A Successful Launch for Kibo, Buzz and the Space Toilet

Just a few moments ago I had the opportunity to watch Space Shuttle Discovery lift off in the east.  Happily, I'm able to report that the launch appeared to be a success, and that the shuttle is well on it's way to the International Space Station as I write this.  In just a few days, I'll be able to go to Japan to learn about their perceptions of the mission,  as Discovery will still be in orbit during the first few days of my visit.  This should be interesting... I think there has been more news around here about the space toilet that needs to be installed than there has been about this amazing space research facility that the Japanese are contributing.  

Below is a video sharing information about the mission:

 

While the main mission of STS-124 is to transport and install Kibo, the Shuttle will be carrying an astronaut not listed with the extraordinary people already on the mission roster: 

To Infinity... and Beyond!

In Japan -- Two Weeks Early!!

Last school year, I didn't win.  Didn't win what, you ask? I didn't win anything! I wrote five grants and failed to get any... not even a $45 weather station.    I was on the short-list ballot for teacher of the year and lost.  I completed National Board and failed -- by one stinkin' point!  My micro-society project was nominated for Disney's Teacherrific Awards and earned rejection again.  I didn't even think I did a very good job of teaching my third graders, as it was my first time working with kids that young and I felt like a first year teacher again.

From all of that loss came opportunity.   The consolation prize from the Teacherrific Awards was four one-day park hopper passes to the Disney parks, and thanks to that failure, I was able to take some of my students to Japan with me... even if it was just for a couple of hours.

Part of the micro-society that I conduct in my classroom involves an economy where the students work with classroom money called "Ralphers" (original name huh?)  Students have a variety of ways to earn Ralphers, most notably through Market Day, where the kids develop and manage their own businesses to try to earn a profit.  They have plenty of opportunities to spend money as well -- Market Day, classroom auctions and special trips like going bowling or to the movies with Ralph-Sensei are the top money drainers.  

Students willing to put off gratification and keep most of their money in Ralphadelphia Bank have the opportunity to earn the Big Prize at the End, a day of fun with their teacher.  Thanks to my losing at the Teacherrific Awards, I had four Disney tickets to burn, so what do you think the top money savers did for this year's Big Prize?!

That's right baby!  Japan at Epcot! (Actually we started at Animal Kingdom but this is a blog about Japan, not animals!) After spending the morning at Animal Kingdom, we traveled to Epcot where we made our way straight back to the Japan Pavilion.  

One of my previous posts was dedicated to the Japanese department store Mitsukoshi, and that is where we spent some of our time.  We had a reservation for lunch at Teppan Edo, the pavilion's teppanyaki restaurant.  The server greeted us and after I ordered my meal in Japanese, she discovered I was going to Japan in two weeks.  She told me to make sure I stop by Tokyo DisneySea because it was the best of all of the Disney parks! Kenji-san, our chef (who originated from Tokyo), came out and treated us to both a fantastic show and a wonderful meal.  

How do you say "Bon Apetit" in Japanese?

After lunch we went downstairs to the store, where the kids had a great time looking at Japanese toys and swords.  In the back corner of the store we found a section dedicated to Kimono, and the girls were begging to try one on but they were too shy to ask.  I brought them over to a young lady who was herself dressed in a beautiful Kimono, and told her that they had a question.  They were so mad at me for making them ask!  Satori-san, the associate in charge of his quiet and beautiful section of the store, was very gracious and showed the girls many of the children's Kimonos, even allowing them to try some on!  

Two of my students got to try on these beautiful traditional Japanese Kimonos.

After leaving the Kimonos, we looked at the bonsai trees and calligraphy sets before finally arriving at the section of the store that my students were most looking forward to -- the candy!  Here, they spent the most of their money, buying Apollo, Pocky, and the class favorite, Ramune!  

By the time the day was done, all of the candy had been eaten and the Ramune bottles had been dropped numerous times (somehow they never broke).  The kids thought it was a great day, and their exhausted teacher agreed.  

Now it's time to get ready for the real thing, thanks to finally winning -- the biggest grant of them all!

My First Visitor From Japan!

If you've read this blog for long enough, you'll already know that I stalk my stalkers by using Site Meter.  Not only is it a counter, but it gives me a map of places from which people visit my blog.  This morning, I got on bright and early and found out that someone from Japan finally checked me out!  Not only that, but where my map used to be sparse, it now runneth over with visits from my JFMF conrades from all over the US, including Hawaii!  Check out the screencap I grabbed this morning:

Check out the little green dot on Japan!  My first visitor from the destination.  

There's also been a flurry of activity from around the US this weekend.  

That red thing on Florida?  Don't adjust your monitor, it's just my ego.

Weird, now I'm blogging about my blog.

*       *       *

I've started buying some of the travel needs for my trip, starting with a suitcase.  Kohl's had a 50% off sale on luggage this weekend, and by some amazing miracle I got the exact case I wanted for only $80!   I also bought one of those cool neck pillows to keep myself from getting a crick in my neck on the plane.  But the one thing I needed most from Kohl's was a good set of slippers.  These are worn all over the place in Japan's indoor spaces, and the JFMF Basics manual suggests bringing our own because the ones provided for visitors in many places will not fit the large feet of Americans.  When I asked the guy who was working in the shoe department about slippers, he got really uncomfortable (which I found really strange) and told me that they were a seasonal item and that I should come back in early December to find a pair.

OHHH NOOOOOOOOOOO!

It looks like I'm going to have to buy pair of filthy, nasty, scum-ridden slippers from eBay.  Dang it!

*       *       *

Wow, things sure move fast when you have 159 new friends overnight!  Right now I'm organizing an evening trip to see a pro baseball game in Japan, and a lot of people want to come too.  I say, "the more, the merrier," especially at a baseball game.  I've been working with a couple of folks, both in the group and in the JFMF administration to get things coordinated, and so far it's gone really smoothly.  There's a website called JapanBall that has all kinds of great info about Japanese baseball, and they even have a portal for buying advance tickets to games for those that would like to add one of these events to their travel itinerary.  So far the site owner has been really helpful, so I'm sure wrapping up the night out will go as smoothly as the rest of it has gone.

Well, I'm more tired now than I have been at any point during the entire school year.  There's still a lot more on my to do list for tonight, so I will leave you now and hopefully post again before the end of the week!  Bye!

All of My Mailboxes Are Filling Up!

I've received nearly one-hundred emails from people that are going on the JFMF trip with me.  Wow!  Since there are 160 people in the group, that means there will be many more yet to come.  There were so many messages coming in I had to contact the JFMF and ask them to switch my email address for this listserv to my gmail account... my OCPS account has a quota and just couldn't handle the volume.  

Not only that, but I found a large envelope in my mailbox today with a return label from the Consulate General of Japan in Miami.  I was thrilled!  I already suspected what it may be, as I read about the package Christina received from the Nashville Consulate.  I tore the package open and found the following inside:

• A letter from Ryozo Kato, the Ambassador of Japan in Washington
• A letter from Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Consul General in Miami
• Visit Japan Travel Guide published by Yokoso! Japan
• Tourist's Language Handbook
• Info about "Web Japan for Japanophiles" (am I a Japanophile? Maybe... I took this test and answered 466.66% correct! How did you do?)
• An ad for the "Visit Japan Campaign"
• Affordable Japan, a pamphlet with information about how to make the most of my meager spending cash
• Travel Japan by Train, a very helpful and infomative booklet about Japan's train system
• Explore Japan, a very nice book published by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Finally, Travel to Japan, a pamphlet published in-house by my local consulate right here in beautiful Florida.

There is a lot to read, but everything they sent me is relevant to what I want to do and learn on this trip so I plan on reading every word!  

Some of the JFMFers and I have begun planning a trip to see a baseball game, either the Seibu Lions or the Lotte Marines, on June 11th or 12th.  Many of the people introduced themselves on the listserv as being someone who would like to catch a game, so I know this is going to be a fun group.  There were also many people who want to check out Tokyo Disneyland and take a train to Hiroshima or Kyoto on the off day.  I don't know what  I want to do yet.  I still need to do a lot of research, and time is running out for me!

*       *       *

This morning I was helping out to set up the Apopka Elementary Extravaganza Festival at my school.  (Next year I will be in charge of the theme, which is part of my follow on plan.  The theme will be Kodomo no Hi, also known as the Children's Day Festival in Japan.  It takes place on May 5 in Japan and is set aside to respect children's personalities and celebrate their happiness.)  After I was done setting up, I came home to see that Gorgeous Wife had hauled all types of junk out of the garage and was selling it to any ol' poor sap that would carry it off.  I decided to hang out with her, and she said if I could sell the 1989 stereo and the 1984 Mickey Mouse Phone that she'd split the cash for me.  I failed in my efforts, but she still made quite a bit of coin!  AND THEN, after sitting in the sun for three hours sweating deals over 25 cents, she turns around and hands me the whole wad of cash and says "Here ya go, fruity! Take dis to Japan wit yas!"  And I said, "Why are you talking like some scummy Yankees fan?"  And then I gave her a huge kiss and hug and wanted to cry over her generosity (but didn't.)  Gorgeous Wife is so wonderful, I wish everyone could have such a great best friend.  Thanks, beautiful!

Darn you, Mickey Mouse Phone!

Wow!

I've read so many emails today, I feel as excited as I did the day I got the acceptance letter.  The people I'm going to be traveling with have so many great ideas about what to do while we're in Japan!  I can't wait!  

Now my eyes are burning from looking at the computer screen for so long.  It's off to bed!

It figures...

I whine about the listserv not starting yet and less than 24 hours later it's up and running.  I'm still reading all the emails from the fantastic teachers going on the trip, so I'll update later tonight...I hope...

(let's try something here:  My lottery numbers never come up!)

The Slow Flow of Info

Tomorrow is school science day and I decided that my mini-lesson would be focused around rockets.  So today after school I drove around collecting my materials, and when I got home I tried out the water rocket I'd built out of a two-liter bottle, a valve stem and a bicycle pump.  I pumped the water filled bottle as fast and as hard as I  could for about thirty seconds before it took off, disappearing into the sky.  I'd purposely set it up between a tree and my house so that it wouldn't fly into the street, but sure enough, about a minute later I heard from the street behind me a PONG.......... PONG... PONG PONG PONGPONGPONGCRUNCH!  I turned around to see a red car driving away, leaving one of my four two-liter bottles completely flattened.  I immediately heard another car door open right behind me. 

"Wow, that was pretty impressive," said the pizza guy who was getting out of his car with my dinner.  

"Thanks," I told him, and then paid three bucks to buy an extra Coke two liter from him to replace my sixty-seven cent Sam's Club pancake. 

At least it works!

*        *        *

I wish I could give you some more info about the JFMF trip, but there's none to share.  I've been waiting for my travel information, and it hasn't come yet.  I've been waiting for my listserv to start, and my email box has been empty.  I've been waiting to hear from my school district about whether I made the roster to present my Japan experience at this year's professional development conference, but I've heard nothing.  And now, my new friend Christina has gotten a package from her local Japanese Consulate...  I have another reason to stalk the local mailman!

Shameless Self-Promotion Works!!!

I was already in a great mood today, having had morning success with my third diet in as many weeks, when Ms. Dail said "I need to talk to you."  I cautiously approached her desk because, as any teacher knows, when the registrar stops you during the last three weeks of school and says that they need to talk to you, there's a good chance that you've made some cumulative folder mistake so horrendous that you'll be paying for it for the rest of your natural born life.  I braced myself and Ms. Dail raised her fist.  Clenched in it was this:

Thanks, Orlando Sentinel!

To Heck With The Diet

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Teacher Appreciation Week!

The one day (Thursday) that our wonderful PTA didn't spoil us with delicious goodies was the day I tried to sneak in some Slim Fast goodness. I stayed on the Slim Fast plan for eight hours. I was really proud of myself, but I almost died.  I need calories!

Diet over!

Today PTA brought in cookies and cake, and to complement that we had a cozy, sugar-riddled multi-class get together to celebrate our FCAT writing score success.  It was wonderful.

Not much news on the JFMF front.  We received our hotel information, and all of the places look wonderful.  I'd link to them, but I'm so tired and I need to get some Mother's Day stuff together.  There's so much left to do, both in wrapping up the school year and in preparing for the trip, that I'm getting ready to start sleeping in shifts.  The most passive part of my day is my commute, so I've installed an alarm clock in the car and the first sleep shift will be the drive to work.  Vick Road is pretty straight so it should be no problem!

Since the listserv didn't start this week, I'll expect it early next week.  I'd better start cleaning out my email... I've heard how this thing gets!

The Diet Will Start Wednesday

Mmmmmm.  Teacher Appreciation Week!

This morning I got up, rolled out of bed, gagged down a Slim-Fast, chomped an apple, drove to school with my eyes closed, and drifted right into a bagel and donut binge that would put Takeru Kobayashi to shame.  I love Teacher Appreciation Week.

*     *     *

After regaining confidence in my intestinal fortitude,  I opened up my email to find a message from the IIE requesting that I choose seminars during two of the days in Tokyo.  The available seminars were all incredible opportunities, and I wish that I didn't have to choose to attend only two.  Among the choices were opportunities to learn about Special Education, Math Education, Japanese Kindergarten, and Environmental Education.  I selected two that I thought would be most helpful to the follow-on plan that I'm designing for my school and district:  Art Education and Peace Education.  

The Art Education workshop focuses on hands-on activities of traditional paper work and will feature a discussion about art education in Japan.  The Peace Education seminar is one that I will really be looking forward to:  we will be meeting with people from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and discussing their experiences with them.  I'm not sure if they are people who survived the nuclear bombs or if they are the children of those survivors, but I can't see how this discussion could be any less than amazing and incredibly enlightening.  I don't know if I will get my first choices in these areas, but I signed up as soon as I saw the email so let's hope so!

The Diet is Starting Tomorrow

Mmmm.  Teacher Appreciation Week!

When I first started thinking about this post this morning, the subject was going to be how I was going to be a model of self-control, dieting my way to a more comfortable airplane seat.  Nine-point-five hours to Tokyo is a long time, you know.  Last night I sat and planned a program that's rigid, strict, and completely outside of the realms of common sense.  Something I would truly have to work to endure over the next five weeks, ultimately succeeding in having to pour myself into the seat. 

And then Teacher Appreciation Week happened.  I rolled out of bed this morning, drank my Slim-Fast, ate my apple, put another Slim-Fast and apple in a lunch box, and headed to work.  Waiting at work to throw a wrench into my plans was a platter of McDonald's Hash Browns and Breakfast Burritos, courtesy of the Florida DOE who had chosen our school to spoil rotten today.  

No problem, I thought, wiping the grease from my mouth.  I'll just have my Slim-Fast and apple for lunch and be right back on plan.  At lunch I smelled the delectable aroma of bag upon bag of Taco Bell's finest.  

No problem, I thought, wiping my hot-sauce-stained hands on the sides on my pants.  I'll just have my Slim-Fast snack bar after school, enjoy a sensible dinner, and go to bed early, knowing that I made my best effort after work.  As I walked the last of my students to extended day after today's final bell, the sound of five Hungry Howie's pizza boxes opening at once seemed to sing my name, echoed by a large carrot cake and innumerable chocolate chip cookies.  

No problem, I thought, rolling out of the room like Violet Beauregard after gorging myself for the third time.  There's always tomorrow.

Oompa Loompa doompa-dee doo!

I've got another taco for you!

Katori or Bust!

Cheever!!!!!

Two days ago I got an email from the Institute for International Education, the organization that facilitates the JFMF on this side of the Pacific.  Attached was a little more paperwork, a press release to send out to local media (which I immediately did, the shameless self promoter that I am), and the name of the prefecture and city that I will be visiting after the first week in Tokyo.  I was so excited to finally find out!  I also found out that one of the JFMF teachers I've been in contact with, Christina Vargas, is going to the same place.  Check out her blog!

I'm going to be visiting Katori, Chiba.  Katori is a very new city by Japanese standards.  From what I've been able to find, Katori was founded when the citizens of the towns of Sawara, Omigawa, Yamada and Kurimoto voted to merge into one larger town.  The merge took place on March 27, 2006.  Shortly after the merge, the new town of Katori adopted this flag: 

The flag of Katori features a stylized letter K.  I'm 

not sure what the colors or shape represent, but

I'm looking forward to finding out!

Merging of towns into a new city is a new idea for me.  In my local area, we have a lot of small towns that have been enveloped by the urban sprawl that comprises the Greater Metropolitan Orlando Area.  There are very few, however, that I can think of that would vote to abandon their individual identities. In Apopka, we have our own fire and police departments despite also being served by the county.  We are served by Orlando-based Orange County Public Schools, but those elementary, middle and high schools that exist within our city limits are proudly recognized by those who live here as "our Apopka schools."  The town where I live and work so cherishes its personality and local flavor that it holds its own teacher of the year ceremony aside from the one that OCPS presents.  I can't see John Land or the Apopka City Council ever supporting any motion to merge with Orlando or any other locale. 

So why would people in Japan vote to merge their four growing towns into one larger city? And how would they manage leadership-- a tetrarchy of some sort?  I thought about this question with my meager understanding that many Japanese think of the wa, or harmony of the group, as they make decisions.  Maybe having all of those town agencies stepping on each others' toes was too much for the local area to handle, and they wanted to streamline services.  I don't know, but I'm looking forward to asking these questions of their local government and sharing the answers with my class and community.  That's one of the main reasons I'm going on this trip, to learn and share!

One cool thing that I have found out, though, is that Katori is going to host some major handball tournament in 2010, and that their mascot for the tourney is a red dog named Cheever! Awesome!

Cheever!!  Click this link to go to a page

with PDF instructions on how to make 

your very own Cheever!