Graduation Speeches and Wedding Bells

It's been a doozy of a weekend! Yesterday, the third year students of my beloved なん中 graduated with great pomp, and today I finally achieved a minor dream in a major way and got to be a model for a few hours.

So Saturday was the graduation. We finally saw sunlight again after a surprise blizzard interrupted the beginning of spring like a giant middle finger in your eye. But on Saturday, the snow was mostly melted, and weak sunlight poured into the cavernous gym where students and parents sat in folding chairs, dressed as formally as though for a funeral...

Actually, as depressing as it seems, it is a sort of funeral: the departure from childhood and the carefree junior high school days. But the students face a sort of new life, as well. Many of them are going on to high school, and some of them will even go to some prestigious schools in Morioka City. I wish those students the best of luck: the better the school, the more pressure they put on the student. One of the teachers told me her niece who was sitting not too far from us, had the chance to go to Morioka, but opted for Hanamaki instead. Apparently, her aunt went to Morioka for high school, but after a few years, the stress finally became too much to bear and she walked off (I believe) the school's balcony. Now her mother supports the girl's decision to look after her mental well-being and know her limits. I applaud that, too.

So what's a junior high school graduation like? Well first of all, Dad, it's a big deal. The gym is decorated with flags, banners and flowers. The younger students make decorative flowers and "Thank you" and "Good luck" signs to cheer on the graduating class. Directly in front of the stage are two blocks of chairs for the third years, one for girls, one for boys. A few feet behind are the chairs for the second and third year classes, again, divided in half by gender. On either side of those section along the walls are chairs for parents dressed in suits, skirts and kimono as well as bearing video cameras. Against the eastern wall is a long table and several chairs for town officials and PTA officers. Opposite is a long table for the principal, vice principal and third years teachers. The rest of us sit in rows behind them.

I'm just going to put this out there, the teachers were looking sharp! I think it was the first time I ever saw the gym teacher wear a skirt and nylons, and the principal looked ready for the opera!

So what goes into a graduation? A lot of songs, speeches, and sharp 90 degree turns. The third years are almost robotic in their execution of every step: shout "Hai" when your name is called, stand, 90 degree turn, stop at the center line, turn, approach the base of the stage, wait until the student before you receives their diploma, walk up the stairs, bow in sync with the other student, receive your diploma with your left hand then right, step to the side, bow with your arms outstretched and at the same level as your head, bend the diploma in half without folding, tuck it awkwardly under your arm, turn, walk to the side of the stage, stop at the stairs, walk down, deposit your diploma on a table, return to your seat. Breathe.

After several speeches from the principal, the PTA, and the students, it was time for the singing. First the third years sang their class song as well as a beautiful a cappella piece about thanking Mother Earth. Then the younger students sang a couple songs. Finally everyone stood and sang the school song.

During this latter part, I had to avoid looking at other people. I looked at the Japanese teacher and the second I saw her crying, I started to feel tears, so I quickly looked at the math teacher. Nope. 'Look at the chair, girl, that's a nice chair!' I happened to look up: weeping students. Nope. Nope. Nope. 'Wow, hands are the coolest!' Then, it was the parents. Oh, Lord, the chairs, the chairs...look at the freaking chairs!

After the ceremony, everyone gathered outside to say goodbye to the students. Friends gave flowers and cards, graduates gave their bags, pieces of their sports uniforms, and even their school uniform jackets to their junior friends. Students vied for buttons off the graduate boys' coats, a common memento. I saw several boys walk by without any buttons at all! And everyone took pictures...I was even invited into a few!

Today was a bit different, and by "a bit" I mean "very." After months of eager anticipation, concern, and fear it wouldn't happen, my friend invited me to her hair studio to model some wedding styles! The focus was on the hair and the flowers which her friend, who owns a flower shop, was providing.

Courtesy of Hummingbird!

Freshly scrubbed and wearing the bear minimum in make up, I met Izu at her salon where she was waiting with her friend whom I will call Miss Hummingbird (that's the name of her floral shop). I was immediately taken into a room and changed into the first, long wedding dress. Then Izu plopped me in the chair and the make up process began.

Brava, Izu, brava!

I wasn't really sure what to expect, I thought it would be a clean, fresh, nude look, but instead, when she stepped back, I was a pin-up! She did a great job, even though I was startled at first! I don't often wear a lot of make up, so it took some getting used to. Nevertheless, we were well on the way.

Over the course of the next couple of hours, Izu and Miss Hummingbird put me into two dresses and several hair styles, both up and down, all with floral accents and gorgeous bouquets.

The shoot took place downstairs in none other than the one, the only, MOUNTEE! While the staff listened to One Piece on the TV and prepped for lunch, the ladies and I ran around the beautiful new dining room, taking pictures. Izu is a great artistic director and would move around quickly and ask me to "Look me" or "Flowers look" and tell me to "Smile" or "Chin down." Love her! I tried to take Tina Fey's advice for photo shoots and remember to not let my eyes go dead and to avoid mashing my arms against my body to create "negative space."

I loved to forget-me-not crown! Made me feel like I was getting married to the shi shi gami in "Mononoke!"

Chisa even came and watched with her lovely daughters. When all was said and done and shot, we had lunch together in Mountee. If I was a legitimate model, I don't think I'd ask for a paycheck: I'd just ask for every photo shoot to be followed with a catered meal from Mountee.


And by the way, to my future husband, we're celebrating our union in Hawaii. I already promised my Japanese friends.

Adventure Title Pending

The sucky thing about early spring is the unpredictable weather. While the south of Japan is getting beautiful sunshine and already enjoying the beginning of sakura season, Iwate is getting royally screwed. Yesterday there was a severe wind warning and all night, it snowed and snowed and snowed. Today, it's still windy and snowing. It's March! Enough, already! I'm going crazy trying to get through all the move out processes and just dying to spend all day outside again.

Like those terrifying little raptors in Jurrasic Park, I'm lurking in the dark inner sanctum of my apartment, scratching the floorboards and growling in hungry anticipation.

Just a week and a half from now, I'll be on my way! It's time I wrote down my itinerary for my family and friends' sakes...those who actually look at this weak little self-indulgent blog, anyway. Love you, guys!

Day 1, March 21
Move out day. Utilities Man will come and turn off all the knobs and gouge me for the last month's bill. Then I will lock the door, slip the key through the mail slot and turn my back for the last time on my apartment. I will walk to the station and take the train or shinkansen. I'm not sure yet if I will ride the "shin" all the way to Tokyo or if I'll get a night bus from Sendai. Ugh, decisions.

Depending on which I do, I do want to get to Kyoto for a day or two. Kyoto in spring? I'll weep bitter tears if I miss that!

March 24
Hiroshima Day 1. I want to make the pilgrimage to the memorial park, see the eye-sore statue, and learn a bit more about the Japanese perspective of the war. I learned a lot from my trip to Sendai last year and want to see what else has been glossed over in the US history books.

Day 2. Get out of the city area and see the coastline. There's a nearby island called Miyajima...you may be familiar with the orange tori gate in the water? Yeah. That place. There are also monkeys.

March 26
Fukuoka. Spending most of the day on local trains probably and checking in just in time for the night life to kick in. I need some Hakata ramen in my life...preferably without the pork and bone broth. Maybe I'll find Allan, too.

March 27
Sasebo Day 1-4! Back in Sasebo, I have a lot to do. Over the next few days, I'll meet with a local historian, investigate my grandmother's family records at City Hall (if they have anything), check out Nagasaki, visit the 99 Islands, and just get some more atmosphere of the area.

March 31
Fukuoka Flashback. I'll set up camp for a few days in a hostel and use that as home-base. Then, I'll check out the city life, ride the train west to check out the west coast towns and get my bearings together before finally leaving Japan.

April 3
FWOOSH! Off to Thailand! I'll land in Bangkok and spend two nights there checking out wats, night markets, and soaking up a new country.

April 5
Chiang Mai. I'll ride the train to Chiang Mai and enjoy the countryside the whole way. I'm spending one night in a hostel in the city center, so I'll check out some night life...maybe see a lady boy show.

April 6-11
Elephant Nature Park. I'll be picked up from Chiang Mai and taken to the northern jungle to stay at the ENP for a week.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/enp/en/visit-volunteer

The difference with this volunteer program is that this isn't about riding the elephants. It's about helping them and being a volunteer at their sanctuary.

April 12-16
Chiang Mai. Songkran begins! I'll be dropped off at my hostel for a few more nights in northern Thailand. I'll get to experience the big "water throwing" festival which actually marks the Thai New Year. The whole tradition of water sports began with bathing your grandparents' heads and feet in respect, but now it's all out water-war!

On the 14th, I'll take a break from getting doused in the streets by taking a cooking class at the Baan Thai Cookery School.

http://www.cookinthai.com/activities/activities.php

Prepare yourselves, friends: I'm cooking dinner for you!

April 17
Le ZIP! Off I go to gay Paris! These plans aren't so nailed down yet. My general idea is to stay just 3 days or so seeing the sights, checking out cemetaries, the Seine, Versailles, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, street art, the catacombs, and the foooooooood!

April ? - 23
Have Eurail pass, will travel. I want to trek around for a few days and be homeless, sleeping like a hobo on night trains while I spend the day checking out provincial towns.

April 24 - May 8
Amsterdam! On the 24th, I'll land in Amsterdam and check in to the apartment building I'll be staying in, take a long overdue shower and get ready for two weeks of exploration! My dad has a good friend in the Netherlands who I'm hoping will help me get my bearings and will recommend a few good "browns."

Some highlights on my list:
Museums
Parks
Flea Markets
Flower Markets
Red Light District
Cafes
Canal tours
Architectural Delights
Baked Delights
Art Shows
Delft, Hague and or Haarlem
Tulip fields and windmills

Day trips to Ghent, Belgium and north maybe to Edam for good cheeses! 

And who knows what else! I'm open minded!

On May 8th, I'll catch a plane (the same airline my father took when he did his Euro Trip a good century and a half ago) and land hopefully at a reasonable hour and sans derecho Friday evening.

And here's a fun little thing: I'm bringing my camera of course, so if anyone who reads this has photographic requests during my trip, please let me know and I'll do my best to be accommodating! Do you want to see me can-can under the Eiffel Tower? Should I fist-bump a monkey? Want to see me eat raw pickled herring? I'm up to the challenge!

Bowing Out

Today I left my last school with a tad more grace than last year, though still with plenty of awkward clapping and a few tears.

I've officially ended my position here as a teacher so I can admit this: I went out for 女子会 Girl's Night with Harue, Chisa, and guess what...the hair stylist who wants me to model!...last night. We started strong at Mountee and I stumbled out of Bar Roots close to 12:30am. I have my foolproof preventative hangover method (Ibubrofen, apple cider vinegar and water, and a banana before bed), so this morning I wasn't a total wreck, just a little hazy.

Still, I managed to pull out some fun last classes for first and second graders, if I do say so. On Friday, I brought in a CD and the third graders learned "Rude" by Magic. They were actually really very good! Today, the first and second graders got off just as easy playing games like Simon Says, a word-writing game called Shiritori where you write a word that starts with the last letter of the preceding word, and Fruits Basket. The second grade I challenged with a flag activity. I asked them to design a flag of themselves showing what they want to do in the future, their hobby and the most important thing to them (it followed some of the grammar points they learned: fun and functional!). Then, they can use it to introduce themselves to the next English teacher.

After lunch was my goodbye ceremony. I was escorted by the principal to the gym where the students and teachers were waiting. They directed me to a chair on stage and the principal gave a speech. He told the students I had lived in Japan for two years, thanked me for being there and making the classes enjoyable, and generally stated that the school would wish me luck in the future.

Or maybe I'm fantasizing.

After his speech, they asked me to give a few words. The thing about this little school is even though I was only there for two days every couple of weeks, and only for a single school year, I ended up crying a little at the end of my speech. They called themselves "a small family" when I met them last spring, and I actually saw that. I encouraged the students to challenge themselves, be a little crazy at times, and if they make a mistake, it's okay and to just smile.

I hope they saw me demonstrate all those principles over the past year, especially the crazy and the smiling.

Stress Translates

I found out something very interesting at last night's dinner. I was invited to eat with ゆう中's principal and his family. To my surprise and delight, we were joined by one of the English teachers I worked with at Waga-chu last year! She brought her incredibly genki little daughter who was our main source of entertainment for the evening, and we shared stories about my "American Culture" class with the Special Education students. Powerpoints and puzzles: no wonder those kids loved me...they got away with murder!

It was a fantastic dinner: a chirashi rice dish with a chopped up whole fish nestled in with the vinegared rice (head included!), salad, a grilled beef and tofu dish, and spring rolls (after all, it's spring. You  hear that, weather? It's spring! Enough of this snow and ice crap!) We drank an interesting beer. I say "interesting" because it was like an alcoholic soy sauce. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely different.

The party was myself, the English teacher, the principal, his wife, his junior high school daughter and his freshly graduated daughter. The guest list is important and I'll tell you why.

At one point of the evening, the principal asked me what my plans were for when I went back to America. I told him my general idea: live close to D.C., look for work during the summer that could become part time over the fall and winter, and hopefully substitute teach in Fairfax, VA.

"Oh," he said. "You can apply for work any time of the year?"

"Well, yes," I said. I was a bit confused: why wouldn't I? "For 'seasonal' work, like a summer camp, or helping a depa-to for the holiday season, you have to wait to apply at certain times of the year. But for most work, yes, you can apply any time."

The group actually seemed a little surprised in the way that they look surprised when you tell them that there are no transcontinental trains or taxi doors don't open by themselves. It's a novelty, a look into the other side of the looking glass.

They filled me in. Here in Japan, you stress  in high school about your university tests because your time in university isn't so much for studying: it's for pegging your career for the REST. OF. YOUR. LIFE. No pressure.

If you get into your university, your time is best used pursuing a few classes, but all the emphasis is put on where you will intern and then where you will interview to work and finally where you will be for your career. Those last two years are for part-time work. The last one, they told me, is when you spend all your time in a black suit, interviewing.

The principal's oldest daughter just graduated and will be working at a post office in Ichinoseki (no joke, post offices here: you handle shipping, citizen registry a bit, people's pensions, bills, mail of course and basically the functioning of a city...they're like the express city-hall). And basically, she will be there until the day she retires...or marries. That depends on her. Yes, there are women who leave their work after they become mothers whether for an extended period or just altogether.

I was really stunned! I remember how stressful it was to look into colleges, consider career paths, take tests, look for internships...but that pales in comparison to this "DO OR DIE" method in Japan. Fluttering my hand over my heart, I looked around and said, "Wow! Sutoresu! Stress!"

It's the same word here. But the sentiment is intensified to the nth power.

The youngest daughter is upstairs studying...a lot!

The whole time, the younger sister stared at her salad. She knows wait lies in wait and I can only wish her the best.

There's a Difference

Just have to get this off my chest really quick:

I had a crappy week last week. I was at my two rough schools (the School That Shall Not Be Named and the uppity one...sorry, I can't think of a clever name for it) and they were running me into the ground with five or six out of six classes a day and new lessons for each every day. On top of that, the kids are over the school year hump and can see light at the end of the tunnel, so their give-a-damns are...no more.

(That one's for you, Elysia.)

As for the teachers, they're all aware now that I'm leaving in March. And generally they've been cool about it. No one's up in arms or shutting down around me. But there are some "lost in translation" ways that they've tried talking about it with me.

At the School That Shall Not Be Named, the head English teacher asked, "If it's okay,...eh to...can I ask...why are you leaving?" I'm not being rude, he paused that much because he was trying to choose his words pragmatically. However, the implication I got was that he wanted to know if I was leaving because of his school.

I assured him I wasn't.

At Uppity Junior High School, one of the English teachers said, "So I hear you're quitting."

Full stop. Maybe he chose the wrong word or maybe he doesn't quite understand that my company only lets us work on one year contracts which we either end or renew each spring. I explained that and he understood. I was just taken aback: the idea of "quitting" has negative connotations! I don't want to be viewed as a quitter in Japan...especially not after the stress of last week!

I don't quit. I just move on to the next thing. There's a difference.

Dear God, Let the Third Graders Pass This Test

In Japan, enkai are office drinking parties, but they're performed with some pomp and ceremony so it's not just an excuse to get drunk. Not that I blame them: the Japanese workers are very industrious, especially the teachers, and need to cut loose once in a while.

It's the end of the school year now, and for the past month or so, the third grade junior high schoolers are taking entrance exams for their high schools. If you want to go to a prestigious high school, it's basically a fast track to university. Naturally, the tests are very difficult. If the students don't want to be public officials, teachers, engineers, etc., they can elect to go to a local high school where the tests are less difficult or they can enter a tech school.

Of course, the students are encouraged to aim high, so all the students take a few different tests and study their asses off to pass them. The teachers are naturally very supportive of the kids and do everything in their power to help them pass. Sometimes, that includes praying for the students.

I told the teachers at 南中 a month ago that I'm leaving Japan. Just as they including my welcoming ceremony into their "Start of the School Year" enkai, they added my goodbye party to their "Pray for the Third Grade" enkai earlier this month.

On the night of the party, I ran into another of the teachers at Kitakami Station. She doesn't speak English, but we were able to chat a little in Japanese about the sudden snowy weather we were having, living in Kitakami, and my plans for travel after Japan. Apparently, she's been to Milan and France and highly recommended Paris, though she'd only been there for a day.

We met Auntie sensei in Hanamaki and drove together to the restaurant. I never knew Auntie had such particular tastes: before we went to the party, she stopped at a few konbini stores to pick up some non-alcoholic beers (drinking and driving is MEGA illegal in Japan, and of course, she was our chauffeur). However, she came out of both stores empty handed.

"Wow," I said. "That's surprising that they don't have any alcohol-free for you!"

"Oh they do," she said. "Just not my brand." This woman is serious about her "free."

The restaurant was very traditional Japanese style: a small parlor on the ground floor that looked like someone's breakfast nook in their house and connected to the kitchen. Through a curtain and after leaving your shoes on some shelves, you climb the very steep and someone dingy carpeted steps. Upstairs, shoji screens are opened wide on a large tatami room with a few low tables and several floor cushions.

Auntie talked to me discreetly as we paid our way. "We've been here before. The first time, we all thought,'This place looks very old,'...maybe you think it's not so nice...but the food is very very good!"

I wasn't sure if she was just going through the humble motions of apologizing for not being in a hotel banquet hall (very Japanese) or being sincere. I assured her I was impressed and loved the look of the room. I love traditional Japanese style and she knows it, so I remained a little mystified. They put me in the place of honor next to the principal and in front of the tokonoma-- a beauty alcove with a few encased dolls, a calligraphy scroll and sprig of plant.

Suddenly, I was very aware of a large, low table to one side of the room against the wall. On the table were some sake bottles, cups, vases and other Shinto accessories like paper talismans and laurel branches.

After a few minutes, once everyone had arrived, Auntie sensei gestured for me to get up from the table and join the rest of the teachers in front of the table. We knelt on the tatami mats in neat rows, formally folding our hands on our laps...or the ladies did, anyway. I looked around and noticed the men all assume a "samurai" style of holding their hands on their thighs, elbows out to the sides.

One of the teachers pushed a button on the CD player by the table. Shinto flutes and drums played slowly from the speakers. The shoji screen door behind us opened and two teachers came into the room dressed in Shinto shrine acolyte clothes. The woman read from a paper, what I assumed were the formal prayers. The young man, one of the new teachers, stood at the table and performed the clapping and waved a paper wand as she prayed.

Once cued, the rest of us stood, clapped and bowed our heads. Then in turn, the principal, vice principal, and third year class head teachers took their turns receiving the laurel branches from the female teacher performing the rites. They each places the branches on the altar, clapped, bowed, and went back to their places in the crowd.

When the ceremony was over, it was like I was at a completely different party: from solemnity to frivolity in .02 seconds flat! We all sat down as the beer and "free" arrived and we began pouring for each other.

There were the traditional speeches, a few announcements about the upcoming tests, and then the food arrived. For the time we ate, we abandoned all school decorum and just enjoyed the meal. Auntie sat across from me. When the tuna and salmon sashimi arrived, she asked if I liked salmon. I told her yes and suddenly, her portion was in my dish!

She was like that all evening, handing me extra portions of shrimp, onion and lemon fry, pouring more beer for me and giving me her servings of sake.

I was astounded at the variety! She was right, the food was delicious...but so varied and not at all consistent in style: we started with sashimi, then had a fried shrimp and lemon dish, tempura, then a HUGE dish of kombu, hard-boiled egg, tofu, fish cake and a chunk of daikon the size of a roll of Duct Tape all soaked in a thin soy broth. After that, several large dishes of salad and pork tonkatsu came to the table. I love the family style of dining here...that's something I can't wait to take back home with me. Instead of saving "family style" for Italian or Chinese restaurants or holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'd like to start doing this communal dining style more often!

It just feels more loving.

Anyway, towards the end of the evening, we hit the part of the party where I was recognized. Auntie gave a small speech in Japanese and told the teachers my plans to go back to America and pursue a career in publishing or writing. I had told her I'd be living with roommates (well, one anyway. Heads up, Nate!) and she presented me with a gift. I stood and opened it for the room to see.

It's a beautiful noren, those panel curtains with the famous "Great Wave" painting from the series of views of Mt. Fuji! I thanked her over and over. Then I was asked to give a speech. In some rough Japanese, I thanked them, told them I have many happy memories from my time there and that I will always remember the spirit and kindness they showed me.

Next week will be my last visit to that school. Already, one student came to me and told me in beautiful English, "I'm sad to hear that you are leaving" and reduced me to a quivering puddle of emotion. It's going to be rough when I have to stand onstage and give a speech to them. It would be so much easier if I could treat it like the enkai where everyone's a little glassy-eyed from beer and giggling in mirth.

Of course, I'll still be an employee so getting drunk pre-speech is probably not a good idea. Maybe I can spike the school's water system with some gin...

New Challenge!

I'm going on an adventure!

Well, a new one anyway, and much more grand in comparison than the day trips I take on occasion to the coast or down to Sendai.

No, no. I'm stepping out into the wide world completely solo. As a teacher for Interac, I had a company to rely on. It was like taking a trip with a ginormous, corporate parent who could handle all the messy bureau-crazy and remind me to file a form or eight every now and then. They found housing for me and set up my schedule so all I had to do was show up for work and plan my own free time.

But now that I'm leaving Japan, I have a great opportunity to try and do all that messy business for myself. I anticipate falling flat on my face quite a bit, but oh, what a wonder the Internet is and all it's helpful users and their guiding hands! Every day, I do a little research on another aspect of solo travel: interesting things to do, how to pack light, where to get the best cup of coffee, how to successfully evade assault...the vital things.

Oh, what's that? Where am I going? Funny you should ask. I'm still ironing out the little creases, but the general plan goes like this:

Late March: Southern Japan including Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Sasebo to do some more hard-hitting research about my grandmother.

First 2 weeks of April: A couple days in Bangkok, 1 week in the north working at an elephant reservation, 1 week in Chiang Mai enjoying the wats (temples) and Songkran (New Year's/World's Biggest Water Fight)

Mid-April: A few days in Paris and some outer edge cities

Last week of April and First week of May: Amsterdam!!!

Details to follow!