Playing Catch-Up

Blogging In My Head…
I almost do not have words to express what I am seeing, doing, hearing, and learning on this trip to Japan! Blogging has become somewhat intimidating due to the fact that I believe if I told everyone everything that I’d like to, it would mean staying up all night, and frankly, I need my sleep! I am constantly seeing, doing, or eating something that makes me think “Boy, wouldn’t my students think this was so cool!” or “Wow, we drew pictures of that in the art room!” or “Hey, my 4th and 5th graders know about the fish market!”.

Each day has been so perfect so far, I just keep thinking it can’t get any better, yet somehow, it does! Every single day is a life of its own (a rather nice expression I learned at one of our visits to a Buddhist Temple on Saturday).

For the past week I’ve been treated like a V.I.P…maybe even royalty. I don’t believe I’ve ever felt so important. This trip is so nicely planned out and we have been so well taken care of, that I may be a bit spoiled when I return. Not one moment is wasted and we have very little free time, but none of us want that anyway. We are all too enthusiastic about seeing all we can see and learning all we can learn about Japan.

A few Tokyo highlights of the past week include:
· A visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market at 5:00 a.m., Oct. 15 (Wednesday)
This was a rather extreme sort of outing. I went with 3 other teachers and we all decided it was beyond our imaginations! I saw fish I didn’t know existed or could never imagine anyone wanting to eat! We did spend the entire time we were there dodging forklifts and small trucks and trying not to get run over or cussed at by the many buyers and sellers of fish. This is the largest fish market in the world.
· Riding the Tokyo subway for the first time! Oct. 16 (Thursday)
This is something I recommend doing with another person (or more). Since I’ve never ridden on a subway of any kind (and I’m not talking about the sandwich shop), I was happy just putting my trust in someone else and following. It was quite the experience. People in Tokyo move very quickly and you’d better be ready to either move with them or move out of their way! I noticed one of the results of all of this rushing from place to place…as soon as many of the locals get seated on the train, they fall asleep, with their head dropped down front or to the side. I think they are exhausted!
· Shopping the Harajyuku area – Chicago’s – The 100 Yen Store, October 16 (Thursday)
After our first subway ride, we headed down Omote-Sando looking for a store called “Chicago”. This is a second hand store where many of the local teens shop, but in the back of the store is a section full of used kimonos for men and women, plus whatever accessories one might need. Several in our group found great bargains on kimonos. I won’t tell you if I found one or not…you’ll have to wait and see.

We then went in search of the 100 yen store (like our Dollar Store). Think about it, since 1 yen = 1 penny, what does 100 yen equal? See? You, could easily figure out Japanese money. Ha! More on that later…

Anyway…we found this store in the middle of the alley that headed off of the main drag. It was full of shops and shoppers, mostly teens. Among those shops was the 100 yen store. My first impression was that it was a bunch of junk. I thought, shoot, we’ve got this same junk in our dollar stores at home. So I headed outside to wait with several others, who were equally unimpressed. Strange thing was, those still inside seemed to just disappear and were in there for such a long time. Those waiting just could not imagine what they were finding. Once our fellow shoppers emerged from the 100 yen store, we found out that there were actually 4 floors to this store, not just the one. Oops! Should have been a bit more observant! I forgot that most stores in Japan have multiple floors…even the 100 Yen Store!

So, that is my story so far…
I have about a million other things to tell you, but must go to bed for now. We get up early, early, early in the morning in order to be at one of the elementary schools of my host city before the students arrive. We are going to observe their arrival. I will tell more of my Tokyo adventure a bit later, plus the equally amazing experiences I am having here in Kumamoto and Uki City. Oh, and yes, in case you didn’t figure it out, I am no longer in Tokyo, rather I am in on the southern island of Japan called Kyushu. We are staying in Kumamoto, but will be visiting the students of Uki City (near here) and I will stay with a family in that same town. More on that later…keep watching and thanks for keeping up with me!

Arigato Gozaimasu,
Mrs. Brigman

See LOTS of Japan pictures on Flickr at www.flickr.com/roomforart

Follow My Adventures on Flickr...For Now

Konnichiwa!
OK...Here's the latest scoop for now. Until I get a bit more time in my room to post to this blog, I recommend you follow me on Flickr (www.flickr.com/roomforart) where I am posting my photos. This is the quickest thing I'm able to do as I "dump" them off of my camera each day in order to make room for more!

I've already seen and learned so much and made so MANY new friends (remember? "tomodachi!"), like my new friend Mieko, who was my guide in Kamakura (Big Buddha, boys and girls!!). I think she is now my new Japanese mother!! I am preparing to head for my host city in a couple of hours and am about to head to breakfast before I leave.

I have so much I want to tell you all, but hopefully the photos on Flickr will give you some idea of my adventure in Japan. Be aware as you check out these photos, many are not rotated, labeled or edited (may have some repeats or blurry ones). I'll get to that later.

Sayonara for now,
Brigman Sensei

Sleepless in Tokyo!

DAY ONE

Well, there's no turning back now! (...not that I would want to...) I've arrived safely in Tokyo and am running on very little sleep. My family knows that I need my sleep, so they should be impressed at how well I'm doing. It was next to impossible to sleep on the plane, and my plan to get a solid night's sleep last night was unsuccessful. It's actually 4:30ish in the morning here in Tokyo, which means it's 2:30 in the afternoon at home.

We arrived to a wet and muggy Tokyo at about 4:45 yesterday afternoon and then it took us almost 3 hours to get to the hotel. Between Immigration, Customs, luggage and hiking to our buses, it took a while just to get away from the airport, then another hour and a half (or so) to get through heavy traffic to our hotel. I was soooo tired upon arrival and was tempted to just go crash, but there were a number of volunteers (mostly college students) who took small groups of us out to eat.

We headed to the nearby Akasaka area, full of restaurants and other exciting looking establishments, including a McDonald's and a Subway. (I hear the McShrimp Burger is pretty good.) Anyway, we ended up in a neat little cafe that mostly served soba and udon noodles. I had a bowl of rice with a sort of vegetable tempura pattie on top. It was delicious!

The owner (or manager or fellow in charge or whatever he was) at the little restaurant (and I mean little) was hilarious! He spoke no English, but allowed us to deviate from the regular menu and order separate items. As he spoke with our hostess, he would bow and say "hai! hai!" (meaning "yes! yes"!) very loudly and enthusiastically to whatever she was asking him. He knew we were clueless Americans and was doing whatever he could to make us happy. He even came out and got in the middle of a photo we were taking of each other outside of the restaurant - and we didn't even see him until after taking it! He was there behind us just smiling and posing for the camera, looking like our best friend. As soon as I get a copy of that photo, I will post it here.

So, why don't I have a copy of that right now, you ask? Sadly, I was in such a rush to get my stuff put in my room and join my hostess, that I forgot my own camera! I need my camera tied to me, because I know I will want to take countless photos...I'd better not forget it again! I did take a few pictures from our flight, which I am posting below.

Time to get ready for my day...it's going to be a busy one! Who needs sleep?

Sayonara for now,

Mrs. Brigman

Waiting to board our plane in San Francisco.

It was fun to watch the progression of my flight over the Pacific Ocean. (This is on the monitor in the back of the chair in front of me. I could alternate between this, movies, or music.)

Lunch on the way to Japan. It was better than it looks.

More progression of my flight...getting closer to Japan! The line you see running from bottom to top is the International Date Line. When we flew across that, we jumped into the next day !

Butterflies in My Tummy

Perhaps some of my students remember the idiom project we did last year. One of the idioms that some of you chose to illustrate was "Butterflies in the Stomach". We've all experienced that sensation, but right now your art teacher has some really giant, obnoxious, mutant butterflies! And, as you can probably guess, it's all because of this little (make that HUGE) adventure I'm about to undergo! Yes, boys and girls, we're down to the last few hours on American soil before I get on a big jet plane and head to the Far East...the Land of the Rising Sun! Japan!

I'm dealing with my butterflies just fine at the moment, thanks to all the great hugs and good wishes I've received this week from my many affectionate and excited art students at Walker and Shaw. Thank you all for encouraging me and sharing your excitement with me! I will be taking you all with me...in spirit. Several of you asked to fit in my suitcase...but it's just not big enough! So instead I'll be bringing some of the great art you created to share with the new friends I meet while in Japan.

Keep watching this blog for future posts and pictures. Things are about to get interesting!!

Sayonara,

Mrs. Brigman

Megumi and Kendall

We enjoyed a very fun day the other day with my brother and his family in Bella Vista. He has two beautiful daughters. Madeline is 11 years old and Kendall is 10 months old. They are both lovely girls on the inside and out! Now that Madeline is in middle school, she tends to be a bit too busy for our boring adult conversations, plus, she had a girlfriend over and they mostly disappeared downstairs. Kendall, though, was in the middle of everything. We were able to bring our new friend, Megumi, with us and she and Kendall really hit it off. I just had to share this precious picture of them together. Check out Kendall's new teeth!

Working Hard in Art

Being Creative is Fun...
...and it also helps if we have great focus and concentration. As you can see by these recent photos of students at work in the Walker and Shaw Art Rooms, my students are GREAT at staying focused, concentrating, creating, and having fun!

In these photos 2nd - 5th grade students are illustrating images from Japan. We have a wide variety of photographs we are using, including anything from sushi to the bullet train (the Shinkansen), to the Big Buddha in Kamakura! Some classes are using ink and pastel, while others are using pencil and watercolors.

Our first grade students are not illustrating from photos, rather they are illustrating the pictures they had in their mind when they heard the Japanese story called "The Dragon's Tears". It was pretty exciting, so they have lots of great ideas for their illustrations.

I can't wait to share a few of these in our hallways. If only I were Wonderwoman and could hang ALL of them!

Enjoy checking out these photos of our students at work...

Geijutsu!

WORD OF THE DAY
Perhaps you've noticed the little area of this blog called "JAPANESE WORD OF THE DAY". Did anyone notice the word today (Monday, September 15)? It's GEIJUTSU (sounds like "gey-joot-zoo"), and it means "ART" or "THE ARTS". I just had to point that out, since I know it will change tomorrow. We love geijutsu at Walker and Shaw! GEIJUTSU ROCKS!!

See you soon!
Mrs. Brigman
Geijutsu Sensei
(I realize that the above translation for "art teacher" is probably incorrect. If you speak Japanese, please correct me!)

Megumi's Visit

MEGUMI AND THE BRIGMANS

Yesterday was our first home visit with our new Japanese friend, Megumi. We all think she's wonderful. She was so happy to meet our 2 dogs, Cleo and Harry, and they were happy to meet her! They are always excited to have another pair of hands willing to pet them. I can tell she is a "dog person"...she is a natural with them! She misses her Sally.

SHOPPING AT SAM'S

We started out our visit by stopping for a few groceries at Sam's Club. That was interesting and perhaps a bit overwhelming for Megumi. If you've ever been to Sam's, you know what a wide variety of items are there. Everything from huge boxes or bags of food to furniture to trampolines to computers to diamond jewelry and lots more! I don't think there are stores quite like that in Japan. She said their stores may have different types of items, but they are separated by floors, meaning their large grocery stores are not all spread out on one floor, but you go to different floors to shop for different types of items. I look forward to visiting some grocery stores in Japan! Sometimes seeing everyday places like that can be just as interesting as seeing famous places.

The produce and frozen food section at SAM'S.

A JAPANESE SNACK

Megumi brought a bag of something called Amanoya. She said it is a very popular snack in Japan. They are about the size of cookies and are actually soy sauce seasoned rice crackers that are quite good! We all liked them and my husband, David, loves them! He will want me to bring more back from Japan.

HANGING OUT

Following our adventure at Sam's, we headed to the Brigman house. We have a very small and humble home, but Megumi seemed to feel comfortable and relaxed. We just hung out all day and got to know each other better. We watched an old episode of Iron Chef (a very interesting Japanese show where chefs compete to create new and delicious dishes with interesting ingredients), took a walk with Cleo (trying not to get rained on), looked at a few family photos, played with the dogs, and ate an American dinner of pot roast, mashed potatoes, and gravy. She insisted on using a fork and knife, but I know she is more comfortable with chopsticks. Next time, I want her to use chopsticks and not worry with the fork! I need to practice with the chopsticks! Anyway, I hope she did have a good time. We all look forward to her next visit.

Megumi!

David and I drove over to Holcomb Hall at the U of A yesterday and met Megumi. She is just lovely! She speaks very good English and was so fun to visit with. She wants to improve her English and, to me, seems like she is doing very well. Since she has been here since May, she's had some practice. I know she must be missing her home and hearing Japanese, though she does have lots of Japanese friends on campus.

In Japan, besides her mother and father, she has a little sister (13) and a cute little white dog named Sally (she misses Sally a lot!). Her hometown is Hiratsuka, a city south of Tokyo in the Kanagawa prefecture (like a state). I told her that many of my students were very interested in Mt. Fuji and she said that she can see Mt. Fuji from her home in Hiratsuka!

She will be visiting us in our home this coming Saturday and will get to meet JC, Sean, Cleo, Harry, and of course, Pikachu. Since she loves dogs, I think Cleo and Harry will be happy for her to visit!

I'm sure I will be telling you all more about Megumi in the coming days, both at school and on this blog!

See you soon!

Mrs. Brigman

A Friend From Japan

I have some fun news! I found out this past Thursday night that my family will be hosting a University of Arkansas student from Japan! We will be her "Friendship Family". Her name is Megumi and she just graduated from high school in March (the Japanese school year is different than ours). She is 18 and is a freshman (that means it's her first year) at the U of A.

She will visit us at least once a month and will get to experience real American family life with my family, including holidays! Can you imagine being far, far away from your family for such a long time? She must be very brave!

We will be attending a Friendship Family reception this afternoon and will get to meet Megumi. Perhaps I will post a photo of her so you can "meet" her, too!

If your family is interested in becoming friends with a student from another country, they, too, may want to sign up to be a Friendship Family!