Japan-tastic!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Sorry for not updating in a while. I was working on the final project with my students and it meant lots and lots of grading! Then I got a little cold, and now Steve has a bad flu, so it’s just been a bit busy. I’ve also started doing some freelance writing on the side- as if I didn’t have enough to keep me busy! But I want to build up a good portfolio now so that I can maybe do freelance writing and illustration full time once I get back to the States. That kind of job would also allow me to travel, because I could write anywhere! I thought that maybe I’d want to teach, but after teaching here, I’ve learned I really don’t enjoy it much. I’m still open to (possibly) teaching college down the line- if I decide I want a more stable job with insurance, but for now I want something that will allow me more room to move (literally)!

Anyway, while you’re waiting on pics from Kyoto and such, I can at least tell you about graduation yesterday. All public high schools have graduation on March 1st. It’s pretty much a series of speeches, with a few songs thrown in. The kids wear their usual school uniform to the ceremony and the second-year (junior) students are required to attend. High schools here don’t have mascots, but they all seem to have school songs. So the Japan national anthem, along with school song, opened the ceremony. Afterwards each student’s name was called and they stood as if taking attendance. Then the principal gave a speech, a PTA rep gave a speech, a rep from the second-year students gave a speech, and finally a rep from the graduating class (the third-years students, since high school is only 3 years long) gave a speech addressing the principal. During that last speech, all the students started crying- guys as much as girls. Apparently it must have been rather moving, but I couldn’t understand more than 2 words of it, so I remained unaffected. It was interesting, though, because this speech had a live piano accompaniment! And it was timed just right to end at the same time as the speech. Gotta love that they gave the speech its own ‘soundtrack’! *L*

To close the ceremony, they sang- get this- Auld Lang Sine… in Japanese! It was highly amusing to me.

At the very end, all the students (still sniffling with tears), stood row my row and thanked their teachers in one voice, with a bow and a big “arigatoo gozaimasu”! It was really pretty sweet and touching, I gotta admit. (But, hey, what can beat hearing ‘Pomp & Circumstance’ for 15 minutes straight and throwing a cardboard hat in the air?)

Matta ne! ^_~

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