Konnichiwa  =  Hello

Ms. Bale just went on another exciting adventure! From October 1st through the 21st, she traveled in Japan, with 199 teachers, as part of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. Her first stop was Tokyo where she learned about the Japanese culture and met with Japanese government officials and educators. Then she traveled, in a group of 20, to Urayasu, Chiba to visit primary and secondary schools, a teacher college, cultural sites, and a local industry (Tokyo Disneyland). The weekend included a home stay with the Tanazaki family. It was a busy 3 weeks!

Explore the links above to learn more about Japan and check this page for emails and pictures during her adventure. 

September 28, 2000

Hi, Staff and Friends:

 Here is my schedule for Japan:

 Oct. 1 – Oct. 2…San Francisco

 Oct. 3 - Oct. 8…Tokyo

 Oct. 9 – Oct. 14…Urayasu, Chiba

 Oct. 14 – Oct. 15…Home stay

 Oct. 15 – Oct. 17…Urayasu, Chiba

 Oct. 17 – Oct. 18…Ryokan (Japanese style inn) stay

 Oct. 19 – Oct. 21…Tokyo

 Oct. 21…Flight home  

 If you would like to see where I’m staying in Tokyo check out:  www.hyatt.com/japan/tokyo/hotels/hotel_tyoty.html

It looks pretty nice.

 You can always email me at nancbale@aol.com and I will try to respond.

 I am totally excited and look forward to sharing my adventures with you!

 Sayonara…
Ms. Bale

Konnichiwa:

It's 1 am here and I don't know what time I'm on. Am heading to the Fish
Market today at 4 am for the tuna auction and possibly some sushi breakfast.

After that we will have lectures on education, government, and Japan's
economy. I am learning so much!

Saw a wonderful Kyogen performance yesterday. (It is a style of Japanese
comedy.) And had an official FMF banquet. That was where the tuna head
picture fits in. The most unusual item included was horse meat, although
there were lots of dishes that I really didn't know exactly what I was eating!

Am enjoying myself immensely...
Ms. Balesan

Konnichiwa:

I have had an incredibly busy weekend. We only get 2 days off to do whatever
we want, so of course, I wanted to do everything! Just as everyone was
pulling his or her plans together for the weekend, we found out about the
earthquake in Western Japan. I didn't feel anything in Tokyo, but it did
cause some travel delays for others, as they had to wait for all of the train
tracks to be checked for damage.

I spent all day Saturday at Kamakura, which is located near the water. I was
able to visit a working Buddhist monastery and beautiful Shinto shrines. The
monastery was a quiet reflective place while the area around the Shinto
shrines was active with many people. I had a chance to observe Zen archery, a
beautiful Shinto wedding, and collect amazing calligraphy in my temple book.

On Sunday, I really wanted to be out of Tokyo and away from the hustle and
bustle. So, I decided to go to Mt. Fuji. The weather was overcast, but I took
a bus to the 5th station on Fuji and I rose above the clouds! I had a very
clear view of the summit and the orange and red leaves of fall. I couldn't
hike up any farther as the summit is closed, so I decided to hike down
Fujisan. I ended up hiking a pilgrimage path through an incredibly misty
forest of Shinto shrines. It was indescribably beautiful and invigorating and
I returned to my hotel very tired, but satisfied by my adventure.

Today, we moved from Tokyo to our prefecture. I am staying in Urayasu, Chiba
that is located by Tokyo Disneyland. Tomorrow we will start visiting schools,
the mayor, a university, and an industry…which happens to be Tokyo
Disneyland! I hope that I get to see behind the scenes. On Friday, we will
begin our homestay. I found out that my host family is a 42 year old couple
with 2 girls ages 10 and 12. The husband is a businessman and the wife is a
housewife. I still don't know if they speak English or not, but will give my
basic Japanese vocabulary a try.

Spent the afternoon at the Edo-Tokyo museum with a Japanese family that
adopted my new friend, Terri and me. We were just checking out our stations
in the subway and they came up to ask if we needed help getting around.  Come
to find out Sumien, the mother, will be our interpreter on Wednesday when we
visit the elementary school. They all spoke excellent English and invited us
to spend the afternoon with them. It was really thoughtful of them to include
us in their plans! Toured through the museum, learning about the history of
the Tokyo area and then passed by the place where summo wrestling takes
place. We haven't see any wrestlers yet, but there's still time.

You will be excited to know that the gifts that will be presented to the
elementary school, from our Chiba group, are all inside a Poulsbo Elementary
School bag…and it looks great!

Sayonara. . .
Ms. Balesan

Konnichiwa:

Konnichiwa:

Hope that you are enjoying the photos. This week I will be visiting schools.
I am very anxious to visit Maihama Elementary School on Thursday and then
visit with my Japanese family. I met the mother, Naoko, last night at a
reception and she spoke English quite well. She told me that her husband
speaks better English, but her daughters not as well. They can read and write
English, but not speak it much. It will be fun to explore Urayasu with them.

Sayonara…
Ms. Balesan                

October 14, 2000

Konnichiwa:

I have been having an interesting time exploring the schools in Urayasu! Our
first visit was to Chiba University, which has a teachers' college. The campus
was a busy place with students hustling to classes, but a few had time to
practice their dance moves in the mirrored wall of the teachers' cafeteria.
They also had quite an appreciative audience of American teachers.

Next, I visited Maihama Elementary which was sooo exciting! Imagine the
students running to school only to be greeted at the entrance by 20 American
teachers all saying Ohayo gozimasu, (o-ha-yo go-za-i-mas) which means good
morning. We all stowed our shoes in our own little lockers, put on slippers,
and went on a school tour. The school was brightly decorated with lots of
student artwork and projects…they even had a map showing where all of us were
from! Be sure to notice, in the picture, how my name is spelled in Japanese.
The sixth graders gave a musical concert and then a second grade classroom,
adopted me for the day, and I was off on a whirlwind of activities. They gave
me a huge welcome party with dancing and singing and they even played musical
instruments. We all played rock, paper, scissors, and other international
games…like hopscotch! It was an incredibly warm welcome. We all ate lunch in
the classroom…(and yes, staff…it worked very smoothly!) The students served
the food and then they cleaned up their whole room, while listening to music.
I visited their library and even discovered that they had all of the Ramona
books on their shelves. After school, we met with the teachers and had time
for lots of questions and a chance to share about our schools.

It was a high energy day, but a day well spent gaining some insight into
elementary schools in Japan.

On Friday, we went to Hinode Junior High, which was a very different
experience from the elementary school…as you would guess. I will have to
write about it later as I leave today to join my host family.

Sayonara…
Ms. Balesan

On Friday the 13th, I visited Hinode Junior High School. It is a public
school with 328 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. When I arrived students were busy
with before school sports activities like baseball, basketball, volleyball,
and judo. Students gave me a tour of the school and then an 8th grade class
adopted me for the day. I was able to visit a variety of their classes from
calligraphy to woodworking, art, music, and even an English class. At a free
time I used their computer lab to access the library web page at Poulsbo
Elementary, and I was pretty excited when my pictures from Japan appeared, so
that I could show them to the students.

I had plenty of time to ask the students questions that you had, although at
times the communication would break down and I don't think that they could
understand me. Then we relied on a few students that had lived in the States
and could speak a little more English or we played charades until we figured
it out! The students didn't seem to know much about American music, although
they like Mariah Carey. They told me their favorite group is the B'zs, which
is the hottest group in all of Asia right now. They also want me to teach you
about o-ha…a sign to say hello…which I will do when I return.

At the end of the school day, they all sing together in their homeroom. I was
pretty impressed by the student conductors!

After school, they can choose to do activities again and lots of students
chose sports or music. Throughout the school there would be small groups of
students singing and practicing for a weekend culture fair. As I was boarding
our bus to head back to the hotel, students took time from their baseball
game to smile and wave. That was a pretty nice way to end a visit to the
junior high.

Sayonara…
Ms. Balesan    

October 17, 2000

Konnichiwa:

Over the weekend, I met Atsu, Naoko, Anri, and Raina of the Tanazaki family and spent the night at their home. Atsu, the father, is the chief operating officer for a company called Digital Direct. They market items to sell on TV, somewhat like our QVC channel. Naoko, the mother, is a busy housewife. Anri, 12, a daughter, attends a private junior high and Raina, 10, a daughter, attends a public elementary school.  Atsu and Naoko speak English, but Raina and Anri do not speak much of it.

The Tanazaki family lives on the 3^rd floor of a newer apartment building. There are five buildings just like theirs and they make up a small community that fills a kindergarten school, primary school, junior high, and high school. The junior high school is Hinode Junior High, which I visited earlier in the week. As I walked around their apartment complex I ran into students I had met on my Jr. High visitation. Some stared as if they couldn’t believe that it was me!

The Tanazaki’s apartment is small, but very modern. They have a narrow kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, balcony, and 3 tiny bedrooms. The girl’s each have their own room, one with bunk beds and the other a single bed.

Naoko and Atsu had lived in Saudi Arabia, when Atsu was working for Mitsubishi, and they shared their photo albums with me. I had also brought a few pictures of my life on Bainbridge Island. They seemed quite interested in the fact that I lived in such a large house and kept asking me if I lived on both floors of it or just one floor. It just seemed like I had so much space and the amount of privacy was something they both appreciated.

On Saturday, we went to a community center celebration and tea ceremony. By coincidence, Hideli Matsuzaki, the mayor of Urayasu, was at the tea ceremony too. I think that he was pleased that my home stay family had taken me to the community celebration. Luckily, a woman that spoke English joined me to help explain the ceremony. The tea ceremony, in its present form, is from the 16^th century and represents harmony, reverence, purity, and tranquility. Beautiful vessels and utensils are used to blend and hold the tea and these are to be admired. First, the powdered tea, called matcha, is put into a tea bowl and then hot water is poured over it. The tea is stirred with a bamboo chasen, or tea whisk, until it is frothy. We did a lot of bowing, with my forefingers forming a triangle on the tatami mat, as I received my tea. I had to turn the teacup 3 times clockwise until I found the sacred spot from which to drink. The tea was frothy and green and tasted delicious! As I was leaving, I was given 3 pieces of incense as a gift, and I shared Poulsbo pins, that Mayor Bruce had given me, with everyone.

On Sunday, we drove into a new shopping area called Odaiba. We visited the TV station and had excellent views of Tokyo and the Rainbow Bridge from the top floors. We enjoyed a walk down to the beach and I really enjoyed being by the water as I saw my first dogs playing Frisbee. We grabbed a fast food lunch, (I had raw salmon and the girls had cheeseburgers!) and then headed to a shopping area that had 300 stores including Eddie Bauer, J. Crew, The Body Shop, and many others from home. The shopping mall was definitely like being at Disneyland as it had a fake sky that could change color so that you could pretend that you were really outside…instead of inside on a nice day! It was pretty bizarre. We toured a car museum with a sign that said Toyoda…not Toyota…and then headed back home. We exchanged gifts and then it was a quick trip back to the hotel to check back in and resettle.

Sayonara…
Ms. Balesan

Konnichiwa:

This week, I learned more about Urayasu, Chiba, which is the city and prefecture where I am staying. Urayasu is a 20-minute train ride from Tokyo. What once was a small fishing village along the Sakai River, today, is a city of 180,000 people living on reclaimed land. Reclaimed land is created when sand from the ocean is hauled in to turn what once was just water in Tokyo Bay into build able land. It’s hard to imagine that all of these modern buildings are sitting on sandy soil although I heard mentioned that landfill might be used too. With this reclamation, Urayasu is now 4 times its original size and plans are being made to reclaim more of the bay. The city does realize that by doing this they are changing the flow of water in the bay, which does affect corals and sea life.

While visiting with Mayor Hideki Matsuzaki and Shoko Tsujimura, the manager for International Relations, I had a brief history lesson. In the 1920’s relations between the United States and Japan were not the best and there were rumors of war. In 1926, Dr. Sydney Gulick, a university professor, started the Committee on World Friendship Among Children in order to foster peace and friendship in future generations. His Doll-Mission of Friendship Program asked children throughout the U.S. to donate friendship dolls to Japan. The end of 1926 sent a total of 12,739 dolls, from American children across the Pacific Ocean. Each doll was wearing handmade clothes, and carried a letter, extra clothes and shoes, a passport, and a message from Dr. Gulick. The dolls, known as the Blue-eyed Dolls, arrived in Japan, in February 1927, and each received a welcome party, before they were distributed to all of Japan’s prefectures. The Japanese Committee then decided to present Japanese dolls to the U.S. in return, which began the Doll-Mission of Gratitude. 58 Gratitude Dolls, representing each prefecture, territory and one of the 6 major cities were sent to San Francisco. Official welcome parties were held before the dolls were delivered to museums and art galleries across the United States.

During WWII, children in Japan were trained to be devoted to their country. The English language was removed from their schools’ curriculum and was labeled the language of the enemy. Schools were told to break, burn, or throw away the Blue-eyed Dolls. Luckily, some people didn’t believe that the dolls should be destroyed, so they hid them away. Today, about 300 of the original Friendship Dolls have been located in Japan, and about 27 of the Gratitude Dolls are still in the U.S. In Urayasu today, students, staff, and community members are working together to keep the tradition of Friendship Dolls alive. Community members donate kimonos to use for creating the clothing, while the Junior High students create hand made dolls, passports, and letters. 20 Friendship Dolls have been sent to the U.S. and Canada and 10 Gratitude Dolls have been received in return. Japan is very proud that the younger generation is carrying on the tradition as they will be the peacekeepers for the 21^st century.

Urayasu’s sister city is Orlando, Florida and the international symbol of Urayasu is Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983 and hosts 16 million visitors per year. I visited Disneyland as part of my industry tour and was amazed that 55% of the visitors had been to Disneyland more than 10 times! A new project, named DisneySea, which will celebrate myths, legends, and lore of the sea, while increasing the number of visitors per year to 30 million, will open next year.

As you can see, I am having lots of fun, while learning so much…

Sayonara…
Ms. Balesan

Konnichiwa:

On Tuesday, October 17^th I spent the day at Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu Senior High School. It is a private high school that focuses on an international perspective by providing cultural exchanges in Sydney, Australia and Cambridge, England. The high school also accepts students from Vietnam, Taiwan , New Caledonia, and Orlando, Florida which is Urayasu’s sister city.

Three flags welcomed me at the entrance to the school… one each for the High School, Japan, and the United States. It was a small gesture that told me that I should be ready for a special day. A favorite class to visit was English Conversation. The students were practicing English by acting out the parts of a waiter and a customer. Their Japanese teacher had created a few props, a bow tie and menu, to help increase class participation. Luckily he also had a room full of 20 English-speaking teachers ready to help with one on one participation. We all had fun shouting "Waiter…Waiter"…in order to get a student’s attention. Then we would proceed by ordering off of the menu as the students practiced their English. We were having as much fun as the students and the activity provided laughter for all.

In a Fine Arts class, I was able to watch students designing their own chopsticks. The chopsticks had been dipped in red, yellow, and green paint, and then covered with a brownish lacquer. Using sand paper and cutting utensils, students would scrape or sand away the lacquer finish to show the colors underneath. They were incredibly beautiful and no two pairs ended up alike. I was given a pair of chopsticks to try this on my own and will try to locate a source for interested students to do the same.

Tuesday’s lunch ended up being the most photographed lunch as it was served in a beautiful bento box with great attention to detail. I ended up locating the cooks just to let them know that it was oishii (delicious) and to say domo arigato (thank-you) for the tasty treats. If this were the typical student lunch, I would want to go to school here!

After lunch, I visited many sports classes. Girl’s volleyball was so much fun because they asked us to join in. Our task was to bump the ball in a circle for 20 times without missing. It sounds easier than it is. The Japanese girls were so cute, because if they missed they would giggle behind their hands and say "So sorry, so sorry." We ended up laughing a bunch and just enjoying each other’s enthusiasm. In the end, we were the first team to reach our goal, so we were declared the champs!

I had already seen a judo class during the junior high school visit, but this time they invited the American teachers to try. Tom Rice, from Colorado, and Willie Sullivan, from Idaho tried first and did quite well by managing to bring the student to the mat. Then Kelly McCabe, from Arkansas, showed them what a woman teacher could do and after a little coaching, flipped the student to the mat. Not bad for the American team!

The most unusual sports class was Kendo, which is a martial art that appeared to be a little like fencing. Students score strike points by touching 4 different areas on their opponents bodies: the head (men), the hand (kote), the torso (do) and the throat (tsuki). The protective headgear was the most interesting part of their uniform as it actually put their face in a cage.

Tuesday was the first time that I noticed students sleeping in class. Unfortunately, it was the Librarian’s class where he was reading a traditional Japanese classic. I wondered whether the students were fatigued from too much school, too much fun, or not enough interest in Japanese classics. I’ll never know for sure, but I was intrigued that no one tried to wake them up and focus their attention on the goals for the day.

I did have a little trouble keeping up with the entire slipper shuffling…on again…off again…not on the tatami…okay for this floor…and wondered how students dealt with this everyday. I had to chuckle when I noticed all of the tennis shoes lined up outside a classroom door and half of the heels were scrunched down because they didn’t want to take the time to untie their shoes either. Pretty clever!

Sayonara…
Ms. Balesan

Has anyone tried to teach you the Japanese language yet?

Yes! Six Japanese girls at the Junior High surrounded me and truly wanted to
teach me something new. Here is what I learned…When you want to ask someone
their name, you say…ah nah tah no nah mah eh wah. When I finally got it right
we all celebrated with a little victory dance!

What do the families wear inside their homes?

My family was very modern and dressed just like we do. They didn't wear their
shoes in the house though. You had to leave them inside at the entrance.

What kinds of hairstyles do they have?

The girls in my family had shoulder length hair… and Rena had a single pony
tail that she split into a double pigtail and Anri wore hers down. I have
seen many different hairstyles from punked out dyed to long and beautiful.

Are you enjoying the food there?

I am enjoying the food very much and seem to be eating all the time. Every
place we visit serves us a bean paste sweet and then of course we do lunch.
Snacks are very popular in the afternoon and sometimes we have a banquet to
attend for dinner. I am certainly not going hungry.

Are people allowed to marry younger in Japan?

From what I can tell legally you can marry at 20 years of age. If you want to
get married sooner you must have your parents' permission…although not many
young people seem to do this. A lot is based on honor and tradition. I have
seen a few traditional weddings, as there is a wedding chapel right in our
hotel and the bride and groom seem to be in their later 20's. I also saw a
Shinto wedding at Kamakurra. I did find out that it is popular to go to
Hawaii or California and get married there.

How popular is Dragon Ball Z there?

My eighth graders didn't recognize this name, but said that they really like
the Mario video games and one called Final Fantasy

How many grades are there in the elementary school?

Maihama Elementary School was for grades 1 - 6…with Kindergarten going to a
separate school. Also special education students attend their own school.

Do they have any good folk tales to share?

I haven't had any folk tales shared with me, but I did try to find out what
they are reading. I was surprised that Harry Potter is not as big in Japan
although that may just be at the school I visited. I am seeing the books in
all of the bookstores. Comics are very big and I did pick up a sample to
share with you.

Is skate boarding popular in Japan?

Kids like skateboarding, but the scooters are becoming very popular. Some of
the students go snowboarding, but it can be very expensive. Also with the
size of their homes they don't have room for a lot of equipment.

Hope this helps…
Sayonara…
Ms. CoolBalesan

P.S. As I was getting ready to send this, David Abbey, Mrs. Abbey's son
connected with me and we were chatting online! It was 2 am in Poulsbo and 6
pm in Urayasu. Isn't technology great?!

Konnichiwa:

After leaving the high school, we boarded a chartered bus to transport us to the countryside and an overnight stay in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese Inn. It was so wonderful to leave the big city behind and watch the transition to a quieter peaceful lifestyle. I enjoyed seeing homes with more personal gardens and space, the rolling landscape, and bicycles trails that looked like you could ride forever. This was the countryside I had hoped to explore.

We received a warm welcome at the Inn and quickly settled into our 5-person room. The rooms were traditional with tatami mats on the floor and low sitting table and chairs. It was proper to leave our shoes at the entryway and don the appropriate slippers. Different slippers were then used when entering the bathroom and you had to be careful to keep them straight. (You wouldn’t want the embarrassment of glancing down at your slippers at dinner and across the toes it read toilet!) Each person was given a blue and white yukata to wear and a solid blue haori jacket to wear over. Keiko, our guide, gave us a quick tour of the Inn making sure that we knew which entrance was for the women’s public baths and which was for the men.

Dressed in our yukatas, we were all ready for a traditional Japanese feast...and what a feast it was! We quickly settled into our places on the floor and the festivities began. We each had two pots on our table that actually were on fire. One was cooking Kobe beef, which is suppose to be some of the best in the world. I would guess that cows fed on delicate mushrooms and fine delicacies do produce tender beef, because it was tasty. Our tables were covered with beautifully displayed tidbits, some of which I recognized and others that I didn’t but ate anyway. While we were eating, women in beautiful kimonos would come around and clear our empty dishes, light our hot pots, and deliver more delicacies. One cook was actually grilling fish, with sticks in their mouths, on a small grill nearby and these were delivered to us to enjoy. It was truly a feast!

Next, some of the women headed to the public baths for a soak. The Japanese use public baths like we use hot tubs. They are not for washing and are used for relaxing. When we entered, there were lockers to leave our yukatas and slippers. Keiko had made sure we understood that you do not wear bathing suits in the public baths, as the Japanese tradition is to soak naked. Each of us had been given a little white towel, which you could carry into the bath, to provide some modesty if you felt uncomfortable. Before entering the baths, we showered off and then had to decide whether we wanted to soak in the inside tubs or the outside tubs. I preferred the outside tubs as the water was very, very, hot and the fresh air felt so wonderful. Our group quickly filled up the outside bath and we all enjoyed a long lingering soak!

When we could muster the energy to crawl out of the hot bath, we headed back to our room to discover our futons had been rolled out and were just begging us to jump in. I can say that when I crawled between the covers it felt as if I were sleeping on clouds! I realized that I had had a completely full day and slept wonderfully that night.

Up early the next morning, I wanted to enjoy the baths with not so large a crowd. When I arrived 2 older Japanese women were soaking and enjoying the morning. They didn’t speak English, but I found that we could giggle and say hot…hot, and pink…pink, and I think that we understood each other! After they left, I had the bath to myself and enjoyed listening to the morning sounds of roosters crowing and other birds waking up. It was wonderful to gaze out and enjoy the trees and countryside in stark contrast to concrete buildings and busy traffic. I could understand the importance for the Japanese to visit a traditional inn and enjoy the simple things in life.

At breakfast, where we were cooking fish right at our table, I learned that there was a river with many waterfalls just across the street. So after finishing, I took a walk along the river and explored a path that wound its way around from one waterfall to another. It was truly beautiful and calming and I chuckled at some of the rock fall signs. The path was nice for strolling and I later encountered some local couples out for their morning walk. Upon returning, it was time to load up the bus and head back to Tokyo to be reunited with our friends that had visited other prefectures. I had learned so much in Urayasu and was anxious to hear about their adventures too.

On the bus, we had a little homework to do, as each group of 20 teachers would be sharing a presentation about their prefecture. See, by being a lifelong learner that homework never ends…

Sayonara…

Konnichiwa:

For our presentation we decided to do a Kyogen skit followed by a Reader’s Theatre presentation of images from our visit. With that as our focus, everyone in the Urayasu group jotted down images that had made an impression on him or her. Each writer would share these, as photos from our trip were shown on a large screen background. For the grand finale we would all wear Mickey Mouse ears and sing, "It’s a Small World" in English and Japanese.

The Kyogen skit told the story of a servant who didn’t want to do an industry visit, but when he learns that the visit will be to Disneyland suddenly changes his mind. His master tells him that he may go, but he must bring back images from his visit.

That’s where the Reader’s Theatre began…

Noh drama may be slow, but maybe we watch too fast.

Take a ryokan bath

…Tom

 

Patience and tolerance amid hustle and bustle.

The young and the old taking time to help foreigners in need;

Regardless of life that is going full speed.

…Debbie

 

No worry or fret about things being stolen; lost items returned.

Honesty of the people leaves a lasting impression.

…Kelly

 

Smiles, laughter, warm singsong chatter.

Dizzying activity – subways.

Beautiful stones, water, exotic green gardens.

Curious children’s fingers in my beard.

Towering buildings, strange, wonderful smells, tastes.

Gentle, friendly new extended family;

Child’s appreciative note in my shoe locker.

Suddenly comfortable.

…Willie

 

Walking along the bay on reclaimed Urayasu land.

The sun floats on the water as birds fly overhead.

Will this water be here when we return?

…Terri

 

Our dear guide Keiko-san invites us for daily 2 hour walks at 4:30 before dawn.

Tokyo Aquarium with deep water – flashlight fish and rock hopper penguins.

Being a member of a vast majority instead of an American minority!

…Gary

 

Japan – a nation of ancient customs and culture, of commercialism and commerce,

of character and kindness– a cornucopia of contradictions.

…Robert

 

Swiftly moving hands create unity between art and communication.

…Lorraine

 

Matsuzaki, the Mayor, is proud of the public library, busy and full of people.

A shiny bookmobile, a budget of 1 million yen, the Nippon Decimal System.

…Diane

 

The feeling of excitement as I studied under a native Japanese Master Karate Sensei and realized that half a world and many generations away, disciplines, instructions, and techniques were the same.

…Judy

 

Kawagoe Festival – the floats so big, massive, soaring, and beautiful.

Ichikawa, Buddhist shrine, Festival of the Golden Lions.

So close to the action and yet so far.

So this is what it feels like to be the minority.

…Mary

 

Smiling Buddhas welcoming strangers,

Rising above the clouds at Mt. Fuji,

High rise boots to appear larger than life,

Nervous brides joining proud husband,

Vending machines dispensing glimpses of life in the city,

Sitting on my suitcase just to include one more souvenir.

…Nancy

 

Blue-eyes dolls, sent from America to Japan in 1927, in hopes that somehow children could bridge the gap of friendship and peace between nations.

…Helen

 

Curious children hiding enthusiastic smiles while peeking through doorways,

Anxious to meet us but shy in their ways.

…Lindsay

 

Short skirts,

Fishnet stockings,

Sagging socks,

Platform shoes

- High, higher, highest.

…Betty

 

Flowers and rocks; smiles and O’has.

Slippers and slippers and platform shoes.

The young – suits and computers;

The old – kimonos and bows.

Silence and noise;

Formality and respect,

Traditional and modern;

Teas and Disney.

…Carla

 

The rumble of the passing Keio line;

Chattering little red-capped cleaners.

Crash of Kendo sticks!

…Jody

 

Loudly slurping noodles,

Hot broth splattering my grinning cheeks;

Sizzling mushrooms doused in vinegar,

Drowning in their juices

Amidst urges to "eat, eat!"

…Maia

 

I had no frame of reference, the days had no names - my handbook guided my movements.

Calculations had to be made before calling home; was it morning or the middle of the night?

Time had no name.

…Susan

Then, we all put on our mouse ears and sang:

It’s a small world after all,
It’s a small world after all,
It’s a small world after all,
It’s a small, small world.

In Japanese: (phonetically)

Say Kah Ee Wah Say Mah Ee
Say Kah Ee Wah O Nah Gee
Say Kah Ee Wah Mar Oo Ee
Tah Dah He Toe Tsue

This was a fun presentation to put together and many people shared compliments with our group. We then were able to sit back and relax and enjoy the creative presentations by other groups that had visited Musashino, Odawara, Urawa, Maebashi, Hitachinaka, Iida, Ogaki, Misawa, and Takefu prefectures!

Later that evening, we all attended our farewell banquet…a time for photos, trading business cards, thank-yous, and fond farewells…as the next morning everyone would head for home.

Sayonara…

Konnichiwa:

On Saturday we all boarded buses to carry us to the airport to waiting planes and a long ride home. I was once again thankful that I lived on the west coast and would have only one flight to return home. Others were not so lucky, especially friends on the east coast…they were in for a long day.

I left Japan in a melancholy mood. I had met so many interesting people, both from Japan and the United States, and now it was time to say goodbye and return to our daily lives. I wondered how I would explain to friends at home how much this trip had made an impact on my life. I left Japan wanting to return and I thank the Japanese government for sharing so much with me within my three-week tour. It was a taste of the wonders of the country and it left me hungry for so much more.

My first morning back home, as I made my own breakfast, reality hit. My English muffin and coffee bore no resemblance to the fish, rice, and seaweed I had become accustomed to. Needless to say, I was used to being a guest and now I had to plan my days, not just show up on time and have everything taken care of for me! My Japanese hosts had treated me very well!

I had trouble adjusting to the time zone change and would find myself wide-awake at 2:30 am. This was not good! One night I woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t know if I was in Japan, Urayasu, or at home. Nothing looked familiar and that was pretty scary.

I loved answering my phone with ohayo gozaimus (good morning) and listening for the silence as friends and solicitors tried to figure out just what was going on. I enjoyed eating my lunch with chopsticks, making necklaces with students out of 5 yen coins, and wearing a kimono to school all week long. And I especially enjoyed sharing my stories and pictures with my students for they are the ones that keep this adventure alive. They still have questions, long after I have returned to my daily busy life. The students are the ones that greet me in the hall with o-has (hi) and konnichiwas (hello/good afternoon) and I feel that they too have grown to appreciate all that we can learn from a different culture, while looking at ourselves from a different perspective.

Everyday there are simple reminders of my time spent in Japan… I think that it will be that way for a long, long time…

Sayonara…

Ms. Balesan