Tuesday, October 17, 2006 10:00 p.m.
I’m back in Tokyo, but I’ll try to catch up on the last couple of days.
Monday morning we met with a group of parents in Joyo and discussed some education issues. There is a big concern here over the decline in population. Every school we visited had many empty classrooms. The parents said a major concern is that the majority of the population is aging and the young people will not be able to care for the older people.
We discovered that the public schools here are not free. Parents pay from $70.00 to $110.00 a month for elementary and junior high school. Senior high school is not mandatory so parents pay much more, around $1000.00 a month. They also pay for the required uniforms and any extra activities. The parents guessed that about 20% of families get state assistance. And many students go to “cram” schools, juku, on weekends and evenings to learn more and get ready for the very difficult exams the students take. High exam scores are required for students to get into good high schools and universities, and these schools also cost a lot.
The parents seemed satisfied with the large class sizes and want their students to become productive members of society.
We discovered that parents and teachers on the other side of the world have many of the same concerns as we do here in America.
Monday afternoon we had a brief tour of Joyo and visited some temples. We were served green tea and sweet potato cakes at one shrine. It was beautiful.
Late in the afternoon we went to a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel. The floors were covered with tatami mats and we ate very traditional food. We were also served sake and beer with our dinner, and we slept on futons. Green tea is grown in this part of Japan so we have had green tea to drink, greet tea cookies, shampoo, soap, candy, you name it.
The ryokan was in Uji, an ancient town up in the mountains. Before dinner, a group of us went for a long walk up the mountain to a pottery school. We watched some people make pottery and then the owner took us up a hill behind the studio to see a very old fashioned kiln made of pressed mud and straw. It is heated with wood and it takes days to fire it up to make the pottery. It was huge and fascinating. This way of making pottery is probably 1000 years old, so it was wonderful to see the kiln. And, of course, I bought a few things.
The ryokan was right on the river so we slept with the windows open and listened to the river all night long. It was great, but in the morning most of us wished we could have Cheerios and milk instead of fish, rice, unrecognizable vegetables and … green tea.
We took the bullet train back to Tokyo and a few of us went to the National Museum of Japan. I saw beautiful kimono, paintings on rice paper and silk, and samurai armor and swords. Wow!! After seeing these things only in books, this was an amazing sight. And, of course, I did a little shopping.
And I admit we found an Italian restaurant and had pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow morning, each group makes a presentation of their prefecture visit. I am introducing our presentation. Then in the evening we have a final reception, and I leave for home early Thursday morning. I hope to post another message before I come home, but I may not have time.
What an amazing trip this has been!
Sayonara!
I’m back in Tokyo, but I’ll try to catch up on the last couple of days.
Monday morning we met with a group of parents in Joyo and discussed some education issues. There is a big concern here over the decline in population. Every school we visited had many empty classrooms. The parents said a major concern is that the majority of the population is aging and the young people will not be able to care for the older people.
We discovered that the public schools here are not free. Parents pay from $70.00 to $110.00 a month for elementary and junior high school. Senior high school is not mandatory so parents pay much more, around $1000.00 a month. They also pay for the required uniforms and any extra activities. The parents guessed that about 20% of families get state assistance. And many students go to “cram” schools, juku, on weekends and evenings to learn more and get ready for the very difficult exams the students take. High exam scores are required for students to get into good high schools and universities, and these schools also cost a lot.
The parents seemed satisfied with the large class sizes and want their students to become productive members of society.
We discovered that parents and teachers on the other side of the world have many of the same concerns as we do here in America.
Monday afternoon we had a brief tour of Joyo and visited some temples. We were served green tea and sweet potato cakes at one shrine. It was beautiful.
Late in the afternoon we went to a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel. The floors were covered with tatami mats and we ate very traditional food. We were also served sake and beer with our dinner, and we slept on futons. Green tea is grown in this part of Japan so we have had green tea to drink, greet tea cookies, shampoo, soap, candy, you name it.
The ryokan was in Uji, an ancient town up in the mountains. Before dinner, a group of us went for a long walk up the mountain to a pottery school. We watched some people make pottery and then the owner took us up a hill behind the studio to see a very old fashioned kiln made of pressed mud and straw. It is heated with wood and it takes days to fire it up to make the pottery. It was huge and fascinating. This way of making pottery is probably 1000 years old, so it was wonderful to see the kiln. And, of course, I bought a few things.
The ryokan was right on the river so we slept with the windows open and listened to the river all night long. It was great, but in the morning most of us wished we could have Cheerios and milk instead of fish, rice, unrecognizable vegetables and … green tea.
We took the bullet train back to Tokyo and a few of us went to the National Museum of Japan. I saw beautiful kimono, paintings on rice paper and silk, and samurai armor and swords. Wow!! After seeing these things only in books, this was an amazing sight. And, of course, I did a little shopping.
And I admit we found an Italian restaurant and had pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow morning, each group makes a presentation of their prefecture visit. I am introducing our presentation. Then in the evening we have a final reception, and I leave for home early Thursday morning. I hope to post another message before I come home, but I may not have time.
What an amazing trip this has been!
Sayonara!
posted by JDieckman | 1:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home