Graduation Time

It is graduation time in Japan and is really does not feel like 1 year since my last graduation ceremony at Shimogo JHS. I think that graduation ceremonies in Japanese schools are carbon copies of each other with only small details that differ.

Most students took their high school entrance examinations on the 8th March. Graduation from JHS was yesterday (13th March) and the results of the high school entrance examinations were published today. All the students at Arakai JHS managed to pass their entrance examinations for the high schools of their choice. I'm not surprised that they all passed as they hardly ever made mistakes in class. A clever group of students. Many of the students visited school today to confirm their success at the entrance examinations. Then they all did a tour of the staff room and thanked all the teachers individually for the care and education they received over the last 3 years. They all looked happy and there was a distinct air of triumph and satisfaction within the staff room today.

At my most recent visit to my other school, Hisawa JHS, there was a school event held in honour of the soon to graduate 3rd grade students. The 1st and 2nd grade students, and teachers took part in a couple of plays and sang a few songs to wish the departing students luck in their future endeavors. There was also a slide show documenting the 3 years that the students spent at school and video messages made by all the students and teachers.

I took part in singing a couple of songs which are popular around graduation time. One song was called Okuru Kotoba and the other was called Nagori Yuki. I practiced hard for my part in these songs but my singing was really disastrous! I listened to the songs many times on CD but when it was time to sing on stage, the accompanying guitar sounded completely different and it was impossible for me to sing the words in the correct time to the music.

Because I have been in Arakai JHS for nearly 2 weeks, it meant that I missed the Hisawa JHS ceremony. It was a shame not to see them graduate but I don't have the same attachment to the students as I had at Shimogo JHS.

Anyway, yesterday was graduation day at both the schools I work at. I went to the ceremony at Arakai JHS and prepared myself for the flood of tears which is obligatory at graduation time. I was trying to decide whether I would wear my kilt with all its accoutrements or whether I would wear a suit and tie for the event. In the end, I opted for the suit. I'm sure the kilt would have been a big hit but I really did not want any attention and tried to blend into the background as much as possible.

As expected, the ceremony was quite moving but the British stiff upper lip came into play and I think I was the only person (out of about 150 people) who managed not to shed a tear. It was touch and go, but I managed to keep the Ice Man facade throughout. I was called an Ice Man by a previous teacher at Shimogo JHS because I have managed to keep a solid composure at previous graduation ceremonies. I don't think it was meant as a compliment.......but I liked it anyway.

Anyway, the sequence of events was much the same as last year at Shimogo JHS. At the start of the ceremony, everyone stood and sang the Kimigayo (the Japanese National Anthem) to the sound of snow sliding off the gymnasium roof. We have had as much snow over the past few days as we've had over the course of the whole winter. It seems like that anyway.

After the Kimigayo, the students were onto the stage in alphabetical order to receive their graduation certificates from the Principal of the school. Some of the students looked shell shocked and bewildered that they would no longer be students at the school. Their home room teacher called out their names when from the class attendance book when it was their turn to go up onto the stage. When the last student was called, the teacher closed the book for the last time.

Perhaps the most moving part of the ceremony was when the 3rd grade student president (Naoki) made a speech on behalf of his fellow students. He found it really hard to compose himself and cried a lot. This set off everyone else which meant that there were 78 students, 20 teachers and about 100 parents all blubbing at the same time. I very nearly joined in but took some photographs to distract myself.

The tears soon changed to smiles as the students left school for the last time. Another great bunch of students that I have had the pleasure of meeting in my time in rural Japan. I can't overemphasise how great the students have been during my time here.

In the evening, there was the graduation party which all the parents and teachers attended. It was a pretty good evening although I've felt really tired today and even managed a quick nap at my desk. I think I drank a lot of beer but am not sure exactly how much. It's really hard to tell how much you are drinking at Japanese parties because you drink from really small glasses that are constantly refilled by the people around you. Japanese parties can be really fun and a bit crazy at times. Various performances are arranged and that usually means people making complete fools of themselves in front of a large audience. I was coerced into wearing a pink bunny rabbit costume! No comments on this please!

I have been cycling a few times recently and I was hoping to cycle a bit more before our move to Tokyo. Any further thoughts of cycling have been clearly annihilated by the heavy snow which has fallen over the past few days. We plan to move on the 24th March, immediately after Clara's graduation ceremony at nursery school. Only 10 more days in Shimogo. Our move will create plenty of challenges for us, but it is time to move on.

I plan to join a gym in Tokyo called Rondo which is about 5 minutes walk from the flat. I'm aiming to do a lot of swimming and climbing as I am keen to get fit again. I'm thinking about doing the Tokyo Marathon next year but that all depends on the ratio of time spent in the gym and pub. There is also a nearby cycling route although it can't be as nice as the places I used to cycle to in Shimogo.

We have LOTS of parties to attend over the next 10 days. I'll try and do another post or two before we leave Shimogo.

Professor Yoshimura

Professor Sakuji Yoshimura visited Hisawa JHS today to give a 2 hour talk about his career as an Egyptologist and to explain what sparked his interest in Egypt when he was a young boy.

As well as talking to the students from Hisawa JHS, there was also a live link up with other schools in the local area so as many students as possible could benefit from his visit and have the chance to ask the Professor some questions. Judging by how many students wanted to ask a question, they were very interested in his life and work.

Professor Yoshimura is a household name in Japan and his visit to our school was eagerly awaited. There were TV cameras from about 5 stations and a host of newspaper reporters and cameramen. As you can see, his visit made it on to the TV.

Professor Yoshimura has fame comparable to that of Sir Patrick Moore in Britain. He's a household name and an international authority in his field. I managed to understand portions of his talk and I was really pleased to see such a positive reaction to him from the students.An interesting 2 hours at school and one which I shall always remember when I see Professor Yoshimura on TV in the future.

Gremlins, Guns, and Greensleeves

The week has passed quickly and has been fairly enjoyable. Classes have been fun and I have managed to get a lot of things done.

Today (Friday) proved to be an amusing day for a couple of reasons. Firstly, an Associate Professor (with the obligatory tweed jacket) visited Hisawa JHS to watch a live online English lesson which our school does in conjunction with Benesse Corporation in Tokyo. What would be the worst thing that could happen when an esteemed professor comes visiting? Yes, gremlins. We were not able to carry out the class today as our connection to Benesse HQ in Tokyo had crashed. It was so funny watching the embarrassment and awkwardness of the professor and other teachers that I nearly soiled myself. Quality!

At lunchtime, I decided to eat with the 3rd grade students. They all seemed to be in good moods despite the pressure of upcoming high school entrance exams and their looming graduation in March. Whilst eating, I sat and chatted with the students and made the odd joke. I asked the boy sitting next to me what he had planned for this weekend. The student answered that he was going to shoot me on Saturday. I assume that he was joking and therefore will give him 10 out of 10 for originality. Usually when I ask this sort of question I get some sort of stock answer e.g. I'm going to watch TV. It's not often you manage to get a joke from a student so it made my day in a Clint Eastwood kind of way.

This week I have been irritated by the general level of noise that goes on around the staff room. My irritation has been triggered by the new ring tone that plays on the school phone every time it rings. The tune is Greensleeves but is reproduced in a tacky electronic way - I'm sure you can imagine what it's like. Not only is the tune annoying but it is really loud.

Because the phone noise has been annoying me, I've become more sensitive to the other noises in the staff room. This week I have noticed the lack of noise control exercised by the teachers in the staff room. Frequently, teachers communicate by shouting, even when they are standing next to each other. I didn't really notice this phenomenon before and I'm hoping that I will cease to notice again next week. On one occasion I was sitting at my desk listening to various shouted conversations and considering borrowing the decibel reader from the science lab.

What do I have planned for this weekend and next week at work? Hopefully I'll go to Takatsue ski area on Saturday if it doesn't rain. We'll probably go to Aizu Wakamatsu on Sunday (although I have forgotten the reason for the trip).

Next week seems to be a very easy week at work. As you can see by my schedule, I only have 5 classes in total with none on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The classes that I will attend are shaded in yellow on Wednesday and Friday. I am not bothered about having so few classes next week as I have plenty of other things to keep me occupied at the moment. Monday will also be really interesting as a very famous Egyptologist will visit Hisawa JHS and give a lecture on his work and findings. I'm really looking forward to this as I have always had an interest in Egypt and its history. Even though the lecture will be in Japanese, I'm sure I'll be able to glean plenty of information from the Egyptologist.

1st Anniversary

It is now exactly 1 year since I started my blog recording the trials and tribulations of living in the Japanese countryside. I've enjoyed writing the blog and it's nice for me to be able to look back at the events of the past year. Thanks to all those who have read the blog and to those who have left messages in the comments section.

The Clustr map which was added in November has been particularly interesting to watch. It shows a fairly healthy number of hits and indicates where in the world the visitors live. So far, I have had readers in over 20 countries. I've no idea who all the visitors are or how they found the blog address - feel free to tell me.

It's now nearly the end of January and the clock is ticking towards our move to Tokyo in March. January has ended on a bit of a high. The last few days have been very entertaining with a selection of work and non work related parties. On Friday I had the Hisawa JHS New Year party in a Japanese izakaya called Home Run in Tajima and on Saturday we went to a party for the girl (Shiori) who we took to Scotland. The party was to celebrate her securing a place in a good high school.

I didn't have the time or inclination to go skiing this weekend but I'm sure to go skiing again soon. Today was a relaxing day. I read my Daily Yomiuri newspaper in the morning and went for a drive around Shimogo in the afternoon. The roads are not covered in much snow so I think I'll start cycling again next weekend. I have now worked out how to add text to my photos so that will help smarten up the blog for one more year. Next week will be fairly quiet. I'm looking forward to February as I have a friend from Scotland visiting Shimogo on the 10th and 11th - perfect timing for the Shimogo and Tadami snow festivals. Yuki will finish her job next week so that we can get organised ahead of the big move. She enjoyed working over the last 2 years and I'm sure she'll get a job no problem in Tokyo.

Thanks for reading over the past year.

January

Hello to all. Sorry that I have been fairly quiet recently. January has been a pretty run-of-the-mill month to be honest. There's been a little work, a little play, and only a little snow. I haven't been skiing much at all. I've been to Daikura ski area four times but didn't really enjoy it. What snow there was, felt pretty bad to ski on. This January at Daikura has felt like the end of season skiing days of previous years i.e. deteriorating skiing conditions that take a lot of fun out of the experience and also make it a lot harder. I'm pretty bored of Daikura - familiarity breeds contempt.

However, today I went to another ski area called Takatsue because I was lucky enough to receive 5 free day passes. I enjoyed the slightly lengthy drive there and managed to see some fairly nice scenery along the way (and also a carload of monkeys). The sky was blue today which was also another plus point. Conditions were excellent and I had a great time. Despite the car park looking full, the slopes did not seem too busy, possibly because it is bigger than Daikura. The only downside of Takatsue was that there were a lot of snowboarders, the nemesis of the skier. I have 4 more free passes (with the possibility of more to come) so I'll probably head to Takatsue again next weekend.For the next 2 weeks I will be at Hisawa JHS. Wednesday will be the Hisawa JHS ski day at Daikura which means I get to spend some time out of school and on the slopes. Hopefully the conditions will be okay, although I'm not very optimistic. If conditions have improved, I may also go to Daikura again for a bit of night skiing on Wednesday.

On Friday I have another shinnenkai (New Year party) and then it will be the weekend again.

The Governor of Fukushima

Today, Yuhei Sato, Governor of Fukushima, visited Hisawa JHS. Governor Sato has only recently been voted into office (with 51% of the vote) after his predecessor resigned over allegations of accepting bribes during his 18 year tenure. The previous Governor, Eisaku Sato (no relation of Yuhei (I hope)), and his brother are accused of receiving a ¥170,000,000 bribe (nearly GBP 1 million) from a construction company involved in the building of hydro dams. I'm sure he'll also be be linked to other construction projects as the investigation continues.

Bribes and other fraudulent practices have long been a recognised, if unspoken, aspect of the Japanese construction industry for many years. It seems that the Japanese Government is trying to clean things up although many Government members have strong connections to the industry. The Japanese construction industry has been well covered in a book called 'Dogs and Demons' by Alex Kerr.

The main aim of the visit to Hisawa JHS was for the Governor to observe an online English class. He seemed impressed with the class although I have my own doubts about their usefulness. I'm a great believer in using technology in the classroom, but only when there are very real benefits. Everything that is done in these classes can be taught more effectively in a normal class. Being a natural cynic, I think someone is getting rich from this project (probably the old Governor). Still, it was nice to have the new Governor in school for a couple of hours and good to see all the newspaper reporters and TV crew taking an interest. Maybe I'll be on the front page tomorrow....

Arakai JHS and Hisawa JHS

My new job involves me rotating between two junior high schools every 2 weeks. The schools are called Arakai JHS and Hisawa JHS. There is really not much to tell to be honest. The job I am doing is very similar to the job I had at Shimogo JHS, although I seem to be slightly busier.

The schools are both very small with approximately 70 students in each. The students seem to be generally much quieter than I was used to in Shimogo JHS although they all seem really nice. I hope I can get them to come out of their shells a bit more.

Although the students in the schools are very similar, the teachers in each school are very different. In one school the teachers seem really happy and relaxed whilst the other school staff room feels like a library. Teachers rarely talk to each other, and if they do so, it is in whispers. That school feels like a library.

I guess I will be fairly happy to work at these schools for the next 7 months - it's not long and there will be different events that will break the monotony. I also have quite a lot of elementary school visits which I have come to really enjoy.