Nomu Nomu Nomu

This weekend, I got the opportunity to experience two Japanese traditions: bunkasai and nomikai. In Japan, schools have a "festival" where the schools are open for parents to come and check out what their students have been producing for the first half of the year. For about a month, students rehearse singing the school song, the bands put together a show, and some schools put together a variety show depending on the education level. In high school, bunkasai are more casual and fun but junior high schools are a bit more formal.

And students display a wide variety of material for parents and family to inspect. In every room, their work is show-cased. Every grade works on general projects like essays about their school trip, work experience, a class newspaper (which is already very different from American school papers because Japanese newspapers are written vertically, not horizontally!). But then, each school and each class has different projects for the students to work on. Art projects include making motivational posters, drawing their own hands, etc. The industrial arts and home economics classes make aprons, pencil cases, book/DVD/game shelves and more! Then there are traditional Japanese art styles like calligraphy done with ink and bamboo brushes, and beautiful origami!

For anyone who thinks the Japanese don't have a sense of humor, see the following anecdote:

I asked one teacher how the students made the connected cranes and he laughed and said "I don't know! I asked them and they said it's an old Japanese secret. They wouldn't tell me!"

While I walked around the school, shuffling around in the plastic guest slippers, students were eager to say hello and show their parents they can talk to an American in English. The parents were impressed or at least a little thrown to see a Westerner in their child's school. I think a few parents were even a little confused. But the students were happy to show off and see that I was there supporting them. And of course I wanted to be there! They've worked so hard in the past months to make a good impression and to put together a good bunkasai for their parents.

In Japan, the school is just as responsible for the upbringing of students as the parents. The school is responsible for education and moral guidance: two aspects that we carry with ourselves and which determine our futures. So each child is given a well-rounded education with a hand in the arts, sports and cultural tradition.

My favorite part of the day was the brass band. I'm not sure why the Japanese love brass bands in their schools-- my theory is it has something to do with the popularity of jazz and brass music during the Occupation in the 1940s-- but it means a lot of pride and effort goes into brass band club, and a lot of support as well. The band played a mix of anime themes and classical music including some Dixie!

But my day didn't end there. I was invited to a nomikai with the staff afterwards! Believe it or not, after 6 months in Japan, this was my first drinking party with fellow teachers! I was excited and a little nervous. I had no idea what to expect, but as with the Japanese family dinner last week, I learned it's better to just go with the flow and not worry about what to expect. This is the main objective of any adventure.

So at 6:15 I was picked up at the Hanamaki station by one of the teachers and together we drove into town, parked and walked to the bar. We entered a Japanese style bar with a second level of tatami rooms specifically for parties. A nomikai works like this: everyone meets at an arranged time and for about two or three thousand yen, you have a decent traditional Japanese meal and all the drinks you can swallow.

I walked into the tatami room with the long, low table and large floor cushions (shoeless, of course) and opened the night by joking with one of the other English teachers. With my nerves well-settled, we sat down and chatted while everyone filtered in. Servers came and went, bringing in pitchers of beer and plates of beautiful sashimi, garlic fried rice, tempura, katsu and tsukemono.

I sat next to one of the English teachers and a few of the other male teachers as well as one staff member. I learned over the course of the night and through the speeches that she was only a temporary worker, a haken, contracted to work for just a couple months. But because she loves to teach, she wanted to use her position at this school to get a longer contract so she could stay and pursue a teaching license. Unfortunately, she didn't do well enough and her company was pulling her again for another job.

The male teachers know very little English, but the man sitting across from me, actually the "boiler man/groundskeeper" was very enthusiastic about talking. In fact, after a few beers when he found I like red wine, he ordered a glass for each of us and introduced his own invention: the concept of the nomu-incation (nomu, meaning "to drink" and communication) as a method of having a reason to talk to me! It's actually pretty clever, and everyone enjoyed the joke.

Once everyone had a few drinks, the principal and vice principal gave their short speeches and thanked everyone for attending...and then I found out that this party wasn't only about celebrating the bunkasai, but also to welcome the newest teacher. Oh sorry, "newest teachers!" Since they hadn't had a formal party to welcome me, they wanted to include me on the schedule! After the newest teacher gave her speech, they asked me to do the same.

I stood (a real feat, since my legs had fallen dead asleep) and in Japanese managed to apologize for my poor Japanese, ask for their forgiveness and then thank them for being so kind and interesting and teaching me much about Japan. That done, we applauded and got back to the business at hand: eating and drinking!

There were many more speeches about the day and they sang the school song. After a few hours, people started to leave but I stayed and had another few drinks with everyone else. It was entertaining to see how a normally buttoned-down teacher (or vice principal) might loosen up and be rolling on the tatami floor!

Towards the end of the night, the male English teacher came down to talk to my end of the table. He and I chatted with the other teachers and then the topic turned to why I'm in Japan. I told him very truthfully it's to learn about my own family history but also to bridge two cultures and show the students that America isn't so very far away, that Americans can be open-minded and open-hearted and that communication is the best way to see the world through another person's eyes. He nodded and enthusiastically said "Yes, the students are always so happy to see us working together. Let's be that example together!"

I feel like I've entered into a new level of my professional relationship with these teachers. I've been given a chance to show them I'm happy here and I appreciate everything they say and teach me. It opens the door just another inch and helps me toe my way into their world.