For the past few months, I've been diligently checking my mail every day in the hopes that the Japanese pension fairy would replenish my depleting bank account. When I finally got that important slip of paper, I stopped checking the mail with such eagerness. But the other day, I got an oversized enveloped from Japan. This time, it was stuffed with almost 80 letters written by my former students. My heart melted! It was so nice to have a positive reminder of the warm-hearted people in Motomiya.
It turns out that my co-teacher included me in her lesson planning. She asked the 3年生 students to write me a letter. These kids are now teenagers, getting ready to enter the fast and furious times in scattered high schools. I still can't believe I met them in 2008, when they were still bright-eyed "seniors" in elementary school. On March 13 earlier this month, they graduated from Motomiya 2nd JHS. They couldn't walk across the usual stage in the school gymnasium, since everything was condemned after 3/11. I think the buildings were even completely torn down, because they are looking to rebuild a new school by 2013. I kept in touch with S-sensei, who was my other co-teacher, as well as the new ALT. It turns out the graduation ceremony was held at Sunrise Motomiya, the city auditorium. I'm glad they were able to find a good space to have the tradition. (Though, the actual ceremony is pretty solemn itself. The best part is snapping photos with the kids afterwards).
Anyways, I was really glad to get a little piece of Japan in the mail. Surprisingly, I can still match names to students' faces! Their broken English is quite endearing. It seems like they were each given a piece of light green stationery and a dictionary to write their messages. Many of them expressed anxiety over their upcoming entrance exams. (In Japan, even public high schools require JHS students to write competitive tests. Their results decide if they get into their dream school.) Everyone kept concluding with "I look forward to seeing you again!" But we all know that we will probably never meet again. A lot of them obviously copied off each other, but there were some gems in there.
Here are some interesting excerpts:
"Hello!! Ms. Gemma! How are you? I'm fine because I am Genki!!" (He's trying to make a pun here. His name's "Genki," which loosely translates to "I'm fine.")
"Dear Ms. Gemma. I passed the examination. I'm going to be an engineer. I want to study hard." (M-kun, I want your self-confidence!)
"I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Please come here in my country occasionally."
"Dear Ms. Gemma, Hello. You're quite a stranger. You are out of this school since a Ms. _____ come to this school. She has golden hair. Is her hair by nature? This is a mystery to me." (This letter made me burst into giggles for a while)
"I could pass the entrance exam. I go to Adachi high school. I'll play baseball there, too. I hope you are fine. I'm looking forward to seeing you again." (Oh, H-kun. I remember how I used to tease that kid about his big "fan club" of JHS girls. He always blushed when I said that.)
"It was fan (sic) for us to study with you. I learned a lot of things. I want to play games which was made by you." (Flattery, K-kun? I'll take it.)
"I want to go to Canada in the future. Because I want to see a reindeer." (AKB48-kun)
"I like Hello Kitty. How about you? Picture for you. I don't speak English. but I study English very hard!! You don't have forgetten me. See you again." (Oh, M-chan! She was a funny kid.)
"If I enter high school, I want to challenge Eiken test 2 grade." (Lovely girl, that Y-chan)
"I passed the examination the other day. Take a Motomiya high school entrance examination. I am a pleasure!" (Go, Nana-chan! I coached her a lot for her English proficiency exams. Girlfriend is trying out new words?)
One of my students even promised to visit me in Canada. Kawaiiiii. She's the one who ended up in Tokyo this fall to compete in the national English speech contest. I'm always proud of that kid. She wants to end up at NYU for fashion design. We used to chat about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga during lunch hour recess.
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I'm really thankful to have been a part of that school. Every year, I got to know the kids pretty well since the school was filled with less than 300 students. My elementary school visits also let me connect with them before they entered JHS. The kids will naturally forget me as time passes, but it was nice to be part of that community when I was there.
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