Wednesday, November 29

Today is the final full day in Japan as a participant with the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund teacher program. As with any of my lengthy travel experiences, I feel a mixture of excitement to return to my regular, everyday life and sadness at the closing of an unforgettable, life-changing experience. I want to preface today's blog by pointing out that I consider myself fortunate beyond what I deserve to have had quite a few "life-changing" experiences over the first 1/4 of my life. Thanks to the sacrifice and support of my parents, I visited 7 countries while still a middle and high school student. Those People to People Student Ambassador Program journeys helped guide me to become a social studies teacher and a student of world culture. I learned what the phrase "paradigm shift" meant while experience one at the University of Utah attending an international conference of Operation Smile as a representative from my high school. I have traveled to 5 more countries with People to People as a delegation leader each of the past two summers. Rehearsing and performing in 17 states as a member of the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps and on and on. So as this chapter concludes, let me say thank you to everyone that has helped make all of those things possible.

And now, on with the final full day in Japan.

7:00am-8:30pm: Breakfast at hotel

I had a light western breakfast in the midst of our group discussing some final details of our pending presentation. We did not put much planning into the presentation until we got back to Tokyo. Last night, we did a rundown and held a more in-depth planning session. With Kevin, I will be demonstrating kendo utilizing light-saberesque swords we found at a 100 yen store.

9:00am: Group presentations

The group presentations were far more entertaining and interesting than I expected. My preconception was that we'd be bored as group after group told us about their prefecture experience. I was wrong.

Touching moments abounded as groups projected images of smiling children, related stories of amazing homestay families and read haiku. 3-4 people sang short pieces beautifully. One group created Pachinkopalooza (Pachinko is a gambling game that is popular in Japan) and did an all-out game show about their area in the style of Japanese television. Another group created their "Road to Paradise" and each shared a moving story as images flashed behind them. The Hiroshima group read the words of young children written in the days after August 6, 1945 as gripping images forced us to avert our eyes and then look back in horror at the effects of nuclear weapons. Some shared personal conflict over having parents who served in the American military during World War II and then meeting people and seeing the devastation caused by the atomic bomb firsthand. They concluded their presentation by providing each of us with a copy of an application to join the Mayors for Peace program where cities across the world pledge to work to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons. I am going to forward copies of the letter to the mayors of Hillsborough and Bernards Township when I return home.

Our presentation went wonderfully, far better than anticipated. It was hard to keep away the tears as my colleagues told the other 180 JFMFers about the wonderful people we met in Yukuhashi. Our kendo demonstration went off well and we performed with class and respect towards the artform as we should have. I ordered a video copy of our 15-minute presentation (including me doing kendo) so that should make for quite a souvenir when it arrives in the US in a couple weeks.

11:45am-1:15pm: Buffet lunch

We enjoyed another wonderful, mostly western lunch and then had some down time. I used that time to get as much packing done as possible so I don't have to worry about it tonight after the concert or tomorrow morning in the rush to get to the airport.

1:30pm: Group presentation

The final group presentation was done by a group that spent their week far south in the Okinawa island chain. They enjoyed sub-tropical weather conditions and an interesting fusion of Chinese and Japanese culture. Their presentation was entertaining and lively and brought all of the group reports together nicely.

They shared a Japanese word that has no counterpart in English that I think bears repeating as it represents what the JFMF program was all about.

Icharibachade (ee-cha-dee-bah-chou-day) - Once we meet, we are brothers and sisters.

2:00pm: Wrap-up

The head honcho of JFMF, Kyoko Jones, made an interesting statement during her wrap-up comments that I agree with strongly. She suggested that when we return to the US and our respective states, schools, families and friendships, we will experience culture shock that may be even more distinct than that which we experienced upon arrival in Japan. I commented on this possibility a bit over the last couple days. It is difficult to fully convey the meaning of this trip, even to those that wholeheartedly want to know and understand. I made some amazing friends here and I really hope we can all keep in touch when we get back home, in the short-term to help with the reacclimatization process and in the long-term as friends and colleagues.

During the free afternoon, Jason, Katie and I made the most of it and took the train to the Shibuya region of Tokyo which none of us had visited yet. It's a young, office worker district that includes what some say is the busiest intersection in the world as hundreds, if not thousands, of people cross the intersection in all directions (including diagonally) every few minutes. There is a scene in "Lost in Translation" depicted the intersection. The area is reminiscent of Times Square in New York with giant television screens and neon signs.

We had a snack of noodles and pot stickers while in Shibuya and then headed back to the hotel for some packing and down time.

6:30pm-8:30pm: Sayonara Buffet

The sayonara buffet included formal remarks from individuals representing the program and our group as well as a farewell toast. Once the formalities concluded, those of us going to the U2 concert (Kevin, Jason, Katie, Karen, and Rachel) made our exit. There was some miscommunication so we ended up not getting on the train until about 8:30 when the original plan was 7:15.

We arrived at Saitama Super Arena, across the city, a little after 9pm after running through stations, train transfers and up to the arena entrance. We joined the concert as U2 began performing "One," the last song in their main set. Luckily for us they played through two full encore sets so we ended up seeing about six songs I think.

While we didn't get to experience the entire U2 performance, it was still worth the money and effort. U2 is an iconic group, one that brings people together and it took me some time to get over the frustration of missing most of their set, but I appreciate the people I was with and the shared experience we had at the concert.

After the show, we joined the cosmopolitan crowd for the train ride back. We stopped at McDonald's for a snack and just enjoyed our last night together walking the area and then sitting up late talking in a hotel room. These really are great people and as either Kevin or Jason said last night, while the places we've seen and the things we've done have been unbelievable, the people we've met - teachers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in addition to everyone from Japan - provide the deep meaning that we'll carry with us far into the future.