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July 10, 2001

Our bus driver and bus guides. We had three buses and two shuttles transport us to the Rihga Royal Hotel. On our way to Kyoto!

NP:J Students Meet Japan The three flights which brought NP:J participants to the Kansai International Airport arrived either on time or a bit early and speedily made it through immigration and customs without any lost luggage. The Japan Airlines flight from Chicago held 105 of the NP:J participants along with an advisor and two staff members from our travel agency, Nippon Express Travel. Within an hour of arriving at Kansai, the participants loaded up their luggage in buses and prepared themselves for the hour and a half bus ride from the manmade island airport through Osaka and into Kyoto. The second flight on Northwest Airlines from Seattle held one school group which landed an hour later. This group followed in a separate shuttle, somehow making up time and arriving only a short time after the first group. The final group arrived at 5:40 pm on another Japan Airlines flight out of Los Angeles and made record time to the hotel, arriving by 7:00 pm! I hope their shuttle driver did not get caught by the radar cameras mounted along side the highway. (Let us not ask how fast the driver drove...) This third and final 2001 NP:J tour is the biggest in NP:J history with 119 total students and teachers. Here are the schools in alphabetical order. Aldo Leopold Community School, Wisconsin Blackhawk Middle School, Indiana Broad Ripple High School, Indiana Cape Henry Precollegiate School, Virginia Carroll High School, Indiana Cass Technical High School, Michigan Castle High School, Indiana Chesterton High School, Indiana Felix Festa Middle School, New York Forest Area High School, Michigan Lindbergh High School, Washington Marina High School, California Old Trail School, Ohio West Bloomfield High School, Michigan Wissahickon High School, Pennsylvania Woodworth Junior High School, Wisconsin Upon arriving at the Rihga Royal, participants checked into their rooms and tested one of four hotel dining experiences: Buffet Continental/American, Japanese Grilled-style meal (a la Benihana but without the fancy knife and juggling show), Sushi, or French cuisine in a revolving restaurant. Many students did not feel like eating dinner given the long travel day but managed to eat after all! But I wonder which restaurant the students considered tastiest? While students unpacked, teachers met with NP:J staff to go over logistical matters and to learn how to use Japanese cell phones. For those of us who are not in anywhere near the twenty somethings generation, getting used to new technology takes time. I also have a challenging time refreshing my memory from summer to summer to relearn how to use the phones! (Each school group is provided with a cell phone in case the students need to reach their teacher during the home stay portion of the trip or if NP:J staff need to reach the teacher or group during their stay in Japan.) Tomorrow begins the dash to see everything humanly possible, without abusing the feet too much. While the weather is quite humid and hot, the participants are itching to go. More photos and articles will follow. So please visit again! Sayonara!