinner that evening, hosted by the Consul General and today I learned that his house has a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Wow!
All 160 teachers will fly out on Monday. I am on the second flight out, leaving the airport around 1:35 that afternoon. I will land in Tokyo, Japan the next day. This will be the longest flight I have ever been on. I hope I have a window seat. I love to take photos of the clouds.
OK, here is your question of the day...What ocean(s) surround Japan? Don't forget, the first one to answer correctly will get a special goody from Japan when I return! Until next time...

Getting ready for the trip...

Time is drawing closer. I just received an e-mail from Washington, DC that my flight itinerary will be mailed this week! I am very excited about getting that in the mail! It will tell me exactly when I will be traveling, how many stops I will make along the way (hopefully not many) approximately how long it will take me between flights and when I should arrive in California and Tokyo, Japan!

I will be meeting the other 159 teachers in San Fransisco, California on October 12 and flying out to Tokyo on October 13. I do not know any of the other teachers, so it will be a fun time getting to know them and what they teach at their schools. Each teacher wrote a proposal (plan) to let the Fulbright office know what we would do with our experience in Japan when we returned. As most of you already know, we will be doing a big claymation animation project here at Ballentine to celebrate the culture and art of Japan. Students here at Ballentine will create the movies and some students from Japan will be doing our "voice overs". We will show our completed "short" in May during our annual art show and sale and via webcam, the students in Japan will see our world premiere at the same time! Won't that be cool? I will also be doing other special projects with each grade level at BES. I will be returning November 1 to the United States, but presenting the following weekend during our South Carolina Art Education Conference in Greenville, SC., sharing with all of the people there my experience in Japan. I'm planning to take a LOT of PHOTOS!

I will be loading my schedule as soon as I know. Don't forget that I will be updating this blogsite as I can FROM JAPAN! So visit this site often and hear all about what is going on there.

OK, here is your question for today... About how many people live in Tokyo, Japan? Here is a hint (it is bigger than New York City).
Talk with you soon...