Saying Goodbye, Round 2: JHS and ES Graduations

I got a nudge from my friend Tim that I needed to update the blog more, and in the hopes that I might be able to pursuade him to go to Tokyo next weekend I'm going to comply ;)

Like I said before in an earlier post, graduation in Japan takes place in March. The high school graduations were about a week and a half before the junior high school ones, which were followed a week later by elementary school. I was lucky enough to go to all 3.

All JHS in Takayama had their graduations on March 11 this year. This meant that I was only able to attend the ceremony for one of my schools. this year it was Miya. I was really sad I didn't get to see Kuguno's ceremony, although I did get to participate in the rehersal at the school on the Friday prior.

The week leading up to graduation I spent making farewell cards and playing games in my last English classes at both schools. At Miya we played "hot potato" for our last class, using a small stuffed Oscar the Grouch, courtesey of a cereal box at home (thanks Dave!), and music from my iPod. I told them if they answered a question correctly they could choose a prize from my stash of Colorado schwag; a rigged bribe - I had planned to give them all stuff anyway ^_^

At Kuguno I had my 3rd grade conversation class (which I run almost exclusively by myself) making farewell cards that spilled into 2 classes, so we ran out of time to play the game. But I was impressed by their creativity and we all ended up with a fabulous book of memories, all in English. Even my sleepy-grouchy kid participated, heh heh

During their final regular English class we combined the basic and advanced classes and watched a making-of video of the "We are the World" song from the 1980's. My JTE was asking me I'd seen that video before in America and I had to reply "well maybe when I was little, that song is really old..." ha ha ha

In the afternoon that day we had rehersal for the ceremony, in the gym. Which was freezing. I think I've mentioned this before but there is no central heating here, and insulation is a joke. Those enormous gyms are heated in the winter using space heaters (if we're lucky). Some of them are quite large, but most of them are like this

This is actually from the graduation at Miya elem but they're all the same

At any rate, you have to have a lot of them on for a long time to make any kind of impact and it seems nobody thinks of this fact ahead of time. At least at KJH. I swear, I thought I was going to die when we had the 2nd term closing ceremony back in December. Anyway, we all sat together, bundled up in our winter coats, practicing. Actually, I didn't have a chair so I got to stand, lol


So we practiced how they, one by one, get called and walk to the center of the stage to receive their certificates

and we practiced singing and speeches and then it was over.

I'm sad I missed the real ceremony. I heard that grouchy-kid and the bad-ass girl both cried during the real one, heh heh heh.... *sniff*

I made a point of spending as much time with my 3rd graders at MJH in the days leading to their graduation as well. This included lunchtime, which I had been having with the 2nd grade since January.

They all got inkan stamps this day as gifts - inkan are used here to sign for stuff instead of signatures. I have one too - it says "jenifaa".

The day of the ceremony, March 11 (a Tuesday), one ingenious teacher came early and lit all the stoves, plus the weather was really nice that day, so it was actually quite comfortable in the gym.


All of the parents, staff, and the rest of the students file in and sit together in the gym and then the graduating class, led by their homeroom teachers, parade in. They have a tradition here where the graduating class homeroom teachers wear traditional clothing - kimono and hakama. Isn't that just awesome? What would we do in the US if we tried to have a custom like that? Leather chaps, cowboy boots and dresses with corsets? ha ha ha

Although there were only 22 graduates at MJH this year, the ceremony was still just as long as at even the biggest schools in Takayama. Which just meant we got more speeches and songs, I think.


these things are boring no matter where you are - US or Japan. ha ha

Each graduate walked on stage and received their ceritficate. You might notice they're all wearing their uniforms and not graduation cap and gowns. That's more of a western custom.

After they received their diplomas they turned to the audience and said a few words about their dreams for the future.

And of course there was singing. And speeches.

After the ceremony they had their final homeroom meeting, which I invited myself to... all their parents were there too so it wasn't that strange (I hope!)

I don't know about other schools, but at MJH they have a tradition of taking a picture of the graduating class with all the staff. You can see more than 60 years worth of pictures hanging in the downstairs hallway. I think it's really cool, to see how the school and the students have changed over the years. You can see in the early pictures, the effects of the devastation from the war (no cohesive uniforms, the school still being constructed, etc), gradually changing to the modern society of today. Plus, it's nice to be able to see the ALTs who have been here before me, and to know that one day my sucessor will be able to see me too ^_^
So, after the homeroom meeting we all made our way to the gym to take the picture

And this is what it looks like. Can you find me? I do tend to stick out here a little ^_^

After that we all lined the hall to send the graduates and their families off in style

And then, as the other teachers went back to the office or with their homeroom classes, I ran outside to take pictures with the 3rd grade.

And then they were gone! *cries*

Elementary school graduation was a week later, on March 21 (a Friday). This year I went to Miya elementary. This ceremony, although heartbreaking I'm sure for those who had been together for 6 years, wasn't that sad for me - since both Miya and Kuguno are so small and each only have 1 ES and 1 JHS, I'll get all the 6th graders next year in JHS ^_^

"arigatou roku nen sei" (thank you 6th grade)

On ceremony day, since the elementary school is bigger than the junior high (6 grades vs 3) we packed the gym a bit more

we still froze though -_^


Interestingly enough, they wore their new JHS uniforms for the ceremony

I guess to symbolize moving on to the new school. After their final homeroom meeting we all lined up outside to send them off, same as at JHS. Except it was really cold that day. And outside (>.<)

And that was it! I spent the rest of the day there planning lessons for next year's English classes. I'm glad my last ceremony was the only one where I'm not actually saying goodbye to anyone. Cause April 7, when they come to JHS, I'll get to say "hello!"

It's not just a comic strip

Peanut Butter is expensive here. And somewhat difficult to find. It's not carried by the little grocery store in Miya, I have to go to Takayama to find it. And when I do, it's in a teeny-tiny jar that costs about 5 bucks. Heh heh, not that that's saying much these days, hu? (-_^)

Anyway, I've been experimenting with different spreads that I find at the store and yesterday my friend Maki pointed out "peanut cream", sitting by the peanut butter.

Yep. Peanut cream.

"pi-nattsu kuri-mu"

Ever the scientist, I figured I'd try it out. You know, as an "experiment". Upon opening the container, you find a creamy, carmel-like substance that smells like peanuts.

The creamy-texture makes it spread nice and smooth, and goes fabulously with apples

mmmmmmmmm. peanuts. what will they think of next?

Snowboarding

Spring is finally here in Takayama (yeay!), and as we emerge from the mountain of snow that has blanketed the ground for the past 2 months I'm finally getting around to posting about my favorite winter past time: snowboarding.

In recent years at home, plagued by long drives, bad traffic, so-so snow, and laziness on my part, my participation in this sport has dwindled to only one or two trips a season. Compare this with my time at CU, when I had a season pass and went almost every weekend.

But here I live in the mountains, and though it's not really comparable to the peaks in Colorado, there is a ski slope in my village. There is one in Kuguno too. There's a bigger one about a 30 minute drive north of Takayama. And the even bigger resorts in Nagano are only about 2 hours away, what it normally took to get to the big places at home driving from Denver.

I actually started the season off not on a snowboard, but on skis. Something that I grew up doing (started age 6) but haven't done for oh, about 10 years since I switched to the snowboard. However, I've decided after the success of that day I'm actually a better skier than snowboarder. Yet in snowboarding I shall persevere; because, frankly, I think it looks cooler. Ha ha ha ha ha

Anyway, I posted about the ski trip with KJH back in January, though I believe my write-up on it was in the form of my favorite inspirational poem by Kalidasa. So here are a few more pictures from that day.

The view from atop Arukopia resort in Kuguno (that's Mount Ontake - one of the local volcanoes in the background)

With my girls for the day

First time on skis in a decade (I can't believe I'm old enough to count time in decades like that)

One of those great "on the lift" close-ups

What happens when you spend the day skiing with a group of 15 year-old girls: a lot of standing around chatting


After the day of skiing in Kuguno, my next trip was with some friends to the ski hill in Miya, Mont Deus. It was my friend Kyle's first time on a snowboard (after a lifetime of skiing - I could relate to his frustration at the difficulty in switching) and I got to play snowboard-sensei for the day. Actually, this has happened to me a lot this season. To be expected I suppose, when you're from a place with lots of mountains and most of the people you hang out with aren't. I was giving George tips on skiing that day too. But I digress. Mont Deus

Not bad for his first time, hu? must have had a good teacher...

Atop Mount Kuriyama. You can see Miya in the valley behind me


My next trip was Honoke, which is a slightly larger resort (more than 2 ways down?!? inconceivable!), located north of Takayama. Once again, I was called upon to advise my fellow boarders, 2 of whom were trying for the first time that day. This is also the day that I switched boards 4 times. I can't believe I left my snowboard at home - it's been really difficult renting this year. Next season I'll have my own equipment for sure.
The view from atop Honoki (it was cloudy that day, so not the best view)

Strapping in on the bunny slope

We spent part of the morning working on basic skills until I let my friend Gavin take over the instructing and went off with my friends Yoshi and Nari to hit the bigger hills. That's Mount Norikura in the background, the other local volcano.

For the last run of the day we met up with Gavin and Theresa. Coleen, unfortunately, wiped herself out early on in the day. That did result in me getting to use her board though, which I was grateful for.


Next up was a weekend trip to Nagano, in which I and some other ALT friends tagged along with Nari and a bunch of his friends on their annual trip. Fun doesn't even begin to describe how great it was :D It did have quite an ending though... but that story deserves it's own post so I'm gonna save it for now. But I'll give you a pic anyway just to be consistent -_^


And my last trip was the day after the Mashita Seifu graduation, when I was talked into going one last time to Mont Deus. I really didn't have an excuse, it is in Miya after all.
A really great shot of Miya from the top of the hill

I hung out with my friend Evan and the art teacher from one of his schools, Shunpei. Who is amazing on the snowboard. I also ended up changing boards 3 times this day, which resulted in me spending most of it on my ass, ha ha ha

Shunpei, catching air

At the end of the day we finally met up with Gavin again

And now, 2 weeks have passed and the days are getting warmer. Most of the snow on the ground in town is gone and I doubt it'll last on the hills much longer. It was a fun, if short, winter-sports season. I enjoyed it immensely, and am now looking forward to equipment sales so I can hook myself up for next season (^-^)v

With nuts.

I have now decided I like peanut butter.

This is a momentous occasion; for my entire life until now I was always the kid who had jelly sandwiches instead of PBJ, because I couldn't stand the PB in the PBJ. I ate J's only.

Something about skippy super chunk is appealing to me right now in a bad bad way.

Who would of thought. Of all the things I might begin to like since moving to Japan, it's peanut butter.

------

On a completely unrelated (or is it?) note, spring is coming to Takayama. I spent last weekend in Tokyo where the weather was mighty fine (sunny, in the 40's-50's) and came home to the residual 1-1.5 feet of snow in the Hida region (last week it was more like 2-3 feet). But today, it rained. With snow on the ground, it rained.

What a strange experience. Walking past a foot of snow on the rice fields and it's raining.

Which reminds me, I have now lost every single umbrella I had in my possession. I either left it on a train, a bus, at a school, or it was stolen. One of the one things in Japan it is considered culturally acceptable to swipe is the umbrella. So, last October I had 5. Now, I have 0. Next time I'm at the store and it's raining, somebody's losing my favorite phonics "U" word.

Saying Goodbye, Round 1

Yesterday I had an absolutely fantastic day, but it requires quite a lot of backstory to express why, exactly, it meant so much to me.

In Japan, the school system is a bit different from the US in that you have to take exams to get into a particular high school, and it may or may not be in your town. Compulsory education here only lasts through junior high, and although it's not manditory, roughly 98% of all kids in Japan do go to high school. Getting in to the right school is very important; basically you must get in to the right school for the job you want to do or the college you want to go to. In my opinion it's a lot of pressure to put on the kids graduating from junior high (15 years old, taking exams that may end up deciding your path in life), but I digress.

Way back in September of last year I met a group of high school students in Kuguno. This is fairly impressive given that most high school kids here are either too shy or beyond caring to give me the time of day.

This all started because I ride the train to work when I am in Kuguno. The local runs between Gifu City and Takayama (and back), and it stops at all the stations along the way, taking about 3 hours. Students in the Hida region also ride this train, either going to the schools up in Takayama or down south near Gero, depending on where they live. In one of the towns south of me, Hagiwara, there happens to be a high school. And that's where the students I met in Kuguno go to school. It's also the school where a good friend of mine is the ALT.

So back in September I met this group of students who live in Kuguno. The train sits at the station in Kuguno for about 10-15 minutes before heading on it's way north to Takayama, so there is a lag between when they get off the train and when I need to be on it to go home. So every week, either 2 or 3 times depending on where I was for elementary school, I have chatted with these high school students before getting on the train. The conversations are an interesting blend of English and Japanese - 2 of them happen to be really great at English, the rest are so-so. It's been a really fun experience, and as I get to know more of them, then more find out about me and it snowballs and I get to make even more friends ^_^

Anyway, 2 of the students were seniors this year. One speaks only a little English, and one is quite good at it. And I really got to know both of them quite well, and looked forward every time I was headed to Kuguno to see them. In the mornings when I got off the train, one of them would be at the door waiting to shout "washoi!" (something commonly shouted during festivals and such, kinda like "hey-ya!" - and his tagline, apparently) and give me a high five. The quieter one was usually standing nearby rolling his eyes, ha ha

The seniors at the high schools here finished classes almost a month ago. So I haven't seen those boys for several weeks. But before classes ended they were telling me about a concert they were going to perform at their graduation, in which one would play guitar and the other would sing. I told them I really wanted to see it, so before they stopped riding the train they gave me all the info they had and invited me to go.

Since I also happen to know the ALT at their highschool, a fantastic South African named Gavin, I talked to him about acutally attending the graduation ceremony as well. Sort of as a surprise to the kids. He spoke with his principal and we worked it out so that I could go. I also managed to get in touch with one of them (who speaks excellent English for a student) in time to let him know I was coming and that I'd be on the train so he should come find me.

Saturday arrives. I get up, get myself going, and somehow manage to be late. Just late enough in fact, to watch the train pulling out of Miya station just as I'm running up the steps. @_@ I was't the only one who missed the train that day though, as 4 seniors were also left standing at the station as the train pulled away. They however, had a mom to drive them to Hagiwara, whereas I did not.

Missing that train was a huge dissapointment for me, not only because I was now going to be late for the ceremony (a HUGE deal here in Japan where everyone is freakishly punctual), but more becuase it meant I didn't get to ride the train with my friends. A good 40 minute train ride to chat and I missed it.

I ended up having to take a bus up to Takayama and catch the 848 limited express train, which stops in Hagiwara at 928. The ceremony began at 9. I didn't know exactly where to go so I was text messaging my friend who was there, and it turned out that since I was late I wasn't going to be able to get in. Crushed, I wandered around outside the school, until some people in the office near the entrance took pity on me and asked me if I needed something.

This actually turned into an interesting conversation as they didn't speak English and my Japanese hasn't quite made it to the point of being able to express "I was invited to attend your graduation but I'm late" so I ended up instead saying "uh, watashi wa, miru... uh, graduation? graduation? what the hell is graduation in Japanese?!?!.... um, san nen sei... bye bye?" ha ha ha ha ha

Eventually we got it worked out, and I finally was able to tell them that I was supposed to be watching the ceremony but I had missed my train. I watched as they debated amongst themselves "well, it's already started, I don't know, should we let her in?" and finally I guess they decided in my favor as they had the youngest guy escort me over to the gym and let me in.

The ceremony was about half over at this point but I did get to see the last hour or so of it. But the real fun began AFTER the ceremony, when I got to go meet all the students. My friend Gavin showed me, and my friend Theresa (who also attended), around the school while the san nen sei were having their final class meetings, and I got to see several of the students I have met at the station. Which was fun. Also got to meet many new faces.

Of course the best part was after the san nen sei (seniors) finished up and it became mayhem on their floor as everyone was running around, chatting and taking pictures and congratulating each other. Gavin and Theresa and I wandered around too, until I spotted some hair I recognized and ran up, shouted "hey!" and got a "Ore? Jen? JEN!!!! WASHOI!", a high-five, a huge smile, and was introduced to all the people who were near enough he could say "Kuguno's ALT" to, ha ha ha ha ha I did manage to get a congrats in and we took pictures and it was great.

Then the other one made his way over, I congratulated him as well, we got a picture

One of them then proceeded to escort me over to the building where they were having the "graduation live" show. I'm sure this was an incredible ego-boost for him, as everyone watched as we walked over there together, chatting and whatnot. Sometimes being in this place you really get a feeling for what celebrities must experience on a daily basis.

Anyway, I saw 3 performances at the graduation live, the best of course being when the boys and their friends played. I also managed to sit with my ichi nen sei (Freshman) friends, which was really fun. When they came out, the singer got to the mike and shouted "Washoi Jen! Jen washoi!" and then they were scanning the, quite packed, room trying to find me. "Jen? imsasu ka?" (are you here?) and when they found me he pointed me out and shouted "Hi Jen!" ha ha ha ha ha, I love that kid.

They sang 2 songs, one of which I recorded and the other I spent taking pictures. Before I knew it, it was over and they had to go home. I am at once so happy for them to have graduated and be going off to college, and at the same time sad because it means I won't get to see them any more. It has been such a great experience getting to know them over the past 6 months. And this is exactly the kind of thing I came to Japan for. Getting to see a different way to experience life, meeting new friends and finding common interests.

I am REALLY going to miss them. At least I still have the 1st and 2nd years, ha ha ha ha ha ^_^