Sports Day means I`m sunburned
Wow, what a crazy weekend. It started on Friday with Culture Day at Asuwa. This is the day that the kids all do presentations and whatnot. It`s kinda like a talent show on coke, acid and a hangover. It`s surreal at times.
The first weird/awesome thing was a photo. Seems kinda lame to write, but this is a GIANT photo of the school. It`s seriously big enough to wrap around a SUV...maybe twice! And...this is where it`s cool...the kids had Rasterbated (not sure if that`s the right spelling, but it`s all pointalism style) it by HAND! Yeah, this giant photo of the school was hand done with markers. I need to take a photo to show you the size/scale of this thing. It`s amazing.
Second, came during the performance. At a practice on Tuesday, I had been asked by Mr. Miyamoto to conduct the band for a song. I said I couldn`t conduct and that I was heading home (seeing as how it was almost 6p). He said OK and that was that. Then, on Friday, a little girl came up to me during the first part of the ceremony and asked me to come with her. I followed (mainly cause she grabbed my hand and dragged me....) and she led to me the parking lot where the band was practicing one last time. She handed me the conductor`s baton and the band, all girls and in unison, shouted "Mashuu! Onegaishimasu!" (Basically, "Matthew, please?") So, I asked for the timing and led them for the song. Satisifed, the girl who got me (President of the band club) led me back to my seat and walked off. I was confused, but figured what the hell? Later, the band came in to perform and I was called up. Mr. Miyamoto handed me his baton and bowed. I bowed back and then the whole student body shouted "Mashuu! Onegaishimasu!" That was surreal. I got on the chair and led the band in the same song they practiced with me. Afterwards, I tried to step off of the chair and it folded on me. I then face planted in front of everyone. I got laughs and applause after I got up. No damage, just wounded dignity.
Later came the acid trip that was homeroom performances. One took the cake for wackiness. It started with judo fighters sparing, then went to a boy choosing a "Life Card," then, a boy came home to a friend...they hugged....then kissed (JHS boys actually KISSING!!!!!!!!!) and walked off hand-in-hand to the Titanic love theme. This was followed by a boy in drag and another boy getting married (different couple from the gay one previous). They kissed (!!!!) and then the whole group danced (choreographed...spelling = ?) to a Morning Musume song. I looked at Mr. Fujishita, one of my JTEs (Japanese Teacher of English) and friends (we are drinking buddies on Saturdays), and asked "What the hell just happened?!" He replied, "I have no idea. I was hoping you could tell me. Even though I understood what they said, it still makes no sense to me." We were both very puzzled. The rest of the performances were on par...and all included a dance number to a JPop song. I heard Def-Tek, Morning Musume (twice total), Utata and a few anime themes. The best part, or most enjoyable, was the teachers karaoke. The "hot" teachers of both genders sang songs. The guys sang some JPop love song...and Mr. Nose has a great voice. I was dying of laughter watching him croon! The girls sang the theme to Cutie Honey, complete with the hand gesture for "Honey Flash!" It was priceless.
Saturday was Sports Day. It was hotter than hell (around 34 degrees C and high humidity because it rained all week). The kids were sitting out in the sun from 8a to 445p, and running all over the place. They did massive relays with each colour (Red [my team], Blue and Yellow) fielding 2 teams of around 20 kids each. These were fun to watch and my voice is hoarse from yelling "Ganbare! Ike!" to the kids as they ran by us. There were some dangerous games. One had girls grabbing tires. After most were pulled off the stack, the teams went after the other teams` tires. I watched one Yellow girl be dragged on her knees by two Blue players. When she finally let go, her knees were a bloody mess. They were violent little buggers! Another game had two teams protecting a pole. The pole is about 12 ft. tall and has a flag on top. Some kids hold the pole itself, others hold ropes attached to the top of the pole. These kids want to keep the pole upright. The offense runs at these kids and tries to climb the pole or knock it down. So, you can imagine seeing a young kid, 10 ft. in the air on a pole, and the defense is shaking pole, trying to make him fall. This, I was told, is completely safe. The pitch the kids were on is hard rock with little gravel. I mean...this was insanity. But, only one kid was seriously injured (he had the pole fall on his neck). The game went on, and he was removed afterward by teachers. The kids kept cheering, even as their friend was carried inside on a strecher. These kids are hardcore! It came down to the final relay, and Red won the girls side, came in second on the boys. It was enough to beat Yellow by 15 points. Blue got trounced, but it was still close for the other two. My kids started crying and cheering. A scorekeeper girl who had been sitting with me at the score table started jumping up and down shouting "Aka wa ichiban! Banzai!" and she pulled me up to join her. It was fun...and kinda comical. It was a very fun day. Though, I got sunburned in the 10 minutes I spent out of the shade. Yay for fair skin.
Sunday was kinda a wash. I got to talk to many people on AIM and my parents and grandmother called me. That rocked, but the rain kept me indoors. I went out after it stopped for a bike ride only to get caught far from home by sleet. That sucked. I`m still kinda cold from that ride back. Still, a great weekend overall!
This weekend is my welcome party for Asuwa. That`s gonna be a blast. I can`t wait to hang out with all my teachers in a hotel with free drinks and food. The weekend after I finally get to see Chris again. I`m going down to Kagawa-ken to hang with him, Allison and a few of their JET friends. It sounds like a killer weekend already...I can`t wait!
Well, keep in touch all. Hope your weekends are as fun as mine.
MA out.
The first weird/awesome thing was a photo. Seems kinda lame to write, but this is a GIANT photo of the school. It`s seriously big enough to wrap around a SUV...maybe twice! And...this is where it`s cool...the kids had Rasterbated (not sure if that`s the right spelling, but it`s all pointalism style) it by HAND! Yeah, this giant photo of the school was hand done with markers. I need to take a photo to show you the size/scale of this thing. It`s amazing.
Second, came during the performance. At a practice on Tuesday, I had been asked by Mr. Miyamoto to conduct the band for a song. I said I couldn`t conduct and that I was heading home (seeing as how it was almost 6p). He said OK and that was that. Then, on Friday, a little girl came up to me during the first part of the ceremony and asked me to come with her. I followed (mainly cause she grabbed my hand and dragged me....) and she led to me the parking lot where the band was practicing one last time. She handed me the conductor`s baton and the band, all girls and in unison, shouted "Mashuu! Onegaishimasu!" (Basically, "Matthew, please?") So, I asked for the timing and led them for the song. Satisifed, the girl who got me (President of the band club) led me back to my seat and walked off. I was confused, but figured what the hell? Later, the band came in to perform and I was called up. Mr. Miyamoto handed me his baton and bowed. I bowed back and then the whole student body shouted "Mashuu! Onegaishimasu!" That was surreal. I got on the chair and led the band in the same song they practiced with me. Afterwards, I tried to step off of the chair and it folded on me. I then face planted in front of everyone. I got laughs and applause after I got up. No damage, just wounded dignity.
Later came the acid trip that was homeroom performances. One took the cake for wackiness. It started with judo fighters sparing, then went to a boy choosing a "Life Card," then, a boy came home to a friend...they hugged....then kissed (JHS boys actually KISSING!!!!!!!!!) and walked off hand-in-hand to the Titanic love theme. This was followed by a boy in drag and another boy getting married (different couple from the gay one previous). They kissed (!!!!) and then the whole group danced (choreographed...spelling = ?) to a Morning Musume song. I looked at Mr. Fujishita, one of my JTEs (Japanese Teacher of English) and friends (we are drinking buddies on Saturdays), and asked "What the hell just happened?!" He replied, "I have no idea. I was hoping you could tell me. Even though I understood what they said, it still makes no sense to me." We were both very puzzled. The rest of the performances were on par...and all included a dance number to a JPop song. I heard Def-Tek, Morning Musume (twice total), Utata and a few anime themes. The best part, or most enjoyable, was the teachers karaoke. The "hot" teachers of both genders sang songs. The guys sang some JPop love song...and Mr. Nose has a great voice. I was dying of laughter watching him croon! The girls sang the theme to Cutie Honey, complete with the hand gesture for "Honey Flash!" It was priceless.
Saturday was Sports Day. It was hotter than hell (around 34 degrees C and high humidity because it rained all week). The kids were sitting out in the sun from 8a to 445p, and running all over the place. They did massive relays with each colour (Red [my team], Blue and Yellow) fielding 2 teams of around 20 kids each. These were fun to watch and my voice is hoarse from yelling "Ganbare! Ike!" to the kids as they ran by us. There were some dangerous games. One had girls grabbing tires. After most were pulled off the stack, the teams went after the other teams` tires. I watched one Yellow girl be dragged on her knees by two Blue players. When she finally let go, her knees were a bloody mess. They were violent little buggers! Another game had two teams protecting a pole. The pole is about 12 ft. tall and has a flag on top. Some kids hold the pole itself, others hold ropes attached to the top of the pole. These kids want to keep the pole upright. The offense runs at these kids and tries to climb the pole or knock it down. So, you can imagine seeing a young kid, 10 ft. in the air on a pole, and the defense is shaking pole, trying to make him fall. This, I was told, is completely safe. The pitch the kids were on is hard rock with little gravel. I mean...this was insanity. But, only one kid was seriously injured (he had the pole fall on his neck). The game went on, and he was removed afterward by teachers. The kids kept cheering, even as their friend was carried inside on a strecher. These kids are hardcore! It came down to the final relay, and Red won the girls side, came in second on the boys. It was enough to beat Yellow by 15 points. Blue got trounced, but it was still close for the other two. My kids started crying and cheering. A scorekeeper girl who had been sitting with me at the score table started jumping up and down shouting "Aka wa ichiban! Banzai!" and she pulled me up to join her. It was fun...and kinda comical. It was a very fun day. Though, I got sunburned in the 10 minutes I spent out of the shade. Yay for fair skin.
Sunday was kinda a wash. I got to talk to many people on AIM and my parents and grandmother called me. That rocked, but the rain kept me indoors. I went out after it stopped for a bike ride only to get caught far from home by sleet. That sucked. I`m still kinda cold from that ride back. Still, a great weekend overall!
This weekend is my welcome party for Asuwa. That`s gonna be a blast. I can`t wait to hang out with all my teachers in a hotel with free drinks and food. The weekend after I finally get to see Chris again. I`m going down to Kagawa-ken to hang with him, Allison and a few of their JET friends. It sounds like a killer weekend already...I can`t wait!
Well, keep in touch all. Hope your weekends are as fun as mine.
MA out.