Pomp and Circumstance

Graduation occured on Saturday, March 3rd at Gotsu High School. Graduation is very solemn and formal here. No "Whoop!"s from the crowd, no cheering at all actually. A lot of crying and golf claps.

As I've witnessed in many other ceremonial events in Japan, there's a whole lot of standing, bowing, sitting, standing, sitting, standing and bowing. It's like a Catholic Mass without the free crackers.

There was a large Japanese flag draped behind the podium on stage, and every time someone came onto the stage they looked up at the flag and bowed to it. They also did this when exiting the stage. This simple gesture was incredibly significant to me. There was nothing casual about it. Each presenter was very deliberate; they looked up at their country's flag, paused in brief reverence, and bowed deeply.

I kept thinking about the terrible rendition of the star spangled banner three of us performed at my graduation, how no one really sang along, and in a gymnasium full of people, only a few put their hands on their hearts. Whether nationalism and patriotism can exist without the other, and whether or not the contrast between our confused patriotism when I graduated and what I witnessed on Saturday is significant, I'm too tired to speculate about it. The mood was very striking is all I'm trying to say.

There were four classes of seniors that graduated this year (3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4), and rather than each student receiving their "diploma" during the big ceremony, the entire class took a roll call, then one student from the class collected the diplomas from the principal on stage and brought them ceremoniously to a table in the back of the room. It was after graduation that the students returned to their homeroom and had their own class ceremony in which each student received their "diploma", made a speech sobbing and then received an encouraging and nostalgic speech from their homeroom, PE, and (in the 3-4 class' case) a few English teachers. Yes, I made a short speech. I was blubbering because EVERYONE was, and that kind of choking is contagious. I don't think anyone could understand what I said through my soggy hiccups. But I think they mildly got that I think they are a great class and I'm really going to miss them.

The majority of these kids want to do something internationally, and their optimism and fresh outlook is inspiring. There are a few students whose parents don't want them to go to University, and they will fall into the family profession and probably remain in Shimane for the rest of their lives. One student, Yuu, dreams of becoming a theme park dancer and moving to America to dance at Disney world; Yurie is already an accomplished ballerina and was accepted into a ballet university; Saya wants to promote civil rights globally; Risa wants to be a fashion designer; Ayaka wants to work in some kind of Peace Corps-ish program and will study several languages at university including French, English and Arabic; and Hideki wants to play baseball forever and never speak another word of English if he can help it. I will be crossing my fingers for them, and hoping really hard. It's times like these that I wish I believed enough in prayer.
This group is fairly fearless, energetic and has a killer sense of humor. Though graduation crept up out of nowhere, and I haven't spent as much time as I would've liked with them, I feel closer to the 3-4 class than any other class at GHS. It was hard to see them go.

It's so funny how much of a focus they were in my life and how little I mattered in theirs. So that's teaching. Put a lot of effort and emotional investment in classes and students only to be reminded over and over again that you are but a phantom to them. Someday later on they may be at dinner with a mix of friends from high school and Saya will say, "Hey remember Ashuri sensei? Remember that time when she fell down and accidentally hit Ai in the face?" They will giggle briefly and then forget I ever came up, just as my friends and I do occasionally about those obscure teachers we had for a short time in high school. Maybe I should increase my goofy antics, really put it over the top. I could lie and say that I don't care whether or not they remember me, as long as they remember how to conjugate an english verb, but it would be awfully nice if they recall me as fondly as I will them in the days to come.

Aw well. Seek immortality some other way, I suppose.

In other news, the weather here has been stunning. The wind among other things kept me awake last night, and the jacket I thought I had securely fastened to rope on my balcony has completely disappeared. It is warm, sunny, trees and wild flowers are already in blossom, and the air screams with possibility.
These are some photos I took while driving to Lena's last Friday:


And yesterday I took a nice, long walk along the river or tributary near my apartment with Elizabeth, another JET in Gotsu. We looked for the hopping of flying fish but only saw a couple ducks and scampering of obachans in their gardens: