June 24, 2004

The Eaton High School students at Kyoto Station. The escalators go up quite far! Looking down is not for those with vertigo!

Eaton on their way to Gion for the Gion Corner performance. Gion Corner is a place where visitors can see a bit of Kyogen (traditional comedy), Bunraku (traditional puppetry), Kyomai (Kyoto style of traditional dance), Gagaku (traditional court music), Tea Ceremony, and Flower Arranging.

But before arriving at the perfomrance hall, the Eaton group stops for udon noodles. Looks yummy!

Last Day in Japan!

Today was the last full day in Kyoto, and Japan, for the NP:J Tour One participants. The students and teachers arrived in Kyoto just after a typhoon passed over Japan. Although we have been expecting more rain during the rainy season, there just hasn't been any rain significant enough for an umbella. While this makes it a lot easier to get around town, if it doesn't rain soon, there is a bit of concern about the potential for a drought.

For the past three days, each school group has excitedly ventured out to see the sights of Kyoto, Osaka, Himeji, Kobe, and Nara. While many participants visited the famous, must see sites such as Kiyomizu temple, Ryoanji, and Kinkakuji, a few groups explored sites not visited by NP:J participants before–Toji Temple and the interpretive center at the Akashi Kaikan bridge which is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. A couple of groups tried out a newly added activity: the Zen experience where participants had to sit quietly and meditate on nothingness. Students seemed to enjoy visiting all of these sites although they do seem to be tiring. These participants will probably sleep for three days straight upon returning home!

In addition to their scheduled sightseeing, one very common activity during the last day is to finish shopping for family, friends and themselves. Some groups also spend their last evening having a dinner in a fancy restaurant, then return back to the hotel to squeeze all of their purchases and gifts into their suitcase and backpacks. Most students will be up quite late tonight trying to get their things in order. Actually, there really isn't much time for doing this as five school groups have to be checked out of the hotel by 5:45 am Friday morning and on a bus bound for Itami airport to take a flight to Narita then onward to the States. In order to be ready, students and teachers need to have their bags packed and ready to go by 11 PM Thursday night.

While many are tired and happy to be returning home to their family and friends, it seems that the study tour has been a worthwhile and meaningful experience for the teachers and students. The trip has definitely inspired many students to look into Japanese language courses when they arrive home.

In closing, the staff of The Laurasian Institution wants to convey a warm and hearty "Thank You!" to the families and friends of our students; to the teacher/chaperones who gave so much of themselves; to our funders, The Freeman Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership; and---last but not least---to our NP:J students. Watching these students experience Japan (most for the first time) helps staff and teachers rediscover this beautiful culture anew with each tour. We hope all of our NP:J students continue to show an interest in Japan and in becoming more internationally aware. We wish you the best of luck with your future!

The next time you have an update about this group's Japan trip will be from the participants themselves! Most of the groups will be boarding airplanes tomorrow. We hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into what each group has experienced during their time in Japan. Thank you for visiting our website.