An unprecedented snow storm hit Buffalo on Thursday, October 12, 2006. Click here for more information.

If you're new to this blog, you need to click on June 2006 to start reading it. If you don't, you'll only get half of the blog for June. This is where the vast majority of the information on Japan can be found. Scroll down to the very bottom and work your way up. Be SURE to click on all the links. Many of them connect to pages of pictures I took and descriptions I wrote during the trip. If you're not new, you should still explore the June 2006 part of my blog in the coming weeks and months as I will be adding in links to the many pictures I took and things I learned that I would like to share with you.

Feel free to also check out the January, April, and May 2006 entries as well. There are some fun "did you knows" about me in the January entry.

I'm back home. Thursday lasted 30 hours for me (that was just the time I was up and conscious - I actually experienced Thursday, June 29 for 37 hours). Bill Murray (whose work in "Lost in Translation" became very real for me, again popped into my head because of his role in "Groundhog Day").

All the hotel staff, including the chefs, came out to see us leave. I was also able to get some pictures of Tokyo Bay and Tokyo Tower on the way to the airport.

On the flight back, I saw Mount Rainier from 35,000 up. I took I pretty cool picture of it. Due to favorable winds, the flight from Tokyo to Chicago only lasted a half-hour longer than the flight from San Francisco to Tokyo. Still, 11 hours on a plane - sitting in one spot for the majority of the time - is just a tad claustrophobic.

My husband and girls met me at the airport with flowers and tears. We all stood there in a huddle crying together. It was a very long time to be away and, as amazing as the trip was, I would not go back and do it again because of the toll my absence had on my family.

I've been asked to apply for the JFMF Master Teacher Program, but I won't be applying. It would mean being away from my family for six weeks over a summer break. There's no way I'm ever leaving my family for that long again (at least not until the girls are in high school or college). However, the Master Teacher Program is a great opportunity for our school and is something we can apply for now that I've gone through the JFMF Teacher Program.

Thursday, June 29, 2006. I got up early to go to breakfast and then a group of us headed out to ride the Tokyo Monorail. It was my idea, so I was the "tour guide." We went into the subway during rush hour and got to finally experience what we had all read about. There were men who worked for the subway wearing white gloves. There were pairs of them and they each stood on the side of the car doors. They allowed everyone to get off the train car, then we loaded into the car. Just when we thought that no one else could possibly fit, the men in white gloves pushed a bunch more people into the train car. We couldn't move and the four of us started laughing and couldn't stop because we had never experienced the like.

After, we got to the monorail without incident and took a nice ride along the Sumida River and Tokyo Bay. We stayed on until the end, continued to stay on the car, and went back the other way. The whole excursion - to the hotel and back - took two hours.

I came back and packed up for my flight. I head out to the airport at 12:55 p.m. Tokyo time. My flight takes off at 4:55 p.m. Tokyo time and I am scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 2:24 p.m. CDT. So, I leave Tokyo on Thursday, June 29 and arrive in Chicago on Thursday, June 29 - two and one half hours before I left Tokyo. It will truly be the longest day of my life.

So, for now I will sign off. This will most likely be the last post from Japan. In the coming days and weeks I plan to put in links to many of the pictures I took during this trip.

I hope this blog has been informative and fun to follow. Thank you for coming along on my virtual field trip.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006. Our group presentations were today. Each of the 10 groups had to get up in front of the other 180 teachers and present what they learned and experienced during the trip - especially their trip to the respective host cities.

We met to rehearse at 7 a.m. and then had breakfast. The presentations started at 9:00 a.m. We broke for lunch, and then finished up the presentations, as well as information on getting home on Thursday, around 2:30 p.m.

We spelled out "Kesennuma City Group." Each person had a letter and talked about the things they learned and experienced that started with that letter. I had "t." I did a whole alliteration thing and talked about temples, tuna, the time difference, etc. Our presentation was very well received.

After, I headed out alone to the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi (another area of Tokyo) on a mission to get my sister, Laura, a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. I get her a Hard Rock t-shirt every place I visit - it's a thing we do.

I arrived in Roppongi without incident and found the Hard Rock Cafe with no difficulties. As soon as I walked in, "Super Freak" by Rick James started playing. Buffalo reminders are everywhere! (For those of you who don't know, he grew up in Buffalo and is buried here).

With my mission accomplished, I headed back to the hotel to get ready for our Sayonara Dinner. On the way, students were getting out of school. I saw girls that appeared to be as young as five-years, walking in twos and getting on the Tokyo subways by themselves. It was pretty amazing and something you would never see in the States.

We all had a nice time at the dinner - though it was sad because we knew there was a good chance that we'll never see each other again. Yuki, the man who arranged our visits to the schools and host families in Kesennuma, took the train to Tokyo to come to the farewell dinner. The food was fantastic. They had lots of meat - I think they know Americans well enough that they understood many would be craving meat - not raw fish. We also were fortunate to watch an Aikido demonstration at the dinner.

After the dinner, some of our host city group went out for ice cream. Monica, one of the more adventurous of our group ordered ice cream that had rice and beans in it. I, not feeling so adventurous, ordered chocolate ice cream and enjoyed it immensely. I don't think Monica felt the same about her decision.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006. We left the Ryokan around 9:30 a.m. and headed to Ichinoseki Station to catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. The train was the Yamabiko50. It took about two hours to get back to Tokyo. Once we got back, a few of us quickly checked in to our rooms (we all got the exact ones we had before we left for Kesennuma) and then headed out. I went straight for the Meiji Shrine. While there, I bought a safe travel charm for my trip back to Buffalo. You can find out more about the Meiji Shrine by clicking here. After, we did some shopping at the Oriental Bazaar and I had a hamburger for dinner (I just couldn’t eat more fish).

I headed out alone to Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Concert Hall in Ueno Park to see JoAnn Falletta conduct the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. For those of you who don’t know, Maestro Falletta is the conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s an amazing coincidence (synchronicity?) that she is here at the same time I am here. Anyway, I made it to the concert after getting a little lost in Ueno Park (the park is very reminiscent of Central Park in New York City) and watched her conduct a Rossini piece, and Respighi piece, and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.

After, I was invited to a reception held in her honor. There were several women from Buffalo who traveled to Japan with the Ms. Falletta. I also had a nice talk with them and Ms. Falletta’s husband.

I headed back to the hotel after and got some much needed rest. By the way, I felt perfectly safe walking around and taking the subway in Tokyo at night.

Monday, June 26, 2006. About half of us woke up early for an optional tour of the fish market in Kesennuma. We found out we picked a good day to go because a ship that had been out fishing for 40 days had just come into port. So, there was much more than the usual local catch. The local catch is octopus, sea urchin, eel, and other small fish. The smaller sea creatures were being kept alive in bins of seawater (and I had strong urge to throw them back in the ocean to free them from their date with death). The big catch had hundreds of sharks, hammerhead sharks, swordfish, tuna, etc. They were dead and it was very sad walking around and seeing them lying there dead. It was sobering walking through the blood.

After the fish market, we had breakfast and left our hotel to go to our local industry tour. The local industry was a Sake factory. We saw how sake is made (it's rice wine) and then sampled the product. From there we went to lunch. After lunch, we left Kesennuma and headed to Hiraizumi.
The Golden Hall is located there and it was designated Japan's First National Treasure. We were really lucky because the iris garden was still in bloom. Make sure to check out the website about it by clicking on the name. It was amazing!!! From there, we headed to the Ryokan.

We arrived at the Ryokan around 6:00 p.m. and dinner was set for 7:00 p.m. There was a beautiful view of a stream from our room. We all changed into our yakatas and proceeded to a room reserved just for us. We each had our own tray of food. It was a large meal that included cooked fish, chicken, steak, and lots of sashimi. The sake flowed freely, though being the responsible teachers that we are, no one allowed themselves to get out of control. The group joined in some Karaoke singing. Everyone had a great time, and after we proceeded to the Japanese onsen. An onsen is a public bath. The source of our onsen was natural hot springs. The men and women seperated. The women got completely undressed wetted ourselves down, soaped up, rinsed ourselves again, and then got into the VERY HOT hot springs (we and all the Japanese women had no clothes on). It was ok, but it was so hot that it kind of hurt, so I didn't stay in long. Then the Japanese ladies that were there were pointing at me because my skin was all red from the heat of the water. After, we went back to our rooms and slept four to a room. It was traditional Japanese style - on the floor with a mat on tatami mats. My pillow was filled with rice. It was pretty lumpy.

Saturday, June 24, 2006: This morning we were able to relax for a little bit before we left to stay with our host families. We packed and checked out of the hotel and were then picked up by our families for the weekend.

I am staying with the Saito family this weekend. The father, Hozumi, is a doctor. The mother, Thukako, works at his office. They have three daughters. Nagisa is 19 and a student in college (she is not home this weekend), Kana is 16, and Yoshi is 14.

Thukako and Yoshi picked me up and brought me to see Yoshi’s junior high school. Her school is only nine years old and it is in much better shape than the junior high school I visited earlier in the week. It seemed to have state of the art facilities; including a broadcasting booth.

After, we went back to their house and I showed them a slideshow I put together about Buffalo, my school, and my family. Then, it was time to pick up my 16 year-old host sister, Kana, from Kesennuma High School. We came back to their house for a little while and then headed out to a local national park. The name of the park is the Rikuchu Kaigan National Park. We started out at the tsunami museum. Tsunamis have devastated the Pacific coast of Japan many times. The exhibit was created well before the disaster that hit Asia recently. It consisted of a moving floor, wind, and sound to try and simulate a tsunami. After that, we went out to the Dairiseki Kaigan (Marble Coast) and saw Oreishi. This area was formed some 230 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era. It’s also known as the “saw-tooth coast.”

Oreishi is a 16-meter high, three-meter wide marble pillar jutting out from the other rocks. Oreishi means, “broken stone pillar.” It received that name because a portion of its tip broke off when a tsunami hit the area in 1896.

We then went to the supermarket and I saw things that I’ve never seen before. I’ll include a picture or two. One of them was a “Daikon” radish – the big white things that look like huge white carrots.

Before dinner we watched Yoshi’s favorite movie, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”

That night, Thukako made a delicious meal for us. We had what I would call “Japanese Burritos.” We put sashimi (raw fish) and vegetables on dried seaweed that was pressed into rectangles. We then rolled up the seaweed and dipped it into soy sauce before eating it like one would a burrito.

Hozumi got home from a conference in Osaka about 9:15 p.m. We exchanged gifts at that point. His specialty is Kampo
– traditional Chinese/Japanese medicine. He combines it with the latest in technology – lasers, etc.

Later, I took a bath. This was not an option. Every member of the family bathes every night. You go into the bathroom, fully soap up and rinse off and then soak in the tub. The tub water is pretty hot and every member of the family uses the same water.

Sunday, June 25, 2006. The next morning we had breakfast. There was toast, sashimi, salad, and soup (tofu and seaweed). They also had Camembert Cheese. I knew they didn't normally eat this when my host sister almost threw up after trying it. I thought, "now you know what it's like." It's very interesting how one's culture influences what people like to eat or not eat. Once we were done, we had a video iChat conference with my family back home. I was lucky that the Saitos had high speed internet access because most schools and homes do not have it. It's ironic for a society known around the world for technological innovation. Anyway, the reason for the iChat was to celebrate my daughter, Allie's, 7th birthday. It was still June 24 at home and my wonderful husband set the cake up in front of the laptop at home. The Saitos and I in Japan and our family and friends in Buffalo sang "Happy Birthday" to Allie. It was ALMOST as good as being there. We also included Mrs. Saito when we sang since June 25 (which it was in Japan) is her birthday. The Saitos were pretty amazed by the whole thing. After, we headed to Oshima Island. Oshima Island is an island that sits in Kesennuma’s Bay.

We first went to the “squeaky beach” – Kugunarihama. This was very cool. We took some sand back with us. After that we went to the top of Oshima Island – Mt. Kameyama. It was a little cloudy, but there was still a beautiful view of the surrounding area. There was a Shinto Shrine on the top of the mountain, and I received another good fortune! Yea for me!!!

We used a chairlift to get down from the mountain. It was a little nerve wracking as there was no safety bar.

The Saito’s took me to lunch – tempura, soup with seaweed and tofu, and sashimi.

We then left the island and went back to their house. I grabbed my stuff and it was time to head back to the hotel.

I had a great time at their house and I really thank them for making me a part of their family for the weekend.

Friday, June 23, 2006: We went to Kesennuma Senior High School today. As I said before, high school is not mandatory, but 98% of Japanese children attend. Of those, 40% go to two year schools afterwards, 40% go on to four year universities, and 20% go on to work.

Two years ago, an all girls’ school merged with an all boys’ school. The girls came to the boys’ building. The girls had worn uniforms at their former school, the boys had not. So, the compromise was that the boys already at the school could continue to wear street clothes while the girls continued to wear uniforms. The 3rd year male students (seniors to us) were the only ones that are now left in the school without uniforms.

Students are supposed to wear an official school uniform to school and continue to wear it throughout the day. They are also not supposed to use cell phones in class. The paradox is that, if they do text during class or wear a t-shirt over their uniform, the teacher does not say anything.

There were 40+ students in every class. There were no behavior problems in any of the classes I observed. However, as I said there were students using their cell phones (not talking on them – just texting or playing games) and some were sleeping. Again, it seems that the culture does not include correcting the behavior of students that do not follow the rules.

As in junior high, all students are required to participate in an after school activity. These activities range from Judo to soccer to music to home economics. They stay after school anywhere from one to three hours. Some students live over one hour away by train – so they don’t get back home until 7:00 p.m. or after. They also have to participate in their club activities on Saturdays as well.

I was able to observe Japanese archery and Judo. In fact, my 16 year-old host sister came up to me at Judo class and introduced herself. She was so cute, she said, “you must be Elissa Banas.”

Teachers are required to advise an after school activity and they get paid very little extra for their time. Just as in the other two schools, all teachers are at school from 10-13 hours a day.

Thursday, June 22, 2006: Today we visited Shishiori Elementary School. Elementary schools in Japan do not have Pre-K or Kindergarten. They start with Grade 1 (age 6) and end in Grade 6 (age 11). This school was a public school, but they did not wear uniforms. I’m not sure why – I believe schools get to make this choice for themselves. Students get to school by 7:45 a.m. They walk on their own to school. The first through third graders do not participate in after school activities. Their release times are staggered, so the 1st graders get out at 1:30 p.m., the 2nd graders at 2:00 p.m., the 3rd graders at 2:30 p.m. School ends at 3:00 p.m. for the upper grades, but the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders MUST participate in after school activities. Therefore, they are at school until 5:00 p.m. or later everyday.

We arrived to an assembly in our honor. The children sang several songs for us. It took place in the gymnasium/auditorium. It is a beautiful building, built before WWII. However, it doesn't serve their purposes anymore and they are planning to knock it down when they have the funds to replace it.

We were able to walk around and observe classes. Each class had about 30 students in it. There were no discipline problems that I observed. We were then each assigned a class to sit with for an activity and lunch. I sat with the 1-2 class (first graders, second class). We made origami starts for the upcoming Star Festival. It was a lot of fun. Once we were done, the first graders all put on white hats and smocks. A bunch of them put on masks as well. About five or six of them went with the teacher to get food for the class. All of the students eat the school lunch. Today, it was soup and octopus balls. I helped the teacher and a few students serve the lunch to the other students. It was very good. The students were surprised that I could use chopsticks.

Many students also wanted our autographs again. A couple gave me back little sheets of paper with their signatures. It was very cute.

The students were very well behaved. After we were done, the students all had little cups filled with water and their toothbrushes. They brushed their teeth right at their desks (they did it to a tooth brushing song). Then, they cleaned up their room, brought back the bowls and plates, and put their room back together again. At the end of the day, the students cleaned their room, just as the junior high students did. We visited a home economics class that was an after school activity. The 4th through 6th graders were making crepes. We helped a little and were able to eat the fruits of the students’ labor. They were very good.

It really was amazing that they were given so much responsibility. Americans seem to “coddle” our children more. Little kids can do a lot more than we give them credit for in the States.

At the end of the day, we had an informative meeting with the faculty.

A great big "Yeah!" for my AP U.S. History students! Just a short off topic post. I received the grades for my AP US History students. All of the regular education students passed the exam. One received a 70%, three received between an 87% and 93% and seven had a 96% or above! Thanks for making me proud guys! Have a great summer and I'll see a few of you in IB History of the Americas in the Fall. Not all are pictured in the photo.

Today (Wednesday, June 21) we went on our first school observation - it was to the Kesennuma City Shishiori Junior High School.

The Junior High Schools in Japan are grades 7 to 9. When Junior High School ends, students do not have to go on to high school - the end of ninth grade is the end of compulsory education in Japan. However, over 95% of students go on to Senior High School.

The students all bring their lunches to school. A box lunch was brought for us and it was beautiful (see photo)!

The students were well behaved and we enjoyed our observations. Their days are VERY long. They arrive at school by 8:00 a.m. and do not go home until 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. All students must clean their school every day before the after school clubs begin. All students MUST participate in an after school club. Examples of clubs are soccer, judo, cooking, and music.

One of the most humorous things I saw was in English class. There were four pictures showing how Americans speak English. I've posted it here - you will get a kick out of it.

The other teachers and I felt like celebrities while we were at the school. Students kept running up to us, saying hello, asking for autographs and business cards. They were VERY cute!!!

It was a very long day for us - observing the classes - I can only imagine what it is like everyday for the students and the teachers. Teachers stay at school 12 hours a day regularly. They MUST run an after school club and they get very little for it.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 continued....

After we went to a local Japanese Garden and we participated in a tea ceremony. Finally, we went to Iwaisaki. Iwaisaki is on the coast and is what is called a "blow hole." The surf hits the rocks in such a way that it makes a "blowing" sound and shoots water up in the air (very much like a whale's blow hole).

We returned to the hotel after our tour and got ready for a reception that the City of Kesennuma was holding in our honor. The Mayor, Superintendent, principals of the three schools we will be visiting, and our host families were all there. I spoke on behalf of our group.

I had the first few sentences translated in advance and I delivered them phonetically in Japanese. I then switched to English for the rest of the speech. I pointed out at the end of my speech that it was a special honor for me to visit the country that was so changed by a fellow Buffaloian. If you don't remember, U.S. President Millard Fillmore (originally from Buffalo) sent Commodore Perry to Japan. Perry arrived in Japan in 1853 with the "black ships." Fillmore's actions resulted in the end of the feudal system and the beginning of modernization in Japan (the Meiji Restoration).

My speech seemed to be understood and well received. More importantly, I was happy with how it went.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006. We left this morning to meet with the Mayor of Kesennuma City and the Superintendent of the Kesennuma City Board of Education. We were given gifts by the city in the form of a local, traditional kite.

It was a very formal meeting and ceremony. The local television and newspapers were there covering the meeting. (We ended up in the newspaper and on the local news that night and the next day.)

After, we went to the top of a nearby mountain and looked down at the City of Kesennuma. We then went to the Shark Museum (only museum in the country dedicated to sharks) and the ice museum. The ice museum consisted of sea creatures frozen in ice. Everyone else wore the heavy coats the museum provided because it was -20 degrees celsius in it. I didn't wear a coat and was very comfortable for the few minutes I was in there. Buffaloians are hardy souls!

June 19, 2006 - We left our hotel in Sendai Monday morning for the Miyagi University of Education. We met with some of the faculty of the University. It's a small university where people go to become teachers.

There were some interesting things I found out. First, in the public schools teachers do not stay in a school more than seven years. They then move to another school in the area. There are two main reasons for this. First, it helps to stop teacher complacency. Second, it helps to equalize the instruction in the prefecture. If teachers move around, then there is not a concentration of too many good or too many bad teachers in any one school.

Another interesting thing is that all principals are in their 50s and they must mandatorily retire at age 60. During that ten (or shorter) year time period, a principal will move two to four times. They were shocked when I told them that Principal Kresse is no where near 50 years of age!

After our meeting, we headed to Matsushima - advertised as one of the three best sights in Japan. We went to Zuiganji, one of the most important Zen temples of the region. We also saw the beautiful coastline. The trees reminded me of the Redwoods in California. I found out they are related to them genetically!

If you'd like to know more about Matsushima, click here.


We headed to Kesennuma after that and arrived in the early evening.