Asae JHS Graduation - March 10th, 2006
Japanese graduation day is much different from what we see back home. I thought it looked more like a crowd standing around waiting for superstars to come out. In a way though, I guess that was pretty much how all the 3rd graders (JH 9th graders) felt. After all, it is their special day. Another major difference were the emotions involved in a Japanese graduation. I remember whenever I graduated, it was like... "YAH!!! I'm DONE with this... PARTY!!!" We'd celebrate and be super duper happy. That day though (March 10th to be exact), was filled with tears and sorrow. Even I, the gaijin, teared up a bit. So fascinating how the same thing could draw up such different emotions from one society to another. Boy do I love culture.
(Above: Impatient 1st and 2nd graders waiting for the stars of the day)
(Above: 2nd graders waiting to give presents to the graduated 3rd graders)
(Above: Sho Higaki and I. An interesting tradition of graduation is that the boys would often give the second button from the of their uniforms and give it to the girl they love. That day, Sho gave me his button and told me to remember him forever. I didn't know what it meant at the time so I took it. After being told about the tradition, I was a bit embarrassed but nonetheless, felt honoured to be his junior high crush.)
(Above: Students looking at me like... what the hell are you doing?)
(Above: the 3rd graders and I bringing the popular peace signs to a whole different level)
(Above: This is where I said, "ok... sexy pose." We really tried.)
(Above: The bold, the shy, the good, the bad, the young, the mature and of course, the cool... Asae's got' em all)
(Above: The obento served to every teacher during lunch that day. You think sushi is what they eat everyday? Boy are you ever off)
(Above: The last part of the graduation... 3rd graders being asked to leave the school premises... I'm serious)
posted by DiVa @ 4:29 PM
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