japan

Japan

Going to Japan was a goal that started about 10 or 12 years ago while I was still in college. I had taken an Asian Studies class at Keene State and I was hooked. Then I got my first teaching job at Randolph Union High School, in Randolph, Vermont. There they had an exchange program with a school in Shizukuishi, Japan. Students from Shizukuishi would come and spend a two-week home stay with seventh and eighth graders from Randolph. While there I helped organize a trip for our kids to visit Shizukuishi in the summer. I had the opportunity to go then but turned it down because I was newly married and worried about my picky eating habits. Boy did I regret it!

When I heard about the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund and that they would send you to Japan for FREE I was VERY interested! Of course it took me a year to get all my ducks in a row and actually take the next step to apply for the trip. Even as I knew that six people from New Hampshire had the potential to be chosen for the trip and only about 50 people from our state applied I did not get my hopes up. I did something right because they chose me and in June of 2006, a week before school was to end I was on a plane to Tokyo, Japan!

Despite all of my research, trying to learn Japanese, and practicing Goju Ryu Karate-do I was still in awe while visiting Japan. I am happy to post my experiences not just because I’m supposed to either. The people of Japan are kind, welcoming, and some of the greatest people I’ve met. Everyone should be so lucky. Please don’t hesitate to ask me questions about this experience, the more the better.