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 at 3:21 p.m. (after at least 10 hours in the air.) It sounds as though I will be travelling backwards in time! For those of you interested in geography and space and time, it should be an interesting exercise to try to imagine this. Then I am to spend more than four hours in Chicago. I will need to go through immigration and customs there, claiming all baggage, then checking it all again. Then on to Portland, hopefully by 10:44 p.m.

Today we had presentations and lectures all day. Some of us managed a relaxing 40-minute water taxi ride up the Sumida River to the Asakusa district of Tokyo. It was fun to see the city from the river. The river eventually empties into Tokyo Bay, and then into the Pacific Ocean.

From Asakusa, we took the subway home to our hotel, because it was quicker. We saw a Subway attendant, who was wearing white gloves. We think he must have been one of the people who has the job of “pushing” people into crowded subway cars during rush hour. We had to stand, but didn’t need to be pushed in — not THAT crowded.

We had a banquet tonight, and our group of 20 teachers got picked to sing a special song, as well as lead the group in singing Auld Lang Syne. We were told that this song is sung at many events in Japan, including graduations. It is also played in many department stores and restaurants when it is just about closing time. Do you know when we sing this song in the U.S.? After the banquet, I walked with five other teachers to Tokyo Tower. I hadn’t yet been up to the observation deck. We rode the elevator half way up, to the main observatory, at 150 meters. Do you know how many feet that would be? The view of the city at night was stunning. Guess what? Today they put up the Christmas Tree beneath the Tokyo Tower.

Well, the next time I write, I should be in the U.S. I will miss Japan, but I look forward to being home in Maine. See you soon!