Reality Strikes

It's really happening! I got my itinerary today! I'm so pumped!

I will officially be departing for Japan on Sunday November 14 at 8:00am Central Standard Time. Well, actually, that's when I'll depart for San Francisco. We'll spend one night in the city by the bay (I would truly consider paying the $30 or so to take a taxi into the city solely to eat at Asqew); that's also the only night of the voyage we'll share rooms with a roommate. The next day, I'll be flying direct from SFO to Tokyo's Narita Int'l airport...I leave at 12:55pm on Monday and arrive at 5:05pm on Tuesday. The International Date Line completely blows my mind (when I return, for example, I'll leave Tokyo at 4:55pm Friday, arrive SFO at 8:50am, and be back in Dallas before I left Tokyo).

Got to grade and work on progress reports...this is the 5th week; I'm going to LA Thursday night to celebrate my birthday, so there's no way work will get done over the weekend.

Must...stop...blogging...and...go...grade...papers.... (or I could work on tonight's Japanese lesson- I learned the family words yesterday as well as the names of things in the kitchen- now I can ask for a knife instead of trying to cut things with chopsticks!). :)

So much to do, so little time...

It occurred to me today on the way home from school that I have a lot going on. This thought crossed my mind principally because it was still light outside when I got home today. With school, church, Japan, textbook selection, wondering what next year has in store, etc. it's a wonder that I'm as nonplussed as I am. I can't think about that too much though- it'll stress me out. :)

Also, I have realized that I have essentially no clue on how to prepare for a sub. who'll "be me" for more than 2 days. I know what they'll be doing during that time, but I'm not sure how specific I need to be. Typically when I'm gone for a couple of days I'm really concerned about how they behave in my absence...in 3 weeks they're bound to be naughty. When I get back, do they get chastised for their inevitable naughtiness or do I just pick up where I left off, ride out the last 2 weeks of the semester and then start back up with the rules of my class after Winter Break? These are my ponderings...

I did get my Japan business cards made (I printed them on Wendy's computer last week). I think they look nice; I chose not to go with the Japanese writing on one side, because anyone who tried to address something to me in Japanese would inevitably have it sent back to them anyhow. Class days remaining: 16 and counting.

From the mouths of babes -and- A meal fit for a sumo

Yesterday during 7th period, one of my 7th graders made the comment to me, "Senorita Pair, are you going to be OK in Japan with your limited knowledge of the Japanese language?" This really cracked me up; I told her that yes, I should be OK since many people in Japan speak English and since we would have a translator with our group. This inspired a short class-wide discussion on why I should bother learning any Japanese at all if people there spoke English (the very root of the problem with our mono-lingual society and part of the reason I became a FL teacher).

Last night's dinner was very fun. Sandie Camp (our district's Japanese teacher) brought Carrie Harrington (our foreign language program director- a woman for whom I have the utmost respect) along to dinner. We were there talking and eating and laughing for 2 1/2 hours. It turns out I might have slightly more of a clue on the food thing than I had once thought. Upon receiving our giant picture-filled menus, Sandie asked me what I'd tried before/what I liked. I was familiar with most of the appetizers and the sushi menu, it was the main entrees/noodle dishes which were newest to me. I wound up ordering some sort of crazy Udon bowl with beef, chicken, and all sorts of goodies in it, along with some yellowtail. Carrie and Sandie shared their crab puffs, gyoza, and edamame. I was way stuffed (and my POINTS were out the window) by the time all was said and done.

Sandie gave me a lot of ideas on places to visit and some much-needed language pointers as well. She's sending me more books via school mail. They were so excited about my trip and made me feel like I was doing some good preparation; that's always nice.

How to not eat whale...

Tonight I'm going to eat at this restaurant in Arlington called Taisho with Sandie Camp, the Japanese teacher from Paschal HS (the only Japanese teacher in FWISD). She lived in Japan for several years and I hope to get some good pointers from her. I'm really interested in finding out what NOT to eat there...think I'll be OK trying most new things in Japan, but I don't want to discover too late that what's on my plate could also get me an audition on Fear Factor.

In preparation...

All right, here goes. My first official blogging experience has begun. I'm setting this up as part of my FMF (Fulbright Memorial Fund) follow-on plan. The FMF Teacher Program is an award which allows "distinguished" educators and administrators in the US to travel to Japan for 3 weeks in an effort to "promote greater intercultural understanding" between the two nations. I was chosen to participate in the November 2004 program and I'm getting really excited about it!

Yesterday I received my newest Japan book from Amazon.com. It is quite amazing. Little Adventures in Tokyo: 39 Thrills for the Urban Explorer, by Rick Kennedy. It's got all sorts of out-of-the-way adventures for those with some free time to spare there. So excited am I. I accidentally left one of my current Japan reads at my sister's house over the weekend (36 Views of Mt. Fuji, Cathy Davidson), so the arrival of Mr. Kennedy's book was quite timely.

The Japanese self-instruction is (very) slowly coming along; I'm still pretty much only up to, "Dentoo wa doko desu ka? Dentoo wa soko desu." [where is the light? there is the light.] I'm not sure how useful it will be that I can answer my own questions, nor how often I'll be seeking the light in Nihon, but whatever. I can also count to 20. Watch out.