(first draft)
Today's poll question on SGC was whether I thought my memoirs would be interesting. That puts the challenge right out there, doesn't it. So I have vowed to start writing things about ME - how vain? Those that are interested ahould keep on reading. I'll try to make the most exciting things come first.
Life on this Earth, as I see it!
In school year 1988-89 I was informed that I needed to take credits to re-up my certification as a teacher with thw DODDS system. That's the Department of Defense Dependent Schools and I was teaching my eleventh year in Japan. My fifth year in Japan, I had switched from a first grade classroom teacher to an ESL teacher (English as a Second Language). So I started looking for two or three more classes for ESL that I could take that summer.
I found one nice program in Provo, Utah and another one being given by Michigan State University was in Vienna, Austria.
Well...I ask you...Which one would you choose?
So in the Spring I went to my travel agent in Tokyo to get a flight to Austria for four weeks and then to Kentucky to visit with my family for four weeks before returning to Japan in August. He suggested that I buy a trip around the world. It would be cheaper to take this route than to go from one continent to another and than back to Asia.
So one week after school closed, I left Tokyo and flew to Hong Kong. That's one of my favorite cities in the world to visit. I was traveling alone, but this would be my fourth time to visit Hong Kong. I have stayed in the same small hotel in Kowloon each time, so I felt pretty comfortable stopping there for five days and be by myself.
Since it wasn't a busy time for tourists, the desk clerk gave me a suite for the price of a single room. That was a real treat. And I ate my big meal each day at noon and just bring in a snack for my evening meal. I remember that I purchased a couple of tailored blouses, a pair of eye glasses and a lovely ring that caught my eye.
Nothing too eventful happened. I had afternoon tea at the fancy Peninsula Hotel and took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island several times, just for the beautiful boat ride.
From there I flew to Greece and then Germany where I took a train to Austria and settled in for a month of classes.
I don't remember the classwork, but I do remember falling in love with Italian eise (sp). That is the most wonderful ice cream that is served anywhere. That last week, I think there were several days when I had two cones! Yummy!!
From Vienna, I took a train over to Munich and visited a friend for a week or so. Then I flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Boston to Kentucky to Chicago and back to Japan. So I had circumvented the earth. Wow! How did it feel? I was just tired!
