Sayonara....

This is the Grand Prince Hotel. I am on the 14th floor. Do you see me? Of course you don't, I'm taking the picture. However, my sweater is hanging in the window to dry by sunlight. Can you see it?

Early morning again! Today was our presentation. We set up a rehearsal at 8:15 am. Lorry and I had stayed up late, late last night to work on it. She stayed up even later I’m sure. She is truly a genius at this kind of stuff. The rehearsal went well and we were the second group of ten to present. Our presentation was spot-on. We felt really, really good about it.

All of the groups did well and we learned so much about some of Japan’s other prefectures. Two of the groups went to the earthquake area. I believe about 12 people died there in the earthquake. While they were there, they had another 5.0 earthquake and a 3.0…plus about 100 aftershocks. They were told it would take ten years to fix all the roads that were damaged.

The groups were each given 15 minutes and we all actually stayed within our timeframe, so we were finished about 3 pm. Right before we broke for the day, the director said that all of the groups did a great job, but the visual presentation of the Tama group was number 1. We won the “Emmy.” Lorry was so proud…our group coordinator and guide, Keiko was bursting. She was pretty stern at first, but really warmed up to us. She took really good care of me (Kelley-san) and tried her best to have something other than fish served to me when she could.

I will receive 10 college credits for this adventure (it isn’t over yet….much to do) from Seattle Pacific University. So, I had a few papers to fill out for that and then we were off to do our last souvenir shopping.

I think I could get to a shopping area on the subway by myself now, but it is still much more reassuring to go with others. Today, I bought fake sushi and pocky (a chocolate recommended by Cameron and Travis). I had already packed my bags so that I could weigh them…I am pretty close to the limit.(This is not me in the picture...I just thought it looked cool)

Things to note:
-you don’t eat or drink while walking…so you don’t see people with ice cream, snacks, soda, or water.
-Food and drinks are not "walked" around at Disneysea either...they are losing a lot of money! Oh, did I tell you that if you don't eat before 8 pm, you are out of luck. AND, the popcorn choices are black pepper, strawberry, or coconut. Ick.
-Japan has some of the most polite people I have ever met. The service, almost everywhere, is impeccable.
-There is no “tipping” in Japan.
-a bow is considered a sign of respect and the deeper the bow…the more respect.
-We are more similar than we are different.
-The US and Japan are great allies. We can still learn a lot from each other.
-This was an amazing experience for me...I can't even begin to tell you. However, I have told you a lot and I'm glad I wrote this...it will help me remember it all. Thanks for reading.

Tonight, we had the Sayonara Dinner. The dinner was delicious and then we saw a short video montage of the “experience.” We saw an aikido demonstration. It was fabulous. The girl beat the boy everytime. I believe this sort of martial art is used as protection only. At the end, our group guides sang the Japanese version of “Auld Land Syne” and then we sang it in English. Really, really nice send-off.

This is a picture of Kyoko and the school board representative from Tama.

A bunch of my friends and I went off to do some Karaoke singing. In Tokyo, you rent a room with couches and sing just for yourselves. My camera was out of juice, so unfortunately, I don't have proof that I was there...yet. There were lots of pictures taken. I left them there singing “Country Roads” which is the song used for cleaning at the end of the school day. A popular Japanese film was taped in Tama and the music was “Country Roads.” When the kids hear it, they break out the brooms and mops and sing along. It is amazing.

Tomorrow at 5 am, I am going to the fish market. All the fresh fish comes in and the big buyers are there to load up. I understand you shouldn't get too close, because these guys are really good and fast with their sharp knives. I'll tell you about it when I get home.
Take care.