This morning I jumped on the JFMF teacher website to see if there was any new information about the trip. Only the 2007 information has been available since the beginning of last week. I was happy to see that it has been updated for the 2008 group!
There are a lot of details about where the prefecture groups will be going. I've learned that while staying in Tokyo I will be at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka. I visited their
website and it looks like it will be one of the nice hotels I've ever visited!
The travel guide I've been reading, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: Japan, has this to say about the hotel:
"...you will see on the right the gleaming white Akasaka Prince Hotel, designed by Tange Kenzo. The open lobby has white marble floors and interior walls, while the exterior wall is glass."
Check out the blooming Sakura trees in front
of the Prince Hotel!
I've looked at the room plans for this place, and every room is designed to offer travelers a panoramic view of Tokyo. The architect of this building,
Tange Kenzo, also designed the Metropolitan Offices of Tokyo, which are earthquake proof. In
every online JFMF journal I read, the participants experience an earthquake. I hope that the hotel is earthquake proof too!
Another thing that I read in
JFMF Basics, the program participant guide, is that I'm going to need a business card to present to most of the people that I meet. In Japan the business card, or
meishi, is an extension of the person who gives it to you. When you meet someone and they present you with their
meishi it is good manners to study the card to learn the person's name and status and then put the card in front of you (if sitting down) or carefully into a business card case.
Don't write on the card, fold it, shove it in a pocket or leave it somewhere, because these actions are seen as signs of disrespect to the person who offered the card.
Nice card! I'd like to get my name
written in calligraphy like that!
I've started designing my business card, and I emailed a few places on the internet to see how much it would cost to get the cards printed or at least translated. One place wanted $99 to translate the card and send me a file. The printing was really expensive, $169 for 250 and over $200 for 500 cards. I called the brand-spankin' new Staples right here in Apopka and asked them. They said they couldn't do the translating but that they take whatever card I designed and print me 1000 for 54 bucks, full color! So I decided to try to translate the necessary information myself and here's what I came up with:
Orange County Public Schools = オレンジ・カウンティーの公立学校
Classroom Teacher = 教室教師
Scott Ralph = スコツト ラルフ
Apopka Elementary School: アパプカ 小学校
My plan is to take the mock up of my business card over to the Japan pavilion at Epcot and ask some of the people who work there if I got it right. I probably named myself "Village Idiot," but that's not far from the truth sometimes! If there's anyone who reads Japanese out there, please let me know if I got this right!
3 comments:
don't run in front of godzilla stay on the side of him he can't see you.good luck!!!!!!!!
スコツト ラルフ rules!!!
Ralphadelphais the best!!!!!
Post a Comment