Musical and audio cues are a part of our everyday life. Our smart phones remind us that someone is calling, a text is sent, or it’s time to wake up. Audio cues in our car remind us to turn off the turn signal, close the door or time for a car repair. Musical jingles entice […]
This year our family met in Tokyo, Japan for Christmas. Since our family is spread out over the world, we now vacation by destination. We chose Japan since our oldest daughter and her husband live here. We have made many trips to Japan since Bethany, our daughter, moved there in 2015. However, this is the […]
My husband and I are visiting our oldest daughter Bethany and her husband Tomo in Japan during my spring break. Bethany has lived in Tokyo for three and a half years. We enjoy all the different cultural things to see and do while in Tokyo. Japan has such a huge selection of places to go […]
My students, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 at Lincoln Elementary presented a Japan program. I have been teaching my students about Japan’s culture and music in conjunction with my Lilly grant over the past year. I spent almost 6 weeks last summer traveling across the country via trains, planes and buses seeing Japan’s beautiful […]
About fifteen years ago I heard about a wonderful opportunity called the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program through Lilly Endowment Inc. for a grant. To give you an idea of what this company does, “Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation that supports the causes of community development, education and religion. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the […]
When I was growing up in Kentucky, every Monday was laundry day in our home. My Mom and I would take all the dirty clothes to the basement, sort them by colors, and then begin to wash them in the washing machine. If it was a sunny day, we would take the clothes outside and […]
Tanabata is a Japanese festival celebrated each year in July. Tanabata means evening of the 7th and is also called “The Star Festival”. It is based around a folk legend involving Orihime, the weaving Princess, and Hikoboshi, the cow herder. Legend has it that when they met, the two immediately fell in love and were married. […]
One of the great things about traveling, is trying local cuisine! While in Japan, Caitlyn and I managed to eat our way across Japan. All the food was delicious! Our first destination was Hokkaido, which is the second largest island and furthest north. This island is the least developed of the four main islands, and […]
Tokyo is a bustling city of almost 14 million people! With so many people compacted on an island, there is little space. The pace of life is fast, living quarters are small and close together. Most Japanese people work long days. Stress is very high, and extra time is very precious. Even if people wanted […]
In Tokyo there are two Disney parks – Disneyland and Disney Sea. Bethany had a day off teaching school, so she joined Caitlyn and I at Disney Sea. Caitlyn lives in California, so she has been to Disneyland a lot, which is why we picked Disney Sea! There are seven themed “ports of call” at Disney Sea […]
While in Okinawa we had the unique opportunity to go snorkeling. Caitlyn and I both had never been snorkeling, so it was a bit daunting to try it, but at the same time fun! Our friends took us to a beach on the East China Sea so we could practice swimming in the ocean and using […]
Okinawa is a lovely tropical island which is very far south of Japan. Caitlyn and I flew to Naha Airport in Okinawa from Tokyo which was a 2 ½ hour flight. Taking a boat would’ve taken about half a day, and since it’s in the ocean, there aren’t exactly any trains that we could take. […]