CULTURE FESTIVAL!!!!

Create Your Own!


This past weekend was culture festival at my school. As with all the school festivals/events, it is planned and prepared for long in advance. For 3 weeks before the festival, the students practiced every single day. The festival started with the 2 hour experience classes. Students got to choose which class they wanted to participate in. There were classes like bread making, computers, making a Christmas wreath, some type of martial arts, etc. I was teaching hip hop dance. As I said before, I was really nervous about the kids that were in my class and for the first 10 minutes of the class, they were really wild. I knew I couldn't handle 2 whole hours of that, so I stopped the class and told them to either dance or go sit down. Since I don't ever fuss at them, this quickly got their attention....after it was translated that is. They were great the rest of class! They were so tired after the first 45 minutes, they literally fell to the ground when it was break time. No one was even talking, they were all just panting. It was great! They had so much fun and I finished teaching them the dance just before the principal came in to watch. They did such a good job performing for him and the photographer. The next day during a break from festival, I even saw 7 or 8 of the boys doing the dance for their friends on the stage. I'm very happy it went so well.

After the experience classes, everyone walked around to look at the different art exhibits. There are so many incredible artists at my school....of course, I'm easily impressed when it comes to art. I had a great time chatting with students and looking at their artwork. Then it was back to the gym for a show from a professional comedy troop. It was basically just 5 guys doing stand up. I didn't understand a bit of it, but the kids thought it was hilarious.

The 2nd day started with the chorus contest. Each homeroom class had chosen a different song to perform. This is what they had been practicing everyday. The students were so nervous that several of them were crying hysterically. The competition is taken very seriously. There are 5 classes per grade and 1 winner is chosen per grade. Before the contest started, the chorus teacher came up and said "chorus judgement you." She wanted me to be one of the judges....obviously she had heard of my incredible singing ability. I of course agreed and just did the best I could. Luckily there were around 10 other judges, so hopefully my scores didn't count too much. I had no clue how to score many of the classes. One group I thought was horrible ended up winning.

After the chorus contest, it was time for "power live." That's what they call the last 3 events. It started with the student rock band. When they were announced, you would have thought it was the Beatles. The kids rushed the stage and screamed like they were watching celebrities. The guitar player and drummer were great, but the singer, yikes. Anyone who knows my taste in music knows I don't mind a unique voice and I'm even fine with screaming...but this was ridiculous. Halfway through the 2nd song, the microphone cut out and I was thrilled. Unfortunatley, it only lasted a minute before someone brought him a new one. Although the singing was rough, it was alot of fun to watch. When they left the stage, the crowd called for an encore, which I was told was typical. While they were changing the stage for the next event, one of the students went around interviewing the crowd. It was so funny. The next event was the teacher rock band. It went pretty much just like the student band, except the singing was better.

After that, it was time for my Souran dance. There were 11 students and 4 teachers dancing. It was the last event of the festival. I didn't think the kids would really care about it, but they treated us like the rock band, haha. I didn't realize what a big deal the Souran was. When we were announced, the kids rushed the stage again!! They didn't know that the teachers were performing in front of the stage, so it took us several minutes to get them all to back up so we would have room. They were cheering so loud and were so excited. I was thrilled when I finished the dance without messing up. When we left the stage, they started shouting encore again. I laughed because I knew there wasn't anything else for us to perform. Suddenly the students turned around and said, we do again. We ran out and did the entire dance all over again. This time, some of the students from the crowd joined in. By the time we finished, I was covered in sweat. Did I mention there were over 500 people in a gym with no air conditioning? After it was over all the students told me how great I did and all the teachers said I was the best one out of the teachers. I guess if this teaching thing doesn't work out, I'll have a back up career as a traditional Japanese dancer.

After the festival, there was an enkai for the teachers. It's just a party where all the teachers go out together to eat and drink. It's the only time you'll see many of them getting a little crazy. They are always alot of fun. My principal, who is really old, drank to much sake and kept singing karaoke. After we left the 2nd place, one of the teachers I team-teach with, Mr. Nishizawa, went to my friend Shun's bar with me. We hung out there for a couple of hours. I like getting to hang out with the teachers away from school. It makes me more comfortable when I am trying to communicate with them in school.

On Monday, I had planned to go to the shrine with friends, but it was raining. We ended up taking a drive to the top of this mountain called Sunrise Forest. The view from the top was amazing. There were mountains as far as you could see. I was told this was a very popular place to watch the sunrise. Since we hadn't planned on going, I didn't have my camera. I hope to go back so that I can take pictures to show you all how beautiful it was!

This weekend I don't have too many plans except for going to a party at a fellow JET's house. Next weekend, however, I am taking my first trip to Kyoto. Kyoto is one of the only main cities not to be destoyed by bombs during the war. Because of this, it remains a very traditional city and many people say that it is the one place you have to go if you go to Japan. I plan on taking most of you who come visit. So, I'll let you know how it is.