Moving Day

Well, it was bound to happen..... 200 American teachers in a REALLY nice hotel. It came to an end today. The staff was sooooo sad to see us leave, they all came out to wave "sayonora." They were sad to see us leave..... right? HA! We will be back to the Akasaka Prince as we leave this beautiful country. So today, it was uncircle the wagons, pack the bags and head out towards Itabashi-ku. Our 200 became small groups of 20 as we all loaded on different buses and headed out to multiple parts of Japan. Some flew north to fishing villages on other islands, others to the south. Then some of us aren't really leaving Tokyo. But watch out....... here we come.
After loading our stuff on the bus, we were taken with the Meguro group off to a "western buffet." No my little Texans, this lunch did not include a side of beef on the barbacue. It simple meant, food that looks like what we get at Golden Corral at home. Guess what though? No salmon.
After lunch, it was off to our new hotel for only tonight. We are staying at Hotel Mets in Musashi-sakai. This is close to the university we will visit tomorrow. The best thing we can say about this hotel for me is......... help me here campers......................FREE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET!!!!!! Too bad it is only one night. We all have business men rooms which shall we say are much more intimate than our posh digs at the Prince Akasaka. Pretty good none the less and after all, FREE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET!!!!!!!
Once we dropped our stuff in the rooms, we were done for the day with JFMF, so the troops (Bob, Pam, Tania, Maria and I), went to the National Museum in Ueno Park. We now know we moved out of tourist land, because the english has begun to disappear from signage at this station. We rallied and made it back into to city proper and found the Ueno district. The park was beautiful despite the rain. Oh yea, it rained all day today. Rainy season remember.
Pam and I took our Temple books and temple hopped before and after the Museum. We visited Rinnoji Temple, Kan-ei-ji Temple and Gokokuin Temple. Before leaving Rinnoji Temple , the monk taught Pam how to ring and respect the gods. At Kan-ei-ji Temple, we got to go back to where the monks work for them to sign our book. Very cool. However, at Gokokuin, nobody was home, so no page filled. Bummer.
Dinner was a fun experience. There is a department store across the street from our hotel. In the basement of department stores here is where the supermarkets are located. We went and bought bento boxes at the market. It was even more fun than last night as this was a full scale market. Very, very crowded. However, you will be relieved to know that there are sample ladies just like our local Sam's Club, HEB and Wal-Mart. These wear cuter uniforms. So as the crazy Americans, naturally we wandered around and yes, you guessed it, took pictures in the supermarket. Check out the $27 dollar watermelon or the nearly $8 canalope. Tokyo is very expensive to live. No wonder every available piece of dirt has a tomatoe plant in it. Oh, and I also found my microphone I have been looking for, so I can call using Skype and my FREE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET!!!!!!! Well, people are up at home, so I am going to go call home. Brooke Clubbs, thanks for your comments. Your hubby is very fun and we are going to try and keep him under control. No promises though. FREE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!
Best,
Tim Lowke