THE GRADUATES, pt. 2

I attended graduation at my elementary school, my second graduation in two weeks. Like the JHS ceremony, it was held in the school gymnasium, which doubles as the auditorium in most Japanese schools. Unlike the JHS graduation, I knew I was going ahead of time, so I came dressed for the occasion. Not unlike JHS's ceremony, the teachers were dressed formally--the male teachers wore black suits with white shirts and ties, and the women wore black dresses--no kimonos this time. The principal wore the formal suit with the huge coattail that made him look like a circus master--all that was missing was the tophat. Also unlike the JHS ceremony, they seated me in the front of the teacher's section, right behind the principal. The graduates all came out in procession. As elementary students don't wear uniforms, the grads all wore their own gear--preppy-looking outfits resembling typical Japanese JHS and high school uniforms. When they came out, it was like watching a mini-kids fashion show. Even though everyone looked kinda uniform, they all had their individual styles going, which I thought was cool.

I like Japanese graduations because they aren't too long; they sing the national anthem, say some opening words, present the graduates, and start slinging diplomas right away. Overall, the ceremony went as I'd expected: a lot of bowing, digital video cams, tear-dabbing from parents, and so on. The end of the ceremony was pretty emotional. The 4th and 5th graders sang a sayonara song to the grads and that just got the tears rolling from the moms and dads. Besides the parents' wet faces, some of the graduate girls were just sobbing as they marched out of the gym. Kawamura-sensei, one of the graduating 6th grade classes' homeroom teacher, a woman, couldn't hold her tears either. Pretty touching stuff.

Afterwards, the grads and their parents went back to their homerooms to spend some final moments with their homeroom teachers. I and some of the other teachers returned to the staffroom to break until the graduate parade began. The vice-principal invited me to join the parents and grads upstairs at the classrooms. We went up quietly just to observe, but I soon caught attention, and Fujiyama-sensei, the other 6th grade teacher, a man, called me into the classroom. He presented me to the parents, and told them how much their kids liked me and what a good job I'd done teaching them during the school year. I was really glad he thought enough of me to honor me in such a way. He asked me to say some final words to the students. I gladly offered some thoughts to the grads in Japanese and English, congratulating them and encouraging them to do well in junior high. All of the kids will be entering the JHS I currently teach at, so I'll be teaching them again in the new school year. I shook the hands of all the students and, upon request, signed their yellow caps that they had to wear to school everyday. Soon after, everyone wanted to take pictures with me, including some of the parents. A couple of giggling moms ushered their kids to the side so they could take a picture with me alone. That tickled me. Somebody's mom pulled me to the side and began gushing about how her son really liked me, although he couldn't attend the grad ceremony for some reason. Perhaps he was ill. I didn't understand all of her Japanese, but the gist of what she said seemed pretty positive, so I politely bowed and thanked her.

Soon after, the graduation parade began. All the kids and teachers lined up on both walls of the hallways leading to the gym. Some pairs of kids held up wire arches with paper flowers twined around them for the grads to walk through. Led by the homeroom teachers, the grads and parents came down the hallway to the flashes of cameras and the applause of the entire school. Kawamura-sensei was in tears again, so I stepped out and gave her a half-hug and pat as she walked by. The hug made her cry even more. Apparently, one of the other teachers thought that was a Kodak--or should I say "Fujitsu" moment and took a snapshot. The parade ended in the gym again, where I posed for more pics, along with the principal, signed more hats and shook hands.

I was glad to be able to attend the graduations of my students at both schools and be a part of a day that'll forever be imprinted upon their memories. In such a xenophobic culture, hopefully my involvement in the education of hundreds of Japanese children will positively effect some of them in a way that, as they become adults, their way of looking at the world, race, and culture will broaden, allowing them to gain more understanding, and somehow, someway forge a better world than the one we're living in today. I suppose time will tell.