Linking Maine and Japan

Greetings!

Today was my last full day in Tokyo. Tomorrow I pack out in the morning. I will cross the international date line, and my flight is scheduled to leave Tokyo Narita Airport on Thurs., Nov. 1 at 5:55 p.m. It is scheduled to arrive at Chicago O’Hare Airport on Thursday, Nov. 1 […]

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Greetings from Tokyo!
Tomorrow is my last full day in Japan! Time has gone by so fast. We spent today in meetings discussing Japanese education and learning about Art Education here. I learned a few fun paper projects I will share when I get home. After meetings, I went out to dinner […]

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Hooray Red Sox!  Wow!
I have been away from internet access for 3 days.  So many things to share.  I spent wonderful two days with my kind and generous host family.  The man is a junior high school principal, the woman is a former teacher.  The couple took me to their “Holiday Home” on Awaji Island. […]

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Yesterday we saw the Earthquake museum on Awaji Island. Part of the museum has been built right over some actual destruction from the earthquake. It contains some trees, earth and fences that shifted in the 1995 earthquake here. Some of the museum had models of a wrecked kitchen and also a ruined […]

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Hello from Himeji, Japan!
Today our group of 20 teachers visited a public Himeji High School. The students were extremely friendly, and the staff were most gracious in allowing us to visit any classroom we wished. They scheduled a few special opportunities for us, while we were there.
It was very neat to see the students […]

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Konbonwa,
Good evening! (Morning to you). It is amazing to look at the moon and realize that we share the same moon, half way around the world.
I learned in a restaurant that the Red Sox won today! Most Japanese know the Boston Red Sox and the Green Monster, because of Daisuke Matsusaka and […]

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Hello USA!
Today our group of 20 American teachers visited Josai Elementary School. The children were very excited to see us, and in free moments asked us for “autographs.” We felt like rock stars!
We got to watch their Children’s Marching Band (grades 3-6) after school classes let out. If you’ve ever seen a high […]

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Good day to you all (it is night time here, but morning to you),
Today our group of 20 teachers met the mayor of Himeji, this wonderful Castle town. He gave me his business card. The card had a beautiful photo of the castle, and had his contact information in English, Japanese and braille. […]

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This afternoon Wally and I saw the famous Himeji Castle. It is absolutely beautiful. The castle is a Japan National Treasure, and is considered a World Heritage site by the United Nations. The castle is about 500 years old, and was home to a series of rulers and shogun. Their samurai warriors […]

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Konnichiwa from Himeji, Japan!
I arrived in Himeji yesterday, mid-afternoon. I rode with the 19 other teachers assigned to this town on the Shinkasen Nozomi “bullet” train. This train travels really fast (faster than any we have in the US). Our guide and translator told us Nozomi means “hope.” We saw Mt. […]

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