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Mary Alice's Excellent Adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun
The following journal entries were written during September and October of 2004, when I had the amazing fortune to travel to Japan with the Fulbright Memorial Fund Program.
Dear family, friends, and students:
Typhoon #23 is over. I'm coming home.
It will be a terribly long journey again. Port of entry is Chicago after an 11 hour flight that departs at 4:35 Friday afternoon Tokyo time (2:35 a.m. on Friday your time). I'm supposed to hit Lincoln at 6:20-something p.m. Friday evening. So I get to live the same day twice, kinda like the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray.
We had presentations today from the 10 prefecture groups. Each did something creative, and each was very moving. Our group got a standing ovation for our rendition of "Country Gunma," an original adaptation of John Denver's "Country Roads." It was beautiful, and people in the audience were teary. We all helped write it together; two members of the group with the best voices sang it.
Gotta go pack. It's going to be a challenge with gifts and souvenirs. Some people have absurdly bought too much, too big, too fragile, and are frantically hunting down suitcases and shipping stuff home. Not me. I bought "small" from day one. However, I will need to empty out everything and start all over.
This is a very happy but wistful day. Happy to be returning to our homes and families, we are excitedly packing, phoning, and e-mailing travel plans. Sad to be leaving the greatest adventure anyone could imagine, and the wonderful pals we have in our Annaka prefecture group. Everyone says you will never be the same after this odyssey, and I am sure they are right. The lesson I've learned is that we are so fortunate to live in our great nation, but so lacking the cultural diversity to interact with completely different worlds and communities. I am looking forward to working with the UNK Japanese students who are coming to teach you folk tales and poetry. My greatest wish is that all of you will have this opportunity to leave your comfort zone, travel half a world away, and learn to love a
society like this one.
On Sunday, when we had to say goodbye to our host families at the Annaka City Hall, Yoko, my host mom, made me pinky-swear I'd be back to be her house guest, along with my family. I told her the same, knowing of course, that the chances of our ever meeting again were slim. Still, it will take me a lifetime to repay them for their unbelievable kindness and generosity. I have adopted a Japanese family for life.
Love to you all. See you soon. -MA
October 19, 2004 Hello, everyone! We have returned to the luxurious confines of the New Otani in Tokyo, and believe it or not, my second room is even more spectacular than the first. I've never seen such luxurious bed linens and beautiful lighting. Our next school visits were much better than the first. However, nowhere did we see student-centered instruction. Teacher is the big boss, stands in front of the room, kids chorically read out of books, everyone in their seats. The elementary was absolutely a ball, though--the administration was positive, the teachers happy, the kids delightful. They MOBBED us for business cards--twenty-five or thirty of them at a time. I sorta felt like Brittany Spears. They put on an unbelievable welcome for us--the kids had a marching band complete with flags, batons, etc. They sang, played the piano, and many of us had tears in our eyes from how hard they worked for us. We ate lunch in the classroom with a specific group; they made us gifts, drew pictures of us, watched us eat. A really cool moment occurred in the music class, when we sang "Old MacDonald" with the students. We did the English, they sang in Japanese, and we taught them the farm animal sequence and noises to make. It was the cutest thing you ever saw. The middle school had the best control of any place we visited. Those kids were so disciplined that we were barely noticed, tromping up and down the halls, snapping pictures and videoing. The great highlight of last week was actually seeing a smouldering volcano. We'd just left the middle school, and our bus was traveling down the boulevard to the restaurant section. Somebody looked back toward the sunset, and in a completely cloudless sky, we saw the red smoke coming out of Mt. Osama, an active volcano. The longer we were outside, the more the air smelled of sulphur. We feel privileged to have now survived three natural disasters: the earthquake, the first typhoon, and finally the volcano. Love to you all. We come home soon, but be aware another typhoon is expected tomorrow night or Friday, so we are worried our flights could be cancelled. Will write more tomorrow.
Saturday, October 9 (Friday, October 8 in your world)
Dear Family, friends, and students,
Ok, we survived the 5.6 earthquake three days ago; now CNN weather is calling the approaching storm the "worst typhoon in Japan in 10 years." It is, in their words, "a super-typhoon." Well, isn't that a nice how-do-you-do! I'm going to hurry and crank this out, as the e-mail keeps redialing and starting over, no doubt due to the storm. This may be my last message for awhile. All our trips are cancelled, including the little side jaunt we were going to take to Kamakura today. The storm is producing flooding in the subways in south Japan and mudslides on the roads. Ok, so maybe this is jerky, but here we are, stuck in this five-star hotel, feeling sorry for ourselves because we can't go outside. How many of you would like to wait in line to hit me?? :) We were so looking forward to exploring on our own these two days. Nonetheless, if you have to be stuck inside, this is a great place to be. It's still hard to get used to returning to your room, finding your bed already turned down with a New Otani sleeping robe near the pillow and today's newspaper at the foot. I have a long list of much-needed improvements to tell my boss at First Inn Gold.
I just received my host family information yesterday. My family is named Saito, and there are three people: Yoki, a kindergarten teacher; Seio, 70, a farmer; and his wife, Yuko, 65, a housewife. I am excited that they also have a dog, name as yet unknown. Their ages lead me to think they will be very traditional Japanese, so I must use my best dance class manners, speak in a low voice, and keep a low profile. After Monday morning you will most likely not hear from me for awhile, if not a whole week. We had our prefecture meeting yesterday, and they have indicated there is no Internet access at all in our hotel, which is 15 minutes away from the town of Annaka in the mountains. It was sooooo funny yesterday, because one of the people in our group asked if that meant this was a resort. Harumi Osaki, our group leader, paused for a moment and then said, "Yes, sure, if you want to think of it that way, go ahead." HAAAAAAAA !!! Still, all of us are really excited to get out of the city to a rural area. There is a hot springs area at our hotel, and some of us are going to take a sand bath. It looks a lot like what we did to Stecher and Pat Hedges at the Community Olympics. I am very proud to be the member of our group speaking at the middle school. There is one speaker at every school; we are to write approximately one minute of remarks, introducing our group, our purpose, and our impressions of Japan. An interpreter will then speak for us when we finish.
I meant to tell you this the other day, because it cracked me up so much. In the beginning we were exchanging the usual banalities of "Where are you from" with each other. I told this young guy named Brady, from Wheeling, West Virginia, that I was from Nebraska, and his response was "Huh...Where's Nebraska?" Ok, I explained it; then he said, "Huh, you sure don't meet somebody from Nebraska every day." I laughed so hard I about fell over. Course, this was the same guy that this morning brought kiwi back to our table when we asked for pears and pineapple. He didn't know which was which!!!
Said he doesn't eat fruit much. HAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!
Yesterday's lecture was on the status of women in Japan, conducted by Mariko Bando, introduced as one of the most recognized and important women in all of Asia. She shared many interesting facts. Remember I told you Japanese men believe the company is the most important thing, and that they work late hours? Turns out that when the men get off work, it is their custom to then proceed to the bar and spend the evening "drinking with the boys." Not only is this expected, but they will be looked down upon if they don't do it. Hence, these fathers must hardly ever see their children. It's pretty sad. She also said the suicide rate among Japanese men is very high. If they get fired or are not successful, they feel they have "lost face," and there's not much worse than that. Hence, the suicide rate.
The coolest part of yesterday's instruction was the Kabuki theatre presentation. It was awesome! We got to watch how the makeup is applied from start to finish, the process of putting on the kimono and assorted pieces, and finally, the wig. Then the girl danced for us. The photos are the coolest! We also learned the differences between Noh, Banraku, Kabuki, and Japanese classical dance. The flash cameras were going like crazy!
Last night's excursion was to the Oriental Bazaar. We took the Ginza line to an upscale shopping district. It was, of course, pouring at the time. I love how people leave their umbrellas in the doorways of stores to dry when they enter, and no one ever touches them. They are also provided in many places, so you just take one, and they know you will return it. This particular store is a haven for the economy-minded tourist needing souvenirs. There were about 100 FMF'ers in there, and we had so much fun.
Our computers are shutting down. I must send this quickly before I lose it. I'll write again as soon as I can. No pictures today. Wish I'd brought a life raft!
Love to all of you. Thanks for writing back! -Mary Alice
Friday, October 8, 2004 (Thursday, October 7 in your world)
Dear Family, friends, and students,
Each day is slightly more extraordinary than the last. I feel as if I'm walking through a "National Geographic" magazine.
A few weather updates:
Yesterday's earthquake measured 5.6 on the Richter scale. I am on the 18th floor of the New Otani; the folks on floors above me felt it more strongly the higher up they were. As I told you, it woke me up, but I didn't even know what it was. I thought six or eight people were stomping up and down in the room above me. My first reaction was annoyance. I should have known better, because I've never stayed in a quieter place. Shows you how aware I am. The locals said this particular quake was stronger than the ones they're used to.
We are truly expecting a typhoon this weekend! It is supposed to hit Tokyo about 3 a.m. Sunday morning. They are forecasting winds at 200 km per hour, floods, and the possibility of destruction. Figures...when I come to Japan, they have earthquakes and typhoons. I am somewhat amused, because dozens of FMF'ers planned these very expensive side trips on this, our "free weekend." We were emphatically told yesterday that traveling 3-5 hours to Hiroshima or Kyoto might be risky, because when the typhoon hits, all bus and train transportation will be suspended. Hence our people might make it to their far-away destination but be unable to return. Listen to the news and weather for further updates on our expected storm.
I must do my meager best to explain yesterday's odyssey to the fish market. It was totally worth getting up at 4 a.m. If you're not there by 5 a.m., you miss all the fun. My description can't possibly capture the place, but here goes.
There were thousands of men with pull-carts, motorized carts, and bicycles, all zipping this way and that around us. We had to be very careful not be run over, because we were an annoying interruption and definitely in their way. You can't believe what we saw: giant crabs, tubs of live eels, plus squid, shrimp, oysters, and giant tuna. We saw a monstrous blue fin tuna that cost 1,000,000 yen, or about $10,000. One man with a can of red paint went around and marked an auction number on each fish. All these prospective buyers with flashlights and meat hooks wandered through the rows and rows of GIANT tuna, inspecting the meat by looking at it with their flashlights. You have to stay completely out of the way, because everyone is in a giant hurry, and they will literally just shove you out of the way or run over you to conduct business. There is quite a sense of urgency to this auction. I'm sure they found the sixty or seventy FMF'ers intrusive. It has absolutely been our favorite experience thus far! I have wonderful pictures. I'm sending the eels today, if all goes as planned. Anyway, all the fish is sold and gone by 10 a.m., and they do this every single day! Seems to me the envrionmental impact of farming the oceans so extensively has got to catch up with human beings sometime. However, if they don't do this, Japan can't feed its 120,000,000 people.
We also had very educational seminars with experts in education and the economy. Here are some interesting things I learned:
The males in Japan believe that work is absolutely the most important thing in their lives, and the good of the company means everything. We continually see thousands of businessmen still working in the office buildings at 8 or 9 p.m. at night. We're told they go back at 7 the next morning to start all over again. Family, personal hobbies and pursuits come second to work. Hence, children do not spend hardly any time with their fathers. Mothers raise the family. The education experts here are trying to think of ways to change this philosophy, but it is firmly ingrained in the adult generations. They see this as a primary issue affecting the success of the schools.
Following the education seminars, we were honored to meet two members of the Japanese Parliament, who spoke to us about relations with the U.S., North Korea, etc. Amazingly one of them was a woman. There are very few women in politics still, though they appear to be making small strides in that direction. Mrs. Hironaka said that teenage pregnancy is so disgraceful here that abortion is really the only acceptable option. I was shocked and saddened by that.
Last night's odyssey was going to the 100 Yen Store in the Shinjuku neighborhood for inexpensive souvenirs. These stores are like our Dollar General outlets, which are handy, because Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world. I could never, ever have negotiated the subway the first time by myself. Five or six of us went together. Heck, I couldn't have even figured out how to use the ticket machine.
Once we got our 150 yen tickets, we then had to find the right train. Ours was orange. You must see this to understand, but there are hundreds of people in each little subway station, all walking rapidly in all directions right and left, going to the correct stairs, escalator, street exit, or train. Hundreds of Japanese signs with small English translations compound the chaos. Once we got on the correct train, the real trick was to listen to the announcements by the conductor, saying which stop was next. We'd try to pick out the one word we needed to recognize to get off in the right place. The first time, we failed and went a couple stops and miles past. We then had to get off to catch the train going back in the right direction.
Handling money is pretty simple: a 10,000 yen bill is $100, a 1000 yen bill is 10.00, a 100 yen coin is a dollar, and so forth.
The Shinjuku neighborhood is where all the trendy young adults, many of whom look punk, hang out. They have spiked and colored hair, multiple piercings, ripped jeans--you know the look. This younger generation appears to be a source of great concern to the elders.
Tonight we are hitting the Oriental bazaar, a haven for kimono, cheap souvenirs, ad infinitum. These markets are just sensory overload. There's so much there, that you can't really see anything. It's hard to describe.
My little side trip this weekend will be with Chris from Arizona and Brady from West Virginia. We are just going to Kamakura, about an hour from here. This is the home of the giant 40-foot Buddha as well as some of the ancient architecture that survives. If the skies start to turn dark, we'll just hop on the first train back to Toyko.
So much love to you all! I miss you and hope you are doing well. God bless, and sayonara for now! -Mary Alice
Ohayogozaimus, students and Mrs. Kienzle! Hope you are all doing well. I just now got Internet access and only have twenty minutes left for tonight.
Japan is an amazing place. Some highlights:
There really is a "100 Yen" Store. Seriously, it's like our Dollar General store. Haven't been there yet, but it's in the works.
Getting up at 4 a.m., or 2 p.m. your time today, to go to the Japanese fish market. It is a warehouse filled with hundreds of fish for sale: giant tunas, shellfish, eel, etc.
Tonight we had a formal reception with the Minister of Education in charge of International Affairs. We have also met the Japanese Consul-General, who is in charge of all diplomatic affairs in the United States. I have learned to do a lot of bowing!
There is a typhoon expected in Japan this week. Good thing I brought my umbrella!
Last night we ate at a Japanese steakhouse where you cook your own meat at your table. The dinner lasted over two hours but was delicious: boiled white radish with liver pate, chicken yakitori, marinated terraki steak, and of course, green tea. Afterwards our host, a distinguished elderly man, took us to a kareoke establishment. However, it was not run the way you might think. Instead of one large room with a stage, this place had many floors of private little rooms with a round sofa. You used books to pick your song and sat singing to and with one another. I had so much fun. You would have laughed at me.
The hotel is amazing. I can see these gorgeous Oriental gardens from my room. Beyond that is a small part of the Tokyo skyline, and beyond that is Mt. Fuji. It is frequently shrouded in clouds and isn't visible much of the time. I hope to see it before I leave. Supposedly, the sun only shines on it with no clouds about sixteen days a year. In my room, the lights are all operated from a nightstand, there is a stereo in the bathroom, and I found robes, slippers, and nightshirts for my use. Amazing! Talk about a five-star hotel! I did have a lonely moment last night when I finally got back to my room after the kareoke adventure and, out of habit, flipped on the television. Of course, none of the stations were in English, except the BBC news from England. I felt pretty strange at that moment.
Well, that's about all for now. They want to close the business center. Have a great week, and until next time, Sayonara! -Konzie
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This Page was last update: Monday, September 22, 2008 at 3:04:51 PM
This page was originally posted: 9/24/04; 10:18:01 PM.
Copyright 2010 Mary Alice Konz
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