Yes, we are still here!

Hey everyone! I have to apologize for the lack of blog entries lately - its one of the only unfortunate side effects of having such a busy trip! We have been getting back to the hotel pretty late every night, and are totally exhausted because our days are so busy. And now we are staying at a hotel that charges for the internet - about $1 for 15 minutes - kind of expensive actually. So there may not be any more blog entries before we get home.

But know that our trip has been absolutely amazing so far, and everything is going well. The students all seem to be having a great time, and I have really been enjoying myself as I watch them discover Japan. This is such a neat country, and I cant say how many times I have heard them say "This is the coolest ________________ I have ever seen!

We spent a day and a half in Kyoto, then a day in Nara, the older capital. That day was super fun because we rented bikes and rode between all the major sites. Nara has about 1200 tame deer roaming around, and you can feed them and pet them. We saw the worlds largest seated indoor bronze Buddha, housed inside the the worlds largest wooden building. Everyone liked that place so much that we decided to dedicate our own roof tile to the building restoration - you pay a donation and get to write your wishes on a roof tile. When the kids chose "To future travels together" as their wish, I just about cried. It was a really special moment. We also wrote RIP MJ on our tile!

But perhaps the most enjoyable moment that day was when we parked the bikes and sat next to a pond full of hungry turtles. I told the kids that they were not allowed to pick up the turtles because I thought the locals might think it was cruel, but when Adam and I went to to go get some snacks, we came back to find that our students have been befriended by two friendly Japanese guys who, in between doing handstands and asking Sasha to be their girlfiriend, were pulling turtles out of the water for the kids to hold, then throwing them (the turtles, not the students) as far as they could across the pond. Oh well, so much for respecting the animals.

We also made a visit to my old hometown and the high school where I used to teach. That was a LOT of fun! I never thought that less than a year after leaving Japan I would be able to see my different groups of students hanging out! What a trip! We had a big dinner at night and made a visit to the school to join the English classes the next day. It was great for the Japanese students to have a chance to use their English in an authentic situation, and great for the American students to be exposed to teens from another country.

Now we are back in Tokyo and today is our last full day. We fly out tomorrow evening. The journey home will be really long - 8 hour layover in Vancouver! If we have enough money we might rent a car and explore a bit.

So thats it for now - I will try to get the kids to write tonight but really cant promise anything. I know that you are all wanting to hear stories, but dont worry, there will be plenty to tell when we get home!

Signing off,

Miss Morello

1 Day At A Time

Hey People Its Toyeen Here & Im Going To Talk About The Trip & How It's Been. Well For Starters The Plane Ride Was Very Long But Actually Exicting At The Same Time L.O.L But Anyways When We Got To Japan Everybody Was Just So Exicted & Everybody Was Like Oh My God Were in Japan!

from sad to happy all in a few hours

hey everyone!!! so far this trip has been really fun!!! these past few days has been the best days of my life. i am so glad to be here, nothing can get any better then this. well i am going to start off by telling you my story from the night before leaving for japan, so keep reading. i could not believe that it was almost time to leave. so i stayed up all night saying to myself that i didnt want to go. i even had tears running down my face all because i didnt want to go. 3:00 clock arrived an i started to feel sick. it was time to meet up with rest of the people that were going. about 45 min. later i began to feel a little better. about an hour an half later we got to the air port. i was excited but i still didnt want to leave. after a while i had change my mind about the whole tirp, and wanted to go. we got on the air plane at 7:30 am. it was fun on the plane. pretty much the whole ride i was sleep, an when i wasnt sleep i was taking pics. by the time we got to canada i was in a happy mood an couldnt wait to get to japan. the plane ride from canada to japan was so long, for the most part i was sleep. soon as we arrive into japan i was taking pics from out the plane. when we got off the plane we had change our money over into yens. at first i didnt no how to work it so i didnt spend no money. now i just been spending money left and right. i no u want to here more but im really sleepy so i will finished a little later so be ready to here alot more from me. good night





the 1st day in japan was fun because i got to see things that i never see before. the streets are very clean, the paople are really quite an friendly, and very respectful. i never thought that i would ever see people getting alone and keeping the city clean. always thought that the other countries were really bad, but i was really wrong. when i got here i was really confused because people drive on the oppsite side, cars are way smaller, driver wheel is on the oppsite also, and books are open oppsite also.

From the Old Capital to the New

Hey everyone, Ms. Morello here. It is 730 in the am here in Tokyo, and if I can get the kids out the door with all their bags packed by 8 am, it will have been a successfull morning! We are leaving Tokyo today for Kyoto - the old capital of Japan and the place to see some of the most beautiful temples in the whole world. We will be taking the Shinkansen - the famous Japanese bullet train, which the kids are very excited about.

Yesterday was one of those travel days that will remain etched in my memory forever. We visited two of the best places in Tokyo - Harajuku and Shibuya. There were so many hilarious moments yesterday, but we got in so late that the kids didnt have time to write about it. Thats the unfortunate thing about travel blogging - in order to do it, you must take time away from your actual travels, and yesterday I decided it was much more important for them to sleep! But I will get them to write as soon as possible - keep checking back!

Hey my name Im Brian aka Byron lol. When i got on the plane to Canada i was alredy missing my friends and i couldint wait to get back Toyeen felt the same...i was like what is a colombian and an african doing in tokyo? Halarious init? well after the 2 hr flight to canada we chilled in vancoover for a bit. A couple of hour later we were alredy boarding for tokyo i was crapping bricks 序J費補遺hJs不klsdfhsl字絵

(Brian started this entry a few nights ago, but accidentally hit the key that switches the keyboard into Japanese, and he couldnt figure out how to switch it back to English, so he just saved his post. I thought it was such a neat one to read that I had to post it. - Miss Morello)

Just in case you Coulnt read it before.. AMERICANS iN THE HOUSE!!

Hey everyone its Sasha reporting from Japan!
and sorry for my bad punctuation, their keyboards over here are so different, but the keys are way softer!! haha.
So anyway, Japan is AMAZING!
Everything is so different, yet strangely similar to life back home. The people are very quiet and usually keep to themselves, but they do seem to be extremely curious about us foreiners and will try their best to break their quiet shells when you attempt to start up a convorsation with them first. Prior to this trip my teacher Ms. Morello had told that out of all the age groups, teenage Japanese boys were the most shy people to try to get to talk to you, so yesterday on the subway I decided to attempt to talk to one myself using the basic Japanese that i know (and from now on that will always be one of my most memorable moments from this trip!) but once i started talking to him and asking him questions about himself he turned SO red and shy! We could all tell he was embarressedand nevous, especially since his friends were off laughing and jokily teasing him from a distance. haha. and once he got off Ms.Morello immediatlty told me "you just made that guys day! That was probably the most exciting thing thats ever happened to him!" hahaha!
Today was was a very long and eventful day. We woke up arounf 9 and hit the town. We started out by eating a traditional japanese breakfast in a place where the chefs cooked the food fight onour counter where we sat ans told us to call them "Papa" and "Mama." They were a very sweet older couple who worked their hardest to try to comprehend our broken english and laugh laugh when Brian used him newly learned pick up line on them. It was hillarious!
We also visited a temple located very close to where we're staying in Tokyo. There were many places to shop and take pictures. After we left there we hopped on the train and went to Gilbli museum where the work of Hayao Miyazaki is displayed. It was the most fun and interesting museum i have ever seen in my life! There were so many childish hands on displays! (And just in case you aren't familiar with his work Hayao Miyazaki is the creator of animated movies such as Spirited away and Howl's Moving Castle)
once we got back into Tokyo, we had some adventurous flavors of ice cream and to top it all off, we went downtown and sang kareoke! it was so fun and the first time that i actually fully participated in singing with a group of friends!! haha.
I'm so tired right now it's 12:47am over here which means its like almost 8am back home! Just had to update my thoughts in the blog. :)

GoOd Night World!
.Sasha<3

Americans in the House!!

Hey everyone its Sasha reporting from Japan!
and sorry for my bad punctuation, their keyboards over here are so different, but the keys are way softer!! haha.
So anyway, Japan is AMAZING!
Everything is so different, yet strangely similar to life back home. The people are very quiet and usually keep to themselves, but they do seem to be extremely curious about us foreiners and will try their best to break their quiet shells when you attempt to start up a convorsation with them first. Prior to this trip my teacher Ms. Morello had told that out of all the age groups, teenage Japanese boys were the most shy people to try to get to talk to you, so yesterday on the subway I decided to attempt to talk to one myself using the basic Japanese that i know (and from now on that will always be one of my most memorable moments from this trip!) but once i started talking to him and asking him questions about himself he turned SO red and shy! We could all tell he was embarressedand nevous, especially since his friends were off laughing and jokily teasing him from a distance. haha. and once he got off Ms.Morello immediatlty told me "you just made that guys day! That was probably the most exciting thing thats ever happened to him!" hahaha!
Today was was a very long and eventful day. We woke up arounf 9 and hit the town. We started out by eating a traditional japanese breakfast in a place where the chefs cooked the food fight onour counter where we sat ans told us to call them "Papa" and "Mama." They were a very sweet older couple who worked their hardest to try to comprehend our broken english and laugh laugh when Brian used him newly learned pick up line on them. It was hillarious!
We also visited a temple located very close to where we're staying in Tokyo. There were many places to shop and take pictures. After we left there we hopped on the train and went to Gilbli museum where the work of Hayao Miyazaki is displayed. It was the most fun and interesting museum i have ever seen in my life! There were so many childish hands on displays! (And just in case you aren't familiar with his work Hayao Miyazaki is the creator of animated movies such as Spirited away and Howl's Moving Castle)
once we got back into Tokyo, we had some adventurous flavors of ice cream and to top it all off, we went downtown and sang kareoke! it was so fun and the first time that i actually fully participated in singing with a group of friends!! haha.
I'm so tired right now it's 12:47am over here which means its like almost 8am back home! Just had to update my thoughts in the blog. :)

GoOd Night World!
.Sasha<3

The flight

Monday morning the first half of the group met at 4am at OAHS. Brian, Ariel and families were already there when James, Nicole, and I arrived. Some final paperwork was prepared by Nicole and James, Nicole did a bag check to make sure that bags not overpacked, and we worked out arrangements for drive down to Hayward where we would meet rest of group. Ariel's mom gave us all handmade poofball tags to identify our luggage which proved very helpful later!

This was my first time seen OAHS, it was more like a school than I thought. I knew it was small so had thought it would be more like a barracks.

We jumped in cars and then met Toyeen and Sasha and families. We ended up with a good amount of food and treats from everyone which filled in the gaps of what would be a very long day.

After arriving at SFO we said our goodbyes and were on our way. The questions began, Miss Morello do I have to take of my shoes? Miss Morello do we need our passports for this? I took some photos, finding Brian and Toyeen to be goofballs. I will be lucky to get one picture of them without Brian pointing and Toyeen throwing his arms up into the air.

Arrival in Vancouver went fine, easiest customs ever. Nicole kept on the student about proper gandling of luggage and passports, but then in an ironic twist was the first to lose her sweater :) I tried salmon jerky. It was not great. On way back I'll try maple candy which seemed to be other big specialty.

Nicole gave us lessons in Japanese which Brian and Sasha took to more than rest of us. Ariel seemed exhausted so we let her sleep.

We left Canada with little fuss and started longest flight of my life. Everyone behaved, but 8 hours is long time. We gave the flight attendants a box of chocolates to see if we get special treatment, I don't think it worked... but they were still nice.

We all could watch whatever we wanted on independant screens. I saw Gran Turino and Watchmen. First great movie, I highly recommend it. Second so so.

Finally we touch down at Narita airport.

Adam

It's Official

I am very excited to announce that we have finally purchased our plane tickets for Japan! We are set to depart for Tokyo on June 23rd. It was great to finally cross that threshold, because now the trip feels so much more real to everyone. The students are REALLY excited ... they are starting to ask all sort of really specific questions now, some of which are pretty funny ...

"Miss Morello, I heard Japanese people sleep on the floor, are we going to have to do that?"
"Will we be able to go swimming?"
"Can I bring two suitcases?"
"We aren't going to eat sushi every day are we, cause I don't really like raw fish."
"Are you going to force us to eat anything really weird?"
"Can I buy a Playstation over there?"

The funniest conversation has been around the question of what to pack. I've told the students that on a few occasions they will have to carry everything they bring through crowded subways and busy streets, sometimes for 30 minutes at a time - which means that they must PACK LIGHT! They're having trouble with that concept, as first time travelers almost always do. One girl is pretty horrified at the idea of only bringing 3 pairs of pants and wearing them 2-3 times before washing them ... understandably ICKY when you are a teenager, but totally the norm when you are doing budget travel. I keep assuring them that learning to pack light and realizing how easy it is to get by with less is one the most liberating things about travel, but they don't really believe me yet. They will though :)

Our plan is to spend the first 5 days exploring Tokyo and maybe some of the areas around it, like Kamakura and Yokohama. Then, we will rent a van to go a bit further afield, including a visit to my old home town and Fuji-Q Highlands. This is the part that I am most looking forward to, because in my experience the best things are discovered when you have the ability to get off the beaten track a bit.

As for the fundraising, we have done pretty well, but are still working to raise more. The yard sale was a huge success and really gave us a boost. Unfortunately, NONE of the corporate sponsorship came through ... I guess now is just not a good time to be asking for money. In the end, it is going to be the donations of indivduals that make it happen for us!

I'm proud to say that with the money we have fundraised, the amount each student has to pay is less than half of what I originally quoted (much to the relief of the parents!) I'd love to lower that cost even more though, so I'm going to be fund raising up until we get on that plane for Tokyo.

I promise to keep the blog updated as our trip gets closer!

Check out our Fund Raising Page!

Hey everyone! If you think this blog is cool, check out our fund raising page:

http://www.firstgiving.com/oahsjapan

You can use this page to make secure donations to help support our trip. Right now we have the goal set at $3000, and we are over halfway there, but I'm really hoping that we will SURPASS our goal. This would mean that the students won't have to come up with so much of the money on their own in order to go.

Right now we're focusing our efforts on getting sponsorships from local businesses and corporations. Campbell Glass (my dad's business) is in for $25o already! Last week, Sasha, Jackie and myself (with the help of Elijah, who is not going to Japan but graciously helped out anyways, and held the door open for us every time) delivered letters to every Japanese restaurant in Oakland and Alameda. It took all day, but it was fun, and hopefully it will pay off in the end.

Today I took letters to Yoshino's Sushi, Francesco's Italian Restaurant, UPS, Comcast and FedEx, which are all located very close to our school. The UPS guys were fabulous, and showed a lot of support for our trip. I walked out of there with $30 in cash donations, a phone number for the Business and Development department, a smile on my face, and a big boost of confidence; feeling reassured that there are people out there that support our cause - we just have to find them!

So if you are one of those people, get yourself over to our fund raising page and make a donation!

http://www.firstgiving.com/oahsjapan

どもありがとうございました！ Domo Arigato Gozaimashita! (Thank you very much!)

Yard Sale Date Set!

Our Fundraising Yard Sale will be held on May 2nd and 3rd in Alameda, CA.  (The exact location will be announced later.)  All proceeds from this yard sale will go directly to the students for the trip to Japan. 

Please mark these days on your calendar and make every effort to attend, as there is sure to be a ton of great stuff up for sale.  Also, if anyone has stuff that you want to get rid of, please consider donating it to the yard sale!   I will be happy to come and pick it up from you.  Email me at nmorello@aviationhighschool.org.  

Hope to see you there!

Support our trip with Tahitian Noni!

Now there is another great way for everyone to support our trip to Japan -- By purchasing products from Tahitian Noni International!  Each time you buy a product from our  TNI fund raising page, a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Oakland Aviation High School to directly fund our trip.  

The Noni fruit, used for centuries by the Tahitian people for its many health benefits, has only recently been discovered by the rest of the world.  You can enjoy the benefits of the Noni fruit in the form of juice, tea, candy and beauty products, while also supporting our Japan trip. 

To check out the products available from Noni International, go to the following site:  

www.TNI.com/Nutting

Any products you purchase will be tracked to our group and we will receive proceeds. 

Furthermore, all those who make a purchase will be entered into a drawing to win a Deluxe Bath Spa Gift Basket worth $150!

Thanks for your support!!

Introducing ... the art of Jackie!

These three drawings were done by Jackie, who wrote a blog below but does not have a picture posted because she is incredibly camera shy. Instead of posting a picture of her, I will post her fantastic artwork instead. These are all sketches Jackie did in her spare time.

Jackie is known at the school for her artwork, because everything she does is fabulous. And she is the envy of other aspiring artists at the school. She already has a distinct style, and whenever other students see her work, they always know it's a "Jackie." She watches a lot of Anime, as you can probably guess, but her style is still totally her own.

Last week, these drawings were on my desk, and one of the boys who is an avid artist himself, saw them and literally stopped my class to show them to everyone else. And he said, "I wish I could just put my hands on her head and absorb her talent for myself!"














I wish I could post make these pictures bigger, because there is detail in the eyes and hair that just doesn't show up in a scan. This girl has some serious talent! I think that one day the rest of the world will discover her talent! For now, we get to enjoy it at Oakland Aviation High School.

BriAna

Hey everyone! My name is BriAna Winston. I am a fifteen year old girl with dreams of exploring the world and expanding all the possibilities of my future. I was born and raised in Oakland, CA. I am a young girl with big dreams of venturing out into the world and seeing what opportunities the world has to over me. I never dreamed of traveling out of the United States, let alone California until I was well over my twenties; to be a fifteen years old while presented with this opportunity is a shocking surprise to me. I really don't want to pass up this once in a life time event because I may never get another chance to have a breath-taking experience such as this one. One of my biggest dreams is to become an economist and I think traveling to different parts of the world will help me get a better understanding for economics. I am a very determined young girl and you would never regret supporting the dreams of a group of young teenagers who are determined to be very successful in life. We all appreciate your concern, support, and time.

Miss Morello

What kind of person would be loony enough to take 10 teenagers to a totally foreign country, without the help of a tour company?

Well, ME!

Actually, I don't think it's crazy at all. At least, not if the 10 teenagers happen to all be amazing young people that you know would reap incredible benefits from traveling outside the borders of their own country. Oh, and it doesn't hurt if you have done some independent travel yourself along the way, and lived in Japan for a year :)

Let me stop and officially introduce myself. I'm the person in the picture above who is NOT Japanese. My name is Nicole Morello, and I am a social studies teacher at Oakland Aviation High School, a small public charter school located on the property of the Oakland Airport. I have been a teacher for about 6 years now, including a year in Japan and a year in Korea.

When I graduated from high school, I was lucky enough to join one of my teachers and 5 classmates on one of those whirlwind tours of Europe - 4 countries in 10 days; the kind of trip where if you blink your eyes you might end up missing something. At the time, I was thrilled to be able to see so many cool things, but I had NO IDEA that those 10 days would literally change the course of my life -- it was on that trip that I was bitten by the infamous TRAVEL BUG.

And I was bitten hard! In the 12 years since that first trip, I have visited 23 countries on 4 continents, and spent two years living and teaching in Asia. Almost all of my travel has been independent, carrying all my belongings on my back and deciding where I was going as I went along. Travel is my passion; it opens my eyes, blows my mind, feeds my soul, and has undoubtedly made me who I am today.

So I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to give young people the same opportunity that I had. I hope that for them, this trip will be the first of many, and the doorway to a future as conscientious and educated citizens of the world. I hope that it will open their eyes, blow their minds, and feed their souls. If anything, I'm pretty sure it will be a darn good time!

If you are reading this, I hope that you will consider donating to help us out on our trip. Please visit our firstgiving page at.....