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July 22, 2002 - Last Sayonara Hurrah
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| The last two weeks have been tiring and rewarding. We wrapped up teaching at the schools we started in Japan at and said goodbye to a lot of people. | ||
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It is hard in a way to say good bye. The people at are schools have been very helpful to us and we have been with them for three years. Over that time we have become close with a lot of teachers and students. |
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In Japan, as with most things, saying farewell is a fairly regimented thing. On the last day of school there was a ceremony and part of it was a "retiring" ceremony for us. The principal introduced us and thanked us for all that we had done at our schools. Then we gave a short speech in English and in Japanese. After that the president of the Student Council came to the front and said a few words of thanks. Then another student from the Student's Council gave flowers. Since we went through the routine at four different schools we could have almost started a flower store by the end of the week. Then it was time to leave the gym. Even though there was still a half an hour of business left the retiring teacher is supposed to walk out in front of the students while they send us off clapping. At Sarah's school they broke with the strict regimentation and the brass band played the Star Spangled Banner just for her. I didn't see it but apparently Sarah got quite into it and sang the lyrics as loud as she could. I would agree that saying farewell is an occassion that brings out a lot of emotions. |
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Many students wrote us thank yous and made their appreciation known to us. If you click here you can see a card that my students and their teacher wrote to me. If you can read Japanese that will help. |
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At the end of a day of saying goodbye and thanking everyone there remained one more test. The farewell party. Usually farewell parties are known as a chance to get your departing colleague as drunk as you can. I have seen quite a few departees pass out before the night is over. But our parties were a lot of fun and no one forced us to drink more than we were comfortable with. Sarah and I had separate parties at first, but there is always more than one party and our schools arranged to have the second party together at the same place. It was a fun night and a good chance to thank those who have been so kind in welcoming us and helping us over our three years here. |
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We have also kept busy with seeing people at nights. The other night we were treated to a delicious dinner at our friend Miharu's house. Miharu has been Sarah's student for over two years and she is a real sweet heart. We had a great time hanging out with her family. |
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