nothing to prove

middle school rock

Originally I was supposed to go to Tokyo this weekend but that didn't happen when I was informed earlier in the week that I was had to be at Nichu on Sunday for their cultural festival. Later on in the week it was decided that I got to visit Ojimachu as well on Sunday, so I was getting to visit my two favorite schools despite having to cancel plans for Tokyo. Plus this meant to got to hang back and go out with Melissa, Emily, Kogen, and Masaki on Friday night. Let's just say it was a time for venting a little about the week's frustration with our respective Boards of Education's (BOE) and language programs. Melissa and I decided that we should pre-party at my apartment before going out to the bar. It was an interesting idea, to say the least, since after a bottle of champagne, a bottle of red wine, and half a bottle of white wine we decided to go meet everyone else at the bar. Before I prayed to the porcelain god in my apartment, we at least got some special gin and tonic shots made, the bar we went do didn't have shots but liked the foreigners. The following day was definitely some McDonald's to calm the stomach after some heavy drinking the night before and then lots of rest.


Sunday morning rolled around and I waltzed right into Ojimachu bright and early. Did I mention it was cold? Because it was freezing in there!!! I was really glad I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt that day, instead of my usual polo. Since the schools don't have central heating in the gym they had this huge rotating heater, which was very nice to stand in front of, that was supposed to heat the entire gym. Needless to say it didn't but as people moved around more I stopped feeling like a human icicle. After the opening ceremonies I was shown around the school to the various rooms with arts and crafts that the students made. Things like painted rocks, wooden boxes, and homemade books were just some of the highlights.


Once I had finished parading around all the craft rooms, it was back downstairs to see what else was happening. Turns out they had this "store" where people had donated unused goods and people were able to buy them for dirt cheap. I only bought a cup and a towel for about $2. Afterwards they started the performance portion of the program, which is when the kids could go on stage in organized groups to play, sing, or dance anything. The ninnensei (8th grade) boys did a dance from to a J-pop (Japanese pop culture) boy band, which wasn't too bad. Then the sannensei (9th grader) girls did a band performance that was a little rough around the edges. After it was the sannensei boys turn to do some Japanese rock songs. They were actually pretty good for 13 year olds and I even knew a couple of the songs. On top of that they had all the students on their feet cheering them on and singing along.



Following the student performances there was game time. This was the point in which all the teachers, including myself thanks to a last minute email from my parents, had their baby pictures projected onto the screen and the students had to guess who it was. It was great because it actually took the students a few guesses before one of them finally figured out it was me. Can you tell? It is hard to believe I was actually cute once I know but that picture was taken at my grandparents house with our old dog Sadie. Anyway, once that was finished the farmers started to sell all their fruits, vegetables, and rice for dirt cheap again. I bought some apples and it was a good thing I did because next was lunch and they forgot to tell me that I was supposed to bring my own. Oh and during lunch time the students were allowed to get up in front of everyone and say whatever they wanted to, I am sure it was humorous but, let's be honest, I had no clue what they were saying.


My post-lunch plans involved going to Nichu, my base school, to watch their choral contest. We don't have things like this in the States, every homeroom class has to perform a song in front of everyone. Someone, if anyone at all, has to play the piano and be the conductor. I got there just in time for the start and watched them all. Mighty impressive for a bunch of junior high schoolers. One of my JTE's (Japanese Teacher of English) homeroom won which was exciting because I knew most of them. The only downfall to the whole thing was, once again, I couldn't really understand the song but at least I could tell if they sounded good. Once the winner was announced that was the end of the festival and of course an enkai followed. This wasn't just any enkai though, the parents came this time as well. Talk about awkward... At least after the first round or so they opened up and everyone started talking, even to me. I definitely had to use my Japanese a lot but I was surprised at some of the parents that decided to talk to me in English, it was great. The night ended earlier than usual which was nice for a change, especially since I had to work the next day. Oh well, the weekend was worth it.

posted by Aaron @ 9:28 PM