Hi all!

 

Today we were back to our Tokyo schedule.  That meant lectures and seminars all day. We heard from a man about art education in Japan. He showed me some very cool art projects that I will do with you when I get back.  They are fast and easy but so fun.  We also had an opportunity to ask questions of a professor from a local teacher's college about education in Japan. I feel like I have some pretty good information about how the education system works in Japan.

 

This evening I went with some friends to Ueno park and then to a shopping district nearby.  We are all getting to be experts at riding the subway!  What a great way to get around a big city.  We had our last dinner out in Tokyo tonight.  Tomorrow is the goodbye banquet.  It was wonderful to spend time with new friends who will be lifelong friends after this trip,

 

Tomorrow will be my last entry before I leave for home.  I am ready to come home and be back with you all.  I can't wait to share all I have seen and learned.

 

See you soon!

 

love,

Mrs. Calkins

Hello everyone!

 

I'm back in Tokyo after a wonderful homestay in Hiroshima and a visit to a traditional Japanese hotel called a ryokan.

 

My homestay was with a wonderful family who live about an hour from Hiroshima City.  The family consists of mom, dad, a 19 year old daughter and a 14 year old son.  The daughter is away at university. Since she is the one person in the family who who speaks English, it was a weekend of charades, dictionaries and guessing what we meant to say.  The mother, Yasuko-san, met me at my hotel & drove me back to their town.  We drove through some beautiful countryside with mountains, rivers and trees changing into fall colors just like in Spokane.  When we got to her town we went to the department store where she works in the book department.  She took me to the kimono department and the sales people helped me to try on a kimono.  I put my picture in the photo album so go see what I look like in Japanese clothing! 

 

We had several fun outings including lunch at a soba (noodle) restaurant, a visit to several sake breweries and a traditional tea shop.  We spent the evening looking at pictures of Spokane in a book I took to the family as a thank-you gift and a small photo album I had with me.  The family was anxious to know all about where I live.  They were a little confused at first because the paperwork they had received about me said I lived in Washington and the only Washington they know is Washinton, D.C.  They were a little disappointed at first to find out that I don't live next door to the White House!

 

The next day we went to a fall festival.  First we saw a parade of crazy looking characters in masks and costumes.  I still haven't figured out who they were but I will research to find out.  Then we went to a sort of county fair with booths of food, crafts and flowers.  It was great fun!  They drove me back to my hotel in Hiroshima on Sunday afternoon and we went to the ryokan to spend the night.

 

At the ryokan I shared a room with 3 other women and we slept on the floor on tatami mats (see pictures).  We had a lovely traditional Japanese feast and said goodbye to Hiroshima.

 

Now I am back in Tokyo for a few more days of lectures and seminars before I head home to Spokane.  There is still so much to do and see in Tokyo, I'm sure my days will be full.

 

I will see you next week!

 

love,

Mrs. Calkins

Hi guys!

 

Tonight is my last night in Hiroshima.  Yesterday we spent the day at a middle school and today we visited a high school.  The school visits have been the best part of my trip.  I have had a chance to see students and teachers in action.  It has been interesting to see how Japanese schools are like ours in the U.S. and how they are different. I'm anxious to get home to tell you all the details.

 

Tomorrow morning I will meet my host family.  The dad works for the local government.  The mom works part time, but I don't know where yet.  The daughter is a college student and the son is a high school student.  They don't speak much English and I don't speak much Japanese.  I am looking forward to the challenge of communicating with them.  So far, my experience has been that we can figure out what one another is saying by acting things out or drawing pictures.  I think that we will do fine.

 

I won't be able to send a message to you for the next 2 or 3 days but I will get back to you as soon as I can when I get back to Tokyo.  I will add some more photos to my web site tomorrow (tonight, your time).

 

I have been thinking of you even more since I have been visiting schools.  I can't wait to share all my new learning with you!

 

love to all,

Mrs. Calkins

 

 

Konbanwa (good evening),

 

It's pretty late on Wednesday evening.  We had a very busy day today.  We visited Ysunishi Elementary School.  We started the day in front of the school saying good morning (Ohiyo gozaimasu) to children as they arrived at school.  They were pretty surprised to see us.  Some of them were very shy but many of them came up and shook our hands and said hello.  The first part of the day was a whole school assembly where we were welcomed as honored guests.  We all introduced ourselves and then the students sang, played instruments and gave speeches in our honor.  The first graders gave each of us a gift bag.  Mine has a game called "Big Mouth Ghost".  It's a game made with origami.  I can't wait to show you how to play it and how to make it!

 

I visited a 6th grade English class, a 3rd grade calligraphy class and a 6th grade math class.  I also had lunch with a 6th grade class and got a tour of the school from 2 6th grade girls. I got to be captain of a 6th grade team when we played an English language vocabulary game.

 

We also had a long visit with the principal and vice-principal and got to play with kids at recess.  School started at 8:00 and ended at 4:00 so it was a long and busy day.  Spending time with all those boys and girls made me miss you even more.

 

I have added new photos to my website but I'm about 1 1/2 days behind in my posting.  Days are so full that it's hard to squeeze everything in.  I'll keep adding photos as quickly as I can.  Thank you for all your comments on my blog.  I am having a great time.  Tommy, the fish are so white because they are frozen.  Wyatt, the fish tastes fresh, sweet and yummy.  Abby, Jack and Adaira, I am definitely having a good time.  Sam, I hung our cranes at the Childrens' Memorial in the Peace Park.  If I haven't answered you all, I will try to respond in my next post.

 

I think of you all often and miss you.

 

love,

Mrs. Calkins

Hi guys!

 

It is very late, I have an early morning and it's been a really busy day so today's entry will be kind of short.

 

Our first outing today was to visit the elementary school where Sadako went to school!  It is right in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  Of course, it looks very different now than it did when Sadako went there.  There is an Atom Bomb museum on the school grounds because the school was built on the site of the original elementary school that was almost completely destroyed when the bomb exploded.  I can't wait to tell you all the details when I get home!

 

For lunch we went to a restaurant/cooking school where we learned to make okonomiyaki, a speciality of Hiroshima, which is kind of like Japanese pizza. It was very fun to make and tasty too.

 

We had an official visit with the Deputy Mayor of Hiroshima. It was a very formal occasion with lots of ceremony and lots of bowing.  We also met with the school board of Hiroshima and 7 parents from the Hiroshima PTA.  It was fun to meet all those new people and to talk with them about schools in Japan and America.  I will post new photos for you tomorrow.

 

I hope you are all doing well.  I will see you in about 1 1/2 weeks.

 

My love to you,

Mrs.Calkins

Ohiyo gozaimasu!

Monday has been a great day in Hiroshima.  We started off with a visit to Hiroshima University.  It is one of the finest universities in Japan and is especially known for its teacher training programs.  We met the president and vice-president of the university and the dean of the college of education.  We spent the morning talking to teachers and students who will be teachers.  I learned so much about how Japan prepares people to become teachers, or sensei.  We also got to visit the University Library and go down into the basement archives where books are kept on shelves that move electronically on a track.  Pretty slick!

 

After lunch we began our visit of the Hiroshima Peace Park. This is a huge park in the center of town built around the hypocenter where the atom bomb was detonated.  We saw a cemetary near the center of the bomb explosion, one of the few buildings that still had parts left standing after the bombing and many monuments honoring victims of the bombing.  At the children's peace memorial I was honored to hang our strings of cranes along with cranes from children all over the world.  Be sure to see the pictures on our web site.  It was doubly special because a group of elementary school children were there to bring their cranes too.  They read a special essay written by one of the students, sang some beautiful songs and led a prayer for all of us before adding their cranes to the memorial.  I was so proud that I could represent you at that special moment.  We also visited the Peace Hall and the Peace Museum.  There was so much to see and learn!  I can't wait to share more of it with you when I get home.

 

For dinner we ate at a traditional Japanese "tavern" where we sat on the floor and ordered dinner by pointing at pictures of food that looked good.  We didn't always know what we were ordering and the waitress didn't speak English so we just decided to enjoy whatever came.  Once again, we weren't disappointed.  Tomorrow we get to meet the mayor of Hiroshima and the school board.  It's great to really be meeting people who are really connected to schools.  I am learning so much and hope that you are too.  I will be home before you know it.  Until then, have a great time with Mr. Gildehaus.

 

with love,

Mrs. Calkins

Hello to all of you!

 

Today was the day we spent travelling from Tokyo to our host city, Hiroshima.  We left our hotel at 9:00 and headed to the Tokyo station.  Once we arrived, we boarded the Shinkansen (bullet train) and set off for Hiroshima.  We had a 4 hour train ride going 185 miles per hour. That's fast!  We travelled through many cities and towns.  I got to see houses and fields, mostly rice as well as beautiful mountains and forests.  I learned that most of Japan's farmers are small family farmers who share the cost of farm equipment with other farmers in their town.  They grow enough rice to feed their families with just a little left over to take to market.  Most of Japan's land is covered by mountains that are too steep to build on so the houses and towns are crowded together on the flat land that is available.

 

We reached Hiroshima around 2:00 PM and got onto another bus.  This bus took us to the ferry terminal to go to Miyajima, a small island in Hiroshima bay which has on of the most famous Shinto shrines in Japan.  It is a large complex of beautiful buildings built on the edge of the bay.  The tide was out when we were there but when the tide is in, the whole complex looks like it's floating.  Our group director taught us the correct way to wash our hands and mouth for purification before we entered the shrine.  We also learned the correct procedure for making a wish or sending up a prayer at the altar.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place.

 

We also had the opportunity to try buns in the shape of maple leaves which are the symbol of Miyajima.  Mine was filled with vanilla custard.  It was yummy!  I bought a rice paddle, which is another symbol of Miyajima. It has a saying for family health and safety.  I can't wait to show it to you when I get home!

 

All in all, it was a wonderful day filled with more new experiences.  I wish you could be here with me to see and do it all.

 

with love,

Mrs. Calkins

Hello everyone,

 

Today was our only totally free day.  I went with some friends to a big central park called Uedo park.  We saw several beautiful Shinto shrines.  You take your shoes off to go in and pay your respects. I bought a blessing for educational success to hang in our classroom.

 

I also saw a couple of fire trucks and lots of firemen gearing up for a practice.  The pictures on on the photo page.  Their fire trucks have pretty much the same gear ours do but they are much smaller.

 

There was a flea market in the park today so my friends and I spent a lot of time looking at all the things for sale.  There was all kinds of snack food and teas. There was also lots of pottery and furniture and clothes and just about anything else you could want.  It was HUGE, with lots of booths.

 

After the flea market, we went to the National Museum.  The main exhibit was about the history of Japanese art.  There was pottery and metal work, paintings and scrolls and clothing.  There was a whole room full of samurai armor and some pretty awesome swords!

 

Then we took a taxi to a fabric wholesale area.  The taxi ride took us through some residential areas with very narrow streets and past a school that was filled with kids (on a Saturday!).  It was fun to see the areas where people really live, not just the office buildings and stores of downtown Tokyo.

 

It was a fun day filled with shopping, art and LOTS of walking.  Now my feet are tired and so am I.  Tomorrow I leave with my group to take the bullet train to Hiroshima.  I can't wait to put our cranes on the statue at the Peace Park!

 

More from me soon.

 

Love to you all,

Mrs. Calkins

 

Dear Second Graders,

Another day has come and gone.  This morning we had a wonderful presentation by a man who survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.  Remember Sadako?  He told us about the day the bomb was dropped.  He was 16 years old and in math class at the time.  His school was pretty far from the center of where the bomb hit so he and his classmates survived but he had many hardships to overcome and he had many friends who died.  It was a very sad story but hopeful too.  He said he hates the bomb for what it did to his city and his friends but he doesn't hate the Americans who dropped the bomb because they are human just like him and all humans make mistakes.  What a great lesson in forgiveness!

 

We also had a great talk about classical Japanese theater and music and dance.  The man who gave the presentation was American but has been in Japan for about 20 years studying Japanese performing arts.  He was funny and very interesting.  I bought a DVD of his program to share with you when I get home.

 

My group that is going to Hiroshima got together to get information for the next part of our trip.  We have free day tomorrow then we take the bullet train to Hiroshima.  I have strung your cranes together so I can put them on the statue of Sadako.

 

Tonight I got to visit a Japanese art school and meet the art teachers.  We talked about kids and art and then had a pizza party!  Japanese pizza is good although pretty different from American pizza.  Imagine pizza with squid and octopus on it!

 

Tomorrow I am going to the big central park in Tokyo to see the art museum and the zoo.  I'll let you know how that goes.

 

My love to you,

Mrs. Calkins

Hello second graders!

 

Today was a day of contrasts, old and new, busy and still, American and Japanese.  I started the day with a Japanese breakfast.  I had miso soup, 3 kinds of pickled vegetables, a big bowl of rice and a beef dumpling.  No pancakes or cereal for me!  There is a picture of my breakfast on the photo page.  This was certainly a contrast from an American breakfast. 

 

Most of the day was spent listening to lectures about the Japanese education system, Japanese economics and the Japanese government.  It was a lot of sitting and listening.  The speakers were all very good but it was hard to sit in one spot for such a long time.  Now I know how you feel when I talk too long.

 

We had a nice break for lunch and wandered around the beautiful garden here at the hotel.

 

When we were finished with lectures, I met up with some friends and we took the subway to an area of Japan called Harajuku.  It has lots of interesting little shops and restaurants.  We shopped at a store called Kiddyland and the 100 yen store which is like our dollar store!  I found lots of fun things to show you.

 

Well, it's late and I'm falling asleep at my computer so I'll end this entry and send you more news tomorrow.

 

I miss you and think of you often.

 

Love,

Mrs. Calkins