R.I.F.

. . . stands for "Reading Is Fundamental"

i'm trying to learn how to read Japanese, b/c i really hate the guessing game i play every time i get on a train, or try and figure out a menu, so i broke down and bought a little keychain that has blank flashcards on it (a lot of the kids here use them for school, but i'm going to use them to teach myself hiragana, which is alphabet 1 of 3).

eventually i'll move on to katakana (alphabet #2) and if i feel REALLY brave, i'll tackle kanji (chinese characters, which make up alphabet #3)

i've also been going around a lot by myself lately. i've been exploring a lot of the different places around here (going on the trains to a big station, then walking around). found this little british pub/restaurant in Ikebukuro called "The Glass Hopper" so i went in to see how "british" it really was. apart from everybody there being japanese, and myself being the only person of any british descent, the place was soo super victorian that i felt like i was off in the UK instead of Tokyo. mahogany trim, deep red carpeting, and even the velveted wallpaper that i still find fascinating.

as i sat there alone, i was approached by the people around me who all wanted a chance to try and talk to "the foreigner"

felt like a scene right out of "lost in translation"

and i really liked it

the end

Earthquake in Ishikawa

Hello all,

Apparently, there was a huge earthquake that struck Japan today, but it was all the way over in Ishikawa prefecture (state), while I'm on the other side of the country, in Tokyo prefecture (please refer to the map I have provided if you are wondering). Ishikawa kinda looks like a mitten sticking out into the Sea of Japan (western side) around the middle of the country, but as you can see, Tokyo is on the other side. Now, it doesn't look very far, but don't forget that the interior of Japan is covered in mountain ranges, so its as if i'm on the other side of the Rockies from the epicenter. So don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. Just keep those people who lost their homes and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.

Kyoto trip part 1

Greetings and Salutations,

Since I can only post a few pics on here at a time, I decided to break up the Kyoto trip into a few different posts.

The first one is of all of us waiting for the Shinkansen (bullet train) that would take us from Tokyo Station all the way to Kyoto in about 2 hours. Including the teachers that went along, there were 51 of us total (45 8th graders) and getting everybody on the train at the same time was kind of a pain, but not as bad as i had expected.

Once on the train, some people slept, some people played cards, but I tried to get pics of the countryside. Notice how close the mountains were to the farms.

We arrived in Kyoto, and immediately got on another train that took us to Nara (Japan's First capital). apparently, there is a huge park where deer roam freely and if they get a whiff of any food, they will become a little too friendly.

This next pic is of Todai-ji, or the largest wooden structure existence. It is a Buddhist temple and inside there is a huge statue of the Buddha. those of you that had me for social studies, should recognize this building from your textbook. . . and i saw it in person!!

The last pic i am very proud of. Inside of Todai-ji (under the Buddha) was a stand where people would light candles and pray about whatever, and on this particular stand there was only this single candle with a huge flame and I liked it.

Well, my kids are almost out of gym, so i will write more later

Oh, and a big congratulations to Mr. Costanzo on the birth of his new baby boy!!!

Next Big Adventure

Greetings and Salutations,

This will be a short one, b/c I just rolled in from 2 days in Kyoto and I am wicked tired.

The trip was a lot of fun, and I took a rediculous amount of pictures, so I will post more later

Now, I must sleep

The end

Big Adventure #1

Greetings and Salutations

What a day! Today (Saturday) was my first big adventure out on the train system by myself.
Started the day at Doutour (its a coffee-shop chain around here) with a small cappuccino (notice the size comparison with my book and keys). Next it was off on the trains first to Ikebukuro, then to Shibuya, where I met up with an old friend, Megumi. We went to a party for one of her friends, then hung out in that part of Tokyo for the afternoon. Later, we were walking around, and decided to go down by the Tamagawa river (actually "gawa" means "river" so we were really saying "Tama river river"). As we were leaving the riverside, a group of strangers called us over to their barbecue and asked us if we wanted anything. The next hour or so was one of the most random i've ever had. Nothing like hanging out under a train bridge with a bunch of Japanese people (whose names I still cannot remember) eating barbecue and trying to keep a fire going with whatever we can find nearby.

After Megumi and I were so frozen that we could barely pick up anything, we decided to bid a fond farewell to our new friends and continue on with our day. After a dinner of Tonkotsu Ramen (pork base... mmmmm) we went to some coffee shop in Shibuya. Now, as I write this, I am back in my little room, ready to go sleep and wake up tomorrow to do it all over again.

Keep it real

Jet lag is a pain

Konnichiwa everybody

Sorry I haven't updated sooner, but I haven't had much access to a computer as of late, and my time on this machine is very limited, so I will have to make this short:

After a long and boring flight, I arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon at about 2:15 Tokyo Time (what time would that have been in Philly)? Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi picked me up at the airport and were nice enough to drive me to CAJ. After I finally met my host family (well, I only met Minako b/c Darren is in Cambodia right now), the Takahashis took me to an Onsen and then out for dinner.

Wednesday I spent at CAJ meeting the staff, my cooperating teachers, some of the students, and basically learning a lot of random peoples' names. Went home and had dinner, then ended up crashing at about 8pm.

Today (Thursday) I biked to school and was asked last minute to be a chaperone on the 9th and 10th grade field trip to the Tokyo-Edo museum. The museum dealt with the development of Tokyo from the Tokugawa period all the way through WW2. I'll post pics later b/c like i said earlier, I am not on my own machine.

I miss everyone, and will update soon

Back Home...

Greetings and Salutations

erik likes cake

Well, it is Saturday afternoon and I am writing this from the kitchen table at my parents' house. First, to answer some questions. No, the time and date thing is not broken. I set it up so that either when I make a post, or someone comments on a post, the time will be the same time that it is in Tokyo (my time). Why did I do that. . . I'm really not sure, but I'm going to keep it like that, so deal with it.

I loved the poem from big, bad Mr. C. Very creative, plus 5 on your next quiz. Also, some of you have found my myspace, and I apologize if you have sent me a friend request and I have denied it, but I have a tendency to only check that account very rarely, and if I have a lot of friend requests I figure that they are all people I don't know, so I just deny everyone. . . so, I apologize.

See you all soon. . .

Last day at MaST

well, today was my final day at MaST teaching my 7th graders to be SocialStudiologists. I must say, it was a very bittersweet moment today. Basically, we had parties all day long, and I ended up eating way too much cake. I'll miss all of you guys, and will do my best to learn from what you've all told me: be meaner, do more group projects, play games, etc).

Thank you all for making my time at MaST a lot of fun, and thank you for all the cards and posters. I made sure to take pics of all the things you guys wrote on the board so that I can remember all of you. I took all the posters and cards, and I'm going to hang them up around my room.

Oh, whenever I tell people about my last day, I'll make sure to tell them that the school threw me a pep rally too!!

Final Preparations

Greetings and Salutations

The above picture was taken the last time I was in Japan and I am so excited to go back and get some good sushi.

Well, this is my last week at MaST, and to be honest, I am pretty sad about that. I have really learned a lot here, and you guys have been great to me. Trust me, though, Mr. C is an amazing Social Studies teacher and you will definitely learn a lot from him. Don't be surprised if Mr. C does a lot of the same things that I did, because I learned a lot of them from him originally. Good luck with all your future lessons and hopefully I'll get to see you all when I come back.

I'll be arriving in Japan on Tuesday the 13th and will be taking the train out to Higashi Kurume, which is where I will be for the next 3 months. The school that I will be working at is called CAJ, which stands for Christian Academy in Japan. As of right now, I do not have a phone number for where I will be staying, but if anyone wants to email me phone numbers (chi, ryosuke, shingo, etc) I'll try to get in touch with you as soon as I can.

the first one

Greetings and Salutations to all.
I am setting up this blog so that while I am in Japan, friends of mine can keep up with my exploits.
I will be finishing up my student teaching in Philly in a week, and though I will miss my students, I am excited for the challenges ahead of me.

You will hear more from me soon