The End-of-School-Year Party

 The last day of school was kind of dull at first.  There was a closing ceremony where the principal had a very long speech and then each student moving on to the next grade had his or her name called out.  Luckily there were only the first and second-years since the third-years already graduated but it still took quite a while.  After school I hung out with the teachers for a while to have lunch (it was a short day) and then they had the announcements about which teachers would be transferring.  In Japan a teacher at a public school rarely stays at that school for more than three years before the higher-ups (I'm not even sure which ones) decide to transfer them to another school.  So teachers always have to be ready to move come March.  Most of my teachers who are transferring got lucky and will be going to nearby schools so they won't have to change where they live but one of the younger teachers got transferred all the way to Tokyo so he's not even going to be in the same prefecture anymore!  When I told one of the teachers that in the US sometimes teachers stay at the same school for their whole careers she thought it was crazy.  Six of the teachers were chosen to be transferred (about a quarter of all the teachers at the school), most of whom had been at the school for two or three years but also one of the English teachers I have been working with who had been with Hashi for six years.  So come April we will be getting new teachers including a new English teacher who is apparently very young.

Anyway, after school that day was the soubetsukai (farewell party).  This isn't your typical party where all the guests stand around the room and chat and eat h'ordeuvres, this is a Japanese enkai-style party where everyone sits on the floor, eats a feast, there are many speeches, and there is quite a bit of drinking.  During these kinds of parties one is never supposed to pour her own drink, someone else is supposed to notice that your glass is not full and to pour it for you.  In a case like this it's difficult to say exactly how much you have had to drink so people often drink a bit more than they're used to.  I was just drinking juice bit I still drank more than I intended!  I think that Japanese people use parties like this to let their hair down since everything else in their life is so formulaic most of the time.  Enkais can be pretty crazy since people have more courage to say how they really feel about things and then there is an unwritten rule that no one will be talking about it on the following work day.  Due to Japan's zero tolerance policy for drink driving, enkais are usually held at hotels so that no one has to drive home that night.  But since Anne and I live only ten minutes away from the hotel we both decided to not stay over (her bonenkai happened to be taking place in the same hotel on the same night so it was convenient).

As I mentioned, there was a feast.  I literally had ten different dishes in front of me at one point and everything was very high quality.  Some of the sauce definitely had wasabi in it though so that's the only thing I avoided eating.  Other than that there was soup, soba noodles, raw fish, cooked fish, stew, half of a huge crab, fruit salad, vegetable salad, pickled-vegetable salad, and other things I couldn't identify at all.  During the feast the principal had another long speech (that man can TALK!), all the teachers who were transferring had a speech, I helped hand out flowers to the transferring-teachers, and some of the non-transferring teachers gave one-on-one speeches to each transferring-teacher saying how much they would be missed and it was very emotional.  The teachers at my school became very close over this past year especially since they had so many experiences together starting with the tsunami.  All of the teachers seemed very close, probably closer than they would have been during a regular school year.  I hope that the new teachers will be as kind as all the teachers have been so far. 

After all the eating and the speeches I got to talk to the teachers in a very relaxed setting.  Everyone was still pouring drinks for each other (I felt kind of bad for the younger male teachers since they got the brunt of the attack).  Some of the female teachers noticed that I had changed earrings from earlier and told me that having pierced-ears is very uncommon in Japan and that they probably wouldn't allow their daughters to get them.  I told them that I had mine pierced when I was 17 but that it was common in the US to have them pierced way before that.  They were a bit horrified when I said my sister had her ear cartilage pierced as well.  They asked me if my ears hurt or would close up and I told them that they hurt at first but not anymore and the hole probably won't close up anymore.

Anyway, I've basically had the past few days off from school.  Some JETs have to go into school even over school vacation in order to prepare for upcoming classes but since Anne and I go to multiple schools we would usually go to the Board of Education instead.  At the moment though there is no space for us at the B.O.E. since it's in a small temporary building.  So, our supervisor told us to work from home!  It's been really nice to wake up at nine (or sometimes even later).  Anne and I have also been doing some spring cleaning (though it's also in preparation for my dad's visit).  Actually my dad is on the plane going from Chicago to Tokyo right now; according to flight tacker, he's over Alaska!

The next few days will be busy with my dad's visit.  I'm going to pick him up from the train station later tonight then tomorrow I'll show him around town and also show him some of the schools where I work.  On Saturday we'll probably drive to Hiraizumi (which has the Golden Temple) and Geibikei Gorge, which I haven't visited yet but sounds really cool.  Sunday morning we'll probably take the train to Tokyo and in the afternoon we'll visit some tourist areas (maybe the Tokyo Tower and the statue of the loyal dog, Hachiko).  For Tuesday I got tickets to see a baseball game; the Tokyo Swallows vs. Hanshin Tigers!  On Wednesday my dad flies back in the early afternoon so we'll have to work the schedule around that.  I'll take lots of pictures for my next posts!

How the weather it is today?

...
... That's what one of the sixth grade teachers was asking the class as I walked in.
........ WHY?!
I'm sure that many JETs have encountered similar things at their elementary schools since the homeroom teachers don't have to have any prior knowledge of English in order to teach it for the required one hour per week.  It can be very frustrating at times, but at least the teacher is trying... right?

Anyway, I actually wanted to talk about going to the movies in Japan.  I've been going to the movies much more often than I ever did in the US since my roommate is a big movie fan.  So since coming to Japan I've seen: the Immortals, Tin Tin, Sherlock Holmes 2, Hugo, Real Steel, and Cowboys and Aliens.  Actually for Tin Tin, they had to change his name to Tan Tan since the Japanese version of his name is an inappropriate word.

The movie-going process is a bit different from how it is back home:

First of all (at least for Anne, Julia, and me) is choosing a movie to go see and a weekend in which to see it.  The nearest theater is in Ishinomaki, about an hour away from our apartment (and it's even farther for poor Julia!).  Movie theaters are not very common in Japan so finding a theater can be very challenging.  Choosing a movie can be difficult too since most foreign films that are released are Japanese-dubbed so we need to specifically look for ones in English (which will have Japanese subtitles of course).  Luckily subtitles are easy to ignore if you don't know what they say, haha.  But because of the delay due to dubbing, many movies come out in Japan months after their initial US release.  When we went to the movies just a couple of weekends ago we saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows which was released in the US last December (yikes).

Once we get to the theater, we buy our tickets.  In Japan the ticket prices vary depending on where you sit; in our theater there are front-section, middle-section, and back-section tickets.  You can even choose which specific seats you want if you come early enough.  I think the middle-section seats are the most expensive but we get the cheapest, back-section ones.  Even though they're the cheapest they're still expensive by my standards though since it's usually around 1800 yen (~ $21) per seat.  I think that the fact that movie theaters are so rare definitely makes them more expensive; even the food and drinks sold at the theater don't seem so expensive in comparison!

Since the ticket prices are different in each section, there are assigned seats (as can be seen by the numbered seat in the photo above).  In this case the cup-holders are also assigned!  When we go to the movies, the theater is hardly ever crowded (people are probably just avoiding having to read subtitles).  So even though we're sitting far away from the screen we still have no trouble seeing the movie.  Before the movie begins there is a hilarious anti-piracy commercial that plays (just imagine watching it without subtitles and it becomes ten times funnier).
 
During the movie the other members of the audience are very quiet (and there's hardly any laughter even at the funny parts).  At the end of the movie there is never a round of applause (like there is sometimes in the US at the end of a really great movie or when my brother attempts to start one at the end of a mediocre movie).  It seems like most people take their trash with them as well (I always do anyway of course but in the US I think people are more likely to just leave their garbage for someone else to clean up).  Another big difference is that the bathrooms in a Japanese movie theater are great; the toilets have seat-warmers, the room is incredibly clean, and the stalls always have toilet paper.

Anyway, that's the scoop!

The Things They Wrote

Last time I mentioned that the graduating third-year students had given me some notes but I guess I should really call them mini-posters.  Each student wrote something (in English, Japanese, or both) on a piece of sticker paper and then they were all attached to the poster-board afterward.  Some kids just wrote a few words while others jammed quite a bit onto their papers but they were all very thoughtful.  Several of them were downright hilarious as well so I figured I would share a selection with everyone.  Unfortunately I can't seem to take proper pictures of them (it's times like these that I really wish I had a scanner) so I will rewrite them here (including any spelling/grammar errors).  My comments and translations are italicized.

I enjoyed English
class.  I miss you. ~
Thank you. ~
See you again. ~
    - N

サンキュー
   by H
sankyuu (written in katakana) = thank you... he could have at least written it in English, haha.

Ms. S
Thank you very much
for everything
you did for me.
   by S

Thank you
very mach.
    - Y

It was funny for us
to study English class!!
Thank you ~
      M
haha

I like Japan.
Do you like Japan?
I want your pen.
I don't know what you mean.
It's lie
good bye.
   - Y
This student was always trying to talk with me.  I guess these are the important phrases he remembers from class...

Ms. S,
ありがとう S !
毎時間英語楽しかったよ
ありがとう S !
   K
Thank you S!
Every English class time was really fun
Thank you S!

Thank you very much!
Talking with you are very
fun.   from -> H

Thank you very much!
You are GTS! <- (Great Teacher S)
from M
Haha, this is a reference to an anime, GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka)

サンキューベーリー
マッチ！！

 T
sankyuu beerii macchi = thank you very much
The lesson of your
English was very pleasant.
I don't forget you.
     - T

Thank you very muchi
     from Y

Thank you!
Very much!
I LOVE you
  from S
This is the same girl from before... should I be worried?  (just kidding)

Thank you very much!
"S be ambitious"
  from clark
This student decided to use a pen name I guess... haha

Thank you!
very much
先生はとっても白くて
キレイだったです！
日本ならモテモテっスよ！
M
Sensei you were very white
and pretty!
Since you're in Japan let's talk more!

I don't forget you.
I like English.
Thank you - H

... I'm really going to miss this group.

A Year After and the Graduation Ceremony

This weekend has been fairly eventful.  Yesterday was the graduation ceremony at Hashi middle school and of course today is the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.  Anne and I felt a bit awkward about staying around town today since there were tons of ceremonies, memorial services, and reporters so we went down to the movie theater in Ishinomaki.  We saw two movies since the theater was "showing its appreciation to its customers" for being able to stay in business through the year even though Ishinomaki was affected by the tsunami, so all the movies were free.  We ended up seeing the "new" Sherlock Holmes, and Hugo (western films come to Japan kind of late so even though these films are available to buy back home already they are still in theaters here, with Japanese subtitles), haha.  In between the movies we observed the minute of silence at 2:46; it was a bit surreal to see all the people at one moment moving hurriedly through the mall (where the theater is) suddenly pause almost as one and bow their heads, but it was also moving.

I can't believe it's already been a year... a lot has changed in that time.  Mostly things change very slowly; like rubble gets organized and removed leaving only building foundations and scraggly grass in its place, I was looking at pictures from BBC News today that exemplify this well.  Next temporary buildings are erected like restaurants and barber shops and laundromats (we now have three of the latter within a couple miles of the apartment).  Permanent buildings are being constructed on higher ground (including a new Board of Education).  But who knows how many families who left town and moved in with extended family elsewhere will ever return.  It will also take many years for the land to heal and the trees to grow back; recently many of the still-standing dead trees have been cut down leaving the lower sections of hills and slopes lonely and bare.  Well, I guess all things heal at their own pace.

Anyway, I wanted to say a bit more about the graduation.  Since it was so close to the anniversary (and because at this time last year when everyone was preparing for that graduation the earthquake struck) there was definitely a correlation between the two events in my mind (and I think in other peoples' as well).  All this past school week was pretty much dedicated to preparing for the graduation.  Students cleaned all the rooms (and even polished all the trophies in their glass cases), decorations were created or taken out of storage and hung around the gymnasium.  There were only a few classes on Thursday and none at all on Friday as the third-years practiced the ceremony and the first and second-years practiced the songs that they were to sing during the graduation.  I tried to help where I could by aligning chairs in the gym and making paper cranes that would decorate tables.

I guess that a middle school graduation ceremony must seem like a pretty odd event for many of my readers (after all in the US there is no ceremony or diploma associated with middle school).  But in Japan it's a big deal since many of the students will be going to different high schools soon so the graduation ceremony is when students may have to say goodbye to some of their middle school friends.  There were many differences between the ceremony yesterday and my high school graduation (which is the only thing I can really compare it to at all) for example the time of year and temperature.  I remember during my high school graduation (which occurred in May that year) the weather forecast predicted rain so the ceremony took place inside the gym instead of outside (then it turned out to be blazing hot and sunny outside and boiling inside and someone turned off the floor fans since they were too loud and I almost fainted since it was so hot).  But in Minamisanriku it is still winter and still cold (and there is still little to no insulation in the walls).  The day of the graduation it snowed a bit in the morning and it was literally freezing in the gym (or at least I could see the students' breath as they sang their songs).  The floor heaters (which were kept on throughout the ceremony) didn't make any difference that I could tell...  If only I could have combined the temperatures from my high school graduation and the graduation on Saturday, it would have been perfect...

Most other differences had to do with the order of events and the attendees.  The third-years sat in chairs on the stage facing the audience (opposite of my graduation where we sat in front of the stage with our backs to the audience).  The first and second-years were required to attend (even though it was a Saturday but to make up for it they will have Monday off from school) and they had to sing songs like I mentioned.  All the important people from the Board of Education and from other schools who attended the graduation sat in their own section to the left of the stage (across from us teachers) and each important person was introduced to the audience in turn during the ceremony (there were a lot so it took like 10 minutes).  The ALT from last year came to watch the graduation (she visited on Friday as well and got to take lots of pictures, and see all the teachers and students who were very happy to see her) and she sat with the other VIPs.  As for the families, it seemed like there were more mothers in attendance than fathers, probably because Saturday is often a working day for salary-men.  Also in attendance were several cameramen from various TV stations probably doing special reports about towns and schools affected by the tsunami (apparently there were tons of reporters and such at Anne's school).  Anyway, the presenting of the diplomas was very formulaic but also was efficient; for example, when a student came to receive her certificate she would bow along with the student who had just received his and was leaving the stage (to save time with the bowing I suppose).  I'll admit I got teary during the ceremony (everyone did, though this again may have had to do with the anniversary as well) and after the ceremony when the third-years were passing in between rows of first-years, second-years, and teachers down the hallways I definitely was teary when one of the third-year girls hugged me (she was the same girl who had told me, "I love you!" on Friday... she's so cute).

Well, I should get to bed soon.  I said pretty much everything I wanted to say about the graduation but I'll have to tell you about the cards that the third-years gave me next time since they are amazing!