Thoughts from Coleman House

A Tribute to the Emerson Family

2009-11-21T17:53:00.000-08:00

When I was a student at SPH and then SBS, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson (the "E's) ran the school together. They were wonderful, and many of us stayed in touch with them until they died some years ago. When I was a senior Stoneleigh Prospect Hill, we merged with another girls' school in Northampton, The Mary A. Burnham School, thus becoming Stoneleigh-Burnham. Mr. E's sister Miriam Peters ran Burnham, following in the footsteps of her mother, Mabel Hood Emerson (ironically, I received the award in her name when I graduated). When the schools merged, Mr. E was the head and Mrs. Peters worked somewhat in the backdrop, orchestrating a fantastic trip to Paris for 5 weeks. I went on that trip, the ultimate inspiration for my becoming a French major in college, and ultimately a French teacher.

By the time I became head of SBS, Mrs. Peters was long retired, but she still lived in the area. Last summer she (and we) celebrated her 100th birthday. On October 29th of this year, 1 day shy of her 100th year and 4th month, Mrs. Peters passed away. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit with her several times in my first year of headship. She, like her brother and sister-in-law, has been an inspiration to me, and I marveled with each visit at her sharp mind - yes, even at 100.

Mrs. Peters' funeral service was a few weeks ago in Danvers, MA at the family burial ground. I only learned recently that she was a descendant of Israel Putnam, Revolutionary War general, and had grown up in the general's home in Danvers. The Putnam Family Burial Ground is a lovely, serene plot of land now wedged at the crossroads of Routes 1 and 62, behind the state police barracks: a sharp reminder of what "progress" has done to a once bucolic setting. It was a lovely ceremony, punctuated with a program and music that Mrs. Peters had chosen.

Three of my classmates - Deb, Carol and Jennie, as well as a few other Burnham alumnae, also attended the service. Though we felt somewhat like interlopers at this mostly family ceremony, we also represented the school family that Mrs. Peters had raised. I wondered if all those Emersons understood how deeply so many of us students feel about these Emersons, now buried here in this spot for their final rest. We could go on for hours about them, their influence on us, the stories of their families.

I learned that day that Mabel Hood Emerson didn't start her professional career until she had raised her children. Apparently her husband was about 15 years older than she and he, a very successful manufacturer, lost everything in the Great Depression. Mrs. Emerson, at 52 years old, went to work teaching school. Eventually, she bought a little school in Exeter, NH and named it the Emerson School for Boys.

Mr. E, her son Edward, eventually ran that school before he moved to Greenfield in 1950. While Mr. E was in Exeter, his mother went down to Northampton to look into buying her alma mater, The Mary A. Burnham School. Somehow she convinced a local banker to loan her the money, and sometime later she also bought Stoneleigh Prospect Hill. By the time I came along in the mid-60's, Mr. E was running Stoneleigh and Mrs. Peters (Miriam Emerson Peters) was running Burnham. Their brother John (now 95 and the last remaining Emerson of that generation) was the long-time business manager for Burnham. He was also instrumental in the family's opening a summer school, Burnham-by-the-Sea, in what are now buildings belonging to Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. Another brother stayed in Danvers and opened the Putnam Pantry candy shop which is now run by his son.

I thought then, and still think now, that the story of Mabel Hood Emerson is remarkable. Here was a woman who had raised 7 children before she found a career and provided for her family with it. Her children were all well-educated and well-traveled. I remember that Mrs. Peters and Mr. E always took a trip together during Spring Break, usually overseas. Mrs. Peters had studied at the Sorbonne and taught French early in her career; it was her enduring love affair with Paris that inspired our trip there my senior year. Though the family clearly endured some hard times, they also led a privileged life at many levels. Mabel Hood Emerson and her children Edward, Miriam and John left legacies behind that are still felt today at the school and that I am stubbornly committed to perpetuate.

A Nice Surprise at the End of A Busy Week (and Weekend)

2009-10-24T11:11:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we ended an intense week of Admissions Open House, Board of Trustees meetings and Family Weekend. It was all wonderful, but the pace of the week was fast and furious. I went to sleep very early on Saturday night when the campus fell quiet again! That said, I do have some impressions of the week that are probably worth sharing:

Open House is always fun. I get to talk about who we are and where we're going; girls and their parents get to try out this environment to see if it feels right. I love to see the reactions of parents as they try to imagine their daughters in our school, and of the girls interacting with our students. Any prospective student is lucky to have parents who are seeking the right match for the right reasons. We get to do it again on November 11th.

Going through Family Weekend in Year Two is so much more gratifying this second time around! Finally, I know most, if not all, of the parents and can interact comfortably them. I love talking to them about their children's growth and development, and now that I've been here for awhile I have witnessed that growth first hand and can speak about it specifically. I remember going to a soccer game last fall, chatting up what I thought was an SBS father on the sidelines -- only to discover in short order that his daughter was on the opposing team! A real first year foible. By contrast, this year I have only had to work at getting to know the families of our new students. A nice change.

I have to comment on our performing arts presentation that happens perennially on Family Weekends. This fall the performances were particularly impressive, given our scant 5 weeks of practice before the performances. Kudos to the arts department for inspiring our students to such heights in so short a period of time. I'm still singing Fly Me to the Moon in my head and remembering Quincy's strong voice belting it out. We all imagined we were in a smoky cabaret at midnight -- and it was only 1pm in the afternoon!

Our Board of Trustees is terrific, and the school is fortunate to have so many people who care so deeply for it. They worked hard through their two days of meetings, and in between sessions emerged to interact with the school community. Formal dinner on Thursday night was a lot of fun with the students, and coffee and Richardsons' chocolates were served after dinner in the Blue Room for trustees and faculty/staff. Delish. Since my arrival last year we've brought on four new trustees in all, two last year and two at this most recent meeting. All told, they bring expertise in finance, investment and development, key areas of our work these days. I am grateful for the support and guidance this board has given the school.

I headed off for Boston the Monday after Family Weekend in order to attend the Heads' Summit sponsored by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools. It was a day at the Simmons College School of Management with other girls' school heads, focusing on strategic thinking and goal setting related to finance. While these sessions, led by two Simmons professors, were interesting and timely, it was just as edifying to share experiences with our fellow heads of school. Many of them I already knew, but there were several others there who were new acquaintances.

I went back in to school on Tuesday, and Kate - a new ninth grader and alumna daughter - made my day. She sauntered into my office and presented me with this, her own rendition of our school logo:

I'm still not sure how she did it with such precision, but it now adorns my front stoop and is lit up each evening for all to see. These are the little moments that make a day fun. They are the things that define a place and are so hard to quantify when families come to find out what we're about. Kate went home to Vermont after her parents came for Family Weekend, but she still was thinking about Stoneleigh-Burnham while away. That's when she carved her pumpkin. I love that.

Early Impressions of the Year

2009-09-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

We're at the end of our third full week of classes, and it feels - in good ways - as if we've been here for months. I thought I'd fill this entry with quick snapshots of some the moments we've experienced.

We had an alum speaker at one of the first Housemeetings. She had just returned from a two-year Peace Corps stint in a Senegalese village and shared photos and insights with us.
Natalie (academic dean) had her baby! Jack Hudson Demers was born on September 21st and is now home learning how to live with two huge dogs...
A rousing 64 students and faculty have volunteered to walk for cancer research. We're divided into teams and will be doing some fundraisers in order to have the money needed to participate. I feel very proud of the number of our students who've come forward to help, and I have to say that my team is the best! No favoritism, of course...but we have already made jewelry and cookies to sell.
In the middle of week 2, Mina Cooper, director of riding, Regina Mooney, director of development, and I traveled to Charlottesville, VA for an alumnae event at Hyperion Farm, owned and operated by alumna Vicky Castegren. It was an incredible event on an incredibly beautiful piece of property with incredibly gorgeous horses. Vicky showed us some of the babies born on the property and demonstrated what she looks for in a good horse. We are thrilled that Vicky has agreed to run a clinic at SBS on February 20th! Among a few others we met while there was my classmate Karen van Lengen who has been dean of the school of architecture at UVA for the past 10 years. It was wonderful catching up and catching her up; Karen has agreed to come speak to our students sometime soon as she is currently on sabbatical.
At the Fall Horse Trials, our seventh grader Franny was remarkable getting people to buy SBS items. She even approached one guy to suggest that our water bottle would match his car well!
Two of my advisees wanted chocolate chip cookies for our advisory period snack this week; one wants potato salad! I accommodated both requests...
I heard great feedback about one of our new teachers. The girls love her class and think she's a great teacher. (I passed along the kudo.)
While we go through our daily routines, some of us are behind the scenes working on finalizing budgets and planning for next year's dates.
We are also planning for the upcoming Board meeting and have just added two new members and two new trustees emeriti. Great additions!
We'll be "testing" a new format for our Family Weekend this fall -- putting the arts performance on Friday afternoon so parents may take their daughters out for dinner and/or overnight.
Past parents Vicki and Jeff Palmer hosted a wonderful cocktail party at their home in Greenfield to which all current and past parents in Greenfield and neighboring towns were invited. It was wonderful to meet so many enthusiastic people and to have the opportunity to tell them what we've been up to at SBS.
I was just AOD this past weekend and witnessed Friday night Laser Tag on the first floor and video games in the Red Room on Saturday night. Lots of crazy fun...but lots of girls in the library working as well. Sunday was a quiet day filled with room clean-up and study time, though there was a college fair some of the girls attended.
Our Chinese teacher has finally arrived! After more than a month of going back and forth with the Department of Homeland Security, we secured the permission for Chia-Jung (Sara) Tsou to get her visa. Sara just finished her master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh, but she is from Taiwan and had to go back in order to do this paperwork. Her students are ecstatic and we are all SOOO happy she's here! She made a big hit last Thursday when she offered us Moon Cakes during our weekly faculty meeting; it is time for the Moon Festival in Taiwan and China so she brought these goodies to share with all of us. She's a smart woman!
Next thing you know, it will be time for Mountain Day so stay tuned!

The New School Year

2009-09-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that we just opened the year and that I am embarking on my second year as head of school. Of course, I know so much more this year! And that includes people -- it feels good to welcome parents and students back to school and be able to call them by name. I've had multiple returning students talk to me about their commitment to making the year a positive experience for all. It is equally wonderful to see all the new families who come with great enthusiasm and expectation of a super year. I don't think we'll disappoint.

Something happened as we opened the year. It started at the faculty meetings when I could feel our hulk of a ship start to turn; we were all heading in the same direction and it felt good. With the work we did last year around how we view ourselves and the language we use to talk about the school, we were able this fall to present where we are to the faculty, first, and then to each set of parents as they registered their daughters. Finally, I shared it all with the students at Convocation. We will do the same with the trustees when they are here in October (though they have been kept abreast of our conversations along the way). We know where we're going; we know what we're about; and we know that we like it. That feels very good!

As we went through registration days, Convocation, and then bonding trips and pre-season, the buzz among faculty has been what a great student body we have. The girls have worked to know each other and to get ready to start working in all kinds of directions. One girl came in my office last night to say that she LOVES the new schedule (kudos to the scheduling sub-committee of last year). Several of the new international students, most of whom don't get to see the school before they arrive, have remarked that they are so lucky to be in a place that's this beautiful (wait 'til the foliage season!).

No more time for a longer entry. Suffice it to say that we're off to a great start!

Hong Kong for another 24 Hour Visit, and then China!

2009-08-29T12:08:00.001-07:00

From Taipei we flew to Hong Kong in order to get to Shenzhen, China. Though we have a few alumnae in Hong Kong, none of them were available when we were going to be there. Still, we had to spend one night in the city in order for me to get my visa to enter China - finally. Andy and I had both applied before we left, but I was denied. The father in Shenzhen who "sponsored" our visit had not written his letter on official letterhead. So while whoever read Andy's application found nothing egregious, whoever read mine was in a bad mood. I had to deal with it in Hong Kong.

Our student Shiyun '11 had been staying with me for the month of June, before going to a summer program at Andover during July. She and her parents were incredibly helpful in planning the trip to Shenzhen, and her father once again helped out when it came time to deal with the visa problem. A friend of his in the Immigration Office expedited the wait for me, and it was a quick (though frustrating, still) affair. By 11am the morning after arriving, I had my visa and was ready to go to China. Shiyun and a driver had picked us up at the Hong Kong airport and dropped us at the hotel; they picked us up again the next afternoon. Shiyun had spent the night with a friend she'd met at her summer school. Andy and I took a bit of a walk and I got a few pictures of the dramatic landscape of Hong Kong:

Unfortunately, the weather from Taipei on was nothing but rain and heat and humidity. It didn't make for very inspired photos, but I still shot away. Certainly, the photos of Hong Kong are much less impressive than what it really looked like.

When we drove into China, a mere half hour or so from our hotel in Hong Kong, we could sense we were entering somewhere different from the rest of our stops. Shenzhen is a city of 6 million people that was begun only 30 years ago; as you can imagine, all the buildings are new and tall.
We stayed in a hotel not far from Shiyun's family's apartment, and we relied on them to help us get from one place to the next. I should start this excerpt by saying that where Lisa and Chi-Hung left off in Taipei, Shiyun and her parents picked up in Shenzhen. They were unbelievably hospitable, and we are so grateful for all that they did for us. Not only did they host the reception, but Shiyun had personally called every student, new and returning, to encourage her to come to the event. We were stunned when 5 new girls and their parents joined us, one even flying in to attend the reception! Everyone at school is going to love them all.

Just as in Taipei, we had a mere few hours upon our arrival before the reception. Shiyun and her mother took us first for a "hotpot" meal which we enjoyed tremendously. Because her parents speak little English, Shiyun was called upon to translate everything for the days we were there, and she did an excellent job.

Our reception was in a lovely restaurant where we had a dedicated room with 2 sections: one with a giant, round table for our meal; the other with chairs and a screen for our "talk."

We were delighted to see the mother of Rebecca '10 arrive with a translator. Rebecca couldn't make it because she was in Beijing doing community service, but her mother, whom we have never met, made the effort. She was very helpful to the new families in understanding the "unspoken realities" of SBS life. ("When your daughter tell you this, think that..." and so on!) We had an amazing meal with I-don't-know-how-many courses; to us, it seemed the food just kept coming and coming. It was such a delightful time that I forgot to take any pictures of it! I did, though, take a picture of my beautiful bouquet of roses that all the parents bestowed upon me (and a similar one upon Mrs. Patt). These were wrapped in a kind of burlap and meshed fabric that held the flowers in water during our entire stay in China. They were amazing!

The next day we joined Shiyun and almost all the new girls (Jane had to go home) as well as two mothers at a nearby Chinese Cultural Folk Village, an instructional, hands-on place where visitors can learn about Chinese history and culture. (l to r: the mother of Selma, Selma, Phoebe, Kathy, Icey, Mrs. Patt, Shiyun's mother, Shiyun)

We had a wonderful time walking around, getting to know each other and laughing quite a bit. We also visited two performances, one an impressive horseback exhibition detailing the end of one dynasty and the beginning of another; the other a beautiful dance performance representing each of the provinces of China and its traditions.

One tradition is eating a favorite of all Chinese children, a mountain of frozen crab apples covered in candy coating (not as sweet, though, as our candied apples). It was delicious on a steamy and humid day!

We also stumbled across a poet-calligrapher who made a poem for us about SBS; we've brought it home and will have it framed when we can get a translation done to accompany it.
We ended our day with a lovely Brazilian dinner in another impressive restaurant, hosted by Mr. Wang, the father of one of our new students. We were seated at the table once taken by the president of the republic and his wife. Andy and I were meant to sit in those two seats! The meal was delicious, and we ended the day feeling like we know our new Chinese students and their parents very well, as they do us. It was a perfect day.

The next day we met Shiyun and her mother for brunch and enjoyed some food we had never seen nor tasted before. One of our favorites was a kind of angel food cake with soft egg yolk inside. Sounds disgusting, but it's not.

We also got the definitive lesson on eating with Chinese utensils and plates...you put the food in the bowl and the scraps on the plate. As in other places, we laughed and shared stories, despite our language barrier with our hosts. Our final night of the trip (except for our plane ride home) was spent with Shiyun's entire extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. They were all upbeat, wonderful people who showered us unnecessarily with gifts and love. We enjoyed a meal together in a private room at a restaurant that specializes in Cantonese cooking where we had one of the best meals of our entire trip. Seated around a giant, round table with a lazy Susan in the middle, we were fed rounds and rounds of delicious food.

We were also serenaded by regional music sung and played by musicians who came in and got Andy and me up dancing and singing with them (only Shiyun's family can ever use this to blackmail me!).
We were also solicited to officially cut a piece of roasted goat and spray some wine into the sky and onto the ground to signal good luck. It was a very special occasion for us, and we thank Shiyun's entire family (here, not quite in its entirety) for making us feel so appreciated.

There are so many things to say about this trip. In sum, though, Andy and I both felt privileged to represent the school to so many wonderful people. Our alumnae in Asia are no different that those elsewhere - they appreciate the experience they had at SBS and have gone on to lead incredibly interesting and meaningful lives. Our current parents, especially those who have not been able to come to the U.S. to see their daughters at school, really need for us to bridge the gap and help them know us better. Our students need for us to know how much we enjoy and appreciate where they come from, in any part of the world! And we need to continue to educate ourselves and talk with our consitutents along the way about our learnings. We need to continue building global understanding and to take every opportunity to help our girls cross cultural boundaries. We look forward to returning to Asia in the future and say thank you - Arigato - Gansa Hamnida - and Shishi - to everyone who helped make this a successful trip for SBS!

Thwarted by the Typhoon, but we finally get to Taipei

2009-08-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Twenty-four hours after being sent back to Seoul, we headed once again to the airport and finally got to Taipei. We were so happy to be greeted by Chi-Hung '09 and Lisa '10 who took us by car into the city. Chi-Hung and Lisa told us a lot about the city while we were traveling to the hotel. When we asked what we should try to do, given our less-than-24-hours, Chi-Hung said, "Taipei 101." I thought she was so clever to suggest that we get in a quick, survey "course" of the city...until I realized she was referring to one of the tallest buildings in the world - Taipei 101 which has 101 floors. We had a good laugh over that!

We loved the Landis Taipei Hotel and the people in it. They could not have been more accommodating, especially given our delay and thwarted reception. The hotel staff quickly put together a much smaller and intimate area where we could greet the few people who were still able to come see us. Lisa's parents had thoughtfully sent us a beautiful basket of Taiwanese fruit some of which Lisa cut up for us to taste as we got settled in our hotel room. It - Asian pear, dragon fruit, assorted melons and so on - was delicious! When we had unpacked a bit and tasted our fruit, the girls took us out again so we could see a bit of the city. It was raining (remember, there was a typhoon hitting the southern part of the island!), and we had just about an hour to zoom around Taipei. We didn't even get out of the car, but we were able to gain an impression of a city we thought we'd love to return to see more of. Here are some "rainy" views:

We got back to the hotel just in time to change for the reception and greet our guests: current students Eudora '11 and her mother, Sara '11 and her dad, Lisa and her parents, and Chi-Hung. We were also wonderfully happy to see two alumnae, Alice and Flora , and Flora 's mother, Bernadette.

It wasn't the size group we had originally anticipated, but we were so grateful to those who were able to attend. We enjoyed everyone there and learned a lot about Taiwan, business in Taiwan, and the life of teenagers there! Thanks, especially, to the two fathers there - Mr. Hsieh and Mr. Cheng; it was Fathers' Day in Taiwan that night!

Lisa, Chi-Hung and Eudora insisted that we join them after the reception for a trip to the Night Market, an invitation we couldn't resist! And I am so glad we went; it was a riot. First, a trip to the incredible food area where one can buy any kind of food you can think of. We tasted some fried chicken and an oyster omelet, both of which were delicious. Of course, the girls bought some requisite Bubble Tea.

From there, we headed to the many rows of shopping booths -again, where you can seemingly find anything you can think of. My favorite part of the evening was when we took pictures of ourselves in a little booth and then decorated our creations in another machine. We did four pictures, but I'll just share my favorite -- Andy almost guffawing while Lisa was teasing her. Take a look:
On top of all this, there were Lisa and Chi-Hung waiting for us again the next morning at 7:30am in the hotel lobby as we were about to depart. They escorted us back to the airport and bid us adieu. There is no question that our brief trip to Taiwan would never had had so much meaning if it weren't for these two. We are forever indebted. Shishi, girls! And a big shishi to everyone who came to our event; we are very appreciative!

Backtracking, again...Seoul, Korea

2009-08-13T18:05:00.000-07:00

We're back! And after being blocked from Blogspot in Taiwan and China, I will pick up where we left off in Seoul -- what at this point feels like a month ago! A public thank you to my husband, Hank, who tried to let everyone know that we were alive and well, albeit in a more highly controlled environment.

The day after our alumnae and family event in Seoul we spent some time with a couple of consultants in the morning and early afternoon. We enjoyed conversation with them and feel that we learned a lot about the lives of Korean students. One of the consultants also runs an "academy" (after-school or summer-school programs to teach English, primarily, and SAT / TEOFL prep). By coincidence, she had the English Dept Chair from Deerfield teaching for her this summer, and so we all had lunch together at a wonderful restaurant nearby. It was interesting to hear what his experience had been like this summer and to learn more about these "academies" in Korea from an American educational perspective.

Our late afternoon and evening was spent with our student Moon Jung and her family. Moon Jung took us to a beautiful imperial palace right in the middle of Old Seoul, an area we had not yet seen and were happy to visit. Suddenly gone were the big business buildings we'd grown familiar with on the other side of the river, and everything looked more like what we expected from an old city such as this.

Chungdeokgung Palace was a wonderful place, filled with all kinds of interesting views and insights into the life of the Korean royal family. We walked around the grounds for several hours, and I just kept clicking away. Both the buildings and the grounds were beautiful. It was hot, but we persevered, and saw most of what was there:

We went from Chungdeokgung Palace to a charming area of Old Seoul with antique shops and a charming tea room where we each enjoyed a bowl of unique (to Andy and me) tea. It was all delicious with an order of some rice pastries, and we loved the ambiance of the place.

Once done with the tea, we sauntered along the street, entering shops that appealed to us. Andy and I bought a few gifts for family members, and we were on our way to meet Moon Jung's parents and interpreter for dinner.

Moon Jung and her parents thought we might like some familiar food, having now been in Asia for some time. We therefore dined in a beautiful Italian restaurant that was a part of a hotel, and it was perfect. Despite any language barriers, we enjoyed lively conversation, lots of laughs and a wonderful meal. Moon Jung's father was very kind in offering us gifts for our husbands as he figured they were lonely at home without us. That was just so sweet (and both husbands really appreciated being thought of!). Her mother was as good an audience for her husband as we were, and we all would hang with anticipation on the translator's words as he told another good story or joke. Here we all are, fully sated:

Many thanks to the Choi family for a wonderful memory of Old Seoul and fine Italian dining. Gansa Hamnida!
(I'm not sure why the writing is suddenly blue and underlined, but I can't seem to change it...)

On our way home!

2009-08-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

(From Husband Hank):

In a very brief email before leaving Hong Kong at 6:15 pm (arriving Newark 4:30 pm Thursday, Aug 13) , Sally reports that she plans to spend all day in bed Friday in attempt to compensate for the jet lag she will undoubtedly endure (she arrives here before she left China!). We have a wedding rehearsal to attend Friday night and the ceremony on Saturday; I hope she won't snore through the service. . .

As soon as she has caught up with her sleep and is able to, Sally will enter a more complete description of her exciting times in China; I'm sure they'll be intriguing! Stay tuned.

Excerpts from Shenzhen

2009-08-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few verbal snapshots, excerpted from an email from Sally at 11:07 EST, Tuesday, August 11:

Have had 2 great days in

Shenzhen. Shiyun's parents are adorable and they h

ave really bent over backwards to be generous and kind hosts to us. Last night's event was amazing - 5 new students and their parents came, and they are so excited,

and their parents were so relieved to meet Andy and me. One girl told me that we have "kind faces" and she never thought the head of her school would be nice.
One more day. The Zhengs are giving us the day to regroup, get work done and pack for the early morning we'll have on Thursday. Then we will meet them at 6pm to go to somewhere in the city, I think with the entire extended family. What a trip this is going to be; of course, Shiyun is the only one who speaks English. She also just got here herself about 4 days ago and still has some jetlag. She's been a trouper.

Had a wonderful event last night - 5 new students and their parents came, along with the Zhengs and the mother of one of our seniors (who is in Beijing right now). All our other current students happened to be traveling right now.

Today we went to brunch with Shiyun and her mother, then met most of the new girls and one of their mothers at a Chinese Cultural Folk Village - their version of Plimouth Plantation or the like. Very interesting, and we saw 2 great shows. The whole group had dinner at a beautiful Brazilian restaurant.

That's all I have energy for right now. Just wanted you to know what I'm up to a bit. I'm definitely ready to come home, but it's been great. Have to work hard on my blog when I get there!

(edited by Hank)

Made it to Mainland China

2009-08-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

(from Sally's husband, Hank):

I had a brief phone call last night to tell me that Sally received her visa and that she and Andy were on their way to China. Will add more details as they come to me.

Not to worry- we made it to Hong Kong!

2009-08-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

Since China has blocked blogspot posts, I am unable to add more detail about our travels since leaving Taiwan. However, I will try to update everyone soon by emailing my posts, which will then posted on the Coleman House Blog. Please be patient; I'll be in touch as soon as possible. In the meantime, be assured that we are fine, having evaded both a typhoon and an earthquake!

Backtracking to Seoul - Day Two (Tues., Aug 4th)

2009-08-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

Just in case you're wondering why I'm starting with Day Two, look back a few entries. I did talk about our arrival in Seoul and our meeting with consultant Kyeong Kang and dinner in the hotel lobby bar.

We awoke the next day anticipating our first meeting with another consultant at 11am, but we had time to stroll over to the nearby Buddhist temple and take a look around. Though we were on our way to something quite old, we were struck by the newness of our immediate surroundings. We are staying in the "New Seoul," south of the river. "Old Seoul" is everything to the north, something we didn't get to see until our (originally) last day in Seoul. Note to the right the two lanes of crosswalk; there are arrows on either side indicating to walkers which lane to use so that people aren't crashing into each other as they lurch to the other side before the light changes. Not rocket science, but we in the U.S. don't seem to have figured this out yet...

Across the street and into the temple. What an oasis of beauty, simplicity and quiet in the midst of a big, noisy city! All we could hear were chants and bells in a variety of buildings, each of which seemed assigned to a particular kind of prayer. The outside spaces were garnered with rafts of white paper lanterns and traditional Korean statues and sculptures. Of course the highlight of the temple is the interior and exterior painting of the buildings themselves - intricate and colorful representation of Buddha's teachings and meaning. Here are a few highlights:

I was particularly struck by the contrast of temple roof lines against the backdrop of modern skyscrapers. Andy loved the chanting and is wanting to find a CD of it all to take home with her. Watch out; we might be found soon in her Bernardston backyard chanting ethereally, taking ourselves into another world of peace and contemplation. Not a bad idea at all!

Dream as we liked, we needed to get back to reality and a meeting at 11 with Christine Kim, another consultant. She brought with her a young 6th grader interested in SBS for a year from now, a delightful girl called Amy but named Moon Jung (and who was excited to hear that we had another Moon Jung already at school). Amy's mother was not feeling well and needed to head to the doctor's office so she stayed with us and Christine for a coffee in the lobby followed by a wonderful lunch. Christine treated us all to a Korean beef meal in a beautiful restaurant where we had our own room. It was our first introduction to Korean food, and we enjoyed it tremendously. We give Amy (as she insisted she liked to be called) a big thumbs up. Any 6th grader who could stay with adults and hold her own in the ways that she did gets a gold star.

The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up with ourselves a bit and doing a few errands in the underground mall attached to the hotel. We had to rest ourselves to get ready for another meal out, this time with our student Jane and her mother. We were really treated like queens, literally, as we were taken to an amazing restaurant of traditional Korean cuisine. As Jane and her mother explained, this is the food that was once served only to queens and kings of Korea. Now it is a special privilege to partake in such a meal. First of all, the ambiance...we were seated at a traditional table low to the floor where our legs were comfortably placed under the table into a "hole" in the floor. And then the food...wow. I have no idea how many courses were placed before us, but it was soon apparent that we could never eat everything set on the table. It was all for tasting, and "waste" is part of the ritual. My Yankee Self was quick to feel bad for whoever was in the back room doing dishes as everything was served to the table on separate plates for us to dip into as we cared to. Soon, however, my sense of guilt was left behind and I was as gluttonous as any king or queen of yore. Here are two of the yummy things we ate. The little pink circle below is actually a radish "taco" used to wrap little vegetables in and eat in one big bite. The preparation alone challenged my chopstick skills sufficiently, but the desire to taste this little delicacy was enough to quicken my proficiency in incremental ways!

Not only did we have one of the best and most interesting meals of our lives, but we also enjoyed entertaining company - including a delightful interpreter that Jane's mother brought along. She's a student at NYU and is tutoring Jane this summer in preparation for Biology next year. We had engaging conversation, lots of laughter, and good old girl fun in a lavish environment. It was particularly interesting to hear about the work of Jane's mother, a real entrepreneur who is very committed to an internet safety project. We are hoping to collaborate with her as a school in an effort to promote a more compatible and safe world.

All in all, what a treat - and something Andy and I will never forget. Here we are fully sated. Gansa Hamnida!

A thwarted trip to Taiwan

2009-08-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

I’m writing this entry on what would have been our last morning in Seoul, but it looks like we will have at least one more day here. We got up today at 5am to catch the 5:50 bus to the airport for our flight to Taipei. Once there, we were told that our flight was postponed due to weather, and we would have to wait for further instruction. There were a number of people already sitting in what seemed to be the only available seats so we found a nice corner of the floor, got ourselves a Dunkin Donuts coffee and settled in for an indefinite period of time.

It wasn’t long before an airport official approached us. I thought he was going to chastise us for being on the floor, but he was just curious to know what we were waiting for and asked about our travel plans. When we told him, he confirmed that our flight was delayed and told us where some other chairs were that we were welcome to sit in. Ahhh; we got up and moved there; you may be glad to know that we were not sporting SBS garb while moving in nomad mode!

Not long afterwards, the same gentleman came by again to tell us that the flight had now been canceled; there is a typhoon moving into the Taipei area. He told us where to go to make ticket changes so we moved once again with all our luggage. At that counter we learned that it could be 2 days before we get out of Seoul and were given a number to call for up-to-date information about the flight. Andy and I were impressed by the humanitarian gestures made toward us and couldn’t imagine anyone taking such good care of foreigners at our own American airports. We are grateful for the Korean sense of hospitality. Gansa Hamnida!

We quickly found our way back to the bus counter and bought a ticket for the same bus we had taken a couple of hours before. However, this time we had a bus driver who LOVED Andy and kept asking her to teach him how to pronounce English phrases that he had written on old cardboard sheets (like what you find with shirts that have been laundered). Each time the bus stopped at a red light or in traffic, he would jump out of his seat, put another sheet in front of her, and ask for an English lesson. You have to admire the guy – trying to learn English while working hard. He was incredibly friendly and optimistic so I finally asked if I could take his picture. Of course, he said yes...

He understood what our situation was and even offered us cold water at one of the stops (which we gladly took; it’s hot today!). When we arrived at our hotel, our bus-driving student jumped out to get our bags but also asked another traveler if he’d take a photo of the three of us. Unfortunately, only the driver has that one, but who knows where Andy and I will show up someday!

So we returned to our hotel. True to Korean form, the staff was incredibly solicitous and offered us a room at an equal rate (which was reduced, thanks to one of Andy’s consultant friends here in Seoul) and for two nights. We can cancel if we need to tomorrow night. Nothing like coming home again! We quickly turned on the TV to get an update on the weather and look what greeted us on the screen. Nice touch that we hadn't noticed before; we never turned on our TV during the first round at this hotel.

So here we are, sitting in an internet café catching up and trying desperately to contact friends in Taiwan who are waiting for us. We are also waiting to learn if we have to cancel our reception tomorrow night or not. A lot to arrange! For those of you reading this in Taiwan, we will try to update you via this blog or the SBS Facebook page, OwlNet’s Student Announcements, and Mrs. Patt’s Facebook page.

I owe you an update on our several days in Seoul. Let me just start by saying that it has been a wonderful visit; it’s hard to imagine that we’ve gotten so much done and had such a wonderful time in such a relatively short period of time. Because this entry is so long, I’ll backtrack in the next entry and provide some info on our great stay here in this beautiful city.

Photos I owe you from Hakone

2009-08-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

I've had so much trouble with the internet while in Seoul; this fancy hotel is gouging us to provide internet service, and it's terrible! A frustrating part of travel sometimes. Anyway, I cannot seem to get into my old posts to edit them so I've decided to simply upload a bunch of picture that relate to the last 2 posts.
[Now, 5 hours later, I seem to be able to access the internet again. So...Here goes:]

Our trip to Hakone, Japan
Andy and I commented on the cleanliness of Japanese taxis with their "doily" upholstery covers and drivers always in white gloves:

Here's a picture of the front of the traditional restaurant we were originally going to. It looked incredibly charming:
But as you know, we went to the main part of the hotel where we had the French food. We clearly were having fun! Kyra still owes me pics of the inside of the dining room where we ate (hint, hint, Kyra!). She's been having computer problems too so it may be awhile before we see those.

Following our meal we worked it off by taking the hike up into the mountain to see some of the hot springs. Some views from that walk:

As you can see, it wasn't a picture perfect day, but we didn't care; we had a great time and were able to get a good sense of what it might all look like on a clear day. Once at the top, we turned around to go back down, this time mostly by cable car, partly by tram. Here's the cable car:
Here's what we were supposed to see (Mt. Fuji!), and ultimately did, thanks to a big poster in the tram building that provided this shot!

We spent a bit of time in the village shopping and trying some of the foods that were being offered.

Finally, on the train ride home, we enjoyed watching Kyra take pictures of her mother who was patiently posing for her. Again, a great day!

Travel Day to Seoul, August 3rd

2009-08-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Still struggling to upload photos. I also have had trouble getting into my blog because it sometimes comes up in Japanese, and now Korean. Not easy to navigate when you don't know either language!

Andy and I got up bright and early; let's just say we were in the breakfast area at 5am in order to get our bus to the airport on 5:50. Not a lot of sleep was gotten that night! Our bus ride was easy, one we would recommend for future visits to the city as the bus picks up and drops off at the hotel and desired airline.

Once at the airport I was struck for the millionth time by the incredible cleanliness of Japan and took a picture of the airport ladies' room t prove it. This kind of clean was visible wherever we went; every street sidewalk and public space is this clean -- something we don't see in the USA.

We arrived in Seoul mid-morning of Monday, the 3rd, and checked into the Grand Intercontinental Hotel. Because we are first-time visitors (and probably because we're holding an event here) they've given us an upgrade to a "junior suite," a nice touch and welcome space! Our room is lovely. We are struck again by the cleanliness of the city and by its modern feel. Our hotel is in the midst of a complex of hotels, casino, huge entertainment space and trade center. Underneath all of this is a giant underground mall that harbors just about every middle and high school age kid in Seoul every afternoon. The noise level is deafening! Here it is on a relatively quiet morning, however:

We met with consultant Kyeong Kim of Manhatten Education, a placement firm. She and Andy were so glad to finally meet one another; I witnessed another "rock star" performance...We had a delightful visit with Kyeong in her new office in the Coex Intercontinental Hotel, and noticed from her window a view of an old temple. Great juxtaposition between the old world and the modern world. Then we enjoyed a quiet dinner in the lobby lounge by ourselves and called it a day. We were tired!

We regretted leaving Tokyo, having enjoyed every aspect of our visit. However, we are very happy to be in Seoul and are anxious to experience this new and intriguing place.

A wonderful last day in Tokyo!

2009-08-04T05:53:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate to have been invited by the mother of one of our middle school students to accompany her and her daughter to Hakone, a resort town outside of Tokyo famous for its hot springs and spectacular views of Mt. Fuji. Mie and Kyra picked us up at the hotel, and off we went to our favorite hubub, Shinzuku Station, to catch a train to Hakone.

During the 90 minute ride we enjoyed looking out at rice paddies and quaint towns. We also enjoyed the Japanese trains, so comfortable and clean. The seats turn around easily so the four of us could face each other and talk. Kyra entertained us with her new Nintendo game that creates a world of characters. She has created facsimiles of her mother and other relatives, as well as many of her teachers at SBS. On the way home she created me! That was pretty funny...

Once at our destination, we quickly grabbed a cab and headed up the mountain to a wonderful old hotel that was built 121 years ago to entertain foreign guests . We had originally had reservations at the traditional Japanese restaurant there, but we had missed the noon seating and there weren't any openings for the next one. Here's the outside of the restaurant; it looked charming:

That was disappointing, but we were able to get in to the French restaurant in the hotel - a dining room that was magnificent (as was the food, for that matter). We enjoyed a special menu being offered, and it was delicious. The room is wood paneled with some embellishments:

When we'd finished eating (a truly unforgettable meal!), we took another cab to climb higher into the mountain. We weren't at the top yet! The ride took a good 5 to 10 minutes, and we were dropped off at what felt like the edge of nowhere, but we had a bit of a hike up the path to some natural hot springs. It was a lovely walk, even in the quiet rain and fog of the day (no; I didn't tell you this yet because it was essentially unimportant. We had a great time despite kinda crummy weather). Here's what we saw on our walk:

When we had seen enough, we walked back down to a tram option for descending the mountain:

After the tram, it was a street car which is how we got back to the very bottom of the mountain and the visible town. We walked around a bit, sampled some native foods, and got back on the train to return to Tokyo. A really fun day. Arigato, Mie and Kyra!

That night we went to bed a little early...(of course, we had to leave the next morning).

I'm having a bit of trouble with the internet and uploading of pictures so I'm sorry not to be able to show all that we have done. Will get them up when I can!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Tokyo, the generous nature of the Japanese people, and the incredible hospitality of so many of the people we have seen. But for now we are moving on to the next destination...Seoul!

A day of tourism with a GREAT ending!

2009-08-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

I didn't quite keep my promise as we were both VERY tired last night, and I thought I'd be able to post a better entry if I got a good night's sleep. I think I was right so here goes about yesterday, Saturday, August 1st.

It was great to wake up yesterday with no pressing meeting to get to so Andy and I had a leisurely breakfast here in the hotel before heading out to see more of Tokyo. Our only "commitment" was the alumnae and current family event in the evening. We decided to make our way to the Imperial Palace via subway and were proud of our ability to navigate the system without much harangue. When we emerged from underground, we found large government buildings and embassies hugging a beautiful park leading to the Imperial Palace and its surrounding moat. A beautiful sight!

In the photo on the right, you can barely make out the side of the palace on the hillside, its roof peeking out from the trees. I'm assuming the entry gate is the picture above, and guests would arrive through that gate and wend around to the next bridge seen in the photos to the right in order to get to the palace. Both bridges go over the moat that surrounds it all. Visitors are not allowed inside the palace so we could only marvel at the setting and walk away. We found a small concession stand at the end of a parking lot for tour buses so we bought ourselves some water to quench the thirst we'd built up. The vendor gave us our water as well as two lovely little paper birds; you can't make them out too well, but here's a photo anyway, just because I liked them so much.

We left that peaceful scene and wandered into a beautiful shopping neighborhood that included a cobbled street blocked off from traffic where we found lots of boutiques and high-end shops. We did a little souvenir shopping in a paper store there. We also saw this playful sculpture that we liked a lot:

Of course, we had no idea where we were. At one point a government official helped us look at a street map, and he was worse off than I was! (As a quick aside, we had the same experience in the subway when a young man asked if he could help. We were trying to be sure we were on the right side of the platform for the subway car. He told us we were not where we thought we were, but as he tried to help, he realized we were in the right place; he was in the wrong place! I TOLD you Tokyo is totally confused about directions!) We eventually stopped in front of an outdoor cafe and the waiter helped us identify approximately where we were on the map (remember, there are few street names on any map we've had). He suggested that we turn the corner into Ginza, a place whose name was vaguely familiar to us so we took his lead. There we found another busy, bustling neighborhood of shopping -- even a branch of Paris' department store Printemps was there.

By this time we were sated and headed into the first subway station we could find. A fast trip back to the hotel where Andy caught up with email and I took a quick nap. It was about 3pm and our gathering would start at 6:30. When it was time we went to the 47th floor, the site of our event, and it wasn't long before the first guests arrived. True to SBS graduates, the squealing of excitement at seeing each other was abound; it was a true reunion! We had thirteen alumnae and 2 current families, plus the one consultant/school head I mentioned earlier. It turned out that he had taught 2 of the women who came when they were at Japanese International School for elementary and middle school. Small world; it had been he who had encouraged them to attend SBS. I'm sure many of our guests will be posting on Facebook today (if they haven't already) so there will surely be more pictures there. Most of the alumnae present were from the mid-to-late 80's and early 90's. Many of them have stayed in touch, but they were SOOOO happy to have SBS come to them. Andy and I were thanked profusely for coming to Japan.

Have I mentioned yet that Andy Patt is a rock star?!?!? At least, you would have thought so last night, and it was wonderful. Being an alum myself, I could only imagine how excited everyone was to see someone so important to their development as young women.

In this photo are (l to r, back row):
Fumie Shibuya who came from work. She works in her father's hotel and wears a kimono every day (though she's not the one in a kimono here).
Emi Yamazaki who is a singer and English teacher to young children. She brought her new CD and so impressed our 8th grader, Kyra, that she sold her one. Kyra and Emi found lots in common and have agreed to stay in touch. I loved that!
Arisa Morita is now a designer of accessories and sells to upscale stores in Asia. She had with her a great purse she'd designed and was wearing one of her hair accessories.
Memi Kang is a real estate agent for foreigners in Tokyo, and next to her is Michie Sasano who is married and is busy raising her two children these days.
Omoi Toyonaga majored in interior design in college and then studied architecture in Japan. She is now an architect in her father's firm. She has one 2-year-old.
Mariko Obi is eluding us right now; neither one of us can remember what she said she's been doing (sorry, Mariko, we'll catch up!).
Amika Ohara, who seems to have been one of the movers and shakers of this event, is in her 3rd year of her own consulting business after working in IT for some years. She brought her very nice and patient boyfriend, Uta.
In the front row, left, is Akiko Kobayashi. She is a "voice actor" and is the Japanese voice for Trudy in Madmen, the pregnant Clare in Lost, and the Italian spy in 24. Fun!
Next to her is Mrs. Patt, of course, and then Mikie Sasano, Michie's sister. Mikie is a fashion model!

Here's another group, our current Japanese families:

From l to r: Mrs. Kojaku, Mr. Emi, Kyra, Mr. Kojaku, Kikko, and her mother, Mrs. Emi. It was so wonderful for us to see the girls with their parents and hear about their summers. Kyra and her mom are taking us today to Hakone, a town outside of Tokyo where if it's nice out we will be able to see Mt. Fuji. We are so appreciative of their hospitality! I think they all had fun listening to the alums and witnessing their clear friendship with one another.

Finally, another table:

l to r: Kyo Yamada has been working as an administrative assistant for several large companies.
Yuko Oishi is an interpreter for CNN Sport and other sorts networks. She translates in-the-moment from English into Japanese for live games.
Mr. Steven Parr is the Head of the New International School here in Tokyo.
Hui-Lin Lee, whose Japanese name is Megumi, manages a job match feature on a website called DIP (DreamIdeaPassion).

It was a great evening with a beautiful view overlooking Tokyo. For Andy and me, it was hard to say good-bye, especially after being given beautiful flowers and assorted gifts. A picture is worth a thousand words; here's Andy at the end of the evening, back in our room:

People, people everywhere, and no directions to follow!

2009-07-31T06:31:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for us. We had three appointments with consultants here in Tokyo, and we were somehow able to wend our way to every one -- albeit a bit late! We are staying in the Shinjuku area of the city where one of the biggest metro convergences exists. Andy and I walked to the subway station this morning at about 8am, only to hit rush hour at its best (read, worst). I've never seen so many people -- even in Times Square! I tried to take a picture to share, but none of them came out as adequate representations of the incredible number of people walking to and from subway stations. After 40 minutes in the station trying to navigate the system (and not speaking the language!), we gave up and took a cab to our first appointment. What a ride! Tokyo is filled with fascinating, narrow streets, dotted with small neighborhood shops. I have no idea how anyone knows where any of the streets goes as they don't seem to be straight, and they end up in unexpected places. Quite a ride:

3600 Yen later (about $36), we emerged from our cab and located the New International School in the Toshima district of the city, just north of Shinjuku. We visited with the head, an American, of this 9-year-old school that houses grades K-9. He was delightful, and we learned a lot about Japanese families and the world economy. From his perspective, there are many families here in Tokyo who would need financial aid to send their children to an American boarding school; we were asked about whether we would consider this for our international students. We told him that there is some, but not much, aid available to worthy students.

Upon leaving him, we braved the subway system once again, thinking that perhaps we could figure it out from a smaller station. We were right! It worked! And, really, the system is relatively easy to manage once you get help from someone (thank you, nice subway worker who spoke no English). We went from Toshima to Shibuya, just south of Shinjuku, in no time for our next appointment. What we soon came to realize was that no one really knows how to give directions in this city; there are few street signs and seemingly no map with street names on it. It wasn't until late this afternoon that we found a street sign on a major thoroughfare that included an English translation (here's where I am feeling very inadequate for my lack of understanding Japanese; just one more ugly American...). At every stop today we struggled to find our exact destination. Even the people we were going to see didn't know how to give us good guidance to find them. This really perplexes me so I'm hoping to shed some insight on it before we leave!

When we finally found the EDIC offices (consulting firm), we were surprised to be greeted by someone other than the woman we thought we'd be meeting. Instead we met a young male colleague of hers who introduced us to another man we took to be his supervisor. We were wrong; he was the father of a young girl interested in Stoneleigh-Burnham! We spent some time with them and encouraged him to visit the school with his wife and daughter when they go to visit their older daughter at Brandeis in a few weeks. I have really enjoyed talking about the school today, sharing all the good things we've been doing this year and getting very positive feedback about our work. It is also so nice to see Andy enjoying her connection with these consultants she's talked to on the phone for years and never met; wonderful!

The woman we did expect to see connected with us at the end of our meeting, and she and another colleague took us out for lunch at a beautiful, small traditional Japanese restaurant. They were thoughtful enough to have ordered ahead, and so beautiful trays of assorted foods were put before us. It was a lovely meal, and we so enjoyed our company.

The Shibuya neighborhood was beautiful as well - small streets and cobbled walkways lined with upscale shops. Very nice. We had some time before our next appointment so from there we walked to the Mieji-jingu Shrine, a gorgeous oasis in the midst of the bustling city, where we got some solace from a busy day. Andy and I walked into the park-like environment and followed the path to the shrine which we found beautiful:

From there, we strolled down a beautiful tree-lined avenue with loads of internationally-known designer shops, lots of young people, and masses of bodies on the street. I'm not sure you can see it here, but if you look into the background of this picture, you may be able to discern the flow of humanity in which we were traveling. Look way up into the sidewalk...all those little dots are people. Very impressive!

Our last stop today was in the Minato neighborhood at another consultants' office. We struggled again to find the place once we had emerged from the subway stop. But it turned out that they had even given us the wrong subway to go to! Ugh. My feet hurt at this point, and we still had to find our way to our meeting; we did, and it was another delightful group of people. Again we shared the good news of Stoneleigh-Burnham and were well-received. I have to interject here that our new viewbook has been wonderful to bring along; it is clear that it's having the effect we had hoped for.

It wasn't until 5:30 that we left that office and headed back to Shinjuku -- at rush hour again. But this time we knew more about what we were doing. Our only challenge was to figure out where our hotel was when we emerged on the street. Even that wasn't too bad, thanks to some street maps designed for tourists that we found. Our hotel, it turned out, was a mere 3 blocks from the station. I took off my shoes immediately. We had a short rest and ate in the hotel; no more walking today!

Tomorrow we have a slow day getting ready for the alumnae and current family event in the evening. Andy is so excited to see all the girls she's been in contact with for so long, and I am very anxious to talk about the school and encourage everyone to join in our fun.

A few cultural notes:
--Andy and I have agreed that we really enjoy Japanese hospitality and have found everyone here to be wonderfully accepting.
--That said, the homogeneity of this population is also noticeable. It is unusual to see another Caucasian on the streets, and we have seen virtually no African, African-American or Middle Eastern faces. That could probably also be said in any number of places around the U.S., but the fact that this is a world-reknown city makes it all the more interesting to note in this day and age.
--We are still struck by the sheer numbers of people here in the city. We are anxious to get out and about tomorrow, Saturday, to see if we still sense the masses.
--The money has been fairly easy to deal with, though this is a VERY expensive city. Even in the small restaurants it seems you cannot get much for a bargain.
--We feel the importance of this trip more and more, and I imagine that our feelings will be affirmed once we have our event tomorrow night. Certainly, the consultants we saw today (one of whom will be attending the event) all underscored the meaning of this trip, both for building a profile in this part of the world and for networking with alumnae and families. We're excited!

More tomorrow.

We're here - in Tokyo!

2009-07-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

After 14 hours, we arrived in Tokyo mid-afternoon of the 30th. The airport is about 1 1/2 hours from the area of the city where we are staying, Shinjuku. Our travels went very well, an easy time of it given the length of the trip, and here we are as we arrived at Newark Airport:

Andy and I checked into the hotel and promptly met with a group of men who will be overseeing our reception on Saturday night. We had three to start with, one of whom is an American married to a Japanese woman. Two more joined us and were introduced as the guys who will be helping us on Saturday as all the others will be off duty. We were handed everyone's cards except the guys who will be there when the reception happens! At any rate, we got the configuration of the room all squared away, and we are on the 47th floor with an incredible skyline view of Tokyo! It will be a wonderful reception, I think (except that we will not be using the power point projection because it would cost us an additional $300). We are very excited to see everyone - a good combination of current students and alumnae.

We took a walk around the block from our hotel, Keio Plaza Intercontinental Hotel, which was fascinating. Lots of people, lots of small shops and restaurants, and lots of noise (we think from some kind of locust insects?!!?!? we'll find out tomorrow!). All buzzing with excitement and LOADS of people, cars and bicycles.

When we returned from our walk, we found a restaurant in the hotel where we had a buffet - nice combination of Japanese and western cuisine. We did okay! We have noted the incredible etiquette of the Japanese, at least in the service arenas. Every time we have pressed the button to use the elevators, a hotel employee suddenly emerges, holds the door for us and bows until the door closes. We're trying to figure out where they come from!

More tomorrow; we are both ready to keel over and SLEEP for awhile! Tomorrow we have 3 meetings with consultants whom Andy has known only over the phone for many years. Very exciting!

Will post more pics of the city tomorrow...

WATCH FOR OUR TRIP TO ASIA!

2009-07-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Well, after months of neglecting this blog, I am back to document our trip to Asia. Andy Patt, Director of International Programs, and I are leaving in the morning to head first to Tokyo, then to Seoul, followed by Taipei and then Shenzhen, China by way of Hong Kong. We're excited to be able to visit current students and alumnae and all their parents! And we look forward to learning more about the cultures of all our destinations. We will also finally know how many of our international students feel when they make the long trip from home to Greenfield!

We'll try hard to make a daily entry during our two week visit. Of course, there is so much more to report on the way our year has gone, but that will have to wait for another day. Stay tuned!

Winter is Over... I think

2009-03-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

Just before Spring Break we got one more (beautiful) snow storm in Greenfield. It was as if Winter was giving us a last reminder that we live in New England and it's not going to get warm around here very fast. The girls, however, headed out with great ease - the snow had been well plowed by the time they headed for home, and at this point in the year they have the vacation routine down pat.

John Larson said to me that day that he was really proud of the girls for getting through winter with great aplomb; I agree. They've done a wonderful job staying focused and providing entertainment along the way. I too had fun with our Social Action and February Thaw Day, Spirit Week, International Week, 100 Nights, private lesson recitals and special treats and favors provided by the Admin team for faculty and staff. I thought Skyisha dressing up like me was a riot -- but not quite as good as Kara Fagan dressing up like her! I am impressed that one of our Social Action speakers inspired one of our new students, Shiyun, to do conservation work this summer, and I always appreciate the opportunities to learn about other cultures and foods which happened in spades during International Week. Anne Marie Gonzales and Chi-Hung Liao were allowed to cook in the school kitchen (thanks, Mike!) and wowed us at lunch with their culinary talents. I was only disappointed not to be able to attend the Upper School play, a masterpiece by all reports, but am looking forward to seeing a videotaped version. By the last week before vacation, the faculty and students were hard at work on exams and projects, and the Admissions Office was busy making final admission decisions, mailing out our letters with the perennial SBS blue stars of congratulations.

You can imagine how it was suddenly quiet the Monday following the girls' departure. Let me just say here that we have an amazing group of young women at this school...I'll be happy to see them back for spring term.

A Trip to Chicago

2009-03-02T19:12:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday I headed to Chicago for the annual NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Conference. I'm not sure why they almost always pick a cold spot of the country to hold this thing, but off I went. I had called two alumnae to visit while I was there, and I had signed up for a pre-conference "Global Education Summit" which I attended all day on Wednesday. It was a packed week, but I have returned with lots of ideas and the satisfaction of having talked with many colleagues, comparing notes about how our schools are dealing with the challenges of this economy and catching up with the lives of many friends.

NAIS wisely focused much of its attention on these challenges of our most recent times, and I chose to attend a variety of workshops on fundraising, financial aid, and marketing. The featured speakers were compelling as well: Dan Heath, author of Made to Stick; Michelle Rhee, the dynamic Superintendent of Washington, DC public schools; Guy Kawasaki, founding partner of Garage Technology Ventures speaking on Top 10 Things I Wish You Would Teach Your Students so I Don't Have To; and Oprah Winfrey who spoke eloquently on the challenges and rewards of founding her school in South Africa.

What were some of my biggest takeaways?

Michelle Rhee's description of the incredible odds she's up against and how hard she's had to fight to do the right thing for the kids - a reminder of how powerful it is to keep an eye on what you're about and act on it with confidence.
Her comment that private schools have to exist - we set the benchmark for all schools; we can reach into inner cities and give worthy children the opportunity of a lifetime (and if we can't commit to this, we shouldn't exist); and we can create multi-cultural environments that other schools cannot duplicate.
The point made in a fundraising workshop that people, when asked for guidance in their giving, should be told to give "enough so that you care what happens to your dollars." I think that's great advice.
Guy Kawasaki's notion of creating a "mantra" for your organization - a 3 word synopsis of what you're about (slightly more succinct, even, than the "elevator speech"). For instance, if Nike were to create one, it might be "Authentic athletic performance." Wendy's would be "Healthy fast food." Of course, I've been thinking about what SBS's might be...Voice through connections? Anyone have any other ideas for us?!??!?!
Kawasaki ended by reminding his audience to teach students that "learning is a process, not an event; prepare them for life, not work." Of course, this is not particularly new, but it is good to be reminded periodically of the importance of this idea.
Examples of many ways of connecting students to a global perspective that cost nothing; there's a lot we can do now as we work toward building this initiative.

There are so many other takeaways that I realize I can't list them all here. I'm still processing what I learned in Chicago and will try to connect it to what we're doing here at SBS over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I can also say that I cherish the time spent with my classmate Bonnie Briskin (with whom it felt like we had just seen each other yesterday - not 25 years ago!) and Annette Cazenave '74. Bonnie has recently made the switch from the world of finance to become a realtor; she loves the personal connections she's able to make with her clients. Annette trades in futures while she, single mother, is raising two 5 year-olds bilingually. Wow.

Alumnae constantly remind me of the power of this school to develop interesting and confident women; I wish I could invite them all to speak to our students about their lives. For the most part I have to settle for trying to channel their inspiration and somehow share it back at school. Another challenge....!

Our Long Winter Weekend

2009-02-11T04:45:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was our break in the long stretch of winter here in Greenfield. Most girls went home, a group of 30 or so went with Miriam Przybyla-Baum and fellow chaperones to Montreal, and several girls from far away stayed with relatively local family or friends. Two of those girls, Jet and Lisa, stayed with me. Because I worked on Friday and Monday, we really only had the "real" weekend to play; the girls had history term papers to work on so they operated on my schedule as well.

When I took them home on Thursday night, I told them the plan for the weekend -- we'd leave Saturday morning and head to New Haven to spend the weekend with my husband, Hank. I wanted to show them another part of New England and experience a few college campuses. We tend to make assumptions about what other people understand about our country; Jet and Lisa were anxious to learn even the smallest things. For instance, why can't you pass another car when there's a double line on the road? This is part of the education they won't receive in school!

As we headed down Route 91, we visited first at Quinnipiac University, stopping in the Admissions Office and walking around campus for awhile. Two people at school are graduates of QU and so it was interesting for the girls to see it. Five minutes away is our house; we unpacked and headed to New Haven to see Yale and grab a hamburger at Louis Lunch, home of the first hamburger in the U.S.
Lisa photographed everything, including the "toaster" where the burgers are cooked and our 3 hamburgers lined up on the table! We had a blast visiting Yale buildings, especially the Beineke Library and The Museum of British Art.
Then, of course, we had to do some shopping on Chapel Street and Broadway! Yale t-shirts and Chinese noodles were the popular items...

We did a few more fun things on Sunday -
walking on the beach and visiting a mall and, later, Ikea for errands - but my point in writing about all this is how much I got out of having Jet and Lisa with me. First of all, they were model house guests. Not only were they on time for everything and cleaned up after themselves and said thank you at every turn, but they also insisted on making me a Chinese lunch when we were still in Greenfield. Lisa was on the phone with her mother in Taiwan, getting instruction along the way (sorry, Mom!). It was delicious, and I learned a lot about how to cook some of their national dishes. We had such a good time sharing cultures -- I taught them some history of the New Haven area and new vocabulary; they gave me a lesson in Chinese so I now have some words and expressions saved on my iphone so I can practice. It's hard! And we all laughed uproariously. Though I have always been impressed by the girls who come half way across the world to learn and study here, my appreciation for their experience has been deepened by this weekend.

Thanks, Jet and Lisa; I had a wonderful time with you both!

Where Are We Now?

2009-02-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

It's funny how the first half of the year was spent largely assessing where we are and where we want to go. Now that we're in the other side of the year, our focus has moved to what we are going to do to get ourselves there. I presented an update at the January Board meeting to give trustees an overview of the kinds of conversations that had taken place over the fall. Now it seems appropriate to share some of those here. By January, everything had finally coalesced into a clear view of what we need to do.

Last spring we launched our new website which has begged more of the question about how we present ourselves to the rest of the world (literally!). What is the language we want to use in order to best represent ourselves? Our first committee, the Marketing Committee, was formed and has been meeting regularly. It is for all intents and purposes the Advancement Team - Director of Development and Alumnae, Director of Communications, Director of Admissions, and me. One of our main thrusts has been to convince everyone on campus that it's important to relay whatever is happening on campus to these 3 offices so that they are aware of what's happening and talk about it appropriately. As Eric Swartzentruber, Director of Admissions, said to the faculty, "There is virtually nothing you do that I don't want to know about." As a community, I think we've improved drastically here.

Looking for language has also begged the question of what new language is "out there" in current research literature. What should we be aware of, and how does it inform what we do? The Administrative Team decided some months ago to divide itself into pairs, each one of which has chosen an area pertinent to working with girls and has read at least one new book on it. Pairs have made reports to the team which has engendered some excellent discussion and key questions for consideration as we move forward. Topics brought to light so far include: competition among girls and how to foster it in healthy ways, in both athletics and the classroom; the leadership style of Eleanor Roosevelt as a model of female strength and success; and relational aggression in girls and what can be done to mitigate it.

Much of our findings here have helped us understand that work in other areas of the school this year is on the right track. We have been working on creating broader academic help access to students and have created a plan most people are excited about. Starting next year the Academic Skills program will be housed in the Library, making it more of an Academic Center. In addition, two peer tutors will be assigned to each class period so students will be able to find help any time of day. Further, we will run a four-year weekly seminar program out of this Academic Center, providing each upper school grade a focus on particular skills building and self-reflection. This aligns nicely with some of the work already being done in the middle school.

A sub-committee of the Curriculum Committee has been looking at our current schedule and how it might change to afford us the time for much-needed work. This would include advisor periods, faculty and departmetn meeting times, and a tighter class schedule. We are also in need of better alignment between the middle and upper school schedules.

Stories from Alumnae

2009-01-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

I thought I’d get an entry in each week but have disappointed myself as we rolled our way into a week of Board meetings, MLK, Jr. Day, the Inauguration, and an alumnae-focused trip to Florida. My husband, Hank, reminded me that I don’t have to enter a highly polished or long essay; I need to listen to him more often!

So what’s on my mind these days?!!? --So much, I think, that I’m having trouble deciding what to write about. However, since I’m currently in Florida visiting alumnae, I’ll choose that…

Today we were in Sarasota and met with a wonderful group of women, most of whom had graduated from Burnham in the late 50’s-early 60’s. Though we went to different schools, it always amazes me how similar we feel about our school(s). Perhaps it was the influence of the Emerson family that made both schools feel so similar at the core. One woman, Marjorie, left the school before she graduated but credits Burnham with having given her the confidence to know how to act in all social environments. After high school, she spent two years in a British “finishing school” (her words!) where 40 girls from around the world gathered to learn from each other. She mentioned that it was there she began to appreciate what she’d been taught at Burnham; girls from such affluent backgrounds enrolled in the British program that she would have been a fish out of water without her earlier training.

I was asked by another alumna if we still had Mensendieck classes (for those of you unaware of Mensendieck, it was a Scandinavian posture and health class every new girl was required to take). Of course, the 70’s – when all tradition was questioned - got rid of that tradition. Gail, though, credited that class as the reason she eventually became a fitness instructor. Because Miss Otteson’s Mensendieck was for years a program at both Burnham and Stoneleigh, I (originally a Stoneleigh girl) can remember the posture prize given out at each year’s graduation. I even remember that Robin Fowler got the prize in 1967, and I was slightly jealous – knowing that I would never in a million years be the recipient of that award!

Also in our company today were two sisters who had come to the school in 1958 from Puerto Rico. Their stories of travel to and from the school in those days were fascinating, and I couldn’t help thinking how many of our girls today make the same kind of effort going back and forth to school.

Finally, we had the company of Penny, Burnham ’40, who began at the school in the days predating Mrs. Emerson’s leadership. In 1937 the school closed, due to poor financial management, and Penny went to another school for a year. But she returned in 1938 when Mrs. Emerson had come on the scene and borrowed money through Penny’s father’s bank. Penny was the first student to enroll under the Emerson tenure and was asked to show her room to all prospective students. She graduated later that year as one of twelve seniors. I had never heard this story before and felt so grateful that she had taken the time to drive herself all the way down from Bradenton! She was lovely.

There were other alumnae at the event today, and I enjoyed talking to them all – graduates of Stoneleigh, Burnham and SBS. Now, though, I’m off to have dinner in Palm Beach with one of my big sisters. Can’t wait to see her!

The Aesthetics Game

2009-01-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I was the sub in Bill Ivey's Humanities 7 class. The first thing we did was march to the school store to pick up their new book, Romeo and Juliet. As I walked through the hallways with the last girl out the door, she turned and asked me, "Is this your most favorite job you've ever had?" I asked why she was asking me that question, and she came back, "Because you always seem happy." I love middle schoolers! Of course, she's a perceptive young woman; I do love my job.

When back in the classroom, one of the activities in this extended period was to try out a game a few of the girls had invented. Based on "Apples to Apples," the Aesthetics Game was designed to identify degrees of different aesthetic qualities in a variety of categories. The game requires three teams - one to "go" and "be the judge"; the other two teams receive equally divided cards in a particular aesthetic category identified by the throw of a die. Each team chooses the card representing the most "whatever the aesthetic is" and hands it to the judging team to decide which of the two "mosts" wins and gets the next turn. Card topics range from animals to nature scenes to weather patterns, and so on. The girls had designed and made the board, the die (made of taped together paper), and the cards.

What was wonderful about this game was its value for girls. They appreciate meaningful connection and collaborative work, and the small teams of this game afforded each girl the chance to use her own mind and share ideas. As each group made its decision about the best choice it would present to the "judges," the sharing of ideas was admirable. I was impressed by the eloquence of argument as they went back and forth about the relative value of any one card's representation. They were having fun while thinking critically; in this case, the girls really did know what was best for them. Would that all adults would listen to each other as well and come to as well-considered collaborative decisions! I had a wonderful time being in the classroom again. Thanks seventh graders!

Welcome to my blog!

2009-01-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

I became head of Stoneleigh-Burnham School on July 1, 2008 and for as much work as I've been able to get done, there never seems to be enough time to interact with everyone in the school community. So my New Year's resolution has evolved...I will start a blog in order to share my thoughts and experiences with those who are interested, and I will hope that you'll use this as a means to share your reactions with me. I'll try to make an entry at least once a week.

As we moved into the winter break, a friend reminded me that this vacation will mark the first half of my first year as head of school - a shocking revelation! It seems like yesterday that I was sitting in the backyard of Coleman House with our newly formed administrative team, getting to know one another and making plans for the year. Of course, the work of schools is never done, and we all wish our vision could become reality faster than it does. However, I see much good work accomplished in these first six months, especially as I've had time this vacation to reflect on all that's passed.

If I had to choose one moment that encompasses these first months, it would be the October day when a junior wandered into my office to tell me, "It all feels very different, but it's a good different." I don't want to change everything, but I do want to take the school from one point in time and move it forward in positive ways.