It's Great to be back in South Carolina!

My trip to Arizona was amazing. Thanks again to all of you for your support! I can honestly say that the experience will be one that I will never forget. I am sending you a few photos, but will be working on a short little video that I hope to upload when I return from Japan.

Once I returned from Arizona I attended the fall SC Alliance for Arts Education Conference in Charleston, SC. It was great seeing all of the artists and arts educators from all across the state. The Francis Marion did a fantastic job hosting our group. I presented two sessions, both using SMART technology and had the opportunity to introduce a few of our other presenters during the conference. Thanks Valerie for hosting our Wednesday evening get together with the board. Just the drive into her home off the coast was so beautiful. As I drove in I saw the marsh area at sunset. What an amazing thing to see after my long drive from school!

Saturday, September 27 I rode in the Irmo Okra Strut Parade. Sully and I enjoyed seeing all of the people, especially students from District Five. Our kids chose to walk the route and I think they even had a chance to look at the vendors by the time we finished the parade route.

Saturday, October 4 I was Grand Marshall for the Newberry College Homecoming Parade held in Newberry. Mr. Arnold was my driver in the Chrysler Sebring that was provided by our Chrysler dealership in Newberry. Thanks! It was so special talking with the students from Newberry College before the parade started because it brought back lots of memories for me from my Newberry College days. A special thanks to the Tri Sigma girls for letting me hang out with them for a while as we waited for my car to arrive. They were a great group. After the parade started I was first in line going down the street into the football stadium area. I saw many people who I remembered from Newberry College. After the parade the kids and I enjoyed the game. WE WON! 33 - 14 and the best part was seeing some of the great friends I had been there with including Keith Ringer and Pastor John Derrick and his family.

Now, I am in the final week before the trip to Japan. This is going to be a life changing experience for me as I travel to see another part of the world on another continent! I have been reading a lot of stuff to prepare! My flight will be leaving at 6am on Sunday October 12 for Dulles Airport in Washington DC where I will then catch my connector flight to San Fransisco, CA. All of the teachers will be meeting in San Fransisco for our orientation and dinner at the General Consul's home. Can you believe he is hosting 160 of us? That's a lot of people! We all fly out to Tokyo on Monday, October 13, but we will be split into two flights. Mine is the second flight out. We will arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday, October 14. Our three week itinerary is packed with only one day of free time. We will be in seminars and classes during our Tokyo visit and the remaining time is spent traveling around to schools, seeing points of interest in Japan and of course our homestay with a family. My host city will be Uki, Kumamoto. It is an island in the southern area of Japan. We will conclude our visit back in Tokyo with our "Siyanara" evening, an authenic Japanese evening at our hotel. I plan to leave all of you updates through my blog site. Just check it out at http://www.kimsullivaninjapan.blogspot.com/ I will miss all of you. Pray for my family as I am going to be gone for these weeks. I will miss all of you and look forward to coming back with lots of pictures and great memories~