School Fest

I had a sad realization this morning that actually has nothing to do with this topic. I’m not sure exactly how cold it’s getting at night these days, but it ain’t warm and I left my plant outside last night. I haven’t been doing too well with that guy as of recent, so I really hope I didn’t kill him. Yes, it’s a ‘he.’ Don’t ask me how I know this.

Anyway, this past weekend was KJH’s yearly school festival. It (and all such Japanese school fests, as far as I am aware) is not centered around any sort of sports event, like the U.S.’s homecoming, but is its own event in and of itself. …Was that redundant? I don’t have a clue; my English is in the shitter right now.

Like all such events that involve a public display of crafts, performances, or whatever, the Japanese take this very seriously. After-school clubs have been canceled for the last 3 weeks, and everyone (teachers and students) has been staying after school until at least 6pm preparing for this. So if you were disappointed at my recent lack of updates, now you understand ☺ My personal…erm…”me-centered” contribution was not enormous (I made a big Minnesota-themed display), but I was still there for observation, moral support, and assistance wherever I could.

From my perspective, what this event really was was a sort of “pep show/open house” that went beyond just school spirit to encompass personal efforts and those of each “team” (class). It was really quite amazing, observing the prep and how all of the students, even the shyest and quietest, worked together to make this happen. The classrooms were all turned into museums of sorts, each one displaying a different class’s efforts. Here are a few pictures from the English display, as well as one of the Minnesota display that I made…

This is an example of ichinensei, students who have been studying English for 1 year.


And this is from the 2nd year students, ninensei.



Fear the wrath of mos-cow-to!

And here are a few from the arts and crafts department…





You have taken Pooh's honey. Now he shall take your soul!


Sometimes my students worry me. At least they aren't drawing pictures of my bloody, dismembered corpse (yet).

The real highlight of the festival, though, was the show that all of the classes contributed an act to. This was mostly performed on the gymnasium's stage, which was unfortunately too dark for me to photograph properly - I was too far away for a flash to have any meaning, and I don't yet own one of those nifty uber-cameras that can suck in light all the way from Alpha Centauri. Eh...my camera's also a cell phone, web browser, TV, and an .mp3 player, so I can't complain too loudly ^_^

The ichinensei did a big choreographed dance to a mix of popular songs, and sang/shouted along with parts of it. The ninensei put on a skit which actually seemed pretty deep, but much of it was too complicated for me to understand. The basic theme, though, was how we all put on faces - or "masks," the name of the play - to please our parents, classmates, and the rest of society. It involved a gang of punkish kids making trouble in a coffee shop and encouraging the store employees to rebel against their boss, but then stepping outside and asking each other what the point of their nonconformity was. None of them had an answer; one just shrugged and said, "My friend thought it'd be cool."
It ended kind of creepily, with all of the stars donning these eerie expressionless paper-maché masks and saying something like, "These are better; no one knows what our real faces look like anyway."
The sannensei did a hilarious rendition of Beauty and the Beast that included an epic duel between angry, torch-wielding townspeople and six students costumed as silverware. I had to giggle when one of the forks performed a flying headbutt and nearly emasculated a poor guy with his tongs. The look on that kid's face was fucking priceless. I do hope he wasn't actually hurt...

The closing ceremony was lots of laughs, too. The final event was an arm-wrestling contest up on the stage, in front of the whole school. Each class sent forth a few delegates, and teams were formed. Of course, this wouldn't be complete without teacher participation, too...you can see where this is going. They did ask me in advance before inviting me up on stage, and then I faced off against the P.E./Health Education teacher. We put on a damn fine show for them, if I do say so myself. I dove and rolled across the stage to my space at the podium, and he walked on his hands. We then faced off and bowed, pretending to each draw samurai swords at our sides. And let me tell you...what followed was a clash of titans, a battle that will be remembered in epic song for ages to come. I (barely) won, and seriously question whether I would have if he hadn't walked across the stage on his hands right before. That man is freaking strong, especially considering that I probably have about 20cm and at least 10kg on him.

The inevitable drinking party for the teachers followed that evening, and when they asked me to speak I made sure to end by offering the P.E. teacher a rematch, whenever he was ready. I brought him a bag of buffalo jerky the next day and told him it would give him great power. If I survive the rematch, I'll be sure to tell you how it goes.