Konbanwa! That's Japanese for "Good Evening". The next 2 weeks will be very busy, so I thought that this would be a good time to tell you all about the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Program. The program is sponsored by the government of Japan and was launched in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. government Fulbright Program, which has enabled more than 6,000 Japanese citizens to study in the U.S. on Fulbright fellowships for graduate education and research. The program allows educators in the U.S. to travel to Japan for three weeks in an effort to promote greater intercultural understanding between the two nations.

We will begin our visit in Tokyo with a practical orientation on Japanese life and culture and meetings with Japanese government officials and educators. Then we will travel in groups of 20 to selected host cities outside of Tokyo ( I will be going to Gujo in the Gifu prefecture) where we will have direct contact with Japanese teachers and students during visits to primary and secondary schools as well as a teachers college. We will also visit cultural sites and local industries in addition to a brief homestay with a Japanese family.

My fifth grade students and I are in the final stages of our "Questions for Japan" list. We have been learning so much about the 'facts' of Japan, that we are really becoming more and more intrigued with the people, specifically the children, of this country. Stay tuned for our "Questions List"!