7.11+(三鷹の森ジブリ美術間）

Yesterday was a great day! I know that I'll be made fun of for eternity if my friends hear that I enjoyed going to the ghibli museum, but oh well!

In all seriousness, it was a great experience to pass on to my students. I know that these films are one of the main reasons that they get involved in Japanese, and as important as it is for me to enjoy and understand the Japanese culture I need to do the same with the culture of my students. This is a great way to help peak their motivation (to find their interests and let them see that you can relate.

As for the museum itself, I was pretty impressed. If I had gone on my own, I probably would have run in and out too quickly and damned the place for being a giant, overpriced souvenir shop. But as the case was, I was "stuck" with a pretty good group. I think that by staying and really spending a lot of time in each of the areas I was able to enjoy all that it had to offer (except playing in the giant cat-bus, because they said I was too old). The most enjoyable part was the room with the "real" animated exhibits, especially the one with the cat-bus that was perceived to move in the opposite direction that it was actually traveling. The most educational was the room filled with actual sketches of the movies. What amazed me is the time and effort and imagination that it must take to create something like just a single 15 minute film. This is something that we need to instill into our students, that "talent is only a vessel, It takes time and effort to row it onto the shores of success" ( I just made that up, so if anyone uses it for a cheesy poster, I better get some of the proceeds).

Overall, it was a great experience. I'm sure that at some point in the next year as I venture into the world of "Jr. High", I'll be showing at least a couple of clips of some of these films, if not the whole thing. Knowing a little more about how the movies are made, the real places that they are based on and seeing some of the history of the movies will be something that my students will be very happy that I can share.