Sotsuenshiki ...

In Japan students celebrate many graduations. They graduate from preschool, elementary school, junior high school, and high school. Each graduation is celebrated equally with an official ceremony, lots of important people in black suits, diplomas, flowers, an incredible amount of bowing, gifts, singing, and lots and lots of tears.

Rocking out the suit in the office:

Sotsuenshiki is the official graduation of children from preschool. The idea is similar to preschool or kindergarten graduations back home, but they take it to a whole other level. It was comparable to West High class of 2001 graduation. There were city officials, superintendents, prefectural representatives, and other principals in attendance. Everyone was wearing a suit, 99% of which were black. The children and teachers marched into a hall, full of parents and former teachers, as a class and there were opening speeches and piano accompaniment and the second the diplomas started being individually handed out the tears started.

Naoko and I after Tomiyama's graduation:

Maybe it was something about knowing that this was the last time we would ever be together as a class and, as a teacher, about knowing not only the impact you had on the kids but the impact they had on you. Maybe it was realizing that this was the last time I was going to see most of the kids that I've seen regularly for the last two years that did it. That thought was heartbreaking. Maybe it was remembering back to the first day we started working together and thinking about how far we've come and how proud I am of all of them. Thinking about it makes me teary eyed even now, a week later. Or maybe it was the fact that everyone was crying. The teachers were crying, the parents (mothers and fathers) were crying, the principal was crying, the children were crying. There was so much emotion. So much bittersweet emotion in celebrating this milestone in the children's lives that you would have to have a heart of stone to not have felt it.

On the last day of school at Freeburg I shed a few tears with a couple parents and my voice cracked when I had to tell Maliek that no, I wasn't going to see him tomorrow and no, I couldn't when he begged me to ride the bus home with him. And I needed a tissue and a serious hug when DaJoniss and his mom finally left the classroom, both in tears. But it was different. It was Shirley and I comforting each other in my office and me praying that I'd done enough to let every single one of my kids know how much I loved them and how much I invested in them and how unbelievably proud I was of each and every one of them. Sotsuenshiki was just that. A celebration of and for the children filled with so much love and adoration from so many different people that it was just moving.

Kazuyo and I - with no tears!!

The Tomiyama children sang a sayonara song that was all about their school experience and how hard it was to say goodbye to their teachers and their friends. Even if you don't understand the words, it's beautiful. If you look close enough, some of the children are crying and if you listen close enough I'm sure you can hear a sniffle or two considering that almost all of the people watching were in tears. The sayonara song marks the very end. :)

I posted some other pictures on facebook and since I'm suppose to be packing for Korea instead of blogging, I don't have time to put them all up. But I think maybe, just maybe, if you click here: Sotsuenshiki Pictures then you'll be able to see them too.

much love

-tara-

xx

Picking Strawberries ...

First grapes - now strawberries. Japanese people sure do love their fruit.

Naoko made Sunday afternoon plans for her, me, Yumi, Daniel, Ayaka and Misaki to visit a strawberry farm. The only thing we had to do while we were there was eat strawberries. Sign me up for that. :)
We got there, paid 1500 yen a person and a farmer looking man led us to our designated 'strawberry houses'. Once inside, we were handed a small pair of scissors and a plastic bag. I think the farmer man probably had a stopwatch because when we said 'GO!', we had exactly 30 minutes to eat as many strawberries as we could. The door way was like a starting line at a relay. I quickly figured out that these people were serious about strawberry consumption. On your marks .... Get set ...

Inside the strawberry house was what seemed like endless rows of strawberries ...

The directions were simple: walk up and down the rows of strawberries, find one that looks good, snip it with your scissors, blow on it to get any dirt off, and eat up. Put the top in your plastic bag and move on. Take two steps and repeat.

Naoko's a strawberry lover:

Daniel was pleasantly surprised by how sweet they were.
Japanese strawberries are way better than American strawberries.

I don't know what it is about Japanese fruit, but it's all huge. The strawberries were no exception.

I was dared to eat it all in one bite:
Ayaka, Misaki & Yumi

Daniel tried the green ones (which reminded me of the story of eating green tomatoes at grandma and grandpa's house) and the verdict was that they are nasty. I wasn't feeling real hot so I wasn't up for eating green things.

Despite the fact that I wasn't feeling particularly well that afternoon, picking strawberries was definitely a success. It's always fun to do things with the fam (especially when your family is as awesome as mine) and it's even more fun when we manage to drag Daniel along.

Total strawberry count ... Naoko - 40. Daniel - 45. Misaki & Ayaka combined - 50 Tara - 30. I thought I ate a lot and I came in last place. Good thing we didn't have any money on it. :)

much love

-tara-

xx

My Beautiful Sachika ...

I have one of the most precious students ever. Her name is Sachika and she is adorable. I've worked with her for a year and a half and I think she's fantastic. There's just one slight hang up ... she doesn't talk.

I mean seriously ... look at how adorable she is:

No, she does not have some sort of disability or need a speech pathologist, she is just incredibly shy with minimal confidence in her English and an inability to take even the slightest linguistic risk on her own. When we had large group lessons together (15 children, 2 teachers) she participated just like everyone else, so I know she's more than able to produce noise, but since we've had small group private lessons together (3 or 4 children without a translator) she has barely said two words, although she has an awfully sweet smile. I'm calling her selectively mute, which reminds me of adorable 3 year old Dani from Sherri's class like 5 years ago, although I'm 99% sure she talks up a storm outside of English lesson. The kids and I have all gotten used to her being unresponsive, although I have never ever left her out of a conversation, holding firm to the idea that she was still learning, still processing, and still making relationships between languages without being vocal. We have a good relationship in a trusting environment with interesting activities and I haven't given up on her, I've just had do make some serious adaptations and accommodations. Definitely not the first time I've done such a thing. :)

Her and her sweet (now toothless) smile:

Anyway ... all of that was necessary as a preface to this really short, but incredibly sweet story that very few people outside of my group of colleagues will be able to fully appreciate. That's ok.

So, during Sachika's group lesson we were reading a story about a family with pet monkeys. Sachika was curled up under my arm on the couch and the 3 other kids were sitting around the book and everyone was throwing out their best (yet random) English as we picture walked the book for the first time. Everyone with the exception of the always silent Sachika. We got to a page full of people and monkeys and I asked the kids how many monkeys there were. I got a wide range of answers, from 5 to 15, so I asked one of the little girls to count the monkeys for us. Everyone was silent as she pointed very carefully to each and every monkey while doing her best job to count in English. It was at the exact moment when she pointed, and counted, the mother as a monkey that Sachika laughed out loud and very casually said, while everyone started at her wide-eyed in amazement, "It's not monkey, it's momma." Her laughter was contagious and everyone started laughing with her, although mine was more from the astonishment of what had just happened. We continued reading the story and Sachika didn't say anything else for the rest of the lesson but I do know that when she was leaving and I said, "Goodbye Sachika, see you next Thursday" she smiled bigger than she has ever smiled at me before.

It's those moments ... when Sachika not only spoke, but formed a coherent sentence - when Cameron won his first game of Connect Four by actually getting four in a row (and not on accident) - when Maliek was finally able to recognize his name on the board - when Devante learned how to hold his pencil like a pencil instead of like a chopstick - when Noah finished his first chapter book and told me, "This is the only book I ever really liked. I think I'm going to read another one." (he was in 5th grade) - when DaJoniss finally learned how to 'turn that J around' when he wrote his name ... it's all those moments, the little ones, that make me feel really proud of the work that I do. And even more proud (if that's possible) of the kids that are doing the real work. I love being a teacher. ♥

much love

-tara-

xx

A Crazy Game Called Cricket ...

Way back in January (maybe even before Chinese New Year ... who knows?) we all got together to celebrate Aussie Day by playing a little cricket, eating meat pies (sick), and hanging out at the Aussie Bar. Really, where else would we go?

I think I wrote about this last year and really, there just isn't a whole lot to say. Cricket is a kind of yahoo sport (if they're reading this, my Aussie friends are going to kill me) and I think meat pies are gross. I'm pretty sure that's a true story, fact based. But regardless of the worthlessness of the sport or the disgustingness of the food, I love Aussie day! Maybe it's because I love lots of Australians. Whatever the reason, I showed up (dressed in layers to battle the single digit temperature) to fully support anything and everything from the land down under.

See? Hat, socks as gloves, Aussie sweatshirt ... Tapio & I were all about it.

Our gear is mostly thanks to Amy who sent us a box of Australian love that we opened that day.

We LOVE you Amy!!

We're freezing ... & it doesn't help that the only place we can play is right along the river. :/

The thing that I love most about cricket is that you can play outfield with a drink in your hand. :)

Our cultural conglomerate:

Next up: Aussie Bar to carry on the Australian celebration. Aussie Bar is my own Japanese (well, actually Australian) version of Suds. It's kind of a dump, the drinks are cheap (for Japan), and I frequent there whenever possible. I know just about everyone in the bar (we're the cool kids), I always get 'my usual' (according to Lee and Jason) and every visit turns into a rockin good time. It was one of the very first places Amanda and I ever went in Japan where everyone spoke English and you could get a familiar drink. In the same way that I miss Suds, I know I will forever miss Aussie Bar. And not just for the drinks and darts, but for the hilarious, outrageous, and sometimes downright shocking antics that have gone on there.

Erik & I looking awfully げんき。

Kevin (& that hat) ...

And Claire and those socks ... I mean mittens!!

And then you have Bobby. Bobby is to Aussie Bar what Jimmy was to Mike's Saloon. You know you can always count on him to be there. I don't think he's let me down yet. :)

PS - I'm 99% sure I did NOT eat that meat pie. Ok, maybe only 79% sure.

much love
-tara-
xx

Chinese New Year ...

So way back in January (seriously, how do I get so far behind with this blogging business?) we got a group of people together to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Why not? I mean we are in Asia ... China is Asian. Some of my friends are Chinese. I have an addiction to Chinese food. Bring it on.

Me & Tina ... She's wonderful & I heart her:

As ignorant as it sounds I'll admit that I know very little about the Chinese New Year. And the things that I do know are only things that I think I know. Like, I think the celebration lasts for a long time. Maybe 15 days? I'm still not quite sure why we were celebrating 'Chinese New Year's Eve' on January 25th, but whatever. :)

I really do know a little about the Chinese astrological calendar, but I mostly learned about it from the random Chinese restaurant that I frequented. You know, the cool place mats with the 12 year cycle of animals that you had to match your birth year to and in doing so you would make personality discoveries and determine future compatibility I'm pretty sure it was at that old Chinese restaurant on highway 75 that we used to go to every Sunday when I was like 8 where I learned that I was a 'dog' and therefore unpretentious, straightforward, honest, practical , generous and yet fair. I also learned that I am most compatible with horses or tigers and should steer clear of the roosters and dragons. I also remember something about being 80% compatible with the monkey. Maybe that was a recent search. Regardless, 80% is a pretty solid number. :)

I've been to Chinese festivals in Kobe, shopped in Chinatown in Sydney, slept in Chinatown (or what we thought was Chinatown) in LA, and I'm actually going to China in May. Maybe it would be worth the effort to learn a little more about the actual traditional Chinese culture as opposed to the Americanized version of Almond Chicken and kanji tattoos. I figured I could pick up a thing or two at this Chinese New Years party. Although, let the truth be told, I was most excited about the food.

Here's what we knew we were in for at almost $60 a plate (and let me tell you, it's nothing you would would find on the dinner menu at Hong Kong in Cedar Falls) ...

Appetizer (way to be vague)
Three types of dim sum (dim sum huh?)
Shark fin soup (is it politically correct to eat shark?)
Steamed fresh Aomori scallops
Stir-fried ginger crabs
Stir-fried seafood in XO sauce (XO? as in the letters X and O, or as in some Chinese word I can't pronounce?)
Prawns in Sichuan sauce
Chinese Zongzi (what the heck is a Zongzi?)
Peach manju
Dessert (I don't think I've ever had dessert at a Chinese restaurant ... I was intrigued)

The appetizer ... I still wasn't exactly sure what it was even after I got to see it.

MOST of it tasted pretty good. :)

Kevin, Ima & TJ ... and the dim sum was in that bamboo looking thing.

I was highly anticipating the shark soup. I was kind of opposed to eating shark until I realized that it was actually really good. :) I later learned that apparently shark is a delicacy that only 'rich people' eat. Good one. We all know how rich I am. HA.

Scallops ...

Crabs ... Lots and lots of crabs.

Shrimp that made my mouth hot ...

Some vegetables in noodle bowls ... Seriously, what was that? Besides good.

The dessert that kind of reminded me of eating milk, sugar & rice, which I love.

See? Nothing like the take out from The Great Wall or King Sea downtown. This stuff was the real deal. The real, expensive deal.

Some of my favorites ... Erik, Kevin, Ima & Taylor: For those who still think I'm the only foreign person in my city ... here's a picture of half of our group. That means at least 20 other foreign people that live in Okayama (and speak English!). I'm not alone.

STOP WORRYING!! :)

And then we had a Chinese lesson compliments of Serene, Yan and Cindy ...

Chinese makes Japanese look like a cake walk. Mandarin, Cantonese, difficult. Xsunsx. That means something in Chinese (probably) and I can't pronounce it to save my life. I better get working though ... I leave for China in less than 2 months!!! やった！！

Our friendly group waiting for the train to take us back to 岡山.

Yes, that's TJ in the middle. :)

much love

-tara-
xx