|
White Day has come and gone, and I hardly noticed. White Day is the Japanese answer to Valentines. Valentines is the day for GIRLS to give chocolate and presents to the guys. White Day is exactly one month later, when the GUYS give the girls white chocolate and other things. From what I can tell, guys are kinda expected to give the girls something if they gave him something for V-Day. Definitely not as big as V-Day. Last Friday was graduation. I really enjoyed the day. The ceremony took place in the school gym, which had been transformed into a botanical garden. the stage had many huge bouquets of cut flowers on large stands. The wall of the stage had a graduation banner as well as the Japan flag and the school flag. In front of the stage were about 200 potted flowers. The gym walls were draped with sheets. The pattern on the sheets were thick (~2 ft) vertical white and red stripes. The graduates were seated facing the stage. The teachers were on the right of the students, and the PTA members and other important people were seated to the left of the students. Directly behind the graduates were the other Morita students. On either side of them were seated the parents, or rather, the mothers of some of the students. The ceremony was held Friday morning (last year on a Tues. morning). I was amazed at how few parents attended, and the lack of men. Guess work comes before everything else. Before the ceremony, I stood with two other teachers and greeted IMPORTANT guests. These guests signed in, gave an envelope containing either 3,000 or 5,000 yen, and were given a large envelope containing 2 containers of omochi (sweet red been paste surrounded by chewy pounded rice) and sticky rice with sweet red beans. The graduation started on time and went like clockwork. First the kids received their diplomas, then there was a "changing of the guard" with the 2nd grade, some songs, some speeches, lots of standing up, bowing, sitting, standing, bowing, gift exchanges, and finally a heart wrenching song sung by the graduates, for the teachers. An emotional affair. After the ceremony, the 1st and 2nd grade went home, and then the graduates made their final exit from the school. All the grads were given on the way out, one of the potted flowers from in front of the stage, a single tulip (not into roses in this country), and a cool container for the diploma. the only thing left was for us to hang out and take a million photos. [Watching the kids take photos, it was evident that they hadn't taken too many in their lives. Most had disposable camera, and would be moving the camera while they took the photo. What a shame.] I posed for a about a thousand photos. I was given flowers from the students, letters from my cleaning group (written entirely in Japanese), and one of the guys gave me one of his uniform buttons, which is way cool! [Note: A tradition in Japan is for the guys to give away their uniform buttons after graduation. Apparently, the 2nd button is the "sacred" on which is given only to the girl that he loves. So I felt honored to have gotten one.] In addition to all the flowers and food, all the teachers got a faculty photo and 5,000 yen's worth of coupons to buy books. So, in summary... Loved the day. Had a great time. Felt cool 'cause I was given a button. Felt that I had made a difference as a teacher. Ate tons of food. Wish we had more such days. Can't wait until next year. Valerie Straayer |