I can usually extrapolate one or two somewhat amusing work stories every day, typically involving a conversation with my students or a bit of Japanese culture I learned about. Last Friday, however, provided such an abundance of good experiences and happy news that I felt it necessitated an entire entry all its own. It was, in short, one of the best days ever and it all started about half an hour earlier than usual.
I had seen a group of students running around the school last week with a few of the teachers. I asked our school nurse what they were running for and if they would be doing it again next Friday. She told me it was practice for an upcoming marathon and that the students started their run around 7:55. My work day usually doesn’t start until 8:15, but I said I’d come in early next time to join them. It was difficult motivating myself to wake up so early, but I managed it and got to school around 7:45. Running with kids is tough, as I’m sure any parent with an active child would testify. They seem to have a boundless amount of energy that I simply can’t match. It’s that same energy that motivates me to join them though, as they always seem excited even when they are working so hard. It seemed like my joining in had come at a fortuitous time, too, as none of the teachers who had been running the previous week were participating. I would soon find out why.
I was aware that I wouldn’t be having any classes that day, but I still didn’t know why. Part way through second period, I was asked by our secretary if I would be going to the gym. She still didn’t explain what was going on, but said that it would be fun. Only when I got to the event did I slowly begin to realize what was going on. As it happened, it was Grandparent’s Day at my school. The gym had been prepared with a number of long tables and the students sat waiting for their families to arrive. I was offered a seat near the heater by our vice principal, sat, and waited for the event to start.
The day began with a number of musical performances. The kids danced to traditional music, their parents following with a strange dance I had never seen before. Then the first graders played melodicas while some adults joined in with koto. I believe their first song was “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Everyone also danced to the intro theme for Sazaesan, a pretty popular anime for kids.
Next, the kids all separated into groups to participate in various activities spread throughout the gym as well as outside. I thought it best to follow one group through all the events to get some pictures of everything and get the chance to try all the events myself. I chose to start with the first group at the origami station, as it was something I was already familiar with and thought I could do well. The guy teaching the kids was hilarious and knew a bit of English too. He was really excited about teaching us, jumping up to help anyone who needed it. He showed us how to make a fish and a turtle, both of which turned out pretty well. All my teachers were commenting on my origami skills, which gave me a good confidence boost right off the bat. I tried to explain that I had been interested in origami for a long time and thought it was really fun.
The next activity for my group was juggling, which I have never really gotten good at. We only got about ten or fifteen minutes per activity, so I certainly wasn’t going to make any great strides in improvement, but I felt like I was doing a bit better by the end of our time. The teachers at that event didn’t speak any English, but I understood a bit of what they said and they were very good at showing me what I had to do. They also asked me if I felt Amakusa-ben was difficult to understand. I said that it was. At one point, the sixth grade teacher took three of the beanbags we used for juggling and showed off his awesome skills to the delight of the kids. It was pretty cool to watch.
The third and fourth stations didn’t have much in the way of help from instructors, but were pretty straightforward games. The first was a ring-toss game. I took a few pictures of the kids before one of my first graders ran up and gave me a few rings to play with. Again, this is not something I feel like I’m very good at, but I managed about four successful tosses at the closer goals. This was one of the most entertaining events to watch, as my kids tried all manner of tricks to try and get their rings to land on the pegs. They tried throwing three at a time, looping two together, jumping, pitching, and so much more. Every time I would throw my rings, one of the kids would run out and retrieve theirs and mine, handing them back to me. It was really sweet.
The fourth station was kendama, a traditional Japanese toy that’s similar to the ball-in-a-cup from back home. The goal of the game is to get the ball into both sides of the toy and return it to the top point. I was able to do both sides of mine, but cannot figure out how anyone can get the thing back onto that spike. For this event, my first grade teacher joined in and showed the youngest kids how to play. She was pretty good and while she talked about getting the ball onto the point, she wasn’t able to do it herself.
Last were the outdoor activities. There were wooden propellers, stilts, and a paddleball game. I tried my hand at all three, finding the best success with the propellers. I took some video of my kids trying their hand at paddle ball, which I felt was probably the most difficult of the three. My kids were all really good at the stilts, which are a common sight on school playgrounds. I had tried to learn how to use them last year, but was out of practice and had to struggle just to stay upright, let alone walk. There was a dog outside too. He was really friendly and we all took turns petting him with the exception of Moka, who said it was too big and scary.
Following the activities, everyone reconvened in the gym. The grandparents got massages from the kids, some of which were amusing to watch, such as Kanako pretty much hanging on to one person’s neck while kneeing him in the back. All the guests were served lunch and ate with the kids. I sat with a few of the parents in the back, who talked to me a bit in Japanese, wanting to know some pretty standard information like where I came from and how old I was. While I’m usually nervous around parents, they were really good about using simple Japanese and trying other ways of saying the same thing when I didn’t understand. I helped clean up after lunch and then it was off to the junior high.
There was another bit of good news waiting for me on Facebook. My alma mater A&M had beaten their rivals TU at their annual Thanksgiving showdown. Now I don’t usually get excited about sports, but Aggie football is my one exception. I was ecstatic to discover that this win not only gave us a 9-3 record for the year, but placed us in the running to tie for first place in our conference (which we did by the way).
The final bit of awesomeness in my day wouldn’t come until much later, when I went to get Amanda at the port in Kuratake. I noticed walking up that the new waiting area, which had been under construction for a few months, was finally open. This, however, was not the good news. As I peered inside to see if there were any free seats opened, I spotted Miyako, who shouted and waved at me. It would seem she and her family had taken advantage of the school’s replacement holiday for bunkasai and had gone shopping in Hondo. As I came in to greet her, I think I heard her mother say something about us being good friends. It was the first time I had been called that and it made me really happy. I talked to Miyako for a little while, trying to speak with her older sister as well.
One of my regrets from the Goshoura Kita bunkasai was not having any battery left in my camera once I stated playing with the kids, so I excused myself to quickly retrieve my phone from the car and asked Miyako if it would be alright to take a picture. She smiled and posed and now I’ve got something more than my shoddy memory to remember her by. She also took quick interest in the purikura album on my phone, so I showed her a few pictures of me, Amanda, and our friends. She really seemed to enjoy it and, although brief, it was another really heartwarming experience.
Looking back, an awful lot of completely unrelated things had to line up on this day to make it as great as it was. My school would have to have picked Friday for their Grandparents Day as it’s the only day I go there. Meanwhile, 7000 miles away, it would have to be Thanksgiving, the day the A&M/TU game is always played. The results of that game reached me Friday afternoon only because I live so far away. It also had to be Goshoura Kita’s replacement holiday for bunkasai or I wouldn’t have seen Miyako, whose family was the only one at the port by the way. It’s certainly a day I won’t soon forget.
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