Prairie Principal in Japan

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Update

Hunting in Montana.

I have been retired from my position as PowerSchool Tech Support for the State of North Dakota since July of 2020. I am loving retirement. I have been enjoying working around my home, volunteering at the Little Flower School and Church, camping, hiking, fishing, and deer hunting in Montana. I'm not sure anyone reads this old blog but I still have fond memories of Japan and the fantastic people that I met.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Update

I still like to keep this blog available for people doing a search about Japan. I hope this can be informative and entertaining.

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Retirement

After 32 years of teaching, coaching, and administration I will be retiring from education. I look forward to starting a new career. I am thankful for all that I have learned and experienced. Thank you to all the great teachers and students.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Japan in My Heart

It is now 2010 and it has been many years since I visited Japan and made new friends there. I have fond memories of this wonderful country and it's people. I hope that I can return someday. The world is truely a small place and we as a people have much more in common than differences. Peace to All. Let's make this a better world for our children.

David

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Welcome

I have had a wonderful school year. My trip to Japan was an experience of a life time. I have been very fortunate to make new friends with my host family in Chigaskai. As I wind down this school year I have reflected on the many wonderful experiences that I have gained just by presenting this experience to students, teachers, parents, and administrators. I recently gave my final presentation of the school year. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit with a group of parents about the cultural and educational experiences in Japan. While I have completed most of my presentations I am fortunate to be able to present to the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders next fall. I look forward to this experience.

Thank you to all the wonderful conversations that I have had with people. If you would like to visit about this experience,please feel free to respond at this blog site. I will be happy to continue the conversations.

God bless you and keep you safe.
David Zwingel

Monday, January 15, 2007

Teacher Inservie

Thank you to all that attended the in-service on Monday. For those of you that are interested in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund you can get additional information at fulbrightmemorialfund.jp. I wish could have talked more about all the experiences.

God bless you all and the great work you do with kids.
Davidsan

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Video Blocking

The videos posted will not show at school because the site is blocked by the school filter.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Posting Again

I opened the blog for posting again. I have added several videos. I think you will enjoy them.

I will be making presentations to Ely Elementary next week. I also plan on giving presentations to the junior high and high school after state testing has been completed. If a community group would like to have me present my trip at one of your meetings, please feel free to contact me.

I am also planning to present to the teachers in our consortium at the winter in-service. This presentation will focus on education issues in Japan.

Kendo Demonstration

I had posted a picture of students participating in Kendo. This was practiced in the high school physical education program that I had visited. This is a demonstration of a Kendo match.

View of Mt.Fuji

Mt. Fuji's height is easy to remember. It is 12,365 ft. There are 12 months in a year and 365 days in a year. That is the height of Mt. Fuji.

How to laugh in Kyogen

In the Kyogen Theater actions and voice are exaggerated. Here is a sample. Notice the actor's body position. He will squat slightly. In the next video notice the body position and shuffle steps of tne actors.

Kyogen Video

Traditional Japanese Comedy. I sometimes think Kyogen is kind of like a sitcom. On the show, "Seinfeld" the characters always think that they are getting ahead but in the end nothing ever works out for them. Kyogen is very similar to that story line. For example, the rich man does not succeed because he has too much money, the beautiful girl does not get the date that she wants, the witty thief gets caught.

Kabuki Dancer

This is a sample of the kabuki dance. During the Edo period, kabuki was performed by samurai warriors. Kabuki was performed in low light theaters so the performers used the white and pink paint to make the performer more visible. It also helped to disguise the physical features of the samurai warrior.

Southern All-Stars

The Southern All-Stars are the most popular band in Japan. They have had hits songs since the 1980's. The lead singer for the group went to the middle school that we toured. The Southern All-Stars orginally came from our host city of Chigasaki.

Baseball Video

This is a great example of how crazy the fans are at a baseball game. The music and cheers are non-stop.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Final Post

This is the final post.

I have made many new friends. I have greatly appreciated this opportunity and the experience has truely enriched my life. This experience has helped me understand the Japan culture, our country's perspective in the world, and helped me think about my own school and community. I look forward to being home again and visiting with all my friends and family.

Thank you to everyone at home and I hope to see you soon.

Cool Ideas

Japan is a very clean place. There is a reason it is clean. The reason is that the people make a effort to take care of the environment.

There are vending machines everywhere. The difference between our vending machines and theirs is that there are a huge variety of drinks in Japan and the serving size is much smaller. The typical drink in a vending machine is about 6ozs. compared to our 16 and 20 oz. drinks. Also there are no garbage cans located anywhere. There are recycling bins at the vending machines. If you arer thirsty you go to a vending machine, drink your drink, then despose of it in the recycling bin. People do not walk and drink on the streets. This concept is something for us to think about.

These mirrors are all over the place. Because the roads are so small and narrow the driver can not see around the corner so they use these mirrors. There are probably a half dozen mirrors on every block.

They use these nets to cover the garbage on garbage day. This is to prevent any garbage from blowing away. This is another reason Japan is so clean.

This idea is not unque to Japan but is very cool. In the hotels, the room key is on a stick. The stick is placed in the light switch. To use the lights you must insert the stick. If you leave the room you must take your key with you therefore turning the lights off. Save energy.

Final Post Soon

I will try to update the blog one more time. I would like to post a few pictures of some of the things that are unque in Japan. I hope to be able to have time to do that tomorrow. I am back in Tokyo today. On Wednesday we meet as a group and we have follow up activities.

I fly out on Thursday and I figure it will take me 22 hours to get from Tokyo to Rugby. I am not looking forward to the flight. Thank goodness I don't have school until Monday.

Japan is a wonderful and amazing country. I have had a fantastic experience here. The thing that surprises me the most, and it shouldn't have, is that people all over the world just want to raise their families, they want good things for their kids, and they want to be safe. Kids are kids and that shouldn't be a surprise. A lesson to learn here is that this is a wonderful culture, different in many ways from our own, but more alike than different.

I miss you all and can't wait to get home.
Love
DZ