Tuesday, May 29, 2007

pictures pictures pictures

so, since I can only post like 4 or 5 pictures at a time on here, i've been using my facebook site to post all my pictures from Japan, so i found a way to let everyone who does not have a facebook account still see my pictures, so just go the link below, and you can see the albums i've made:

first album i made of my trip:
http://pbu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005845&l=86d06&id=170100059

my trip to Kyoto with the 8th graders:
http://pbu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005212&l=60209&id=170100059

a few weeks into my stay here:
http://pbu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005433&l=0e0fa&id=170100059

some of my day to day events:
http://pbu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005521&l=58409&id=170100059

a couple of weeks ago:
http://pbu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005680&l=070cd&id=170100059

with 2 weeks left in Japan:
http://pbu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005845&l=86d06&id=170100059

i'll have more pics up before i come back. hopefully i'll actually get some of my host family, and some from the school up before i leave

Friday, May 25, 2007

First, an apology

Greetings and salutations,

first, i want to apologize for my lack of updates. i have been teaching 2 different grades here at CAJ, and between lesson preparations, and grading assessments, i have managed to keep myself quite busy. plus, i've made it a point to spend as much of my weekends away from my house as i possibly can, so my time for reflection has been quite limited.

I have turned the 8th grade class back over to their teacher, and though it was difficult, i learned a lot. they are a quiet bunch who do not easily speak up in class, but they are very bright, and have given me some great insights in the lessons we have been having together. my 11th graders are really good kids too. right now we're talking about the Civil Rights movement (one of my favorite times in recent American history), and the questions that they have been posing have been really interesting for me to try and answer. the seniors here are really good kids too. they are a small group, but fairly tight-knit. almost like a big family.

it has been different for me to be here and experience all of this, but i will definitley be sad to go. i have determined that i want to return to this country in the future, but to what extent or capacity, i do not know. i am excited to return to the States and see all of you, and i am excited to see what all of you at MaST have been learning. i want to come visit the school at some point, but right now i do not know exactly when.

if anyone knows of a school looking for substitutes, or openings for middle or high school social studies teachers, please please please let me know

oh yeah, my Master's degree came to my house in the mail today, so i'm no longer a grad student. . . i'm a grad

finally!!!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Graduation

So maybe because I'm not around Philly right now I forgot when graduation from PBU is... it was today

I'm supposedly done with school now, even though I'm still student teaching here at CAJ for another few weeks.

Also, I went to Karuizawa again on friday and the sakura was in bloom up there. absolutely gorgeous.

well, i need sleep before my big day tomorrow. I need to do a lot of planning for this next week, and i'm already pretty exhausted, so i'll need a lot of strength to get that done.

bye bye

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

tuesday evening

i just saw spiderman 3 in roppongi hills

no, i will not tell you what happened

the end