(no longer) LOST IN JAPAN

On with the show...

Right. OK. It's been 2 weeks. SORRY. What have I been doing? Well for starters I haven't been at my computer for what seems like ages. My internet at home drives me absolutely bonkers so I stopped bothering about a month ago. I bring my laptop from school and use it from there.
Boogie Nights, the annual Nara AJET charity event has also been keeping me busy. And then there were final presentations, exams, wedding speeches, graduation, my birthday, elementary school... So much has happened this week, it's crazy.

For starters.... Graduation was lovely. Same as always. Angie has a nice graduation post on her blog.
"It had to be the MOST boring and sterile and dry ceremony Ive ever been to. Long speaches, followed by long periods of unexplained and complete silence... I swear we had to stand up bow, and sit down at least 15 times!"
That's how I felt my first year. "Seito, Shokuin.... KIRITSU! REI! Chakuseki" GAH!!! Up, down, up down, up, down... It was worse than church. And they don't even get their diplomas during the ceremony. They get it in their homerooms afterwards. No cap and gown, no craziness... just a typical (i.e. very formal) Japanese ceremony.
This year was different though. Still very Japanese. Still no cap and gown but I knew a good portion of the 3rd years thanks to Katy so I felt like I was watching them accomplish something. And the speech from Bando-san, the graduating student president, was incredible. She was in the 3-7 class so she had Katy in her class all year and she said some really nice stuff about her that made me cry (because I miss Katy)... In fact she had almost every female present crying... The parents were SOBBING. FOR REAL. Speeches are way better when you actually understand most of what is going on.
After the ceremony, some students came to say goodbye to me in the teacher's room. It was sad... I will miss a lot of those kids...
Don't worry Angie, I swear it gets better....
Me and my lunchtime chat buddies, Tomoko and Maiko


Me and the Judo boys Koichi and Naoki (and the manager... I don't actually know her name)



Showa Shogakko.
I love that place. Last week, one of the kids asked me what my favorite place was in Japan and I said "Showa Shogakko"... I'm starting to believe it. Since this is the end of the last term and no one was sure if I would be coming back next year, they asked me to say goodbye to all the students and teachers... It was more sadness. Some of the girls in 2nd grade were crying and I had a group of 1st graders follow me around for an hour asking me "How do you say ________ in English?" But I got little goodbye notes and a bouquet of gorgeous flowers from the 4th graders. Now my apartment smells like flowers as well as cleanliness. Who knew that "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "The Hokey Pokey" would have such an impact. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ROCKS!!!! and yes... I'll be going back. Found out this morning. The principal of Showa made a personal visit to my principal and requested that I come back in the spring. How nice it is to feel wanted.

Jump rope with the 2nd graders.... hadn't done that in AGES! I suck now. Maybe Byron can give me a lesson or 2 before I go back.

Learning ABCs


Saying goodbye to the kids. This is 2-3... The kid hanging off me in the back is Souta-kun. If he were in a North American school, he would have been put on Ritalin ages ago. But he's not, so in Japan, he is allowed to live... (at least until he gets to Junior High School...)

My birthday was Sunday. 24 years old. Female. Pisces. Dog. This year is my year. I had a nice day. Quiet. Just the way I like it. Went shopping. Spent money. Had a lovely, home-cooked Asian 5-course dinner... then in honour of my continuing cinematic education, I watched Blues Brothers (the original... not 2000)... and to make a good day even better, I got chocolate cake... with candles. (click on image for a larger picture) YUMMY!!!

I guess that's about it for my update. I will probably be posting more often this week because I'm at Kashiba and I have no classes for awhile. So I'll be writing "Thank You" messages to all the Showa students that I taught (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade--300 kids in total). Then there's the planning for next year's school year and I just found out that we're getting a new exchange student. Matsuyama sensei told me that I will be teaching Japanese..... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Funny. So I have to plan for that too. She arrives from Estonia on March 20th.
And before I forget... I will also be planning my sister's visit to Japan. YAY!!! YAY!!! YAAAAAAAAAY!!!

posted by Samantha @ 9:50 PM