Shikaki Festa

Shikaki is the school I visit on Fridays and the only one that doesn’t feed into Ariake Junior High, the students going on to Hondo Higashi instead. It’s apparently had an English program longer than most elementary schools (8 years) and has what I consider the most approachable and relaxed atmosphere of any of my schools. This is due in large part to the staff, who are always willing to include me in school events as an equal.

Many times I’ve received a written invitation from Shikaki’s vice-principal to come to a culture festival or other occasion when most schools neglect to tell me anything that the students are doing outside of class. Unfortunately, it always seems like something else comes up and I’m unable to go. Last Sunday was no different. I was invited to Shikaki Festa, which is basically the elementary equivalent to a culture and sports day. What’s more, I was asked if I would be willing to sing with the teachers during their segment of the festa. Unfortunately, Shikaki Festa fell on the same day as a walk in Hon-machi that I had signed up for a few weeks ago. I had to make a choice and, given that I won’t get many more opportunities like this again, decided to go to the Shikaki event.

The morning consisted of four plays as well as a few other performances. My first graders’ play involved an adventure with a whale that I believe was a cloud. It was adorable and, given that it was first graders, I could understand most of what happened. The second and third graders’ skit involved three mice arriving on Cat Island, disguising themselves, and having fun with the cats. When they reveal who they really are at the end of the play, the cats decide not to eat them, even though it was established that mice are their favorite food, because they had shown the cats so many fun dances and songs.

The fourth and fifth graders had a play that I didn’t really understand. At one point, they jump rope and are asked English questions. Later, I believe they are on a hiking trip and one of the kids goes missing. Then there is an interrogation scene but again this is mostly conjecture from me. The sixth graders didn’t so much do a play as they talked about what they will miss about the school and what they wanted to do when they grew up. I think some of my students picked their second career choice, as I’m pretty sure there were a lot more of them who wanted to be pastry chefs and novelists. As it was, we only had one repeat profession: hair stylist.

Between the plays, there was a performance by my two students with special needs and the teachers’ chorus. We sang “Arigatou” by Ikimonogakari. I only had a few weeks to learn the song and so only got about four or five practice runs in before we had to perform. All things considered, I think I did alright, but it made me really nervous. I suppose I got a better idea of how some of the more reserved kids must feel during these presentations.

After lunch (which was surprisingly provided by the school) I walked around the playground and watched as the students played with their parents. Once recess was over, everyone went back to the gym. We were supposed to have a game of dodgeball inside and golf outside, but it had started raining, so we did dodgeball and basketball instead. The dodgeball game seemed like a family thing, so I sat out of it and talked with a few of my former students and their friend who had shown up to watch their siblings play. I found out that one of my girls from last year and one of my current sixth graders are sisters and that their mother is the person I occasionally talk with at Jusco.

The basketball competition seemed a little more open, so my former students and I joined in. The rules for the basketball challenge were pretty simple. You had two attempts to make a basket. If you got it, you moved on to the next round where you only got one chance to make a shot. It continued with one-shot chances until only one person was left. They let the younger kids shoot closer than the older ones, who shot from the free throw line. I was eliminated pretty quickly, but all of the visiting girls moved on to the last few rounds. In the end, one of my first graders ended up winning and was invited to the stage to make a short speech. It was adorable.

Before I went home, I talked a bit with Marin, the girl who had come with my former students. We had all taken a picture together and I felt like I should at least find out a little it about her before I left. She had gone to Shikiaki too but graduated the year before I arrived. Of all the girls, she seemed the most willing to talk with me, though not always in English. It was probably easier for her as she is almost finished with her second year at junior high. I found out she played volleyball, so maybe I’ll see her at the next game I go to.

Shikaki Festa was a lot of fun. It’s a shame I won’t be able to go again though and I feel like I’m becoming more and more aware of those kinds of feelings as time goes on. All the same, I plan to make the most out of my remaining time here, so I imagine there will be more stories to post here fairly soon.