Graduation 2007

Today, my junior high school sannensei (3rd year students, who are about 15 or 16 years old and equal to about freshmen in high school) graduated. It was a very regimented and solemn affair that ended with many tearful "thank you"s and "goodbye"s from the graduates.

I had been watching the kids practice for a couple of weeks, and I have to say it is amazing how well disciplined they are. I vaguely remember my own 8th grade graduation and think about how different it was. Ceremonies here in Japan are taken very seriously, and this is reflected in how well-choreographed the walking, movements, and bowing are. All the students bowed deeply and in perfect unison and stood and sat with crisp motions. It was almost like watching the military.

All the teachers had to sit in order at a table near the graduates, so I would have loved to videotape the ceremony, but I couldn't. Pictures weren't allowed during the ceremony either, though I was able to sneak a couple, since I was sitting next to a potted plant which obscured my camera from view.

First, the students received their certificates of graduation. Afterwards, there were about 6 speeches of congratulation from various people including the principal, someone from the Board of Education, etc. Then, in what I think was probably the most touching part of the ceremony, the ichinensei (1st grade) and ninensei (2nd grade) students sang, in beautiful harmony, a farewell song to the sannensei, their sempai (person/people who are older than you or have a higher rank than you). In response, the sannensei sang a song back to them, their kohai (person/people who are younger than you or have a lower rank than you). The best part of this was probably the moving visual of having the sannensei and the ichinensei/ninensei face each other while they sang.

At the end of the ceremony, they filed out by class (there are 4 classes of 36 each), lined up one last time, bowed to their parents, and said "Arigato Gozaimashita," which means something like "thank you for everything up until now."

(Okay, okay, I'll admit that even though it was serious and intense, the ceremony was really mind-numbingly boring at times, especially during the 6 speeches, probably because I didn't understand everything that was being said, or because it was repetitive. A tiny part of me missed graduation antics, rowdy uncles with airhorns, and general happy chaos, but this was sort of more impressive and awesome, full of images that stay in one's mind.)

I'm really going to miss the sannensei kids. Though the class as a whole was often listless and unmotivated, I loved talking to the kids individually. Their English ability is amazing when they're not worried about making mistakes in front of their peers. There were some great personalities in that class too, really spunky and hilarious kids. Now they're off to various public and private high schools, and hopefully they'll visit every once in a while. I'll admit the sadness of their leaving was very overwhelming for me, and it makes me wonder how "real" teachers deal with kids graduating every year. I'm hoping it gets easier with each passing graduation, and I guess I have to remember that graduating is a happy occasion, a moving forward from previous accomplishment. This, among other things I've experienced so far in Japan, really highlights the reality of life that is transience. People come into your life for a little while, bring you joy and happiness, and then maybe you stay in touch or maybe you don't. It's really important to remember that happiness, but it's also important to realize that we should appreciate people/places/things as much as we can because it's uncertain if you'll ever cross paths with them again.

Some pictures from Monday, the day before graduation. The kids are enjoying their last kyushoku (school lunch). They got to eat all kinds of special food they ususally don't get to eat, like hot dogs, cake, and fried chicken:

























































Pictures from Tuesday's sotsugyo-shiki (graduation) and after:















All the sannensei teachers, dressed up for graduation. Teramoto-sensei is in a special kimono usually worn during graduation. Apparently she was the only one of all of them who owned one, so she wore it, but she was really embarassed to be the only one.















The ninsensei stayed late after school the day before to decorate the sannensei classrooms. Most Japanese kids seem really good at drawing, decorating, and making pretty things out of paper, I noticed. This is Yushin, one of the sannensei delinquents, taking a solo photo for me because his friends got too shy to stand with him.















Me with some of my favorite sannensei girls, hanging out before the ceremony.















A picture I snuck during the ceremony. Here, the students are receving congratulations from the members of the city council, sitting across from us at another table. FYI, my homestay mom is the only woman member of the city council. She's a lady to be reckoned with, she's awesome.















The ichinensei and ninensei sitting down as the sannensei prepare to sing their song. The kid standing up higher was conducting them. Look at those straight lines!















Processing out of the gym. The banners are good luck messages and inspirational quotes from the student council, who rigged it as a surprise. As they filed out, the student council unfurled the banners, while the brass band played a special rendition of a Japanese pop song that is really popular right now. It was cute!

The only thing that was probably more amazing than the, uh..."ceremoniousness" of the ceremony was probably how quickly the whole operation got taken down. Basically, the ichinensei and ninensei each picked up the chair they were sitting in, put it away, rolled the mats, put away the decorations and broke down the tables in about 20 minutes. I've decided that if I do indeed become a teacher when I get back to the States I'm going to attempt to make my students become just as diligent. If only I knew about this when I was in Student Government in high school and needed to break down events like rallies and dances! I would have grabbed a mic, barked for everyone to grab something and put it away, and we would have been done in minutes. Now I understand what Mr. Lee meant when he told me that the my job was to delegate, aka, make everyone else do the work while you stand there and give directions!