Kyoto, Japan

Friday Morning

1. Here is the final assignment for the 8th graders while I am gone.
2. Pick ONE partner.
3. Pick one article from the list.
4. Read it and mark it up.
5. Be prepared to discuss in the next class.
6. Remember to study for the quiz over the Brain Pop information, the test will come directly from the quizzes.

Pick from one of the articles below

International Herald Tribune

The moral dilemma of turning Maoist propaganda into camp décor

As stress grows, Chinese turn to Western psychotherapy

China asked to extend rights to its own media

CS Monitor
After popular blue skies during Olympics, Beijing brings back pollution controls

China's economy cools

Kyoto, Japan

Thursday, Evening

I can not believe the trip is almost over. In some ways I am sooo anxious to get home. And then another part of me wants to keep this going as long as I can. Let say this to all of you who have been reading. While you are in college you MUST do at least one semester overseas, you learn so much about the place and the people you visit but you learn more about yourself.

Enough blah, blah, from me. We had a really neat day today. We spent the day visiting shrines, temples, and a castle.

Dry rock garden, very Zen Buddhist

The first place we visited was a Zen Buddhist Shrine named Ryoanji Temple. The temple's name is famous for its karesansui (dry landscape) rock garden which is associated with Zen Buddhism. The “garden” has raked gravel and fifteen moss-covered boulders, which arranged, so that only fourteen of the boulders are visible at one time. Only people who have attained enlightenment would one be able to see the fifteenth rock. One of the best things about the shrine is the pond. Although it drizzled off and on all day long, I think the light rain added to the enjoyment of the places we visited today.

School (Public) kids in uniforms, they were everywhere we went.

School (Private) kids in uniform, notice the sagging pants!

We then paid a visit to the Nijo-Jo Castle. The place was built in 1603 and was used by the Shoguns of the Tokagowa period. One of the cool things about the castle is that the wood floors are designed to make sounds when walked upon so that no one, particularly ninjas, could sneak up on people. The floors were built so that when you walk on them they create a noise that sounds like a nightingale. I did not believe it at first either but it’s true.

The next place we visited was my favorite sight in Japan, besides the school visits. It is a Buddhist garden, called Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion) built by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa to escape the troubles of the civil war that was on in Japan at the time. The layout of the garden plus the light rain made the place so calming and serene.

We went to this huge handicrafts place for lunch. The food was great and had seven floors of shopping. I found a lounge with a leather chair and napped for two hours. So awesome!

After that we stopped by the Heian Shrine where we enjoyed yet another garden. Some of my colleagues are understandably sick of temples, shrines, and gardens but I am enjoying them considerably.

Before we watched some traditional Japanese theater at Gion Corner we had a great meal at a place called Shabu Shabu. It is place where you cook your food at the table, it was fun. The Japanese theater had costumes, puppet shows, dance, and some comedy.

Click here for more Photos

Mr. Steph out!

Nara/Kyoto, Japan

Wednesday evening in Kyoto, Japan

Since my last post I have rode a bullet train visited Shinto Shrines, Buddhist Temples, worn a Kimono (Technically two), played with deer …., oh and met a movie star.

Mr.Steph on the bullet train to Nara, Japan

At the train stations I saw lots of Ugs.

I can't believe two cultures like these ugly shoes!

Lot’s of stuff. We left Nagoya to head to Nara, Japan. The best way to describe Nara is a Japanese version of Savannah, Georgia. The place has narrow roads that wind and turn around camped corners all in the shadow of tons of history.

We took a walking tour of the city; it was nice to get out of a bus for change. We first visited Todai-ji Temple which is Nara’s main attraction. The Daibutsu-den Hall is one of the largest and oldest wooden structures in the world. It contains a huge bronze statue of Buddha. When we entered the hall we passed through a massive gate with two enormous statues called Nio guardians. The Nio are known as Ungyo, which by tradition has a closed mouth, and Agyo, which has an open mouth which represent the first and last sounds of the Sanskrit language, which is a 25 century old dead langauge from ancient India. (Buddhism came from India).

Before you enter a holy place you must cleanse yourself

A really big Buddha

Cool Monk shoes!

One of the odd things about the temple grounds is the fact that Sika deer, which according to the Shinto religion are messengers of the gods, are allowed to roam freely. You can feed them but they can get aggressive. They took a bite out of the paper bag of the one of our group leaders from Columbia Universities while she was still carrying it.

We then made our way to Nigatsu-do and Sangatsu-do which are two beautiful buildings on the shrine complex. They give you an excellent view of the Nara area from high above. From their we strolled through Kasuga Taisha, which has hundreds of very old stone lanterns that represent gifts to the shrine. They are everywhere and line the walkways which makes the place quite serene there.

After a day of touring we retired to our Ryokan, or traditional Japanese Inn. We all put on Kimonos for a traditional Japanese meal. I looked quite foolish but had a great time. Needless to say the place does not get many gaijin, foreigners, my size so I had to where two:( We all had a wonderful time and the food was awesome. I like all foods further explaining my need for two Kimonos!

Mr. Steph's room

The traditional Japanese meal

In the morning we ate some breakfast visited one last museum and took the train to Kyoto. Kyoto, Japan has 1.47 million people and holds much of the traditional culture for Japan. It was its capital before Tokyo, and it was where the Japanese royal family lived until the 1800’s. We arrived in the early afternoon into the main train station.

While we were waiting on our shuttle to the train station one of the other teachers spotted Julianne Moore, who has been nominated for four Oscars. I was not sure if I should have my picture taken with her but I thought to myself, “How often does a Hollywood type get to meet a famous guy like myself.” Ha Ha. I asked to have my picture taken with her, she is quite personable, and she agreed.

We about to grab some dinner then get some much needed rest.

More photos #1

More photos #2
Mr. Steph out!

Growth of Japan and the Pacific Rim Nations

Read the following article, follow the instructions, and answer the questions

Growth of Japan and the Pacific Rim Nations

Japan



During the 1980s and 1990s, Japan led East Asia in what many called an economic miracle. One Japanese advantage came from large industrial groups called keiretsu (formerly known as zaibatsu). A large commercial bank is at the center of each group, providing to all the members and often on favorable terms unavailable to outsiders. Those groups draw companies from every industrial sector. Each company has separate ownership and its own board of directors. Often, companies within the group own shares in other member companies, sell their products to other group members, buy raw materials and equipment from other group members, and encourage executives to meet and coordinate their business strategies.


Close relationships between business leaders minimize competition. Banks and businesses nurture a long-term, mutually supportive relationship. Sometimes, those structures go by the name of "crony capitalism."

Four Tigers

Led by Japan, other Asian nations followed in their industrial success. South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan earned the nickname of the "four tigers" (or "little tigers") because of their aggressive economic and technological growth. Singapore's leader, Lee Kuan Yew, attributed their success to "The Asian Way," insisting that Confucian teachings encouraged people to "obey authority, take care of family, and work as hard as you can." While the four tigers may have led the pack, other tigers followed, coming from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.


If crony capitalism operated in Japan, it ruled in East Asia. Family relationships and political alliances controlled investments and financing arrangements. Asia also offered a large, cheap work force. With little training, workers could assemble athletic shoes or clothing. Higher skill levels—but still low wages—provided assembly lines for computers and electronic goods.


During the 1980s and early 1990s, the four tigers, Japan, and even Malaysia and Indonesia enjoyed growth rates of almost 8% per year. Despite that "Asian miracle," in many countries, that growth benefited mainly the economic and social elite.


Global Economy, Corporate Control


By the end of the 20th century, countries around the globe were interconnected economically. Corporations frequently grew larger than governments, and often, it seemed that business dictated terms to governments. Today, even large countries can no longer control the flow of capital in and out of their markets. Privatization, a favored form of globalization, means selling government-run businesses to private corporations. Often, the purchasing corporation is from a different country.



Along with businesses that actually produced goods for sale, financial markets boomed. Investors bought and sold currency, bonds, and loan paper. World financial markets came to look more and more like a giant casino.


Crashing into the Future

In about 1997, a financial crisis hit Asia. One country after another was forced to devalue its currency. Speculative investors, who had made huge paper profits buying and selling in international markets, quickly moved their money out of Asia.


As Asian countries devalued their currencies and watched investments leave, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank stepped in to attempt a rescue. They were willing to make emergency loans but only on the condition that Asian nations restructure their economies by minimizing government involvement in economic matters (deregulation), privatizing state-owned industries, and strictly limiting social expenditures by the government.


By 2001, economic recovery seemed to be in progress.




"Growth of Japan and the Pacific Rim Nations (Overview)." World History: The Modern Era. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 7 Oct. 2008 http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.

Instructions

To find out more about the economies of the "four tigers"—South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—go to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook(Link). Go to each country's name in the drop-down menu to find that country's information. (Go to "Korea, South" for South Korea; Taiwan is at the bottom of the list.) At the country information page, click on the "Economy" link at the right. That link will take you directly to economic information about the country.

Questions

Read the overviews, then answer the following questions for each country:

1. 
   
   What factors have caused this country to be an economic success?


2. 
   
   What factors have caused any economic downturns for this country?


3. 
   
   Does this country have any current economic problems? If so, what are they?


4. 
   
   What does the economic future look like for this country?

"Growth of Japan and the Pacific Rim Nations (Overview)." World History: The Modern Era. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 20 Oct. 2008 .

PS. In the 1990's Japan experienced a similar economic problem to the one were are currently going through. It was called a "bubble economy" (LINK) because many top economic thinkers though the economy of Japan would "pop". It took Japan nearly ten years to recover from this crisis. What does that mean for us, in the US? We will see.

Monday Evening

This morning we went to Nagoya Junior High School. It is an affiliated with Aichi University of Education. Here is what that means. University students who are studying to become teachers will do observations and student teaching at this junior high. We first met with the Headmaster and the Director of Teachers, kind of a dean of both academic and student dean who is also in charge of all the teachers. They both were quite informative.

The school year in Japan is different than ours in the US. Schools are in session from around the beginning of April till the middle of March of the next year. There are breaks in between and they have the month of November off. Here is a LINK to a copy of a Japanese school calendar and other info about Japanese School. Most schools are on a trimester system, Nagoya JHS is different because they offer classes for Japanese students who have been living in the US with their parent’s jobs and need to brush up on their Japanese while not losing their English as a foreign language skills.

We visited an English class, a choral music class, and had a tour of the school. When that was all finished we met for a question and answer session with the people I mentioned at the earlier.

Junior High Choral Group

We left the middle school and ate lunch in a park near a Shinto shrine or a torri. This was a spur of the moment thing but turned out quite nicely. After a lunch of noodles (the Japanese eat noodles like crazy and I REALLY like noodles) we had an extensive visit with the high school that is affiliated with Aichi University of Education.

High School Choral Group

We engaged in introductions and then toured the school. Classes were finished for the day because the students just finished tests which concluded their semester. They will now have break till the end of November, if I understood correctly. So instead of classes we visited the extra-curricular and clubs which play an important part of students education. We visited a group of English language students who were in our equivalent of sophomore and junior and we conducted a question and answer period. I led the conversation in the beginning and then the rest of our group jumped in a were great.

The main difference between Japanese and the US schools in this area is that Japanese students chose only one club and are very devoted to it. They use this time for school sports, they are a club choice. Once they found out I was a basketball coach they took me to the gym to watch the basketball practice for the girls and boys teams. They were both pretty decent.

Everyone must leave their outdoor shoes at the entrance and wear slippers inside.

We then went back for more meetings with the different teachers and administrators from several schools and organizations to work on setting up our projects between US and Japanese schools. Some of them even came back to the hotel with us for a formal dinner to thank them for their time.

Students saying good bye

Now its time to pack up because we are going to Kyoto and Nara tomorrow by two trains, one of them is a bullet or high speed train (LINK)

LINK TO MORE PHOTOS

Nagoya. Japan

Monday Evening

Saturday

Let's update, I am now in Nagoya, Japan. After flying our of Beijing on Saturday afternoon ee arrived on Saturday night and simply went to the hotel to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Sunday

Our first stop in Nagoya, Japan was the Nagoya Castle. The Castle was quite beautiful. It had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in bombings during World War II. In addition to the normal sites of the castle there was also a Chysanthemum display which was suprisingly impressive. On top of the castle are two golden tiger-headed dolphins, called kinshachi. They have a replica in the castle museum which I of course climbed onto and got a photo of. (this is not only allowed but encouraged). One of the other items of the Nagoya Castle is the uniform of a Shogun Warrior of the Tokagawa Shogunate. I read someone that uniform was the inspiration for the person who designed the look for Darth Vader of Star Wars fame.

We then proceed to the Meiji Muri which is an open-air architectural museum/theme park in Inuyama, near Nagoya in Aichi prefecture, Japan. The museum space was quite serene.

As of this writing the attractions in Japan are MUCH less crowded than China. We ate our first traditional Japanese meal from a Bento Box (LINK). It was so tasty.

A Bento Box lunch

We happened past a wedding photo in process

Some of the highlights of the museum were a reproduction of a Frank Llyod Wright designed building, a mineral water foot bath, and the Awa Odori dance (LINK) . In the first video you can see how the dance is supposed to go. In the next video you can see me and my roommate, jump into the dance "conga" line. Well they selected four people from the crowd who performed the dance well and you guessed it we were two of them. As a present for our dancing skills we recieved a doll doing the Awa Odori Dance. After we asked the name of the dance, we did not know it at the time of dancing, we found out the Awa Odori dance was appropriately named the "dance of fools". For the rest of the time we were at the museum Japanese people were coming up and congratulating me for my dancing skills.

The Awa Odori dance (The Dance of Fools) - the right way

Mr. Steph doing the Awa Odori Dance (The Dance of Fools)

Getting my dancing award

After we returned to the hotel we had a planning meeting for our school visit on Monday. We broke into teams and prepared what we going to do and who was going to do it. I can't wait to visit the school. I have heard so much about the excellence of Japanese school and I look forward to meeting the teachers and students.

After the meeting a few of us explored the city of Nagoya by using its subway system. Nagoya is about the size of Atlanta and is the 5th largest city in Japan. The city is quite comsopolitan and there is shopping EVERYWHERE. The young people, both women and men, dress quite stylish. Fashion has a huge significance to the young people of Japan.

More photos of the day

Beijing, China

Saturday, Evening

Hello readers. I am writing this from Nagoya, Japan. After touring Beijing in the morning we said goodbye to China, hopped a plane, and arrived into Japan

A couple of the 4th graders who have been reading the blog asked if I would be sad to leave China. The answer is yes. Between the my experience this past summer with the Fulbright group and the past week, I will miss China. The people work very hard and were always very nice to deal with.

We spent the morning touring a bell and drum tower that kept time for people of ancient Beijing. The bell would ring when was time to start the day and the drum would be sounded when it time to end the day.

After the tower tour we rode rickshaws to visit an older couple who lived in hutong, a traditional Chinese neighborhood. I took some photos of their home. It was small but nice. I also included a video of my rickshaw ride. I think you will enjoy it.

In the comment section and in the skype session with the freshman last week you asked about the economy. Here is a link to a great article about Chinese workers protesting outside a toy factory that was closed down. CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE LINK . The article is from the International Herald Tribune which is an English language newspaper for the entire the world. When I lived in or traveled to other foreign countries before I would always read. It's a great newspaper to get foreign news from.

Here are two more article about China

Article 1: China tightens grip on Muslims in the northwest

Article 2:China enacts major land reform (This is a huge development for Chinese farmers!)

Blog Photos (click here)

Beijing, China

Friday Evening

The morning started out with a visit to Beijing University to listen to a lecture on Chinese calligraphy. The professor who delivered the lecture was an 87 year old retired professor of a Calligraphy named Yang Xin. He was simpy amazing. His lecture gave us a history and demonstration of calligraphy.

Let's be honest here the guy is eighty seven years old and he used power point and a laser pointer. There was no one doing it for him, he worked the whole system himself. He was full a vigour and life. I guess it re-inforced the point of his lecture. That the practice of and appreciation of calligraphy allows people to stay sharp. Laotzu Yang was the epitome of this. He told stories, jokes, and anecdotes. He was totally charming and engaging. His lecture was the highlight of my trip so far, simply awesome.

Beijing University Campus

After the lecture we toured the campus, it was stunning. There were lakes and walk ways, the place lived up to its hype. We enjoyed a very pleasant lunch and then headed to the Summer Palace. The palace was finished in the after the fall of the Ming Dynasty by the Qianlong Emperor to escape the summer heat and dusty winds of old Beijing. From the pictures you can see why.

Our next stop was the Olympic Village. What the place lacks in history it has in fame. Although the day was overcast and had quite a bit of smag the scene was great. When I was here this summer we simply drove by. So after the Olympics I have been dying to get to see the Olympics Village with the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest.

Two things. First the weather had been wonderful and the the sky has been blue as the ocean. So I was thinking that the pollution was more due to the summer than to China. Well today was overcast with smog. Beijing is in a sort of valley which makes the pollution from factories, the winds from the west and north, and smog really block the view of city.

Mr. Steph at Beijing's Olympic Village

Next three of us decided to roll the dice and skip the bus home. This would allow to do a couple things. First, we could get right up to the Olympic stadium and Water Cube, the others would tak e the tour bus home and could only stop enough time to take the bus. It also gave a chance to take the subway back to the hotel.

Here was what were up against. Not one of the three of us speak Chinese, we had never taken the Beijing subway before, we would have to switch subway lines three times, and we doing all of this at 5:30pm on Friday. We made it no problem. The subway was packed like a sardine can at least half of the ride. Here is the funny thing, we beat the bus home!

Mr. Steph ont the subway, part 1

Mr. Steph ont the subway, part 2

For dinner we had the famous Peking Duck, don't forget that Peking was the old way Westerners would spell Beijing. We had a nice dinner and it will be sad to say good bye to Beijing. We will tour a hutong tommorrow morning then fly out to Nagoya, Japan in the afternoon.

CLick here for photos of the calligraphy and Olympic Village!

Mr. Steph out

I wanted to drop a quick note to the 4th graders at Hutchison who asked some wonderful questions.

Daisye R. 4th

It took about 16 hours by plane to get from Atlanta to Shanhai.

Margie H -(4th)

The people of China are super nice. Everyone says hello, there have been many times when we have been walking around that Chinese people would say, "We love America"

Scottie S. - 4th

The food is pretty good. The place where I ate the seahorse is not really normal food, there were lots of tourists like me. Most of the time there a number of dishes on a table. There is usually some meat dishes, pork, chicken, and beef.They also had lots of vegetables and rice. The food is either spicey or sweet.

This is more of the typical food.

Griffin G.[4th]

The bullet train floats over the tracks by using electricity and very cool magnets. Since ot does not touch the tracks it can go very fast, 260 miles an hour!

Emma Lou

I was not scared on the Great Wall, I was just very very tired. People play soccer but the fastest growing sport is basketball!

I have to run now, today we are visiting a university to hear a lecture and then we are going to the Olympic Village! I am very excited about this. I will take lots of pictures!!!

Good bye 4th grade:)

Beijing (from the Great Wall to eating a seahorse)

Thursday Evening

I would have to say that besides the Beijing Language Middle Schools yesterday, this was by far the most fun day. We started out the day with two bus ride from Beijing to Mutianyu to ascend its portion of the Great Wall.

We drove through the five rings of roads that surround Beijing. I took some photos of the buildings. There are skyscrapers and residential high EVERYWHERE you look. Let me add that the sky has been shining every day we have been here. It was much worse this summer. When I asked about this they say that Beijing has always been bad with smog in the summer. I agree with that from experience. Secondly, this is the BEST part of the year to visit Beijing, the days have been blue and shining and the nights breezy and cool.

Lucky for me that this was a different portion of the Wall that my Fulbright group climbed this summer, so the experience was completely new. The weather could not have been any more perfect. The sun was out and I think the temp got to around 75 F. So after applying a healthy portion of sunscreen I was ready to go. We took a cable car up part of the Great Wall but had to hike to rest ourselves. It was a difficult hike because of the altitude and the fact that I am slightly out of shape:) A small group of us went as high as the we were allowed.

Before it sounds like bragging let me explain. I was ready to stop at second to last portion because it was basically straight up in the air but I passed by a guy who was at least seventy years old. So he shamed me into to finishing it. All of the Chinese people along the wall, its a tourist destination for them also, were shouting out encouragement yelling, "Djiao, Djiao" which basically means a combination of you can do it and get the lead out.(Either that or, "Come watch the chubby American climb the wall!) I included two videos of the hike and I took numerous photos. (See the link at the bottom of the page)

After a very nice lunch I enjoyed a two hour bus ride/nap back to between Beijing to visit the Temple of Heaven. It was here that the Emperors of China would communicate with "Heaven" in their role as the go-between between Heaven and the people. The would offer up prayers for the failures of the people. It was quite nice. The place is filled with all kinds of combinations of numbers and factors of nine, the number of the only the emperor.

Olympic decorations outside the Temple of Heaven

On a side note, I busted one of the people who sell all kinds of souvenirs and trinkets outside the entrances of nearly every attraction in China trying to pass my roommate some counterfeit money. I yelled in my poor Chinese to give the right money. I really don't think he understood me but I created enough of scene to shame him to give my roommate his money back. It was a total circus. (Paul, my Fulbright roommate, you would have loved it, total chaos)

After the Temple of Heaven a good portion of group went shopping in a place I could only call shopping for knock off heaven. They had everything! It has at least four floors and it it sells, whatever can be sold. It's famous for pearls but that's only the tip of the iceberg. I recorded a video of that for the ladies of Hutch. Past students, the place made blew canal street away. Quite frankly there was so much shopping I think you all would have exploded from excitement.

After we filmed the video and the rest of the people shopped a few of u wandered into a near bye Hutong, or a local neighborhood. Think of it this way, as modern as some of the buildings you saw photos earlier these were exactly the opposite. We found a shop and were able to get some tea to drink, I miss coffee. They even put a table outside for us so we could people watch. Say what you want about government but the people of China are some of the nicest and hardest working people I have ever come across.

We then went to diner and the Beijing Opera. The meal was fabulous and the Opera entertaining.It had a lot more martial arts than I expected, which is good.

So after we returned we went to market to eat...., seahorses. A bunch of us teachers were daring each other to eat something out of the ordinary, yes students can have fun outside of school. After the dares we did it. We chose Seahorses because they were the smallest and we convinced ourselves it was like shrimp. They were quite expensive by Chinese standards. They were 50 Yuan or about 7 US dollars. I could explain more but the video speaks for itself.

Part 1

Part 2

Thanks to everyone who sent questions. I answered some during my skype class with my history class. I will answer the rest later!

Click here for more photos and video