Graduation

So today was my first experience with a Japanese graduation ceremony. The third graders at my middle school graduated today. Japanese graduations are rather quiet, and they involved A LOT of bowing. I mean they are always bowing for something. But they are quite similar to the ones in the USA. One thing that is different is that the first graders and second graders have to go as well, whereas in the states they don't. Anyway, there are words from the principal just like in the states, words from special guests; in this case it was the Isahaya Mayor and a woman from the board of education. There are words from the students, from the graduating students and the ones not graduating. However all of this comes AFTER they give out the diplomas not before. As the ceremony was going on of course there are tears from students and teachers. The relationship between teachers and students here is a bit closer than that of the teacher/student relationship in America, in my opinion. And while I didn't cry I did get sad…hell I'm still sad. They are a great group of kids and I'm really going to miss them. I'll likely see them often because they all live around me for the most part. I wish them all the best in the world, and tomorrow I have elementary school graduation.

Just something I was thinking about…

So, looking at nostalgic things on facebook like groups for my first middle school (in New York City) and my elementary school made me realized that I never finished going to any of those places until high school.

-I left Bethel Seventh Day Adventist School after pre-school to go to P.S. 11 (1 year)

-I left P.S. 11 after 5^th grade to go to my older brother's school, Global Studies (about 5 years or so).

-I left Global Studies after 7^th grade when my family moved to New Jersey where I went to Applegarth Middle School (2 years).

-And while I didn't leave Applegarth to go somewhere else, I only spent 1 year at Applegarth middle school where I had my first actual graduation (since I left P.S. 11 and went to a middle school that started @ 6^th grade I never had an elementary school graduation) and I then headed to MTHS (Monroe Township High School). ( 1 year)

-Finally, I actually did all my four years of high school at Monroe.

It’s sort of like acting

Teaching is sort of like acting. Because today when I woke up my stomach was killing me yet I still went to work. It was an all elementary school day and today was one day that I really would've preferred middle school. Basically I was teaching classes while the left side of my back was hurting (for reasons unknown it's been hurting since Sunday) and my stomach felt like it was being stabbed. I was trying to not let it show but at times I couldn't help it. I managed to make it to lunch time before I went to the nurse's office where I she took my temperature and lo' and behold I had a fever, of 37.7 Celsius so about 98.86 Fahrenheit. I then crashed in the office until my supervisor from the BOE came to take me the doctor's office. While I was in the nurse's office I did feel cold, but the room is actually heated which kind of clued me into the fact that I got something. Later at the 2^nd doctor's office we went to (the first one was actually closing early or something, I was in too much pain to focus on most of the Japanese) I got checked out, they took an ultrasound of the left side of my bank…man that gel is cold and the conclusion was likely a virus of some kind. By the time I got to the doctor's office my fever actually went up to 38.1 degrees (100.58). They gave me a bunch of medication and I went home. I took the medication and passed out, and while my stomach still hurts a little I feel a lot better.

Well it’s Winter Vacation.

This was written on December 30^th, my internet is not working so I have no clue when this will be up to read

So it's winter break, and more specifically my first winter break in Japan. First, let me say Christmas in Japan can be a little depressing. Sure they have all the lights and stuff (not to the extent of the USA but they have them) but it's without any of the meaning. It's not a major holiday for the Japanese. For instance, winter break technically started for me on December 27^th. But I took a half day of the 24^th and I took the 25^th and 26^th off, the half day was because it was the closing ceremony at my middle school and since I'm going to another middle school for the third trimester I wanted to see my 3^rd middle school kids who I won't see again when I return to that school because they will be in high school. I also took pictures with each 3^rd year class and said a little speech.

Anyway…

Yeah so X-mas in Japan is a little depressing. Because it's just another day, even though the kids don't have class they still have to go to cram school and they still have to go to their club activities meaning they are still seen wearing their school uniforms. And I would've been at the Board of Education "working" (doing nothing) if I didn't take those days off. Japan and America are exact opposites when it comes to Christmas and New Years. In America your family gets together on Christmas and you party on New Years. In Japan, you party on Christmas (it's also a couple's holiday) and your family gathers together on New Years. Everyone…and I do mean EVERYONE goes home on New Years and many things are closed for about 3 days.

So what started off as a slow Christmas for me actually turned into an interesting one, it involved a guy I just met that night taking me around (not all that uncommon for Japanese people to do) to various bars where he paid for everything (I would've opted not to go otherwise) and his goal was to find me a girl. The night ended with him getting kicked out of the third place we went to for being too drunk and pushy (the bartenders knew him and politely asked him to leave) and he ended up paying so much money to cover both of us that I got everything for free for the rest of the night. And I even got a free 1000 yen (more than $10 with the current horrible American economy) when I left. It also just so happened that under my own ability of having nice conversations, and not through him being overbearing that I managed to actually get the contact information of a particular lady. Or rather she asked me for mine and then contacted me.

On Saturday I had a yosakoi…I guess you'd call it Alumni Party. Basically it started off with a bunch of us who had graduated from the team (and two of them who had not but they were in their last year of school) heading to a gym and dancing all the dances. I was so out of shape but so was everyone else so it was glorious. We goofed around for a little bit by playing this game and then danced a little more. Afterwards we headed back and I showered over at Nagasaki University and then the actual party began and a place across from Nagasaki University. There we were greeted by more alumni, a bunch who weren't really around when I was there and then one girl in particular who I haven't seen since I was a student in Japan so that would be 2 and a ½ years. When the second party started that is when we were all greeted by the members who were still actively part of the group and thus still students. It was quite the nostalgic feeling having seven generations of this club all together.

Anyway so today I did something fun. See before school ended one of the teachers at my school asked if I wanted to make "mochi" with him and his family on the 30^th and of course I said sure. Now mochi is this rice based sweet that is apparently eaten during New Years, so today I walked over to the station and met him along with his wife and two elementary school aged sons. Together we drove to his wife's parent's house where I met her sisters and their husbands (except for one husband) and their kids too, along with some family friends. I had a really good time, we grilled oysters (which were AMAZING) on this old school wood fire grill. And making mocha is very tiring, we made 8 batches which took a good chunk of the day, and you place the rice, fresh from the pot into this stone pot and then you smash the rice (while stopping periodically to mix/massage the rice together with your hands) until the rice becomes a dough. Then that dough is covered in powdered sugar and then some of the batches were the filled with anko which is this type of sweet bean paste. Some of the dough was used to make other mochi based dishes. After having gone to taiko practice the day before and having my Yosakoi alumni party on Saturday my body was sore…man smashing that stuff was rough.

After that was finished they put some Imo (Japanese sweet potatoes) on the grill and we sat around, ate and talked. When it got a little cold we all went inside and sat around, we watched the kids play video games for a little while, ate some more, I played with the my teacher's infant nephew a little bit and then we went back.

This sums up the day really quickly but it really was a great time.

A Few Updates #2

-Last weekend (the weekend of the 6^th) I went up to Fukuoka to visit an old friend. Had a good time, got to see more of Fukuoka (the 3^rd or 4^th largest city in Japan) which is something I never really got the chance to do all the other times I've been there. Like Fukuoka Tower, it is the second tallest tower in Japan next to Tokyo Tower.

-Over the past couple of weeks I've been talking frequently with one of my 3^rd middle school girls. She's a nice girl but very quite. Since I tend to hang out in the nurse's office a lot when I have down time she would always be in there. One day she came in and she said she was sick and she said her stomach hurt, I asked what from and she said, "Stress." I dug a little deeper and she revealed to me that it was stress relating to bullying. Now bullying in Japan is a big problem in schools and it's not like bullying in America. It's rarely physical, and it often can involved the entire class picking on one kid, telling them to "Die!" and things of that nature. The problem is that unlike American kids who are taught to essentially not let people push them around and to say something when it happens Japanese people aren't really taught that. They won't trouble anyone by telling their teachers and they don't want to potential make the situation worse so they just let it happen. This can lead to suicide in some cases, it's hard for teacher's to really get a good handle on bulling to since students have the right to go to class, but still you should tell them anyway. Anyway apparently bullying had gotten so bad for her when she was a 1^st year that she stopped coming to school for while, how this got by the teachers I do not know. Since by job is not only to teach English but also internationalization I decided to tell her a few things. As best as I could I explained that the only person who can change this is her. I told her she needs to stand up for herself and confront those that are bullying her. She of course would tell me that she just can't do that. During our conversations, the school nurse would also chime in with advice of her own. She told me not to tell anyone about her bullying and I was only going to keep to that for so long, but one day I walked into class and saw her talking to her homeroom teacher. At that moment I knew what she was telling him. Apparently he called her parents to talk to them and this was the day of student elections so during the elections he pulled out the boy that was the main architect of the pulling and he didn't return until the elections were essentially finished, just in time for him to cast his vote. Later after the final bell rang I walked by their classroom and while the other classes were already let out he kept his class there and was talking to them. When it was over I asked my one students who is in that class and has great English, "Was that what I think it was about?" (We had previously talked about bullying going on in his class) and he said yes. He also said that someone threw a ball at her face earlier which he didn't know about (nor did I). Apparently the homeroom teacher's main point was that it's one thing if you have one on one issues with someone but doing it as a group where it's the group versus one person is wrong. I'm glad that I was able to help a little in getting her to say something. It's still kind of weird, I'm still young but I'm old enough now where I can be on the other side of line where I'm giving life advice to people younger than me instead of always receiving it. I'm a little worried about her because starting in January I will be transferring to another middle school for a few months and by the time I come back to this one she will have already graduated so I won't know what's going on. I feel kind of bad too, because she often asks me, "Are you going to be here in the afternoon (because I only spend mornings at this school 1 (or 2 days) a week)?" or "What day are you coming back?" Although I think by now she's got my schedule down.

-As I just said above, starting next month I'll be going to another middle school for the 3^rd trimester of this year and will probably go back to the one I'm currently at during the start of the next school year in April. This means the last time I'll see my current 3^rd year students before they graduate and go on to high school (or stop going to school) is at the closing ceremony on the 24^th (yes Christmas Eve). Makes me a little sad.

Few Updates:

-I recently went to see an acquaintance of mine's (he's actually the creator of Toppuu and he makes their music) live show at this Bar/Café in Nagasaki. It was a cool show, first up was a guy who played guitar and sung, next was a woman who played the sax and last was him with his partner, their group is called "Fuuujin" and I'm not exactly sure what it means. However they are REALLY talented, both play guitar and occasional his partner plays drums with his hands (so not a drum set). I bought their demo CD and wish them success in the future.

-I went to see the dance performance of one of the Nagasaki city ALTs. He's on his 4^th year as an ALT and for two years he went to see this dance school perform and this year he decided to join because apparently it really was awesome. I must say…it really was! Apparently it's the largest dance school in Nagasaki, and they hold this performance only once a year so many people come out to see them. Wow, I was really impressed, and the dancers ranged from little kids (really small) to adults. The dances ranged from, hip hop, ballet, tap, jazz, etc and it was really awesome…maybe I should check it out, Over the past year or so I developed the desire to take a hip hop dance class so…

-Through my Japanese tutor I found a bass teacher. He's a jazz bassist so I'd be learning Jazz bass and only about 2 times a month but that's fine by me. I'm already stacking a lot onto my schedule as it is. Plus I figure he'll give the beginnings of what I need to be able to branch out on my own and learn things. Now I need to buy a (cheap) bass. I'll have to hit up one of my bass playing friends to figure out what I should get.

-I've almost completely learned my first taiko musical piece.

-I was trying to figure out where I should go (within Japan) over winter break, but since "the boys" are coming back to Nagasaki come January 1^st I'll just use the time before that (the 22^nd to the 31^st) to catch up on the Japanese kanji practice I've been neglecting…with of course a little fun for Christmas and New Year's.

-When I woke up today I was fine but as I entered school the beginnings of a nice winter cold began to develop. I'm trying to nip this in the butt now but we'll see where this goes.

Oh and here's a video

Here is a short clip of the culture festival showing them perform. It doesn't do them justice as they really are awesome.