so many questions to answer... THANKS to my class, mrs coe's class in phoenix, mrs.rush's class, and mrs.sims and mrs. noyes for writing to me in the past couple days... here's the lowdown on your questions:
am i having fun here in japan? sure! it's a bit tough when i have to order food or read road signs and stuff like that, but otherwise it's been a GREAT experience. i have learned a lot and made several new friends.
how long did my flight here take? about 11 hours.
when will i return? on nov. 30.
how is my hotel? i have stayed in two. one in tokyo and one in ube, yamaguchi. they have both been very nice.
is the food good? it is to me, but you might disagree. much of the food is raw, uncooked, especially the fish. however, chicken and lots of vegetables are fried and everything almost everything is served with some kind of sauce. i like japanese lunch and dinner, but i can't say i am crazy about breakfast.
am i learning any japanese? yes. you have to if you wish to survive here. little english is spoken, especially here way far away from tokyo. japanese is a hard language to read but not so hard to speak, in my opinion. i'm pretty happy with my progress... i've learned how to say many of the things i need to say regularly, like, please and thank you and several other phrases too.
when you went to the karaoke placedid you sing the songs in Japanese? no. they had plenty of song in english. it was fun, but strange too. about 10 of us went and it cost over Y44,000 ($440) for us to sing for about an hour and a half. EVERYTHING in tokyo is EXPENSIVE!
Is education in Japan free and can anyone go to school? yes. it's free and EVERYONE goes to school, the school nearest their home, the same kind of school, with the same books, the same schedule, and the same program of instruction. the national government pays for and determines almost all of these things.
Does education seem important to the kids and parents? VERY!!! i don't think we can compare it to how we feel about education. japanese kids go to school five days a week from 8-3 and twice a month on saturday... 9 of 10 students in 4th grade and above go to juku school to practice for high school and college entrance tests from 3 until 8 or 9 at night five days a week too.
How was your flight? looooong, but it was fun having my birthday happen during it.
When was the last time the Fuji volcano erupted? about 300 years ago... it's still considered active.
Do you have a favorite new Japanese food? i've decided sashimi (just raw sliced fish) is pretty good.
Have you tried the pufferfish yet? not yet; a bit scared to... it's seriously deadly.
Do they celebrate Christmas in Japan? YES! it's not a religious holiday at all but santa and reindeer and other decorations are everywhere... christmas is BIG BUSINESS here in japan.
Do the students in Japan wear uniforms? some do, some don't... don't know why yet.
What do the students play on the playground? i think it's soccer. maybe just kickball, but something like that.
Have you visited a second grade? no. just fifth... that's what i teach.
what does it look like out there on the Japanese playground --WITHOUT ADULTS? it looks like recess... although the experts say there are big problems with bullying in some schools. in japan kids are left to deal with recess issues on their own in order to teach them "how to work out their own problems." an interesting policy that would never fly in the united states.

wow... what a day... we visited our first elementary school today, a nice little place (with 980 children in grades k-5) called Kamibube Elementary School, where we met with some teachers and several members of the local parent-teacher association (like our own PTIO group). they were all very friendly and we had lots of questions to ask each other. they were very interested to learn that in the U.S. parents can choose both what school their child attends and which teacher they will have. We were surprised to lean that they do not have to have recess duty teachers because, as they put it, "children must lean to solve their own problems." at the heart of what we discovered about each other was this: both cultures believe strongly in the concept of equality, but both cultures deal with equality in different ways. in the U.S. we believe equality means that everyone gets the same chance to succeed regardless of who they are; we help one another to succeed a lot in the U.S., sometimes we call this help "leveling the playing field." in japan, they also believe in equality, but they see it as making sure that all students are given the same things: the same access to school, the same books (nationwide), and the same access to their teachers. in japan equality means no one gets extra attention (there is no TAG or resource here at all) or extra help; in japan that kind of treatment is viewed as unfair.

COMING SOON! pictures of ube city and today's school visit as well as our trip to yamaguchi university later, when i get a few minutes... THANKS FOR ALL THE MAIL... i will write back ASAP... busy, busy, busy... but please, keep the questions coming!