Why I'm Here

As a teacher there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your students graduating and moving forward on the path of their choice knowing that you have touched their lives in some way, large or small.

Wednesday (March 5) was graduation day for the sannensei at Kirita. It was a very formal, organized affair, so in preparation we spent the first half of Tuesday in rehearsals. But somehow, even though we practiced the entire ceremony two and a half times on Tuesday, when it came to the real thing, it was still very moving.

The ceremony began with the entrance of the sannensei, led by their teacher, Ito-sensei. It was interesting because in Canada everyone rises during a processional (like at weddings) but here everyone remained seated and there was no clapping, so it was very solemn. (Well, it should have been solemn but I couldn't help being amused at the awkward way most of them were walking--with slightly exaggerated arm and leg movements, like toy soldiers.)

After the introductory greetings and singing of the Japanese national anthem, they went straight into giving out the diplomas. Again, this was all very formal and solemn with no clapping. Then we went into various speeches--from the principal, the Board of Education, the PTA, the class valedictorian, etc. This was a little tiring because for different people we had to do different things in terms of bowing. Sometimes we had to stand up to bow to them, and other times we could stay seated.

Following all the speeches, the ichi- and ninensei sang a song for the grads. It was very cute, particularly since some of the girls had already started crying but were doing their best to sing and not sniffle/wipe away their tears. Then the sannensei joined them and they all sang together. Finally, the ichi- and ninensei returned to their seats and the sannensei sang by themselves. Again, it was touching because many of the girls were crying but still doing their best to sing--this was particularly important since they weren't miked and there was only twelve of them altogether. Since I have sympathetic tear ducts (i.e. when I see people crying it makes me start tearing up as well) I had to look at the boys during the song to maintain my composure.

Once the ceremony was over, there was an organized photo time with the grads. Then they went upstairs to get all of their stuff while the ichi- and ninensei and teachers lined up downstairs to congratulate the grads as they left. I stood in the little alcove where first came down the stairs so I could hand them their presents right away. (The previous day, the vice-principal and some of the other teachers had discussed the best time for me to give them their presents and it was decided that it would look good for them to be holding the gift bags as they walked through the "reception line.")

After that there was a short post-mortem meeting for all the teachers. We also had a small lunch: sandwiches of the type that could be purchased from any local convenience store ("konbini")--tuna and mayo, pizza, gratin croquette, etc.--and sakura mochi. Then it was off to the "after party".

At the party, all the grads were sitting at the front (closest to the stage) tables, separated by gender, and the teachers were seated with the parents, in an alternating arrangement. There was a heck load of food--nabe, sushi, sashimi, fried onigiri, salad, fruit, etc. and there were many presentations by different groups as well.

The male grads (5) did "sushi Russian roulette": they put strange toppings in some of the sushi--a lot of wasabi, jam, etc.--and we all watched their reactions as they ate. There was about three rounds and then they got some of the teachers and parents to try their luck as well.

The girls (7) had three different performances. Three girls sang one song and three girls sang another with one girl accompanying them on the violin (she's going to a Tokyo high school for violin). Then all of them sang a song together.

After that, all of us teachers performed a graduation version (written by Ikeda-sensei) of "Sen no Kaze ni Natte". ("Sen no Kaze ni Natte" is a Japanese song based on the poem "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.") It's a very well-known song, plus we had already performed it at the Kirita graduation party the previous week, so when we invited everyone to sing along, many of the (female) students (along with some parents) joined in.

Once we had finished, the students gave each of the teachers a bouquet of flowers and an envelope with messages from them. (It worked out perfectly with twelve teachers and twelve students) and we took a couple of group photos. After that Ito-sensei and Ikeda-sensei, i.e. the teachers in charge of the sannensei, gave short speeches.

Next the mothers performed a dance routine. It was hilarious! They were wearing brightly coloured wigs and (homemade) flapper-style fringe dresses. When the call for an encore came, all of the students plus a couple of teachers (but not me!) joined in. It was a lot of fun!

In between the various acts there was a slide show of the sannensei from the time they were ichinensei up to the present. It even had a video of their Kirita entrance ceremony. They were so small and cute back then!

The final presentation was messages from each of the graduating students. It was really cute. The guy I would peg as the "coolest" guy in the class started crying during his speech. And he wasn't just teary-eyed, he was nearly sobbing--but he manfully kept on going . (I don't know why, but I find it really cute when boys cry in public, like in the hockey World Junior Championships.) Almost all of the girls were teary-eyed/crying during their messages as well. It was very moving to see each of them sincerely thanking their teachers and family.

One student moved me to tears as well (and not just because I have sympathetic tear ducts). She started off her speech by saying, in English: "First I want to give a message to Melissa. I will study English very hard in high school. I want to be like Melissa."

By itself I guess that doesn't sound so meaningful, but you have to realize that this is the student I worked with for hours on preparing for an extra-curricular speech contest (held in a high school?). We practiced during her lunch breaks and after school, plus she went to see another English tutor afterwards from 8pm-10pm (or something like that) for 3-4 days a week. We also spent several lunch hours together practicing interview questions for the interview for a special English program at a Hachinohe high school.

Moreover, in the program for the graduation ceremony, in the section where the grads wrote about their future aspirations, she wrote this:

Watashi no akogare wa, ALT no Melissa-sensei desu. Jibun no kuni wo hanarete, shitteiru hito ga daremo inaku, bunka mo kotoba mo chigau tokoro de, tsurai koto bakari no hazunano ni, itsumo egao de iru koto wa totemo sugoi koto to omou kara desu.

(I admire Melissa-sensei because I think it is amazing that, although she is away from her own country and facing difficulties alone in a place where she doesn't know anybody and the culture and language is different, she is always smiling.)

So when she said her message at the graduation party, I knew that she sincerely meant every word. And they were exactly the words I'd always wished to hear--right from the time I decided to become a teacher--from a student, but didn't think I ever would (because I was such a poor teacher in Canada).

It wasn't just that student, either. I was moved by the message I received from each student (even as I was amused by some of them). (But I'm posting those messages in a separate post.)

But yeah, after the students gave their individual messages, all the parents and teachers lined up and formed a human arch (with our arms) that the students went through to leave. Then they all got onto a bus and (presumably) went home while the teachers and parents got to stick around and drink (alcohol, of course) and talk.

It was fun. Some of the parents told me that their son/daughter always looked forward to classes with me, and/or that they were always bringing home things "from Melissa." One mother told me how her son would come into the car and immediately eat all of the cookies (or whatever else I'd given them) by himself, without even offering to share them with his three younger siblings. =P

After about an hour and a half to two hours, we closed the party. There was a nijikai (second party) but both my JTE (whom I'd gotten a ride from) and I were pretty tired, so we went home. I was happy to have received my first invitation to a (Kirita) nijikai, though.

That night, as I reflected on the day, there were two dominant thoughts running through my head: "This is why I'm in Japan," and "I can totally see why people end up staying for three, four, or even five years!"

I mean, I was only with the sannensei for half a year and I already miss them now that they've graduated. I don't know how I'm going to be able to leave my students after being with them for two years!

But that's something to think about at a later date.

Canadian Curse?

So I've noticed a strange correlation between snow in Towada and my mother recently.

The first snow in Towada came right when my mom and aunts visited me in November. At the time we joked that they brought the (Canadian) snow with them. In fact, it hasn't been so cold or snowed so much for an extended period of time since their visit.

But that's not the only thing.

Lately, whenever my mother's called, she's asked me about the weather in Towada, and each time my reply has (truthfully) been the same: "It was snowing, but it's pretty much melted recently." THEN the very next day, it gets really cold and starts snowing again!

No joking, it's 3-3 in the past month or two!

At first I thought that the most recent call was going to break the trend since it didn't snow on Sunday, but then I remembered that my mom called after 12am on Sunday, so today (Monday) was the next day, not Sunday. And yes, it did snow! @_@

In happier news, today was Hinamatsuri (Girls' Festival). This is a day celebration where people put up multi-tiered displays of dolls representing the Imperial Court of the Heian Period and eat special foods. Apparently the festival originated from the ancient belief that dolls could contain spirits. Long ago people would send straw hina dolls floating on boats down rivers etc. out to the sea, carrying evil spirits with them.

Anyway, in honor of Hinamatsuri, the special education class I sometimes help with at one of the junior high schools had a mochi-making class on Friday (since only one of the two students could attend class that day). We made kinako mochi and matcha to drink with it. (The mochi looks weird, but it tasted pretty good!)

The teacher also had three other types of mochi purchased for us to eat: sakura mochi, a green mochi that was supposed to be shaped like a bird (I didn't really see the resemblance, though, and I forgot the Japanese name ^^;; ) and sakura doumyouji (still sakura mochi, but Kansai-style). I only got to eat the sakura mochi and kinako mochi while we were there, but they gave me a green mochi and sakura doumyouji to take home. (Sakura mochi is so called because it is pink and it has an actual sakura leaf on it; the leaf is actually quite salty.

For school lunch today we also had "hina cake" which was a pink (cherry?) mousse type cake--yummy!

One of the people from the Towada Board of Education office also brought Hinamatsuri sweets for us to try. It was the green mochi and sakura doumyoji again, but there was also a white bun. I was expecting it (the white bun) to have red bean or some sort of sweet filling in it, but it actually had veggies so it was pretty salty.

Graduation Preparations

My sannensei (third grade junior high) students will be graduating on March 5th, so the past couple of weeks everyone's been busy with preparations for their graduation.

Last Thursday (Feb 21) I stayed after school to help clean the gym. It was a lot of work and freezing cold to boot! I spent an hour/hour and a half along with maybe twenty students and three or four other teachers washing and scrubbing the floor and when I left we weren't even finished. Hard to believe I used to think that having students/staff clean the school themselves was a great idea! You have no idea how hard black scuff marks can be to clean by hand!

This Thursday (Feb 28) was a fun day. Everyone ate lunch together in the first floor general purpose/meeting room. The tables were arranged so there was a mix of ichi-, ni- and sannensei (first, second and third graders) along with the teachers and everyone got a slice of cake along with the regular school lunch. Then for fifth and sixth periods, we had a graduation celebration in the gym. The ichi- and ninensei presented skits in honour of the sannensei, and the teachers (myself included!) sang a song for them as well. Their homeroom teacher, Ito-sensei, also made a video for them.

It was really cute! I thought it was going to just be a slideshow (and there was one) but he actually made a short film where Doraemon (a time traveling blue cat robot) appeared and brought him back to see the sannensei in the past. (Some ninensei students acted the roles of sannensei.) Of course, having only spent six months with them, I didn't get a lot of the references, but they did have one scene showing three of the "sannensei" (acted by the ninensei, remember) practicing for the culture festival after party, so I recognized that. ^_^

Anyway, it's finally starting to sink in that the sannenensei will be graduating in less than a week. Man, I'm really going to miss them!!

And realizing that I will indeed miss them has also reminded me just how blessed I am in the work I'm doing here. I mean, not only do I get to see my students regularly (as opposed to being a one-shot who goes to a different school every day and sees the same class maybe once every couple of months), but I'm based at a small school (38 students in total) so I've been able to really get to know them.

So yeah, apart from the stuff that's been happening in school, I've also been working on graduation gifts for the sannensei. Even though I've been planning their gifts since January, I only really started working on them three weeks ago so most of my free time has been thus occupied.

What am I giving them? One of the few things (apart from chocolate chip cookies) that I can make with any degree of confidence: sock monkeys!

I bought the socks at the 100 yen store (Daiso, to be exact) but they were a little short, so I actually had to reverse the body. See, usually the toe of the sock is the monkey's head, and the opening is sewn into the feet, but I had to sew up the opening to make the head and make the toe into the legs.

I also cut stars out of foam and wrote "Sotsugyo omedetou" ("Congratulations on your graduation) on the front and "Kirita Chugakkou - Melissa" on the back. I then pinned the stars to a ribbon I tied round the monkeys' necks.

I finally finished all of them today, so take a look:

Great Dictionary Conversation Starters

One of the 3rd year students at Kirita decided to use her dictionary to make conversation during lunch on Thursday. She started with some questions from what I'm guessing was an appendix at the back (of the dictionary) and then moved to seemingly random sentence examples from different dictionary entries. Here are some of the gems she used:

- Will you be my boyfriend?
- I want to hold your hand.
- That sweater becomes you very well.
- I have bittersweet memories of my first love.

I'm especially fond of the last one. It led to a conversation between a few of us about first loves and when they occurred. Interestingly, all three girls whom I asked said they had their first loves between the ages of 3 and 5. @_@ I don't think I had my so-called "first love" until junior high school!