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Trip to Japan, 2003

Day 6, 2003/03/24

I head over to the hotel to meet the others and discover that a change of plans is contemplated; today's weather is wonderful, warm and dry, and the rest of the week is supposed to be colder and wet. None of us really want to repeat last Thursday, so we elect to do one school tour (Lincoln Elementary) instead of three, as originally planned, and then head out for sightseeing.

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Lincoln is a tall red-brick building erected in the early 1900's; it's the second oldest school building still in use in this city. School is not in session this week, but the building has been opened to allow us to tour the facility and see how the classrooms are set up. The Japanese educators are impressed both with the age of the building and the creative use of space inside. Our school is filled with samples of schoolwork, pictures of the students and encouraging messages; the classrooms have high ceilings and lots of windows, and have a "happy" look to them.

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Now it's time for fun; first stop is a trip to St. Louis and a visit to the "Home of the Clydesdales," the Anheuser-Busch brewery, complete with a short stay in their hospitality room (yes, the Japanese are very familiar with beer, and Budweiser is a favorite). I'm driving: O'Doul's is my beverage of choice today. A-B presents each of us with certificates naming us as Honorary Brewmasters, a special souvenir for our international guests.

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Lunch is at a local fast-food eatery in downtown St. Louis; the Japanese are familiar with McDonalds but haven't necessarily seen other restaurants of that type, so we stop at Burger King. Then it's on down to the Mississippi Riverfront, where we park on the levee and walk up towards the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (aka the Gateway Arch).

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There is some interest in seeing both the Arch and the paddlewheel boats that cruise the river, but we discover that cruises are ending early today because of wind and river conditions. National Park personnel are interested in helping our group, though, and make arrangements for us to tour one of the boats as soon as it returns to dock. We get a wonderful view of the Mississippi River from the upper deck of the "Tom Sawyer"; my partner teacher is very excited to see the boat, as some of her classes back home have studied the Mark Twain book of the same name.

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Then it's back to the museum located under the Arch, where we look at the exhibits and browse the gift shop until it's time to board the tram for a ride up the South leg of the Arch to the very top. This is definitely a hit with our guests; there is nothing like it anywhere else, and the view from the top is fabulous!

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Back to ground level, and we decide to walk over to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. The Japanese are amazed at the size of the food portions served at American restaurants; this one is no exception. Today, however, more food is consumed by all, since we've been walking around most of the day and lunch was smaller.

We are all seriously tired; it's time to head back to St. Charles for bed. We will meet early tomorrow to drive to the state capitol, Jefferson City.

Oh, yes, my Japanese partners have presented more gifts, for myself and for our school. A beautiful pressed-flower picture/placemat and a hand-painted traditional folding Japanese fan for me, and origami papers and small hand toys often used by Japanese children for students in my school. And, a beautiful lacquerware clock, which we will display at school for all to see.

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