Graduation
Today was the first Japanese Graduation that I’ve been to. It was really nice too, and I enjoyed it. It was much quieter than it is in America, that’s for sure. I mean I could hear the stomachs of people were getting hungry and the hard breathing of people who had fallen asleep during the ceremony. They had many decorations in the gym and it was very traditional. The senior teachers were wearing their kimonos and presenting the diplomas. The parents were all up in the gym and on the second floors with their cameras ready for their students to receive their award. It was cool, much like the ones in America, except INCREDIBLY quiet. I mean it was really really quiet, not like the ones at my graduation. I could hear other peoples’ stomach growling, who weren’t even sitting near me. But the visual effects were pretty cool. I thought it was a memorable thing that I wouldn’t forget. I felt bad that I didn’t take any pictures inside the Gym, but it would have felt wrong to, since no one else was doing it. And the thing in Japan is to fall into place and not be the odd one out. So I just stuck to that and not take any pictures.
After that the teachers had a celebration party, but that wasn’t for another many hours. So I just hit the books and studied Japanese. I did this for a few hours or so. I really feel as if I’m making improvements in Japanese. It’s tough, but I’m really going after it now. I really want to learn it. I feel motivated more than ever and I’ve got good practical use out of it now. I mean I can use it everyday if I need, which I do. I let the students in on that I’ve been studying a little. I mean the seniors because they have now graduated and I won’t teach them anymore. I wrote their names in Japanese in their yearbooks when I signed it. It was fun, and I was shocked that they had asked me to sign their yearbook. I mean since all the other teachers had taught them and I really didn’t have a big role in their lives.
After that, we were cleaning up the school and I was helping with the decorations and the extremely plentiful amount of flowers that the school has. It took a bit of time and a bit of strength to move everything into its appropriate place. But it was completed and all the teachers pitched in to help. I think it was pretty quick when you get a lot of people working together to get it done.
During this time though, there were a lot of students still at school. We needed to get them out because the teachers were going to go to dinner together. I’ve noticed that in March, there are a lot of teacher activities. I mean it’s well deserved for the amount of time that they put in and all the work that they do. Some teachers don’t even get a day off, so I’m really fortunate to get many days off. The headmaster had taken us by microbus to the same Shabu Shabu store that we’ve been to before. But this time I was in a really relaxing position, I didn’t have to sit next to any of my bosses or anything so I had a good time. I mean I was sitting with people who wanted to speak English and some of which are my “friend” in the teachers’ room. I really enjoyed the time and the food was extremely delicious. I learned that no Japanese person can keep a secret and will mention things because they want to. I know this is over generalizing, but I’ve met many Japanese people in my life and all of which aren’t that great with keeping things to themselves after I’ve told them. So It wasn’t a big deal since I knew that to begin with and didn’t tell anything that I didn’t expect them to tell another person. I was just trying to prove my theory, which of course worked like I planned. I think it was interesting sitting where I was because I was sitting across from a person who graduated from Keio University and the other teacher that was sitting next to me just got married. There were many things to talk about all night. I really enjoyed the night and the people that I was sitting with. Today was the first day that I had forgotten to change my shoes at school and was wearing my indoor shoes outside… opps.
