Taking a break from the trip series for a bit.
Lately, things have been ridiculously busy. Somewhat last minute last week, we (area JETS and ALT teachers) started planning for a yakiniku party. Yakiniku is thinly sliced meat and occasionally veggies roasted on a hot flame in the middle of a special table. It’s like barbeque-ing, but still totally different.
Anyways, afterwards, we were planning to crash in Yasuoka, the next town over at Daniel and Emma’s house. However, them being even more in the boonies than us, they have their own personal toilet waste disposal system for their house. Which is supposed to get cleaned out once a year, if 1 person was staying at the house. But there’s 2. Crap overload!!! So their toilets weren’t working, and if anyone needed to answer nature’s call, they had to walk up to one of the schools….a bit of a pain. So we decided to move the after-party to Anan, Nick’s and my apartments!
A few hours after everyone came, I got a random phone call. Someone I met at the local grocery store wondering if he and his wife could come over in an hour. I said okaaaaay and hurriedly cleaned up. They came over with their one year old baby and I invited them in. We sat, sipped tea, and ate some snacks that they had made and brought over for about 1-2 hours. Then they got down to the purpose of the visit: to invite me to their place and eat a local treat: gohei mochi. Score! Mom and dad have pictures of them eating gohei mochi from their trip to Japan. Can’t wait.
Everyone came to Nick’s apartment and we went to the restaurant. It was already hopping when we got there, 2 other families were yaki-niku-ing, if that’s even a word (no it isn’t!). One table was headed by a smiley 60-something woman that eagerly waved me over. She and I had met at the local hot spring (onsen) after a bath and chatted it up. She introduced me to her family, which included a pretty Thai girl who I was told it was her last day in Japan before returning home. I finally returned to the English-speaking table, after a nod to some students and their family sitting at the other table.
The yakiniku was gooooood, and it had been a while since I had hung out with a large English-speaking crowd like that. We went back to the apartment (wonderful neighbor wasn’t there, thank god) and hung out. I swear, this crowd is more childish than most college parties.
Next morning, Emma cooked us a wonderful meal of French toast and we went to “ai park.” Ai means love in Japanese. The best part of the park was a huuuuuge metal slide/bobsled. You got on this cart and rode down it on the slide, with use of a handbrake so you didn’t go careening off the track. It was amazing. We went to a little cabin on a hill for a snack, and listened to some older lady rant about sorts dance and invited us all to go with her. Juuust when everyone’s patience had run out, we paid and left, only to go to a second-hand store in Iida. Those places are awesome. We then parted ways and met up again for Italian. I ordered a wonderful spaghetti vegetable dish….which I never got cause we got our orders mixed up and one of the other people was halfway done with it by the time we realized. Food in restaurants in Japan comes when it’s done, nt all at once. Ah well, it was more funny than anything else I think.
Nick and I finally got home about 10pm, in time for a quick shower and bed before work the next day. Wait, where’d my weekend go?! Give it baaaaack!!!!!!
This Wednesday, Nick and I went to Tomikusa elementary school. First we greeted the 5th graders (who we hadn’t had the privilege of teaching yet) and the now-6th graders. The 5th graders came prepared with business cards! It was so cute. We played color fruits basket. After school, we went on a bus tour! All the new (and some of the old) teachers got on a minibus and we drove around the area of Tomikusa. That driver had some crazy skills. On the way, we learned some history and where the students live. The (hot) new male teacher was busy reading the back of his eyelids most of the time.
After the tour, I dug in the gravel parking lot with some of the kids until the yakiniku was set up. Yes, another yakiniku party. We all sat around and drank and were merry. Notice a trend here? But his time, we had good kobe beef. One small Styrofoam tray of it was over $80. We ran out of meat and had to call up the butchers’ to get some delivered. We also ran out of beer, but luckily there was plenty wine and nihon-shu to go around! After all the meat was eaten, we made a festival food of noodles and veggies on the hot pans. Tomikusa’s Kyoto-sensei’s wife drove us home.
Tonight is a farewell party for Nick thrown by the adult English class. It will probably follow in the same vain as all the other ones, but we’ll see. After tonight, maybe my liver can take a rest. Almost golden week!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Update part 3: The Ryokan!
When we last left off, My parents and I had just gotten t our ryokan (Japanese style inn) in Kyoto. Well, the entrance was pretty great. It is an old establishment, part inn, part temple. We walked through a few ornate gates with beautiful gardens surrounding before even getting to the doorway. Where there was a bowing host to greet us by name (I think the foreigner look gave us away though :-P). He led us to a sitting area where we put down our bags and collapsed after the long stressful bus ride. We were greeted by a female hostess in a kimono, and served real frothy green tea and Japanese sweets.
We then followed a (I think different, can’t remember now) hostess down a maze of hallways and doorways. We passed a large banquet hall with low tables and padded cushions on the floor. At one point, we walked outside for about 20 feet, under an overhang, that had a beautiful view of the courtyard garden. Then we turned a few corners and passed by the public hot baths and toilets. The hallways were broken up every once in a while by adorable little sitting niches and paintings. All this time, our lovely guide was explaining the parts of the ryokan to me as well as a little history of the place. I did my best to translate for my parents, who were busy ducking every few meters.
Finally, we arrived at our room, which had my name hanging outside the door. It opened up to a beautiful room lined with tatami mats and decorated with a low table and pictures on the wall. Down went the bags again, and we sat at he table. But we barely had time to park our butts when our friend came back and offered to move us. Apparently they got an eyeful of our large American statures and decided a larger room would be a good idea. So we took about 10 steps down the hall and went into a considerably larger tatami room.
The hostess popped in about every hour or so to fix our chairs, give us sweets, ask us when we wanted dinner, etc. She was a very nice older lady, and I really got some practice as translator. My parents and I were pretty wiped out at this point, so we decided to just relax the first night in our wonderful accommodations. The dinner was an amazing feast with a few different courses brought straight to our room by our hostess and served on a special western style table and chairs brought in just for our benefit. It was a wonderful spread with lots of fish (of which my mom and I ate my dad’s share), pickles, and many other things. One of the Japanese ways of life is to finish all that’s on your plate, which my parents had a bit of trouble with. Everything was delicious though, I’ll post a pic or two of it.
After dinner, we went for a short walk outside to feel like we actually saw the city that day, though it was rainy and cold so we shortly returned. Then I soaked in the hot baths for a bit. Someone came to our room to take away the table and set out our bedding, futons. For those who don’t know, futons are basically thick mattresses that you sleep on the floor with. They’re extremely soft and comfortable. We fell right to sleep.
The next morning, we woke early for breakfast, for which they brought the table and chairs back. The hostess had a (fun?) time explaining some of the food to me, which I did my best to translate. Nothing like waking up to fish, rice, dried seaweed, soup, and some kind of egg pudding. I think it was in the morning that we took a walk around the gardens and took pictures of the beautiful flowering trees and walked cautiously on the carefully placed walking stones amidst the moss. After breakfast, we asked the hostess if she’d take a picture with us, to which she refused, but brought in another younger worker there who posed nervously but in good humor with us. As we headed out, we bought all-day train passes and received omiyage, souvenirs, from the greeter’s desk, and were bowed out. I’m so glad we went to that ryokan, it was certainly great experiencing the luxury of old Japan.
Our room, at least part of it.
The garden.
part 1 of dinner
breakfast.
futons!
We then followed a (I think different, can’t remember now) hostess down a maze of hallways and doorways. We passed a large banquet hall with low tables and padded cushions on the floor. At one point, we walked outside for about 20 feet, under an overhang, that had a beautiful view of the courtyard garden. Then we turned a few corners and passed by the public hot baths and toilets. The hallways were broken up every once in a while by adorable little sitting niches and paintings. All this time, our lovely guide was explaining the parts of the ryokan to me as well as a little history of the place. I did my best to translate for my parents, who were busy ducking every few meters.
Finally, we arrived at our room, which had my name hanging outside the door. It opened up to a beautiful room lined with tatami mats and decorated with a low table and pictures on the wall. Down went the bags again, and we sat at he table. But we barely had time to park our butts when our friend came back and offered to move us. Apparently they got an eyeful of our large American statures and decided a larger room would be a good idea. So we took about 10 steps down the hall and went into a considerably larger tatami room.
The hostess popped in about every hour or so to fix our chairs, give us sweets, ask us when we wanted dinner, etc. She was a very nice older lady, and I really got some practice as translator. My parents and I were pretty wiped out at this point, so we decided to just relax the first night in our wonderful accommodations. The dinner was an amazing feast with a few different courses brought straight to our room by our hostess and served on a special western style table and chairs brought in just for our benefit. It was a wonderful spread with lots of fish (of which my mom and I ate my dad’s share), pickles, and many other things. One of the Japanese ways of life is to finish all that’s on your plate, which my parents had a bit of trouble with. Everything was delicious though, I’ll post a pic or two of it.
After dinner, we went for a short walk outside to feel like we actually saw the city that day, though it was rainy and cold so we shortly returned. Then I soaked in the hot baths for a bit. Someone came to our room to take away the table and set out our bedding, futons. For those who don’t know, futons are basically thick mattresses that you sleep on the floor with. They’re extremely soft and comfortable. We fell right to sleep.
The next morning, we woke early for breakfast, for which they brought the table and chairs back. The hostess had a (fun?) time explaining some of the food to me, which I did my best to translate. Nothing like waking up to fish, rice, dried seaweed, soup, and some kind of egg pudding. I think it was in the morning that we took a walk around the gardens and took pictures of the beautiful flowering trees and walked cautiously on the carefully placed walking stones amidst the moss. After breakfast, we asked the hostess if she’d take a picture with us, to which she refused, but brought in another younger worker there who posed nervously but in good humor with us. As we headed out, we bought all-day train passes and received omiyage, souvenirs, from the greeter’s desk, and were bowed out. I’m so glad we went to that ryokan, it was certainly great experiencing the luxury of old Japan.
Our room, at least part of it.
The garden.
part 1 of dinner
breakfast.
futons!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Update Part 2: The Trip: airport and to Kyoto
Alright, so my parents and I have been planning a trip or them to come to Japan for quite a while now. We decided the best way to do it was to fit it into the small break between semesters in spring. I was really looking forward to it, showing them around my new home, showing them a different way of life, and showing off my language and adaptive abilities :-P Everything was planned out perfect. Right? Well....it wasn't exactly perfect, but it was still a whole lot of fun!
School ended on Thursday the 18th I believe. Which left Friday open! The plan was to drive down to Nagoya City (about 3+hrs by car) and pick them up from the airport, then bring them back home. Apparently they decided to tell me AFTER I made these plans that I'd be missing the farewell party for the teachers that were leaving. Ah well.
So I took my nice little manual yellow-plate car down the highway towards Nagoya. Highway tolls here are crazy expensive, one way to Nagoya was maybe about $45, just for the permission to drive, not including gas! I was doing great with my google map directions, got off the highways, and started towards the home stretch. Then the car started...feeling funny. I thought I could check it out when I got to the airport, so I kept going. Stopped for a red light, and stayed stopped. This was at about 6 or 7 at night, it was dark, strange city, I didn't know the language very well, and I was on a schedule. First thing, I turned on my blinkers and got out of the car. Then pulled out my handy-dandy cellphone and called the Japanese equivalent of 911, 119. No one spoke English, they said I really should call somewhere else, but where I didn't know. And I couldn't tell them where I was to top it off.
In comes my saviors. A car pulls over to the side of the road and a bunch of foreigners come out, asking if I want help. "YES. Ohmygoodnesthankyouthankyouidontknowwhattodo."
Turns out they were missionaries and dancers from the US. The driver, Ron, had been living in Japan with his wife for 20 years and spoke fluent Japanese. The others were visiting through the church, I think, for a few months. Ron used my cell phone to call my friend Katsuno-san at the Board of Education to explain what happened. Since it was a rental car and the Board is technically responsible for my well-being and safety, there was a lot of talking and red tape to get through very quickly. First we thought that I'd have to get a tow truck to bring the car to a lot for $180. No, that wasn't a typo. Then, coincidences and miracles abound, a
Japanese guy stops to ask what was up, and if he could help. Turns out his in-laws own a car rental/repair shop and can tow it for a whole lot less, if not for free. He gives them a call, and they come to the scene (but only after about 6 phone calls to and from Katsuno-san and the place I rent my car out from).
At first, the front wheels were completely locked up so we couldn't move the car anywhere out of the road. Then after quite a bit of pushing and rocking the boat (^^;) they were freed and we pushed it to a parking lot nearby. After we were sure that the car would get to the lot that night, Ron dropped off the others at his house and drove me to the airport. My parents by then were wondering why I wasn't there to greet them at arrivals. They had called earlier, finally got hold of me, only to have me tell them something like: the car broke down, we gotta improvise, see you in a bit.
It was great to see them again. I thought I'd see dad first because of his height, but instead I saw a white floof through the window and knew it was mom (or at least her hair. Or a gigantic dandelion.). After some quick hugs, there were some quick introductions and we were off to look at hotels. We had decided previously that my parents and I would stay the night in Nagoya in a hotel and get picked up the next morning by Katsuno-san. One of the hotels connected to the airport was pretty reasonable, about $135 for one single and two double rooms. Ron drove home for the night and mom, dad and I sat up a few hours talking and trying to unwind.
The next morning, we woke up to a breakfast buffet (complete with "American" corn salad!) and made a half dozen phone calls. (Thank god I charged the cell phone before I left, ne? I'm really lookin forward to last months' bill...) Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san from the Board of Education came and picked us up, but wait, I forgot my bag in Ron's car! So another trip to a nice park near the water was made, all the foreigners from the night before were thanked (which included giving them some of my Easter basket candy), and pictures were taken. We went to the car lot and checked up on the poor thing, said our farewells, and headed off for home!
Mom and Dad didn't say too much during the ride, since there was quite a large language barrier. We stopped at a very nice rest area for a late lunch, which proved very interesting. Dad got omurice I believe, which is ind of like an omelet on top of rice. Mon and I got a tonkatsu set, which is a piece of breaded and deep fried pork with a salad, rice, and soup. Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san got a really tasty looking eel set. Sasaki-san and a gentleman from the table next to us had a lot of fun watching my parents try to eat with chopsticks, especially mom. It certainly took us a while, and I tried to urge them to finish their plates (the Japanese way!), but it was a lot of food. Dad payed for the food, which seriously upset our two hosts (sorry!).
We got dropped off at my apartment, and sat down to finally relax. The apartment I lovingly cleaned and scrubbed on my hands and knees promptly became messy as a pigsty. Clothe exploded across the floor, papers splatted on the tables, computers booting up, and food wrappers drifting their way through the rubble, since the garbage system here is so intense that I wouldn't let them throw anything out. It was great to be home.
The next day, Sunday, Nick dropped us off at the bus stop in Iida where we would get on the wonderful Hana (flower!) bus for Kyoto. Mrs. Mizuno (an English teacher) and her husband (who maybe spoke better English than her) met us there to make sure we got on the right bus. We finally did, but unfortunately, the highway was closed for part of the way due to an accident. Which meant we took windy country roads that no bus should ever drive on and 1.5 hrs to go what should have taken us maybe 30 minutes. All the while, mom was having fun looking out the side of the bus straight down sheer cliffs. Notice the sarcasm? When we finally got near to Kyoto, the traffic was extremely bad due to congestion and everyone driving during the peak travel/vacation season.
We finally arrived in Kyoto, at the main station. There were taxis lined up near the station in 3 groups which I read to be small, medium, and large. I learned later that the sizes referred to the size of car and the price for the larger cars was larger than the other. The main way of transportation there is by city bus, so we found one bound for the general location of our hotel and boarded. Big mistake. There happened to be a parade through the city street, in which one land was blocked off. It made traffic a nightmare. We were smushed in with no breathing room on a crowded bus that didn't go anywhere. It took maybe half an hour for a 5 minute drive.
We (finally) got off the bus and headed for the general direction o the ryokan, a traditional Japanese-style inn. We asked a nice older lady on the street where it was, and she escorted us right up to the doorstep.
Some pictures:
Some pot-heads outside the hotel at Nagoya.
A rhino outside same hotel. Why? I have no idea.
This concludes part 2, next part: Kyoto!
School ended on Thursday the 18th I believe. Which left Friday open! The plan was to drive down to Nagoya City (about 3+hrs by car) and pick them up from the airport, then bring them back home. Apparently they decided to tell me AFTER I made these plans that I'd be missing the farewell party for the teachers that were leaving. Ah well.
So I took my nice little manual yellow-plate car down the highway towards Nagoya. Highway tolls here are crazy expensive, one way to Nagoya was maybe about $45, just for the permission to drive, not including gas! I was doing great with my google map directions, got off the highways, and started towards the home stretch. Then the car started...feeling funny. I thought I could check it out when I got to the airport, so I kept going. Stopped for a red light, and stayed stopped. This was at about 6 or 7 at night, it was dark, strange city, I didn't know the language very well, and I was on a schedule. First thing, I turned on my blinkers and got out of the car. Then pulled out my handy-dandy cellphone and called the Japanese equivalent of 911, 119. No one spoke English, they said I really should call somewhere else, but where I didn't know. And I couldn't tell them where I was to top it off.
In comes my saviors. A car pulls over to the side of the road and a bunch of foreigners come out, asking if I want help. "YES. Ohmygoodnesthankyouthankyouidontknowwhattodo."
Turns out they were missionaries and dancers from the US. The driver, Ron, had been living in Japan with his wife for 20 years and spoke fluent Japanese. The others were visiting through the church, I think, for a few months. Ron used my cell phone to call my friend Katsuno-san at the Board of Education to explain what happened. Since it was a rental car and the Board is technically responsible for my well-being and safety, there was a lot of talking and red tape to get through very quickly. First we thought that I'd have to get a tow truck to bring the car to a lot for $180. No, that wasn't a typo. Then, coincidences and miracles abound, a
Japanese guy stops to ask what was up, and if he could help. Turns out his in-laws own a car rental/repair shop and can tow it for a whole lot less, if not for free. He gives them a call, and they come to the scene (but only after about 6 phone calls to and from Katsuno-san and the place I rent my car out from).
At first, the front wheels were completely locked up so we couldn't move the car anywhere out of the road. Then after quite a bit of pushing and rocking the boat (^^;) they were freed and we pushed it to a parking lot nearby. After we were sure that the car would get to the lot that night, Ron dropped off the others at his house and drove me to the airport. My parents by then were wondering why I wasn't there to greet them at arrivals. They had called earlier, finally got hold of me, only to have me tell them something like: the car broke down, we gotta improvise, see you in a bit.
It was great to see them again. I thought I'd see dad first because of his height, but instead I saw a white floof through the window and knew it was mom (or at least her hair. Or a gigantic dandelion.). After some quick hugs, there were some quick introductions and we were off to look at hotels. We had decided previously that my parents and I would stay the night in Nagoya in a hotel and get picked up the next morning by Katsuno-san. One of the hotels connected to the airport was pretty reasonable, about $135 for one single and two double rooms. Ron drove home for the night and mom, dad and I sat up a few hours talking and trying to unwind.
The next morning, we woke up to a breakfast buffet (complete with "American" corn salad!) and made a half dozen phone calls. (Thank god I charged the cell phone before I left, ne? I'm really lookin forward to last months' bill...) Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san from the Board of Education came and picked us up, but wait, I forgot my bag in Ron's car! So another trip to a nice park near the water was made, all the foreigners from the night before were thanked (which included giving them some of my Easter basket candy), and pictures were taken. We went to the car lot and checked up on the poor thing, said our farewells, and headed off for home!
Mom and Dad didn't say too much during the ride, since there was quite a large language barrier. We stopped at a very nice rest area for a late lunch, which proved very interesting. Dad got omurice I believe, which is ind of like an omelet on top of rice. Mon and I got a tonkatsu set, which is a piece of breaded and deep fried pork with a salad, rice, and soup. Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san got a really tasty looking eel set. Sasaki-san and a gentleman from the table next to us had a lot of fun watching my parents try to eat with chopsticks, especially mom. It certainly took us a while, and I tried to urge them to finish their plates (the Japanese way!), but it was a lot of food. Dad payed for the food, which seriously upset our two hosts (sorry!).
We got dropped off at my apartment, and sat down to finally relax. The apartment I lovingly cleaned and scrubbed on my hands and knees promptly became messy as a pigsty. Clothe exploded across the floor, papers splatted on the tables, computers booting up, and food wrappers drifting their way through the rubble, since the garbage system here is so intense that I wouldn't let them throw anything out. It was great to be home.
The next day, Sunday, Nick dropped us off at the bus stop in Iida where we would get on the wonderful Hana (flower!) bus for Kyoto. Mrs. Mizuno (an English teacher) and her husband (who maybe spoke better English than her) met us there to make sure we got on the right bus. We finally did, but unfortunately, the highway was closed for part of the way due to an accident. Which meant we took windy country roads that no bus should ever drive on and 1.5 hrs to go what should have taken us maybe 30 minutes. All the while, mom was having fun looking out the side of the bus straight down sheer cliffs. Notice the sarcasm? When we finally got near to Kyoto, the traffic was extremely bad due to congestion and everyone driving during the peak travel/vacation season.
We finally arrived in Kyoto, at the main station. There were taxis lined up near the station in 3 groups which I read to be small, medium, and large. I learned later that the sizes referred to the size of car and the price for the larger cars was larger than the other. The main way of transportation there is by city bus, so we found one bound for the general location of our hotel and boarded. Big mistake. There happened to be a parade through the city street, in which one land was blocked off. It made traffic a nightmare. We were smushed in with no breathing room on a crowded bus that didn't go anywhere. It took maybe half an hour for a 5 minute drive.
We (finally) got off the bus and headed for the general direction o the ryokan, a traditional Japanese-style inn. We asked a nice older lady on the street where it was, and she escorted us right up to the doorstep.
Some pictures:
Some pot-heads outside the hotel at Nagoya.
A rhino outside same hotel. Why? I have no idea.
This concludes part 2, next part: Kyoto!
Update part 1: Graduation
Hello and Happy Easter everyone!!!
Been a while since I've blogged, ne? Because this is a potentially large entry, I'm splitting it up into a few parts.
Spring has come (finally) to Japan. The way the school system works here is the school year goes from the beginning of April until mid March. Which means that the 3rd graders all graduated a few weeks ago. It was a big to-do, the Japanese really love their ceremonies. The children spent forever preparing, including having no classes at all a few days, just spending them doing preparations.
The ceremony itself was rather dull. In the beginning, the 1st and 2nd graders lined up along the middle of the gym and faced the middle. Then the 3rd graders all walked slowly and meaningfully through the lines in pairs. There were a lot of reeeeeally boring speeches, about half a dozen of them each lasting 10 minutes, during which nobody moved. Nobody even sneezed of breathed heavily. No clapping in between, just a solemn bow before and after each person. These kids are really disciplined!!!
There were a lot of songs during the ceremony, including the school son and a few farewell songs. We sang before and after the children got their diplomas. After each person got their diploma, they made a short speech. They started off okay, but by the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, and the boys that worked hard to keep their cool and tough looks during the year started bawling. Right afterwards, the 3rd years sang a farewell song, which must have been hard to do with them crying so much. I haven't shed so many tears in quite a while.
After the main ceremony, there was a break for lunch. Us teachers ate pre-made lunches, called bento, in the teachers' room. After lunch, there was a short ceremony for the 4 teachers who were leaving. The children did not know which teachers were leaving and which were staying until this moment, which is the last time they would be able to see them. I think it's kind of a cruel system, not really letting them say goodbye, but the Japanese claim it saves the kids from being too sad. Didn't work this time, as soon as they were announced, everyone started very loud tears in unison. The teachers gave speeches.
The children and teachers lined up in two lines outside and faced into the middle. While they clapped, the 3rd graders gathered up their school things, and walked casually down the middle, a very symbolic last walk home. Of course then everyone whipped out their cameras and took pictures with everyone they could find.
In elementary school and junior high, all the kids grow up together and keep their own friend circles. To get into high school, they have to take entrance exams to get into the school they want. Everyone ends up splitting up and going their own ways. Most of the schools are in Iida City, with about an average commute time of 1.5 hrs one way.
Probably the children with whom I had grown the closest with were the 3rd years. They knew the most English, to be sure, so it was easier to communicate with them. I also had the most classes with them. Also, by the 3rd year, the students really feel comfortable and open up, showing their real personalities instead of being shy and timid like the other grades. I'm going to miss them so much. They will always be "the" 3rd years.
Good luck in the future.
Been a while since I've blogged, ne? Because this is a potentially large entry, I'm splitting it up into a few parts.
Spring has come (finally) to Japan. The way the school system works here is the school year goes from the beginning of April until mid March. Which means that the 3rd graders all graduated a few weeks ago. It was a big to-do, the Japanese really love their ceremonies. The children spent forever preparing, including having no classes at all a few days, just spending them doing preparations.
The ceremony itself was rather dull. In the beginning, the 1st and 2nd graders lined up along the middle of the gym and faced the middle. Then the 3rd graders all walked slowly and meaningfully through the lines in pairs. There were a lot of reeeeeally boring speeches, about half a dozen of them each lasting 10 minutes, during which nobody moved. Nobody even sneezed of breathed heavily. No clapping in between, just a solemn bow before and after each person. These kids are really disciplined!!!
There were a lot of songs during the ceremony, including the school son and a few farewell songs. We sang before and after the children got their diplomas. After each person got their diploma, they made a short speech. They started off okay, but by the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, and the boys that worked hard to keep their cool and tough looks during the year started bawling. Right afterwards, the 3rd years sang a farewell song, which must have been hard to do with them crying so much. I haven't shed so many tears in quite a while.
After the main ceremony, there was a break for lunch. Us teachers ate pre-made lunches, called bento, in the teachers' room. After lunch, there was a short ceremony for the 4 teachers who were leaving. The children did not know which teachers were leaving and which were staying until this moment, which is the last time they would be able to see them. I think it's kind of a cruel system, not really letting them say goodbye, but the Japanese claim it saves the kids from being too sad. Didn't work this time, as soon as they were announced, everyone started very loud tears in unison. The teachers gave speeches.
The children and teachers lined up in two lines outside and faced into the middle. While they clapped, the 3rd graders gathered up their school things, and walked casually down the middle, a very symbolic last walk home. Of course then everyone whipped out their cameras and took pictures with everyone they could find.
In elementary school and junior high, all the kids grow up together and keep their own friend circles. To get into high school, they have to take entrance exams to get into the school they want. Everyone ends up splitting up and going their own ways. Most of the schools are in Iida City, with about an average commute time of 1.5 hrs one way.
Probably the children with whom I had grown the closest with were the 3rd years. They knew the most English, to be sure, so it was easier to communicate with them. I also had the most classes with them. Also, by the 3rd year, the students really feel comfortable and open up, showing their real personalities instead of being shy and timid like the other grades. I'm going to miss them so much. They will always be "the" 3rd years.
Good luck in the future.
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