On friday, I headed off to Yokkaichi city for the first day of my high school's culture festival. I got lost on the way to Yokkaichi Civic Centre so I ended up being a little late. Fortunately, I met 2 of my students, who were also late. They recognized me and said let's go together! So we finally found the place. The first day of the cultural festivities was more like a big talent show - showcasing the talents of my exceptionally bright and "genki" students. The programme included:
1. Presentations by the Film Club about school life at Kuwana SHS
2. A Fashion Show (strange... O__o" the boys were dressed in kimonos and there were teachers dressed up in Doraemon suits... funny! LOL)
3. Musical Wine Glasses ("sugoi!" ichi-nensei (1st years) played "A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes" with just glasses filled with water and their wet fingers accompanied by piano)
4. "Soran Bushi" Dance (This is the most awesome song and dance ever! If you've never seen it, I'd recommend searching on youtube for this and watching it. You will see a really great traditional Japanese dance practiced by many high school students across Japan. Plus, it pumps you up!)
5. Brass Band Concert (Again, my students are amazing. I can hear them practicing everyday after school. And it pays off in the end. They played the theme song to Harry Potter and 2 other songs.)
Friday night, Funing, my university friend who lives in Sakai city came to visit me for my birthday weekend. I will be visiting him next weekend.
Saturday was my birthday as well as the second day of the cultural festival. My friends and I headed out early in the morning to my high school. The second day was really like a HUGE open house for my school. It's open to the public and many junior high school students and families in the area join in the festivities. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad. It was raining for most of the day and my students who were cooking and hosting games under tents had a hard time selling their food and getting ppl to participate in the activities. During the pockets of time when the rain let out, we tried some of the food and games prepared by my students. I was a little worried about trying my students' cooking, but I didn't need to worry at all! The food was delicious! My san-nensei (3rd year) classes cooked many things such as: okonomiyaki, mexican tacos, curry rice, sweet shaved ice, japanese mochi, chinese dumplings, etc. Each class had on their own "class shirt" which was very cute ^__^ There were also different rooms set up in the school for class plays and games. Different clubs such as "doujinshi" (fan art) club and "chado" (tea ceremony) club had rooms set up where ppl could come in and experience a part of Japanese culture. It was nice to see the ppl at tea ceremony club again. They did a good job in creating a place to relax and enjoy tea and sweets admist the noisy festivities outside. I took many pictures with my students that day. I think the most memorable thing about the festival was when my 3-1 class presented us with free handmade okonomiyaki (one of my faves! ^__^) and sang "Happy Birthday" to me! They remembered! That was so sweet of them. So I truly enjoyed Kuwana koko's "bunkasai" (cultural festival). What a great day!
At night, my friends and I went to Nagoya city for my birthday dinner. We ate at Outback Steakhouse, which is strange because when you go in, you see a whole bunch of foreigners. LOL For awhile, you don't feel like you're in Japan anymore. That's what happens when you live in a small town and the people you see everyday are Japanese, Japanese, some Brazilians, and more Japanese. It's strange to see people of other nationalities. And because I'm like a ninja foreigner (JET of East Asian descent) in my city, I don't attract too much attention. I had ribs... mmm... ^__^ not as good as my mom makes though LOL.
Sunday morning, Funing and I went to my home church (while in Japan) for the first English service ever! It was exciting! Oyamada Christ Church finally has an English Worship service! They have worship services in Japanese and Portuguese already, but they never got an English one started. But when I came, they were like, let's start! "We feel that God has brought you here to give us a push to start this up". I am currently the Praise and Worship leader for this service. I was a bit nervous, but everyone said that they didn't notice. I truly enjoyed the Worship, being in the presence of God and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, even though all of our first languages are different. Oyamada church has members from Japan, Germany, Korea, Brazil, Italy and now Canada! The English meeting is held every 3rd Sunday. There were more people than we expected at the first meeting. Praise the Lord!
Monday was a public holiday (Respect for the Aged Day) so no school. I decided to show Funing around my small city because he said he wanted to see some nature. Apparently, in his big city, there aren't many chances to see the beautiful nature of Japan. Mie-ken has many natural landmarks and I would like to visit as many as I can before I leave Japan. We wanted to go to Rokka-en, which is a beautiful mansion donated to the city by a wealthy merchant after he died. The mansion is interesting because one side is traditional Japanese-style architecture, while the other side is western-style architecture. But the most beautiful part is the spacious garden and pond/waterfall at the back of the mansion. I've been there before and I wanted to show Funing, but it was closed (probably b/c it's a public holiday... ^__^") So instead, we went to the riverside (Ibi River) in my city and Kyuka Park. We saw many children by the river fishing with their grandparents. It was very peaceful just watching the water and people catching fish. Then Funing had to leave. I was grateful to have a friend from back home in Toronto visit me during my birthday. I bid him farewell, but then I also said "Ja ne! See you next weekend when I visit you in Osaka!" ^__^
2 comments:
the doraemon teacher looks a bit creepy lol. It looks like a lot of fun though...close up of the okonomiyaki please!
That looks fun XD! Whoo for English church service. My university is actually a missionary founded school so we have chapel hour everyday and many professors are also missionaries! :O I'm planning on going to a chapel service sometime. X3
Ah I want to see Mie-ken sometime! XD We should meet up sometime~ :D
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