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