I arrived early enough in San Francisco to be able to spend time walking along the Bay, a lovely walking path is within spitting distance of my hotel room. The day was clear, sunny and breezy reminding me of why so many people flock to San Francisco to live. In the middle of the city, I saw pelicans fly overhead, and a hummingbird hovering over her nest oblivious to my intentions of capturing her on film. The orientation for the Japan Fulbright program brought home to me what an honor I am being given by the Japanese Government. If I had not mentioned before, the Japanese government is footing the bill for the entire 160 teachers! We dined at the Japanese Consulate last night. After the drive up and down the hills of San Fran, we arrived at the consulate a little awed by the splendor of the magnificent old mansion overlooking the Bay Bridge. We were greeted at the door by waiters in tuxedos offering us our choice of wine, pinot noir for me. The speech given by the Consulate General was charming, warm and funny! I wish I could tell you what he said but by then the wine and the fatigue was starting to make me giddy. Now the food did revive me a bit. The long table was overflowing with all kinds of weird and wonderful food. My favorite was the thinly slice almost raw tuna. As we waited for the sun to set over the Bay Bridge sipping our wine, marvelling at the tastes of the japanese food, we all buzzed and exchanged who each of us are, where we came from and our plans for the Japan follow on project. The other teachers' stories and ideas brought tears to my eyes. Not to be too sappy, but our nation's kids are very fortunate to have such dedicated, creative and enthusiastic teachers. I hope to tell you more about some of their projects as I get past the jet lag and hear more.
No comments:
Post a Comment