Graduation

[chiboro]

So, graduation was last Thursday. I had been looking forward to it for a while, both with excitement and trepidation. I was looking forward to seeing a few of my favorite students again, but I knew it would be very sad. It wound up being a bit different from my expectations, and was a very interesting experience overall...and a bit of an eye-

Comments

[luna_lena]

It'll probably be easier for you next year, actually, because you'll be better prepared for what will happen and hopefully not get swept up in all the emotion. Don't know about Japan, but in Korea being so overcome by emotion that you can't keep your composure, especially in front of crowds, is simply a way of expressing your gratitude, so try not to take it too seriously. :)

I kind of wondered if that whole "sempai/kouhai" stuff I noticed in anime was similar to what we call "sunbae/habae" in Korea... I guess in theory it's the same, but not in practice, heh. They usually translate it in manga as "upperclassmen/lowerclassmen", though, so if anyone asks you again maybe you can explain it that way.

[theye]

Using upperclassman/lowerclassman is the best thing I could come up with also, but the concept just isn't there. There's not really any implicit respect between the two.

It's even harder for the workplace. There's boss, but that sometimes won't be accurate at all.

Ah, language...

[chiboro]

Yeah...there are plenty of different words you can use to directly translate those terms, but there's nothing that carries the same deeply-rooted cultural meaning.

[luna_lena]

Perhaps mentor would be a better term, then? It's kind of the principle behind it, I think.

[mulchatna]

Wow, Chibs. I think that it's really great that this is a meaningful, sad but sweet experience. The kind of thing that'll always stay with you, in one way or another. And heh, go get that cutie! :)

[anonymous]

Gotsu High School had their graduation last weekend. What a perfect way to highlight how strongly I feel toward those students and how little they think of me. We are but phantoms.
Like you, there were the scattering of students that came to say goodbye personally, and it is those few that make a year in Japan worth it, eh? No matter how cliche that sounds, it really does.
O man, I think I may skip next year's graduation ceremony and rock alone in some corner. Care to join me?