I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post. It has been a busy time over the last three days and during part of it I was unable to use the internet. I took tons of pictures today and will share many with you on my return. Some of them bring joy to my heart and others will make all of us sad. Let's start with Tuesday.
On Tuesday I spent the day at an elementary school in Tokyo called Oji Elementary. While there I was able to spend some time with all grade levels 1st through 6th grade. I also spent time with the principals, assistant principals and teachers from both Oji Elementary and Oji Sakura Junior High. Kids are the same everywhere. In the students eyes I saw our students from Clovis Grove. They only spoke a different language and ate different food. They are just as happy as you and just as curious. They wanted to share time with me as much as you want to share time with me. Well, maybe that's because I like to spend so much time with all of you, as well. During my day at Oji the students in one of the 3rd grade classes ate lunch with me and they giggled while I tried to use chopsticks and when I tried to speak their language. My favorite word for the day was "kawaii." It means cute. When I showed them pictures of my granddaughter, just as you would say "cute" they said "kawaii" and their eyes lit up as they smiled. At the end of lunch they demonstrated traditional Japanese games for me. I will bring home pictures of the games when I get them. You know me, I wasn't taking pictures, but was right in the middle playing with the students.
Wednesday was a big day for us and was the main reason that we came to Japan. On Wednesday we talked with members of the Japan Forum about our Japanese language program in Menasha. They told us about their goals at the Forum and we shared with them our hope for the future of our program. Some members of the Forum will be visiting us in November, so I will have a chance to introduce them to you. I have been humbled by their extreme generosity. They have taken care of us like guardian angels, have treated us to the very best of Japan, and have done everything in their power to share of their time and of their country. I think that my Mom would have to agree with me and call them the "hostess with the mostest." (Are you reading Mom?)
Today we spent the day in Hiroshima and were reminded of a horrible time between our two countries. After spending the day at the A-bomb Dome I am more determined than ever to make sure that I do all that I can to join hands with people from other countries and cultures to provide our children with a safe and peaceful world in which to grow and flourish. I was saddened to see pictures from the bombing of Hiroshima, but so joyful to spend time with students from an elementary school in Osaka as we hung cranes together and spent some time talking together and laughing together. Thank you sounds good in any language. Well, it is almost midnight Tokyo time and I still need to post some pictures. Tomorrow is an early start and I have to be at breakfast by 6:45, so that I can go visit our sister school in Maebashi.
Jacob and Jacob, you made me proud today. You did a wonderful thing when you started folding cranes. I have a couple of pictures below that I hope will make you boys smile. Domo arigato gozaimasu!
The staff office at Oji Elementary - the principal and assistant principal have their desks in here, as well.
The special education staff at Oji and Principal Takibichi (and our Cougar and Flat Stanley, of course)
The field area at Oji and a P.E. class - do you think that I should order some hats, Mrs. Mees?
A fourth grade music class - they sang songs and played on recorder while we were in their class.
Dr. Sturke and Mr. Dahm at the entrance - Dr. Sturke is the good looking one.
You have to be pretty lucky to see Mt. Fuji. You can see the top, but the rest of it is hiding behind the clouds.
That's me at the Peace Memorial with students. Even though these students live more than 6000 miles away they are so much like you. :)
This woman was in the right place at the right time for a picture that lines up this monument with the everlasting flame and the remains of the dome. This was a very special day. As I was walking across the river, halfway across a crane flew over my head. I wasn't fast enough to catch it with a camera, but captured the moment in my heart instead.
Here is a picture of Sadako. I took many more pictures that I will share when I come home.
This is my finger touching the glass about 10 inches from these cranes that were folded by Sadako.
We traveled by boat to visit the Itsukushima Shrine at Myajima. This is Otorii Gate. When the tide goes out it is possible to walk out to it, but at other times it looks like it is just floating on top of the sea.
