A ceremony for me?

Today there was a farewell ceremony at my small Jr. high (only 55 students!) for all of the teachers leaving the school... which is a group of people consisting entirely of me. 

I wasn't given any warning about the ceremony but at least I had a well-rehearsed farewell speech in English and Japanese ready to go. Unfortunately I choked pretty hard during the Japanese part because I was distracted by the kids laughing at my accent (Note to self: don't laugh at anybody's accent). 

So even though I was only here of 6 months and was just one of many ALT's that these teachers and students have encountered, it made me feel really good when they took the time to gather in the gym, write me a thank you note in English, give me flowers, and include me in a small part of Japanese culture. 

Sorry for the picture of a picture. Being illiterate, I'm not in the mood to go to 7 eleven and try to figure out their scanner. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Another unexpected great day

Last Friday started with the graduation ceremony for my favorite junior high school. The graduation ceremony was similar to American graduations in many ways; they called each student for a diploma, the band played music, parents and other important people came, there were a few motivational speeches. But there was a huge difference in the atmosphere. Overall it was very formal (parents and teachers wore black suits/dresses), you could have heard a pin drop throughout most of the ceremony, every movement was rehearsed and preformed with military-like precision, and NOBODY was smiling. It was a very serious occasion.

I've never taken graduations seriously at all, so I spent most of the 2 hour ceremony fighting back laughter at the sight of 9th grade girls crying as if it were a funeral. I felt bad, but I couldn't help it. Fortunately I managed to keep my internal laughter hidden.

Then I had to teach some elementary classes in the afternoon, which would normally be a total drag, but it was my favorite elementary school so I didn't mind. At one point I had a severe giggle attack when I realized that the 1st graders would mimic ANYTHING I did. I started doing some pretty silly stuff and they were as happy as hell to follow along. First grade Japanese kids may be the cutest beings on earth.

Later in the evening was the graduation enkai (party) for my favorite Jr. high. It was another Japanese dinner with a 2 hour open bar. I got to sit with the principal and the vice principal, who I really like. They tried to teach me a few dirty words in Japanese (all of which I immediately forgot), and made fun of the look on my face when the restaurant brought out a BBQ'd tuna head. I was anxious to try it, but I guess my shock was obvious as the waitress mixed up the eyes and brain and face muscles and scooped it into bowls for everybody. It wasn't bad.

Lastly, the cool, young social studies teacher invited me to dinner at his house before I leave. Awesome! I hit it off with him a few weeks ago during the ski trip when I found out that he's done a lot of traveling, most of which was by himself. I guess his parents want to meet me too!

That didn't last long

Last week I said I was going to watch my spending but this month I've already signed up for another school enkai (party!) and gone snowboarding. I went on Sunday with Rob (snowboarder from Sacramento!), Joe (skier from Colorado), and Amy (from England). We had a great time... here is the video I made.