Doing Business in Tokyo ...

Back in December Amanda & I went with a group of teachers and principals to attend some professional development workshops. We were excited to return to Tokyo, but at the same time knew that it was going to be mostly filled with work and minimal free time. I was really excited because I knew that two of my fellow colleagues from Freeburg would be there. The thought of seeing Rheta and Gwen made me smile for weeks leading up to the big trip.

Amanda and I boarding our JAL flight from Okayama to Tokyo

The pilots were aware that there were two Americans on board so they

had to do all of the standard flight stuff in Japanese and English.

Kazuyo & I after landing in Tokyo.

Tokyo Station:

Tokyo Station is the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo, the busiest station in Japan in terms of number of trains per day. Apparently there are 4,000 trains that come through everyday.

Akihabara is an area of Tokyo nicknamed Electric Town.

Amanda & I in Akihabara ... looking for otakus.

This is as close as we ever got to the Imperial Palace.

On day #1 we went to a workshop at entitled "Mentoring for Developing Profession of Preschool Teachers". I was SO excited to see Rheta & Gwen and introduce Amanda to the people that I so frequently talk about.

Gwen & I ... I taught her all about the Japanese pose. :)

This guy was the translator for the conference & he was amazing (& hilarious).

After the conference Kazuyo and I went to an area of Tokyo known as Roppongi. Within this district there is an area known as Roppongi Hills, which has a rather interesting history. Click here to read about it.

The Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills:The whole side of this building was a clock.

It was the holiday season so everything was decorated and really beautiful. Back home the traditional Christmas colors are red & green, but here they are blue & white.

Just a friendly reminder from the hotel staff:

The next morning Kazuyo & I got up really early to prepare for the afternoon conference at Tokyo University. But on the way we managed to make a stop at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. I'd already been there once before, but was excited to go back. The building is amazing and the view is equally so.

From 202 meters up:

So we made our way to Tokyo University to meet up with Gwen & Rheta again for a presentation on Ramps & Pathways. Finally, something I am really familiar with and confident about teaching. Although the thought of being at Tokyo University was rather nerve wrecking. It is called the Harvard of Japan and is ranked the 15th best university in the world.

The campus was beautiful:

I felt like a student again, walking around campus, although slightly different from the UNI campus.
Rheta, Gwen & I at our presentation.
Professors, educators & professionals working on building ramps & pathways.

I felt totally in my element with my people and our ideas and whatnot.

It was great.
After a long two days, Amanda and I had a celebrated a successful weekend.

much love

-tara-

xoxo

Tokyo Tower ...

Way back in December, Amanda and I went to Tokyo for work. We went to a conference the first day and I helped give a presentation at Tokyo University the next but in between lectures, meetings, and sessions we found some time to have a little fun. We decided to do the ultimate tourist thing and go to Tokyo Tower. The thought alone made my heart beat fast.

I've been up in my fair share of tall buildings and free-standing structures. The Space Needle, Sears Tower, the Stratosphere & that incredibly terrifying ride at the top, the Umeda Building in Osaka, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You name it and I'm not opposed to doing it, but that doesn't mean that it's any easier. I still freak out, my voice goes up an octave, I get sweaty palms and I feel like my heart is going to beat right out of my chest. Tokyo Tower was no exception.

According to Wikipedia: "The 332.6-meter-tall (1,091 ft) orange and white lattice tower is the tallest self-supporting steel structure in the world, the tallest artificial structure in Japan and the 11th tallest tower in the world."

The closer we got, the more nervous I got. It just kept getting bigger & bigger & bigger.

Scary, eh?

I'm kind of on this black & white kick ... bear with me.

"The tower is constructed of steel, a third of which was from recycled World War II scrap steel. Despite being 8.6 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower (32.6 if the tower's TV antenna is included), Tokyo Tower only weighs about 4,000 tons, 3,300 tons less than the Eiffel Tower." (Guess who).

So we got inside & were in line to go up & I kind of started to freak. Surprise, surprise.
Emi was a little scared herself & showed it by looking kind of scary.
So as a distraction I turned on the video camera.



And then the elevator arrived & Amanda took over the recording while I had a small anxiety attack in the back of the elevator. :)

& Then we were at the top.

So we got out of the elevator & I calmed down. The view was actually stunning & you could really see the magnitude of the city. It was beautiful at night with all of the lights & these pictures really don't do it justice.

See? Smiling & everything.

I even stood on this see through piece of flooring that went straight down to the busy street below. Total time standing on it: .005 seconds.
There were lots of fun things to do up at the top & a lot of interesting interactive maps & Amanda & I were all about it. The pictures didn't turn out very well, but Amanda did great with the vid cam.

Tokyo Tower was good & I'm glad I did it. And of course I'll go back and do it again whenever anyone comes to visit, although I can pretty much guarantee I will have the same fear and anxiety the second time as I did the first time.

much love

-tara-

xx

The Cherry Blossoms ...

I blogged about hanami and the Japanese love of cherry blossoms. I also mentioned everyone (myself included) taking an obscene amount of photos of the trees. Well, here they are. There's a lot and they're from all over (Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama) so I'm just going to post them for your online enjoyment. :)

much love

-tara-

xx