Turn that frown upside-down: A graduation afterthought

A 15-year-old boy made me cry last Friday morning.

It was our graduation ceremony at Nichu for the 3年生. Every March, junior high school students across Japan graduate on the same day. Like all things in Japan, this year’s ceremony strictly adhered to the same format that I saw last year. The procession started at precisely 10 a.m. The kids got their diplomas one-by-one, involving continuous bowing. (If you'd like to learn more about the norms of graduation ceremonies in Japan, check out my old blog post here.)

During one part of the ceremony, all of the younger students sing a special song to say farewell to their senpai. This year, the first- and second-years sang something like “Taisetsu na mono.” In return, the third-year students face the audience and sing a song to convey their gratitude to all teachers, parents and kohais. NHK, Japan’s national public broadcaster, chose a popular pop song called “YELL.” (It is performed by Ikimonogari. You can view it here.)

The grads were in the midst of performing their good-bye song, singing it beautifully as they usually do. Nichu is a pretty small school, and most of these kids have grown up together since nursery school. So, I was expecting more tears, because this would be the last song the kids would be singing together.

It was Ejiri-kun, one of the baseball boys, who lost it. I watched him as he wiped away the tears streaming down his face with his blazer’s sleeve. This was the outgoing class clown of the group. The one who left me a good-bye message saying, “English is very fan!! I love you!” (Spelling errors included!) He’s one of the boys who I’ve let it slide when he drops the “-sensei” honorific, and just yells “GEMMA!!!!!” when he greets me in the hallways. He’s always just bursting with energy, that I’ve teased him by calling him “crazy!”

Seeing this kid cry, my eyes welled up with tears. Moreover, I remembered a story I heard only two or three days before. At one of my visit schools, one of the teachers said she had taught my graduating students when they were wee six-year-olds in the first grade. She told me funny stories about their youth: K.-kun had a big head (he still does); Taka-kun was a cutieface (he still is!); and Te-chan was a good boy with a naughty streak (he still is!)

What was Ejiri-kun’s story? He cried every day at school. (Growing up, I was a sensitive kid. That is, I think I cried a lot at school.) So, I was touched when Ejiri-kun was so emotional at this year’s graduation. Moreover, I looked over at his mother sitting in the audience; and she was also dabbing the tears away from her face.

I saw Ejiri-kun once again. Although the kids have graduated, they are still dropping by the staffroom to say thanks to the teachers and announce where they’ve been accepted. Since they’ve technically completed their time at Nichu, they are allowed to wear their uniforms but don’t wear their yellow shoes.

Good ol' crazy Ejiri-kun, who often bears a mischievous grin on his face, was wearing a pair of cute slippers emblazoned with Rilakkuma, an adorable cartoon bear.

While he made me shed a tear last week, he made me laugh today.

Eight days

Eight days until my favorite third-years walk out of Nichu's ancient hallways forever. In one of the homerooms, the day has been marked by a sheet of paper with the letter "8" decorated as a bee. (My JTE explained that the Japanese word for "bee" is pronounced as はち。This also means "8." You learn something new every day! It also just happens to be the evening I've gotten my new dictionary delivered!)

I was allowed to design the entire lesson plan for their last English class in junior high. I kicked it off with some mad libs to change the infamous Japanese story, Momotaro the Peach Boy.

"An old woman and man lived in a beautiful city. They wanted a baby. One day the woman was washing a moai in the river.



A big orange was in the river! The woman got the big orange . They wanted to eat it.

But, inside it was a busy boy! The old man and woman were very happy.

Seven years later the boy became very strong. He went on a trip. He heard about a city named Motomiya There were many dangerous cats in the city. He wanted to eat the cats.

The boy arrived in the city. The dangerous cat was there. The boy had a fight. It was a very hungry and cheap fight.

The boy killed the cat. The king was very happy. He gave the boy one yen and his lucky daughter."

It was then followed by a Jeopardy-style game, which I dubbed "English Olympics." I thought it was fitting, because the 2010 Vancouver Olympics just hosted the closing ceremonies yesterday. I asked them random questions, testing whether they knew facts like my last name. (Last time, they could've sworn my name was Ms. Green, like the character in the textbook). I also got them to stand up on their chairs, to keep things light.

We also played gesture games, where I saw a classroom full of teenagers doing their best moonwalk or doing the choo-choo train dance.

But for me, I had the most fun distributing presents. I have spent the past few days burning almost 90 mixtape (?) CDs for these kids. I've even included some Celine Dion, to make fun of Te-chan who said he liked the Titanic song. And not only that, but I have spoiled them with personal messages written on postcards bearing photos of their homeroom with yours truly. I started getting misty-eyed when they each said "Thank you so much!!" and eagerly read the postcards. H.-chan just sent me a text, saying thank you for the present. Warm fuzzies!!!

I'm going to miss those kids...