Fish Market and School Visit #1

FISH MARKET: Four of us early birds departed the hotel at 3:30AM via taxi for Tsukiji Fish Market. After we had paid our fair and the taxi driver had dropped us off, he got out of his car and verified with a shop owner if we were at the right place for the fish auction. He talked to at least 3 different people (in Japanese, of course), asking for directions, then attempted to translate for us. In the end, he had us get back in the car to bring us directly to the gate, at no charge. He must have spent an extra 10-15 min. just trying to ensure that we were at the right place. This has been typical of the way the Japanese treat foreigners and each other: with kindness. They want to ensure that everyone is comfortable and taken care of. I could not imagine a NYC cabbie, taking the time to do this, for free!

We arrived at the fish market at the perfect time: they allow only 140 people to enter, in two separate groups, and we made it in the first 70. After a short wait, we were lead through the market to a designated area, to watch how the buyers determine which fish they want to make bids on. I have video clips on this, but for now, I'll just post a few pictures of tuna.


SUBWAY: On our way home, we decided to take the subway as another adventure. I'm very comfortable with subway systems in Montreal and Boston, but these two do not even begin to compare to Tokyo's HUGE web of various subway and train lines. With 2-3 maps, cryptic directions from a metro guard, and our own deductions, we made it to the hotel in time for breakfast and the day's activities.

WORLD CUP: At about 6AM, on our way back to the hotel, we ran into a group of young people out celebrating Japan's World Cup soccer win against Denmark, 3-1. I'm certain there were many Japanese up at 3AM, watching this game!


TRAVEL GROUPS: The group of 48 teachers is divided into 3 groups that will each visit a different area of Japan in the next few days. I am part of the Kesennuma Group.

SCHOOL VISIT: Today, the Kessenuma group visited Jr. & Sr. High at Komaba, a public school affiliated with the University of Tsukuba. This school is designated as a "super science school" by the Japanese Ministry of Education, focusing on math and science education, and encompassing 6 years: gr. 7-9 (360 students, all male) and gr. 10-12 (480 students, all male).

Upon entering a home or school in Japan, one must remove his/her "street" shoes and wear slippers, maintaining the delineation between "dirty" (outside) and "clean" surfaces. The school had slippers handy for the American teachers:


After a brief introduction to the school, we attended a few classes: chemistry and English. In chemistry, students were doing a lab on the percent composition of a hydrate and in English, the teacher allowed a Q & A period for her students. Both classes consisted of 40 students (!), as do most of the other classes. We were impressed with how well students spoke English.

Due to privacy rules, I can't post pictures of students, but a few below are obscure enough:



A Periodic Table written in Japanese:


A group of four students, winners of the Imagine Cup for Japan, practiced their presentation for the American teachers. These students will be traveling to Warsaw Poland next week for the world competition, all sponsored by Microsoft. I can't tell you about their project--it's a secret--but I can say that the teachers were impressed with the creativity exhibited by these students.

BENTO BOXES: Lunch consisted of bento boxes, single portion meals consisting of a variety of colorful items, arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Traditional bento boxes are lacquered and reusable, and are usually filled with rice, fish, meat, and one or more cooked or pickled vegetables. Our bento boxes were disposable cardboard, but were nonetheless beautifully arranged. The pickling and amount of salt in some of the items does take some getting used to, as does eating with chopsticks. I am still having difficulty with that!

Bento (with various fish):


Bento sans fish for me:

We then visited the green house and garden area where students are cultivating potatoes and growing rice seedlings for the local paddies.



We finished the afternoon by visiting the Tokyo Water Science Museum.

It's been a great day, but I'm too tired to post anything else! We're moving out of the hotel tomorrow morning and heading out to our individual towns. I'm in the Kesennuma group and we'll be taking a train ride to our destination. My host family will be meeting me in the afternoon. Fun, fun!