Back in Tokyo!!

Hello everyone!!! It is now Tuesday night and I have been back in Tokyo for one day. I am sorry I did not blog much recently, but I was without internet access until yesterday, and yesterday I was simply too tired!

Friday June 22nd – Before leaving for my weekend with my host family and ryokan evening we spent a day visiting Aomori Prefectural Chuo Senior High School. The school was really amazing. The students were busy preparing for their college entrance exams, so we were not able to have as much free movement as in the other schools, but we saw some great things. I will post more about the experience when I get my pictures sorted. After visiting the high school some of my JFMF friends took some of the Aomori officials out for Karaoke. We had a BLAST! In Japan karaoke is a different experience than in the states. Instead of singing in front of a room of people you can rent a private little karaoke room by the hour so that you can just sing with friends. It was so fun! What they say about Japanese people not being totally themselves at work is definately true. We got to see a very different side of the officials we took out. I will also post some pictures of karaoke.

Saturday June 23 – My homestay was amazing and my host family was terrific! My only regret is that there was not more down time just to relax with the family and play with the kids. They were so concerned with making sure that I got to experience Japan that we were constantly going places, but please know I am not complaining! I had a GREAT time with them.

The homestay began with my host “father”, Godai, picking me up at my hotel. We drove back to the house where I met the rest of the family, a wife (Makiko) and three boys (ages 3 (Kaoru), 5 (Michael) & 7) (Nao). The kids were adorable and the parents were both very nice. Both parents spoke fairly decent English, which was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because we could really talk about things in depth, but a curse in so far as it did not really force me to speak in Japanese. The kids did not really know any English, however, the cutest thing was that all of them, even the three year old, introduced themselves to me in English when we met. I could tell they had been practicing.

After I arrived at the house I got to play a game of chess with Nao, who had only been playing a week. I think Godai wanted me to beat him very badly to help teach him, but I felt bad about this and kiend of let him win. I would have liked to have played Godai seriously, but there was no time. I would have also loved to have played Nao again. After chess we went for a little hike. Unfortunately Michael, the middle son, ended up taking off so we spent much of the hike at top speed going up steep hills looking for him. This was exhausing, especially in light of the long evening the night before and a lack of water. We found him safe and sound later on in the trail and all was good. I took some pictures of the view, though not as many as I might have liked. I felt bad taking pictures when we were looking for Michael.

After we returned from the hike we had a little picnic. My host “mom”, Makiko, picked up sanwiches and fries to eat. I think they were afraid I would not like Japanese food. After the picnic we went back to the house where we made some plans for the next day. After making plans Makiko took me to her family’s Japanese style inn (ryokan). It was really beautiful.

After the visit we quickly headed off to our next event… a summer soltice celebration. On our way we picked up dinner to eat there… McDonalds! I REALLY think they thought I would hate Japanese food. :p I let them know that I love it and that I almost never eat McDonalds. It WAS interesting to compare it to American McDonalds. I had a Teriyaki burger :p I will post pictures later.

The celebration consisted of live jazz music and a candle celebration. It was really fun! We got to make our own candles. I will post some photos of this as well.

After we got back Makiko took me to her family’s ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), where we took a bath in the hot springs. It was soooooooooooo relaxing!!

Sunday 24th 2007 – The next day we got up early and Godai, the boys and I went to see the giant buddha, after eating a delicious Japanese breakfast prepared by Makiko. I would love to be able to cook like her!! It was AMAZING!

The temple was also amazing. I cannot really describe it well with words alone. I will fill in this post later with pictures.

After we visiting the temple, Makiko brought me to her family ryokan where she performed tea ceremony. She was so graceful and beautiful.

After tea ceremony we reconnected with Godai at the houst and did some shopping and then our visit came to an end. I wish we had, had more time together. I really miss them!

After I was dropped off we all piled into a bus and the Aomori group was off to a ryokan. The ryokan was also amazing!

Monday June 25 2007 – Yesterday we spent much of the day travelling and ended up back in Tokyo around 2:30 PM. After I got into my room I ended up going to Harajuku for some shopping with some of the JFMF girls, and then I connected with another group of JFMFers and headed to Shibuya and then to Shinjuku for dinner.

Tuesday June 26 2007 – Today we went to our final seminars. I went to the Japan-US collaborative environmental education seminar in the morning. It really was not what I expected, as it lacked a science focus, but it had some beneficial parts. I am hoping I made some solid connections to do something between Japanese students and my classes next year. *crosses fingers*. After the morning seminar I met my Aomori group so that we could practice our presentation tomorrow. All groups have to give a presentation on their prefecture. After our working lunch we had a wrap up lecture by the head of the program about Japanese education.

After the lecture I met up with my friend Misato in Harajuku. We ended up doing more shopping. I am so sick of shopping LOL. I really enjoyed seeing her. I am hoping we can connect again tomorrow. The visit was far too brief!

After seeing Misa I went back to Shinjuku via train – I am getting really good with the trains! I adventured to a few places and even ordered a name stamp in katakana at a store called Tokyo Hands. I cannot wait to see it tomorrow!

On that note I am going to leave you as I need to work on my part of our presentation. I am sorry again for the lack of eloquence and the lack of photos. Please forgive me! I will do my best to post once more tomorrow – our final day in Japan. I cannot believe I fly back on Thursday! Where has the time gone???