Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program

After our heartfelt goodbyes and thanks to our host families, we headed toward a short stay at a Ryokan (pronounced Yo-Kon) or Japanese style inn. The one we stayed at was in Shibata City (same place as my homestay) and was quite large. All of the guest rooms have tatami floors (straw mats) so no shoes once we were in our rooms. Futons are put out by the Ryokan staff for guests to sleep on as well as a soba (buckwheat) filled pillow. My sleep at the ryokan was about the same as at my homestay! Ryokans generally have public baths just as our wonderful hotel at Tainai did.

The highlight of our ryokan stay was the delicious feast of Japanese food we all shared together in a special banquet room. The feast was for all five of the senses and included foods of various colors, various tastes (salty, sweet, bitter, sour), various colors (green, red, black, white) and food preparations (fried, grilled, baked, boiled, raw). I tried everything but there was no way I could eat everything - there was just too much. The most unusual thing I tried, in my opinion, was squid with ink! What I liked best was the vegetable tempura, especially the pumpkin. Coming in second was the chyrsanthamum salad which I had had at several other places.

This evening was the end of our stay in the Niigata prefecture. The next day was to be our bullet train trip back to Tokyo to finalize our JFMF trip. Until then...sayonara.

I had the opportunity to visit a Japanese Kindergarten today. We traveled by chartered bus across Tokyo to get there - very heavy traffic. But it was well worth it to visit this Christian (Methodist) Kindergarten. In Japan, Kindergarten is really what we consider pre-school. It is not compulsory but most children attend anywhere from age 2 to 5. This kindergarten had 3, 4, and 5 year olds. Like most children this age, they are cuter than cute but unfortunately I have very few pictures because I had forgotten to recharge my camera battery. I did get a few pictures and very cute video before the camera gave out.

These kids do wonderful origami, other arts and crafts, stories, songs, Bible stories, physical education, and I'm sure a lot more. The children were very well behaved and focused on what their teachers were showing them. We observed a teacher reading "The Great Big Enormous Turnip" to the 4 year olds and then they acted out the story with real turnips. The 3 year olds were involved in physical education with two young men who really new how to get these kids motivated. They were doing flips on the monkey bars!

We left right before their lunch but they were very proud to show us their little lunches brought from home. The were all different, in cute little lunch containers, and were filled with a variety of vegetables, rice, egg, meat, etc. The day we visited was "chopstick" day which means they could only eat with chopsticks. Also no dessert was to be had that day so that the kids would remember that others in the world do not have enough to eat. I was so impressed! This was definitely my favorite school visit.

As my last big activity during this wonderful trip to Japan, I decided to go to Ikebana class at the Koomon Culture Center. This is the same place I learned how to wear my kimono, participated in a tea ceremony and did calligraphy. Ikebana is a very beautiful Japanese form of arranging flowers. The idea is to create harmony between all the materials used in the ikebana arrangements. Although there are many schools of ikebana, they are usually based on "less is more" and asymetry.

We were given a overview of the school of ikebana that our master usually follows and then were given some branches and flower stems to make our ikebana. I will not go into the steps as they are intricate and I am not sure I really get them all yet! Fortunately for the four of us that were involved in the class, the master "fixed" our arrangements at the end. I'm proud to say, I had the basic idea and the master only had to tweak mine a little bit.

I look forward to being able to do other simple arrangement in the future. Sayonara.

Well, it's over. The last three weeks just sped by and as I reflect on the time spent in the wonderful country of Japan, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity afforded me by the Japanese Government through the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. I learned and experienced so much during this trip and I am very grateful that you took the time to read my trip diary entries so that I could share this incredible time with you at least partially.

My hard work now begins as I endeavor to complete my follow on plan that I proposed to the JFMF when I applied back in December 2006. Even though there will be a considerable amount of work, I am looking forward to it because by doing so I will help fulfill the mission of this program - to increase understanding of Japan and its people by Americans.

I am in Seattle as I write and will be heading to Anchorage in a few minutes. It will be great to get home and be with my family and friends again. But I feel as if I have an extended family and many friends in the mysterious country of Japan now and I know I will never forget them. I have every intention of going back to Japan someday. And if you have not traveled there, please consider it. I am sure you, too, will be impressed and awed by that country and its amazing people.

For the last time, Sayonara from Mara Sensei.