Fri. Sept. 5 – “This is too strenuous” – Sports festival and all-night karaoke

When I was a kid, I remember we had a big bookcase full of encyclopedias and educational children’s books. In one of those books, I was introduced to the Japanese custom of holding sports festivals at school. I don’t quite remember the story, but it was something along the lines of a kid finishing a race after he fell down. I remember the colour illustrations showed a Japanese boy wearing a bright headband.
On Friday, my school held its own sports festival. It kicked off with opening ceremonies, where the students filed into the gym as per usual. This time, they were wearing their school gym uniforms, which include navy blue basketball shorts paired with a navy blue or white t-shirt emblazoned with the school logo. Once again, I had no idea what was going on. It was one of my third-years who motioned me to join the teachers seated on stage, ha.
Each student ties a coloured band around their head, corresponding to their homeroom. It seems like they all compete in at least one sport that day. So, I was able to watch them try their hands at: basketball, volleyball, baseball and soccer!
Sitting on the sidelines, the kids fully cheer on their fellow classmates. They yell things, such as: “Ganbarre!” (Let’s go!) One student was perched on chair, and was enthusiastically cheering on the girls during their volleyball game. He looked over at me, and sighed, “This is too strenuous!!” First of all, where did he learn the word “strenuous”? And could he BE any cuter? I have dubbed him Munchkin #1, because he is one of my favourite pint-sized third-years. He also has a buddy who is also the same size – he shall be Munchkin #2.
I was reminded to wear gym clothes to school, so I opted for my blingin’ Adidas track jacket with the golden sequins. The school gym teacher used his limited English to express his fascination that Adidas is popular in both Japan and Canada, lol. And one of my JTEs said I looked like I stepped out of a magazine, hahaha.
Being different at school does have its perks. Every day, I feel like I get showered in compliments solely due to my inherent uniqueness. The girls often tell me that I’m “kawaii” (cute), or even say, “You look very beautiful today.” And I guess my perfume has drawn some added attention, which could be a good or bad thing. One of the rather macho-looking boys said that I smelled nice. He also asked where I bought it… awkward! The third-year girls even think it’s funny to stop what they’re doing, and smell me.
That night, I went out for coffee with D. We ran into one of our BoE dudes at the same café, which was a little weird. I guess that is what happens when you live in a small “city” of 30,000. He offered to get us pizza, but we politely declined. (He’s the one that I called “cute” by accident.)
I jumped back on the train, hoping to unwind after a long week at work. But I ran into my fellow JET girls from England, who invited me to party with them in Koriyama. I was easily convinced, and stayed on the train. The plan was to stay out all night – the last train back home takes off pretty early. We ended up at a reggae night with other JETs, (Japanese reggae – who knew?). And we gracefully ended the evening with karaoke from about 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Our group of gaijin (foreigners) slowly trudged back to the train station for the first train back. I’m guessing we looked pretty haggard, because we got a lot of stares from the junior high students. (Kids in Japan are, literally, always at school. You can tell, because they need to wear their uniforms to enter the premises. I’m guessing they are studying, doing their club activities or hanging out. But I was quite surprised to see that they even go into school on the weekends! I only started doing that in university, when I’d roll out of bed and sometimes head to the library or use the editing suites.) I also forgot to set aside money for cab fare, so I had to walk home from my train station.