Gladuation day

March marks the end of the school year here in Japan so I had to say some goodbyes. I didn't realize how many goodbyes I would end up saying though. Most of the 6th graders I teach will be moving on to the junior high school I also work at, but at two of my schools, I had to say farewell to them.

Then at my junior high, all the 3rd year students graduated. They have been stressed out with entrance exams and some of them had to take the exams multiple times. They all have to take the exams and then choose a high school to go to. They also have an interview to go through with for their prospective high schools. It all sounds pretty nerve wracking. I saw some students crying and being consoled by teachers throughout the month.


The graduation ceremony was another new experience. I went to the rehearsal so I had a little bit of an idea of what it would be like, but I didn't expect to see so much crying! The ceremony was very militaristic and stoic, but also solemn and emotional. Not the party ours are like at home. All the students are involved and they practice standing up and sitting down and bowing in unison, like soldiers. They also had some speeches from the principal and PTA. They also sang the national anthem, the school song, and a couple of other songs that were sad and about saying goodbye and friendships and such.



Some of the girls graduating were already crying and sniffing, but when students made their speeches, everyone was crying. Four students spoke, each representing their homeroom class. One girl was already crying before starting her speech, but the boys also cried during their speeches. When they talked about how special the school and teachers are here and thanked their families for their support, it got to everyone. Even our stoic principal was crying. I looked around the room and noticed the male teachers and students had started crying too. The speeches were very heartfelt, not a written valedictorian speech like back home. One girl talked about how her mom wished her a good day every morning and when she got home from school, there was always a warm meal waiting for her. Aww!



Some of the students move far away from home for high school so they may be away from their families for the first time next year. For kids here too, school is their life. They are here for hours after school doing sports or club activities and on weekends and during spring break as well. They become very close to their teachers and the staff here. So it makes sense why graduation is so emotional for them where as it’s a celebration back home.



The school staff also has to deal with transition. Before every school year begins, they are told by the Board of Education whether they will stay at their school another year or be transferred somewhere else. Usually 3 years is the max they stay at one school, sometimes a little more than that. They don’t know where they will be transferred or what grade or subject they’ll be teaching until a week or two before the new school year starts. Some have to move their whole family or move to one of the smaller islands here in Nagasaki.

Needless to say, the last couple weeks of school have been tense. My main school had 8 teachers leaving which is a lot for one school. The staff here is very much like a family so it is really sad to see them leave. It’s definitely going to be a different vibe here, especially since our fun, kooky vice principal is leaving too.


We had a big enkai party which was fun and nice to say goodbye to people, but some people were a mess! Definitely drinking more than previous parties and lots of crying. It was rough, but nothing that some karaoke and more drinking couldn’t solve.
(The man in the photo is a real sweetheart and requested a duet with me, Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love". Awww!)

So. a lot is going down and classes start next week… wish me luck!