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June 11, 2003 |
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Lane Middle School on the monorail to Haneda Airport. If they looked relaxed, it's because they are relieved to have a seat after experiencing Tokyo rush hour traffic on the subways!
Belleville High School students enjoy matcha icecream sandwiches at Tokyo Station while waiting for their Shinkansen.
A Shinkansen, or "bullet train," arrives at Kyoto Station. The doors to the train will be open for 1 minute, so NP:J students are told to get on and off quickly. The trains in Japan are incredibly precise and they always run on time. If you take too long, you will miss your chance!
After a nearly three hour long Shinkansen (Bullet Train) trip, the Belleville West High School group arrives at Kyoto Station. Their luggage is full of omiyage, or special gifts from home for the school and their host families. Their real bags will be delivered to the school by a luggage service the next day.
Waiting on the local Nara Line train for departure. The local train is a big switch from the plush Shinkansen. The students stood on the crowded train through the remainder of their journey to Momoyama Station.
The Belleville West High School group poses one last time before entering their new high school.
Remember those big bags? Here, students are sorting out some of their omiyage while waiting to meet their host families. These are presents for the principal and teachers of Tachibana High School. |
Meeting New Families and Making New Friends On Monday, Center Grove, Lathrop, and Woodberry Forest left for their host schools. On Tuesday, the NP:J Fellows school groups followed suit. During this stage of the NP:J journey, each school group travels to a different part of Japan. This tour, the hosting schools are in the general Kanto and Kansai vicinities and are as follows:
Most groups will have to travel on the famous high-speed bullet trains, or Shinkansen, to get to their destination. The Shinkansen can reach speeds of 180 miles per hour, making it the second-fastest train on earth. The students thoroughly enjoy this travel experience, as it affords them the opportunity to travel in comfort while watching the beautiful scenery of Japan. Many of the Shinkansen routes provide views of traditional Japanese villages, as well as farms and forests, and some trains travel along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The route from Tokyo to Kyoto even offers an excellent view of Mt. Fuji in clear weather. (Although there were low clouds on this trip, the Palombi and Sharon groups did glimpse the top of Fuji-san from the train!) The day of departure from Tokyo is, perhaps, the most exciting day thus far for the NP:J participants. In addition to all of the details involved with moving from one location (Tokyo) to another (their host community), this is the day the students met their host families! It can be a bit stressful, as well as exhilarating. While each group experiences a slightly different reception at their host school and community, the experience of Belleville West High School is one example. After arriving at Kyoto Station on the Shinkansen, the Belleville West High School group still had another train to catch. This was no problem, as the group was well-rested after napping on the nearly three-hour long train ride from Tokyo. Another twenty-minutes later after a ride on a crowded local train, the students and teachers were met at the Momoyama Station by Talbot-sensei, Tachibana High School's English teacher. The lucky group rode to the high school in a mini-van complete with an electronic mapping device that doubled as a television set. Needless to say, the students were impressed. Finally at the school, the students were brought to a conference room to wait for their new host-brothers and sisters. In the meantime, the students and teachers organized their omiyage for the principal and teachers. Unfortunately, the scheduled meeting with the principal had to be postponed until Wednesday morning due to a conflicting meeting. The host brothers and sisters trickled into the room after their final classes while many other Tachibana High School students just stopped by to say hello to the visiting Americans and practice their English. Tachibana High is an international school and many of the students do a semester or year abroad in Australia or Canada to improve their English skills. The host students are particularly excited to gain some real life language experience before their time abroad! Once everyone arrived, the students and hosts quickly paired up and after a brief exchange of the pre-arranged omiyage, the Belleville high students were brought home to meet the family! Many of the families live far from the school, so students took buses and trains home -- the same buses and trains they will take to commute to school over the course of the week. So, all is well in Japan. The NP:J students are safe and sound and having a wonderful time learning about the day-to-day lives of their peers. We'll be posting our final two issues of the NP:J newsletter next Tuesday, June 17th and Friday, June 20th, when all of the participants gather together again in Kyoto at the Royal Rhiga Hotel. Until then..."ja, mata!" (See you later!)
Tachibana High School, where students and teachers from Belleville West High School will attend classes.
After a long day at school, these host sisters are excited to meet their new brother or sister! All the host sisters are third-year English students and many of them are preparing for a year of study abroad to begin this coming fall. They are looking forward to practicing their English! |
