Rock Star Status

Impossible to describe
in words
how good I felt
All day

Walking into a gym
full of kids 
all cheering and singing
because I am there

Terrific Tokyo Tour!

Today was the first official day of the Fulbright Study Exchange program. In between an amazing breakfast and delicious lunch, we had meetings in the morning about the education system in Japan and the history of sustainability in education.

After lunch, we went on a bus tour of Tokyo. Well, it wasn't really a tour of the whole city, that would take days. We went to two main sites, the Imperial Palace and the Asakusa Shinto Shrine. We had dinner in an neighborhood close to the shrine and walked the streets of the city. Finally, we took the subway back to our hotel. The experience really defies words. The pictures will try to begin to do everything justice.

 Jake, a teacher from Nebraska, enjoys a Japanese breakfast

 Here are our three guest speakers

 Lunch was magnificent!

 In front of the Imperial Palace

 What's unusual about our tour bus?

 Washing up before entering the shrine

 Hanging with the Buddha

 In front of the temple

What am I having for dinner, exactly? (Hint: It's not sushi, technically)

Just Got to Japan!

Well, here I am! After a 14 hour plane flight and three meals in the sky, I am hanging out in my room at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo. The journey went very well. We had a long delay at the airport in Newark and arrived here at 8pm Tuesday night. I went for a walk around the hotel neighborhood with my friend Josh, a first grade teacher from Maine.

It's now 10pm and I'm getting ready to sleep. Our program begins at 8:30am tomorrow morning, so I'll let some pictures do the talking. Don't forget to post comments and questions and I'll respond. I'll always ask at least one question per post :-)

 The question is not "Are you smart" but "How are you smart?"- Mr Joe spreads Smarties to Japan!

 Josh (1st grade - Maine) and Sarah (5th/6th - Boston) enjoying a meal in Newark before departure

 Mr. J and Sarah during our seven hour layover at Newark

 We made it!

 Mr. J and Marybeth (3rd/4th - Vermont) waiting for our shuttle at Narita Airport

 Map on the sidewalk outside our hotel

 Electronics superstore in the neighborhood around the hotel

 Downtown Tokyo, a few blocks from our hotel

 Gamers get ready!

 Energy drink vending machines

 What do you think this is?

Josh noticed this bike. What makes it unique?

On The Plane

I am sitting on the airplane at the Newark airport waiting to take off. I arrived from Detroit at 7:30am. It is now 3:19pm. The past seven-odd hours went by pretty quickly as I organized the gifts I brought for Japanese schools and talked to the othe Fulbright teachers going to Japan with me.

There are 24 US teachers total. Five of us are flying to Japan from Newark. The flight time is actually 12 hours and 48 minutes, but all the waiting and transition time adds more minutes to the journey. 

I will arrive in Tokyo at 5am Tuesday morning, Detroit time, which is 6pm Tuesday, Tokyo time. I have a touch-screen in he sets back in front of me for music and movies. I also have my laptop and Ipad with books and work. I need to make a slideshow and movies.

The captain is talking now. He's telling us we've got to go. My next post will be
from Tokyo!!

Getting Ready

Tomorrow I leave for Japan. I can't really believe that this is happening. As school just ended two days ago, I am finally beginning to realize that I am leaving for two weeks. Wow!

The opportunity to meet other teachers and journey with them to a place so far away is thrilling. I don't think it will have sunk in until I'm on the ground in Tokyo. No amount of planning and preparation could substitute for the reality of just being in that place.

Today is Father's Day. I already feel a deep sense of gratitude for the privilege of being a dad. Today I feel even more grateful as I prepare for what will surely be the trip of a lifetime.

The Joy of Just Being

Last days
Excitement
Moving upward
Outward way

Can't wait
leave soon, now
Summer calls us
Adventure 

Reflect back
pride in growth
Always learning
Time to go

Cleaning Out

"Locker clean out, the worst day of the year,"
I overheard the disgruntled
6th grader grumble
walking down the hall.

Mixed emotions
this time of year
flow through BCS
like a river.

Everybody feels
a bit different
about transitions.