These were the original plans for the July 1997 trip.
The trip varied from these plans a little.
Appalachian Adventure!
What?
"Masa," a thirteen year old Judo champion from Nakamichi-cho, Yamanashi-ken
Japan will travel with the assistant English teacher Joe to the the Appalachian mountains
of America. Help us time-slip through through ten thousand years of
American history! We will be sending reports and pictures every day, answering your
questions, and communicating in real time using internet telephone with
video and a message board. Meet our new friends and discover some of the mysteries of
the Appalachian mountains of northern Georgia.
When? July
31-August 20th.
Where?
The southern part of the Appalachian mountains--the oldest mountains in the world.
These mountains formed 280 million years ago when the earth's continents formed one super
continent called Pangea. The forests that grew in these mountains provided many of the
first seeds for the other continents' trees. That's why that even today, there is still
a wide variety of interesting trees and plants including persimon, chestnut, black walnut,
chinquopin, ginseng, and many more. There are also many kinds of animals here too
including flying squirrels, possums, skunks, deer, bear, and wild boar.
The Adventure: At the end of the last two ice ages, 10-100 thousand years ago, large
numbers of people crossed into North America from Asia. (This was around the same time
that the Jomon people crossed into Japan from Korea.) We will explore two early
civilizations, the Mississippian and the Cherokee, of Georgia. (We want to begin to
discover the similarities and differences between these native American civilizations, and
the native Japanese Jomon and Yayoi civilizations.) After exploring these peoples in
deep history, we will time-slip to more recent history--one hundred and fifty years
ago--to first American gold rush in Dahlonega, Georgia. At this time, Dahlonega (a
Cherokee Indian word meaning gold) was part of the Cherokee Nation in the southern
Appalachian mountians. We will learn about the Cherokee and meet people of Dahlonega
today. Finally we will explore Atlanta, the modern capital of Georgia.
- The Mississippian people.
Between 500 BCE and 1500, the Mississipian people built temple and burial mounds along the
great rivers of North America. We will explore the mounds along the Etowah river in
Georgia between August 1st and 2nd.
- The Cherokee people. The
Cherokee Indians are one of many tribes of native Americans who lived throughout North
America for thousands of years. Until the mid-nineteenth century, they had their own
nation in the southern Appalachian mountains. We will then travel up the Etowah river
into the Appalachian mountains to explore Dahlonega and search for the Cherokee view of
the world. Joe will post a traditional Cherokee Indian creation story his
great-grandmother told him. Also, Masa, Joe and some neighbors will build a
Cherokee-style sauna.
- Georgians: Between August 5-6 We
will explore Dahlonega further, the first American Gold Rush, the "Trail of
Tears," and Appalachian mountain ways of life. We will explore the Etowah river,
fish for rainbow trout, and go canoeing through an old gold mine tunnel through a
mountain. (Gauranteed to make anyone scream!) Masa will also help Joe do carpentry
and farm work, and stay with a Dahlonega family for a week (August 12-19). He will send
daily reports via e-mail! We will also explore Atlanta: visit the state capitol
building (the roof of which is covered with gold fom Dahlonega); the Coca-Cola museum,
CNN, and the Centenial Olympic Park.
Get daily e-mail reports from the Appalachian Adventure, send a message to earthexp@yin.or.jp with the message, "Yahoola!"
(that's the name of a famous creek in Dahlonega where gold was mined). You could also
call me (Joe) at 0552-43-6598 or access the latest Appalachian link from
http://www.yin.or.jp/user/earthexp
If you want to participate in a CUCME meeting with Masa and Joe, and new friends in
Georgia, e-mail Shoji
Akao at showgee@yin.or.jp He will be teaching a
series of free Appalachian Adventure classes for those interested in learning how to
improve research and communcations techniques over the internet.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Masa and Joe
Adventurers' Index