Well, the time is clicking away and the trip is only a day off! I am going to try and give you an overview of the trip and some photos that will help get the conversation going. Please understand, I am using the internet to cut and paste some descriptions and photos… I am still here in the blessed USA. The descriptions in this discussion are taken from presently published sites, I am just pulling it all together for the sake of the preliminary knowledge and explanations!!

Once our flight has landed in Shanghai and we have zoomed at speeds up to 250-260 miles an hour, we will see the The Oriental Pearl Tower (a TV tower in Shanghai, China) in this incredibly modern and fast paced city - it is China's largest and most cosmopolitan city in this vast country!

While in Shanghai for the next few days, we will encounter the Shanghai Museum (Located in the center of Shanghai in People's Square, Shanghai Museum is a large museum of ancient Chinese art with bronzes dating back to 1800 BC, jade, pottery, ceramics, paintings and calligraphy, and more), the Yu Garden and Bazaar (shop, shop, shop - "the 400-year-old Yu Yuan Gardens were built in the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Jia Jin. Recognized as a significant national heritage site, the Gardens are a remarkable representation of a southern Chinese-style garden"), the "water towns" such as Luzhi ("the natural beauty of the town is indescribable. Old stone bridges, limpid water, venerable maidenhair trees and old-style dwellings, as well as the traditional women's costumes, create an ideal 'civilized, rich, pastoral and harmonious' environment") or Tongli ( "an age-old but very well preserved water township with a history of more than 1,000 years"), visit the Jade Buddha Temple, and see a performance of the Shanghai Acrobats (okay, too cool! Go to this site - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhvPgFrjA_Y
But not wanting to lose any time, we fly to Beijing our 3rd day in China.
In Beijing, China's cultural and political center, we will tour the Temple of Heaven ("literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest"… dating back to the Ming Dynasty), visit in the public parks (amateur performances of dancers and opera), and in the evening see a performance of the incredible Beijing Opera ("is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics").

The next day, we visit the schools to discuss our future relationships with them - talking about our collaborative classroom experience and the incredible opportunities before us. Yes, this is the real reason for this trip - we have the chance to set up communication between our schools and the Asian schools and help grow communication between our kids and theirs. This is a tremendous opportunity to say the least... we will also have this type of meeting when we visit Japan.

Later, we visit Beijing University, experience a lecture and demonstration of "the Art of Chinese Calligraphy," visit the Summer Palace (the largest imperial garden in the world), and then dine on Peking Duck this evening. Are you thinking we will be tired??? I am thinking we will be exhausted yet really psyched!!

Day 7 leads to more school visitations and trips to Tiananmen Square (the large plaza near the center of Beijing, China) and the Forbidden City's Palace Museum (the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty [ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644] to the end of the Qing Dynasty [last ruling dynasty of China from 1644 to 1912]).

Oh, but the next day is a doozie!! It's the visit to the Great Wall of China (a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 6th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during the rule of successive dynasties).

Guess what? The trip is only half over!

Next, we travel to Japan. Nagoya is the next stop - Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya Castle (Nagoya Castle, built by Ieyasu Tokugawa in 1609, is one of the most wonderful castles in Japan), Meiji Mura Architectural Museum, and more teacher meetings are all going to happen over the course of 2 1/2 days. Feet don't fail me now!! Here we have the chance to meet our Japanese counterparts in this school collaboration project and then have wonderful dinner with the local teachers.

A train ride later we find ourselves in Nara - we stay in the Ryokan Matsumae - the "hotel" with the traditional Japanese style rooms (mats and sliding doors). I am thinking this will be a truly once in a lifetime experience (unless I come back to Japan!!).

A good bit of sightseeing follows the next day to places like Todai-ji (a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan.), Shoso-in (the treasure house that belongs to Tōdai-ji,) and more. We will visit the Shinto shrine Kasuga ("the interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up the shrine") and the Kofuku-ji Museum (built to house the various statues, paintings, books craftworks and historical documents which have been designated National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties).

Then on to Kyoto we go!
In Kyoto, we see the Nijo Castle (”The palace building now known as Ninomaru ["secondary castle"], was completed in 1603 and enlarged by Ieyasu's grandson Iemitsu. It survives in its original form and is famous for its Momoyama architecture, decorated sliding doors and floors that squeak like nightingales when someone walks on them (a security measure against intruders), and the Heian Shrine ("a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. The torii gate before the main gate is one of the largest in Japan, and the main building”).
Not to be left out, we visit the Silver Pavilion (is a Zen temple at the foot of Kyoto's Higashiyama - "eastern mountains") and the Ryoanji Rock Garden (a Zen temple).

Day 14 finds us at Sanjusangendo Temple (a Buddhist temple built in 1164 AD at the request of the emperor) and the a Kiyomizu Temple (a Tendai Buddhist temple in Kyoto). Then in the afternoon, we head to Osaka, Japan - soon to wrap up this grand adventure.

If we have a chance we will see the Bunraku puppets (a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.) On our next to last day, we have a chance to see Osaka Castle (one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century) and Sumiyoshi Taisha (main shrine of all the Sumiyoshi shrines in Japan).

Believe it or not, this will wrap up this trip. We will have seen castles and temples and museums, we will have experiences that most of us will never experience again… but the most remarkable thing to all of this is that we will establish communication with our Asian friends and students. We will certainly appreciate the beauty of this incredible land and the lovely people in China and Japan - yet the memories will enhance our lives forever and the knowledge that we bring back to our students will enrich their lives and education. Please join me on this trip over the next couple of weeks!