As you know, Katie and I have been periodically getting out into the backyard, trying to make it look presentable so we can eventually throw fabulous garden parties this summer. So far, it hasn't proved to be the easiest of tasks, given that we have no easy way to mow the grass. I don't think I've ever seen or heard a lawnmower or weedeater in Japan. We resorted to using hedge clippers and small scythes to trim the grass as best we could, but of course we were left with an uneven mess - but no matter; it's not really important that it look perfect, just that it be short enough that it's not an attractive hiding place for snakes or other such unsavory creatures. So we were out there for a few hours on Sunday afternoon, whacking, cutting, clipping the brambles, and throwing half of the refuse into our compost pile and half into the drainage ditch behind the house - there's really nothing else we can do, really. It was hard work, but as it was a nice day - not too hot - it wasn't bad being outside, although I did discover that mosquitoes find me particularly delicious, despite the insect repellent I had slathered on myself.
So I get to school on Monday, at which time I'm informed that the school will be sending someone to our house on Thursday to cut our grass (the Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education owns the property and is responsible for maintaining it, although Katie and I always try to fix small problems ourselves). What luck! Just after we (mostly) finished doing that very thing ourselves, as best we could at least, given the tools we had to do the job. So now we get a professional - hurray! I can only wonder, though; is this just a coincidence? Why would the school pick this week to do some lawn maintenance, immediately after we tried doing the same for the first time since we started living at the house? Katie said that it's just because they're required to maintain the property, and it just so happens that this was the week they had planned to do it anyway, and the fact that we were just out there is simply coincidence. I suspect otherwise, however. What I think is that one of our neighbors saw us working out there, making a crap job of things, called the Board of Education and told them to have mercy on us and take matters into their own hands. I'm sure if any one of our neighbors did see us out there, it would have been quite the strange sight: two do-it-yourselfers, two foreign do-it-yourselfers, no less, practicing lawn maintenance in a country where practically no one has a lawn.
As an aside, I'd like to note that some of our neighbors have absolutely beautiful topiaries in front of their houses - immaculately trimmed hedges fashioned into elaborate shapes, bonsai trees, bushes and shrubs pruned just so, so that they would grow in the most aesthetically pleasing way. As I understand it, no one does this themselves - they hire professional landscapers. I'm not quite sure how expensive it is, but damn...I want a beautiful Japanese topiary, consarn it!
Anyway, I should also mention our garden. I'd mentioned our garden in a previous post, but I thought I'd provide a quick update on its progress. We have, now, tiny tomatoes! The plants look healthy, though we think they're in need of some pruning now. The two mature basils we bought and the mint are thriving. We threw down a ton of basil seeds once we learned that basil doesn't need to be spaced but a few centimeters apart, and now tiny little tops are peeking out of the ground. Soon, we'll have more basil than we know what to do with, which means a lot of pesto, bruscetta, and caprese. As for the bell peppers, well, I'm not quite sure. They look healthy, and they're budding, but I'm not sure what's going on there - maybe they take a long time to grow. Who knows? Still, Katie and I are very excited; it's so rewarding growing your own food.
Until next time,
-Robert
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Favorite new website
So I just joined this website called Postcrossing a few weeks ago. It's a program started by a guy who likes to receive real mail from all over the world, and it just so happens that I do as well. You can register your address and then request to receive an address to send a postcard to. You can have 5 going at any one time, so of the first 5 I sent, one went to Finland, one to the US, the third to England, another to South Africa, and the last one to Holland.
Once your postcard is received (confirmed by entering a handy ID code) your address is then in the pool to receive a postcard from somewhere random. I got my first one while I was on vacation, from exotic Winchester, VA. The photo was of Natural Bridge. Small world, isn't it? But I got two more today: one from Thailand and one from Finland.
I know it sounds scary--give out your address to strangers all over the world? But there are a few things that make it secure: first, users don't exchange postcards with people in their own country. So anyone who is seeing my address is at least across a large body of water. Also, I don't give out my last name, I think most people don't. And of the postcards I've received, they seem to come from very nice, normal people; the Thai girl is a university student who is studying English, and the Finnish boy signed his card "(name) and parents." The website only allows 5 postcards to go at a time, so it's a waste of time for companies and spammers. All in all I think it's a great idea, and a wonderful way to learn about the world. It's like having a local be my tour guide, without having to bother with long flights and taking time off work, and I've already gotten cards from towns I would probably have never heard of otherwise.
by Katie
Once your postcard is received (confirmed by entering a handy ID code) your address is then in the pool to receive a postcard from somewhere random. I got my first one while I was on vacation, from exotic Winchester, VA. The photo was of Natural Bridge. Small world, isn't it? But I got two more today: one from Thailand and one from Finland.
I know it sounds scary--give out your address to strangers all over the world? But there are a few things that make it secure: first, users don't exchange postcards with people in their own country. So anyone who is seeing my address is at least across a large body of water. Also, I don't give out my last name, I think most people don't. And of the postcards I've received, they seem to come from very nice, normal people; the Thai girl is a university student who is studying English, and the Finnish boy signed his card "(name) and parents." The website only allows 5 postcards to go at a time, so it's a waste of time for companies and spammers. All in all I think it's a great idea, and a wonderful way to learn about the world. It's like having a local be my tour guide, without having to bother with long flights and taking time off work, and I've already gotten cards from towns I would probably have never heard of otherwise.
by Katie
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The business (problem) of study abroad
I know I don't actually post all that often, but I'm trying to rectify that. The truth is that I'm too busy-- really! Read Bob's description of his average day, and then compare it to mine:
I leave the house at about 8:45, to arrive at school by 9:20 ("on time" in Japan means 10 minutes early.) The morning preschool classes begin at 10 and last till 2 (of course, lunch and a daily visit to the park are included; I'm not lecturing 3-year-olds for 4 hours.) On two weekdays, I have planning time in the afternoon; the other two weekdays I teach a 2-hour afterschool class for kids who go to Japanese elementary school. On Saturdays the schedule is flipped: I get to plan in the morning, and teach a 4-hour intensive English class in the afternoon. Add "parent comment" time to all these classes and I don't exactly have as much down time as Bob does. All that will change, of course, when he gets a new school in August, but until then he's got about 7 hours of teaching per week, and I've got 24.
Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of articles I found recently. The first is NYTimes article from last August, about an inquiry into the study abroad industry. It works like this: Schools can run their own programs in foreign countries, have exchange agreements with institutions abroad, or partner with a private company that runs similar programs. As far as I can tell, every university has all 3 of these options available. The problem with the private companies, though, is that they are too focused on the bottom line. In August 2007, some of these providers were caught bribing universities to get kids to sign up for their programs-- you can read the article here.
I understand why colleges use these companies: it's just too hard for every school to develop their own programs, or to partner with other schools. With thousands of institutions of higher education, it's just not possible. There isn't enough money, faculty, or time-- relationships between schools and local professors can take years to develop. The demand is increasing, too: over 200,000 students studied abroad in 2004-5, which is more than double from a decade ago. The Lincoln Commission just released a report stating its goal of sending 1 million American students abroad within 10 years. So schools turn to these companies to diversify their offerings. The problem with these companies is that they are too expensive and too sheltering.
The first part is easy to explain: third-party providers can, for example, provide a program that places students at a foreign university. However, directly enrolling in a foreign university often costs less, much less, than U.S. tuition. Exchange programs- where two students from different countries trade places- also have this problem. A friend of mine who studied in France told me she enjoyed her program, but was frustrated by the fact that she was paying a few thousand dollars (her normal UVA tuition) to be there, and her French classmates were sitting in the lecture halls for free. The private programs, however, usually cost upwards of $10,000 per semester, even $20,000-- and that's not including airfare. Few scholarships are available, so most of the kids who enroll in these programs are wealthy. Universities exacerbate this problem, too-- read the article above!
So the group of students on one of these programs is going to look pretty homogenous: most- if not all- have wealthy parents, and statistically speaking, they are likely to be white, female, liberal arts majors, college juniors, studying for 1 semester in Western Europe. But I'll get into that stuff another time. Essentially, students may be spending their semester with Americans who are very similar to them, so they won't have to step out of their comfort zone. Companies advertise their programs by offering "personal pre-departure advisors," and group field trips, which exclude the local student population. Depending on the program, some are not integrated into any foreign university, which is called an "island program." Americans take classes with Americans, study only in English, and live with Americans. I think the reasoning here is "Let's make our program sound exciting yet easy, not too different from an American campus, and lots of students will sign up!" Which equals lots of $$$. If a program is led by experienced, passionate faculty, has comprehensive student support services, and most importantly, has depth, then an private program may be the best fit for a student. But if programs are developed with attention to quantity and the bottom line, with little attention paid to quality- and this goes for university programs too, if they are developed poorly- those 1 million kids will have experiences closer to this. It's an article from the Onion, but it accurately captures aspects of the American college overseas experience.
When abroad, traditional learning often takes a backseat to experiential learning, but when done poorly, experience can be (according to Homer Simpson) "just a bunch of stuff that happened." If students remain in the "American bubble" the whole time and are never forced to step outside their comfort zone, they're not experiencing anything new at all.
by Katie
I leave the house at about 8:45, to arrive at school by 9:20 ("on time" in Japan means 10 minutes early.) The morning preschool classes begin at 10 and last till 2 (of course, lunch and a daily visit to the park are included; I'm not lecturing 3-year-olds for 4 hours.) On two weekdays, I have planning time in the afternoon; the other two weekdays I teach a 2-hour afterschool class for kids who go to Japanese elementary school. On Saturdays the schedule is flipped: I get to plan in the morning, and teach a 4-hour intensive English class in the afternoon. Add "parent comment" time to all these classes and I don't exactly have as much down time as Bob does. All that will change, of course, when he gets a new school in August, but until then he's got about 7 hours of teaching per week, and I've got 24.
Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of articles I found recently. The first is NYTimes article from last August, about an inquiry into the study abroad industry. It works like this: Schools can run their own programs in foreign countries, have exchange agreements with institutions abroad, or partner with a private company that runs similar programs. As far as I can tell, every university has all 3 of these options available. The problem with the private companies, though, is that they are too focused on the bottom line. In August 2007, some of these providers were caught bribing universities to get kids to sign up for their programs-- you can read the article here.
I understand why colleges use these companies: it's just too hard for every school to develop their own programs, or to partner with other schools. With thousands of institutions of higher education, it's just not possible. There isn't enough money, faculty, or time-- relationships between schools and local professors can take years to develop. The demand is increasing, too: over 200,000 students studied abroad in 2004-5, which is more than double from a decade ago. The Lincoln Commission just released a report stating its goal of sending 1 million American students abroad within 10 years. So schools turn to these companies to diversify their offerings. The problem with these companies is that they are too expensive and too sheltering.
The first part is easy to explain: third-party providers can, for example, provide a program that places students at a foreign university. However, directly enrolling in a foreign university often costs less, much less, than U.S. tuition. Exchange programs- where two students from different countries trade places- also have this problem. A friend of mine who studied in France told me she enjoyed her program, but was frustrated by the fact that she was paying a few thousand dollars (her normal UVA tuition) to be there, and her French classmates were sitting in the lecture halls for free. The private programs, however, usually cost upwards of $10,000 per semester, even $20,000-- and that's not including airfare. Few scholarships are available, so most of the kids who enroll in these programs are wealthy. Universities exacerbate this problem, too-- read the article above!
So the group of students on one of these programs is going to look pretty homogenous: most- if not all- have wealthy parents, and statistically speaking, they are likely to be white, female, liberal arts majors, college juniors, studying for 1 semester in Western Europe. But I'll get into that stuff another time. Essentially, students may be spending their semester with Americans who are very similar to them, so they won't have to step out of their comfort zone. Companies advertise their programs by offering "personal pre-departure advisors," and group field trips, which exclude the local student population. Depending on the program, some are not integrated into any foreign university, which is called an "island program." Americans take classes with Americans, study only in English, and live with Americans. I think the reasoning here is "Let's make our program sound exciting yet easy, not too different from an American campus, and lots of students will sign up!" Which equals lots of $$$. If a program is led by experienced, passionate faculty, has comprehensive student support services, and most importantly, has depth, then an private program may be the best fit for a student. But if programs are developed with attention to quantity and the bottom line, with little attention paid to quality- and this goes for university programs too, if they are developed poorly- those 1 million kids will have experiences closer to this. It's an article from the Onion, but it accurately captures aspects of the American college overseas experience.
When abroad, traditional learning often takes a backseat to experiential learning, but when done poorly, experience can be (according to Homer Simpson) "just a bunch of stuff that happened." If students remain in the "American bubble" the whole time and are never forced to step outside their comfort zone, they're not experiencing anything new at all.
by Katie
Monday, April 14, 2008
Katie's green thumb, among other things
Yesterday, Katie and I decided to transform our backyard into something that's not such an utter abomination. The first step in this epic struggle will be to get a decent vegetable garden going. We bought a few different varieties of tomatoes (roma and plum), red and yellow bell peppers, basil, and mint. We figured we'd get the most use out of those guys, even if others, such as zucchini or eggplant, might be easier to grow. We spent a few hours yesterday pulling up grass and weeds and turning up soil, and Katie's going to head to the home center today to buy bricks for making a raised garden so we can transfer the seedlings this afternoon. It's a grand experiment. I'll keep you posted on its progress.
Recently, I decided not to be such a shameless slacker and started taking actual Japanese lessons. I'm taking a couple, actually. Twice a week I do a program more focused on grammar, reading, and writing, and once a week I have conversation. Ok, technically the last one isn't exclusively a conversation class, but I'm going to call it one anyway because I'm talking to a living human being instead of working out of a workbook. In my spare time, I've also been making a more concerted effort to cram as many kanji into my head as possible. I'm not worrying so much right now about how to pronounce them, just learn what they mean. For example, I don't necessarily know that this character 起 can be read as "o" or "ki", but I do know that it means "get up". Once I learn the vocabulary "okiru" 起きる (to get up) or "kiritsu suru" 起立する (to stand up) I'll be able to remember the readings in context.
At the end of the month, Katie and I are going to Korea to visit our friend, Adam. We'll be taking the night bus to Fukuoka, and from there we'll take the high speed hydrofoil across the Sea of Japan and disembarking in Busan. I'm not exactly sure what the itinerary will be, but we'll head up to Seoul for at least a day or two, where we plan on taking part in the DMZ tour. Apparently, the USO runs a tour of the demilitarized zone, the strip of land that separates North and South Korea at the 38th parallel. It should be a hoot.
As for the summer, Australia is out of the question (we'll go sometime when prices aren't so ridiculous), so now we're looking at some more domestic tourism. And for that, we're looking north to the barren (by Japanese standards), snow-capped and wildflower-covered island of Hokkaido. It'll be nice to escape the oppressive heat and humidity that sits on the Kansai Region during mid-August. I'm especially interested in going to Hokkaido as it's one of the last vestiges of Ainu culture and civilization - the Ainu being the aboriginal people of the Japanese archipelago, sort of like the Native Americans back home. They're ethnically Caucasian, looking far more Siberian than East Asian, and are, among other things, the hairiest people in East Asia. Today, there are only a few hundred who can claim pure Ainu parentage, unmixed with the Yamato people we now know as the Japanese who drove them northward so long ago.
I've posted a backlog of pictures on the picasa web site. You can access them via this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/rmhollands . Please enjoy!
-Bob
Recently, I decided not to be such a shameless slacker and started taking actual Japanese lessons. I'm taking a couple, actually. Twice a week I do a program more focused on grammar, reading, and writing, and once a week I have conversation. Ok, technically the last one isn't exclusively a conversation class, but I'm going to call it one anyway because I'm talking to a living human being instead of working out of a workbook. In my spare time, I've also been making a more concerted effort to cram as many kanji into my head as possible. I'm not worrying so much right now about how to pronounce them, just learn what they mean. For example, I don't necessarily know that this character 起 can be read as "o" or "ki", but I do know that it means "get up". Once I learn the vocabulary "okiru" 起きる (to get up) or "kiritsu suru" 起立する (to stand up) I'll be able to remember the readings in context.
At the end of the month, Katie and I are going to Korea to visit our friend, Adam. We'll be taking the night bus to Fukuoka, and from there we'll take the high speed hydrofoil across the Sea of Japan and disembarking in Busan. I'm not exactly sure what the itinerary will be, but we'll head up to Seoul for at least a day or two, where we plan on taking part in the DMZ tour. Apparently, the USO runs a tour of the demilitarized zone, the strip of land that separates North and South Korea at the 38th parallel. It should be a hoot.
As for the summer, Australia is out of the question (we'll go sometime when prices aren't so ridiculous), so now we're looking at some more domestic tourism. And for that, we're looking north to the barren (by Japanese standards), snow-capped and wildflower-covered island of Hokkaido. It'll be nice to escape the oppressive heat and humidity that sits on the Kansai Region during mid-August. I'm especially interested in going to Hokkaido as it's one of the last vestiges of Ainu culture and civilization - the Ainu being the aboriginal people of the Japanese archipelago, sort of like the Native Americans back home. They're ethnically Caucasian, looking far more Siberian than East Asian, and are, among other things, the hairiest people in East Asia. Today, there are only a few hundred who can claim pure Ainu parentage, unmixed with the Yamato people we now know as the Japanese who drove them northward so long ago.
I've posted a backlog of pictures on the picasa web site. You can access them via this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/rmhollands . Please enjoy!
-Bob
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Katie's family's visit
Katie's family left for Itami Airport this morning at 6 AM in two taxis: one for them, and one for their luggage.
It was a sad farewell, not only because we enjoyed hosting them and were sad to see them go, but because of how quiet and empty our house seemed after they left.
Since I'm writing this account of their stay now, instead of as it happened, I can only remember the main details. But since I doubt you'd care to read all the nitty gritty details anyway, I think I can safely give them a pass.
-Katie's mom Roseann, her aunt Linda (her mom's sister), and Linda's friend Gwen arrived on Friday, the 21st of March.
-We spent Saturday and Sunday walking around Kyoto. Among the more notable things we did were staying at a Buddhist temple on Saturday night, visiting Kamigamo-jinja, Kurama Onsen, a machi-ya and the Higashiyama area which was all alight with lanterns on Sunday night.
-I had to work on Monday but Katie was off work, so she showed them around where we live. She took them to a 100 yen store, the grocery store, and various other places on the street in front of our house. On Monday night, Mr. and Mrs. Masaoka, my principal and his wife, came over for dinner. We served them chili, cornbread, and salad ("traditional" American food), and Katie made her famous guacamole. Mrs. Masaoka offered to show Katie's family around Nara on Wednesday and Thursday, since she went to university there and knows the area well.
-Tuesday, Katie and I were both at work, so our three guests went out on their own to visit Himeji Castle. Katie and I met them in Kobe for dinner, where we wanted to take them to an izakaya so they could try a variety of Japanese dishes. It was exceptionally crowded that night downtown (I later learned that it was because a lot of college students just graduated), and it was nigh impossible to secure a table anywhere. We ended up settling for a burger and sandwich place, which was hardly Japanese, but nevertheless tasty.
- Wednesday and Thursday, Mrs. Masaoka kept her word and led our guests around Nara. They saw all the usual sights such as Todai-ji, the Great Buddha, the deer at Nara Park, Horyu-ji, and Nara Women's University (where Mrs. M went to school). For a middle-aged Japanese woman, Mrs. Masaoka moves rather quickly, and our guests had quite the time keeping up with her. She took it easier on them on Thursday, moving at a slower pace and always trying to find escalators and stairs where available. Even so, she kept them out late, and on both days I arrived home from work before they came back.
-On Friday, while Katie and I were at work, our guests went shopping in Kobe (they had been enticed by all the big department stores they saw the last time they were in the city).
-Katie took off work on Saturday, and we all decided to go to Osaka. We stayed mainly around the northern Kita area of town, around Umeda station and its shops, but later that day we made it down to Osaka Castle and the surrounding park. We were originally going to eat dinner downtown in the lively southern district, but we decided that we'd rather eat some home-cooked lasagna which Linda graciously offered to make.
-Early Sunday morning, we hopped on the train to Kobe Airport and flew to Naha, Okinawa. Our first order of business was to see Shuri Castle, which was the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom before the Islands were appropriated by Japan. We spent some time exploring the castle grounds.
-Monday was a day of bloody history. As a brief aside, let me say that it's nigh impossible to negotiate Naha by public transportation; the buses run irregularly and at outrageous intervals. We actually had to "hire" a large taxi that could fit five people and would wait for us while we explored the sites. First, we went to the secret, underground base the Japanese military used during the Battle of Okinawa in WWII. It was a rag-tag series of tunnels with several alcoves set aside to serve as meeting rooms, medical facilities, or quarters for certain ranks. The most macabre and, for me, the most interesting part was the section of tunnel still riddled with shrapnel holes from when the Japanese soldiers killed themselves by detonating their own hand-grenades. Afterwards, we took a taxi to the Memorial Park commemorating the lives lost during the Battle of Okinawa. The memorial itself was quite impressive: black marble slabs engraved with the names of both the Japanese and the Allied troops who were killed. If you climb up the hill above the memorial, there are separate monuments dedicated to Japan's 47 prefectures. Finally, before going back downtown to dinner and eventually, our hotel, we went to Cape Kyan to search for the "suicide cliffs". We found cliffs, but I'm not sure if they were the ones Roseann was looking for.
-Tuesday morning, Roseann, Katie and I tried to find the only beach in Naha only to find its ocean view annoyingly obstructed by cranes and shipping crates. It seems that if you want the white sand beaches and cobalt blue shores your mind conjures up when you think, "Okinawa," then you need to get the hell out of Naha. At the same time, Linda and Gwen headed down to Kokusai Street to do a little souvenir shopping.
-Wednesday morning we returned to Kobe. Katie, Roseann, and I went to Osaka while Linda and Gwen returned to Amagasaki to revisit the 100 yen store. The three of us tried very hard to find the perfect birthday present for Katie's younger sister, Jennie, but to no avail. We went back home, Katie made some more guacamole, our three guests finished their packing, we went out to eat at the Chinese restaurant next door, and it ended up being an early night for everyone.
That's about it. Later I'll ask Katie to fill in any missing details she thinks are important enough to include here. She's much better at remembering things than I am.
That's all for now,
-Bob
It was a sad farewell, not only because we enjoyed hosting them and were sad to see them go, but because of how quiet and empty our house seemed after they left.
Since I'm writing this account of their stay now, instead of as it happened, I can only remember the main details. But since I doubt you'd care to read all the nitty gritty details anyway, I think I can safely give them a pass.
-Katie's mom Roseann, her aunt Linda (her mom's sister), and Linda's friend Gwen arrived on Friday, the 21st of March.
-We spent Saturday and Sunday walking around Kyoto. Among the more notable things we did were staying at a Buddhist temple on Saturday night, visiting Kamigamo-jinja, Kurama Onsen, a machi-ya and the Higashiyama area which was all alight with lanterns on Sunday night.
-I had to work on Monday but Katie was off work, so she showed them around where we live. She took them to a 100 yen store, the grocery store, and various other places on the street in front of our house. On Monday night, Mr. and Mrs. Masaoka, my principal and his wife, came over for dinner. We served them chili, cornbread, and salad ("traditional" American food), and Katie made her famous guacamole. Mrs. Masaoka offered to show Katie's family around Nara on Wednesday and Thursday, since she went to university there and knows the area well.
-Tuesday, Katie and I were both at work, so our three guests went out on their own to visit Himeji Castle. Katie and I met them in Kobe for dinner, where we wanted to take them to an izakaya so they could try a variety of Japanese dishes. It was exceptionally crowded that night downtown (I later learned that it was because a lot of college students just graduated), and it was nigh impossible to secure a table anywhere. We ended up settling for a burger and sandwich place, which was hardly Japanese, but nevertheless tasty.
- Wednesday and Thursday, Mrs. Masaoka kept her word and led our guests around Nara. They saw all the usual sights such as Todai-ji, the Great Buddha, the deer at Nara Park, Horyu-ji, and Nara Women's University (where Mrs. M went to school). For a middle-aged Japanese woman, Mrs. Masaoka moves rather quickly, and our guests had quite the time keeping up with her. She took it easier on them on Thursday, moving at a slower pace and always trying to find escalators and stairs where available. Even so, she kept them out late, and on both days I arrived home from work before they came back.
-On Friday, while Katie and I were at work, our guests went shopping in Kobe (they had been enticed by all the big department stores they saw the last time they were in the city).
-Katie took off work on Saturday, and we all decided to go to Osaka. We stayed mainly around the northern Kita area of town, around Umeda station and its shops, but later that day we made it down to Osaka Castle and the surrounding park. We were originally going to eat dinner downtown in the lively southern district, but we decided that we'd rather eat some home-cooked lasagna which Linda graciously offered to make.
-Early Sunday morning, we hopped on the train to Kobe Airport and flew to Naha, Okinawa. Our first order of business was to see Shuri Castle, which was the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom before the Islands were appropriated by Japan. We spent some time exploring the castle grounds.
-Monday was a day of bloody history. As a brief aside, let me say that it's nigh impossible to negotiate Naha by public transportation; the buses run irregularly and at outrageous intervals. We actually had to "hire" a large taxi that could fit five people and would wait for us while we explored the sites. First, we went to the secret, underground base the Japanese military used during the Battle of Okinawa in WWII. It was a rag-tag series of tunnels with several alcoves set aside to serve as meeting rooms, medical facilities, or quarters for certain ranks. The most macabre and, for me, the most interesting part was the section of tunnel still riddled with shrapnel holes from when the Japanese soldiers killed themselves by detonating their own hand-grenades. Afterwards, we took a taxi to the Memorial Park commemorating the lives lost during the Battle of Okinawa. The memorial itself was quite impressive: black marble slabs engraved with the names of both the Japanese and the Allied troops who were killed. If you climb up the hill above the memorial, there are separate monuments dedicated to Japan's 47 prefectures. Finally, before going back downtown to dinner and eventually, our hotel, we went to Cape Kyan to search for the "suicide cliffs". We found cliffs, but I'm not sure if they were the ones Roseann was looking for.
-Tuesday morning, Roseann, Katie and I tried to find the only beach in Naha only to find its ocean view annoyingly obstructed by cranes and shipping crates. It seems that if you want the white sand beaches and cobalt blue shores your mind conjures up when you think, "Okinawa," then you need to get the hell out of Naha. At the same time, Linda and Gwen headed down to Kokusai Street to do a little souvenir shopping.
-Wednesday morning we returned to Kobe. Katie, Roseann, and I went to Osaka while Linda and Gwen returned to Amagasaki to revisit the 100 yen store. The three of us tried very hard to find the perfect birthday present for Katie's younger sister, Jennie, but to no avail. We went back home, Katie made some more guacamole, our three guests finished their packing, we went out to eat at the Chinese restaurant next door, and it ended up being an early night for everyone.
That's about it. Later I'll ask Katie to fill in any missing details she thinks are important enough to include here. She's much better at remembering things than I am.
That's all for now,
-Bob
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