another spring, another graduation
Sat through the freezingness that is graduation today. The strange formality was just like last year, the kiritsu! rei! chakuseki! (stand! bow! sit!), the fact that students give their speeches at the podium facing the stage instead of the audience, the fact that we all willingly sat in just-above-zero temperatures for an hour and a half with nary a peep of complaint.
I didn’t understand much more than last year, but somehow it didn’t seem so alien this time around. I guess I’ve gotten used to it.
Took pictures afterwards with former students, some happy, some crying. I was sad to think of next year, when my current second-years, some of whom I’ll have taught during all three grades, graduate and I won’t be here. If I’m still in Japan I’ll try to make it to graduation.
That said, I’m not too sad that I’ll be gone. Five more months and I’m moving on to something new. Enough of bowing and nice-nice, enough of “uh-oh, a foreigner, does it speak the language?” Enough of crippled katakana English.*
Enough of watching my two best and brightest students of English (and Korean; both girls taking both languages) jump off the graduation diving board and into the subservient conformist hell that is the Japanese working world. In my humble opinion of course.
One will take the tests for a lowest-level government paper-pushing job (’I just hope I can pass the entrance exams or I don’t know what other job I can get,’ she told me after graduation today). She speaks flawless Japanese and Chinese, in addition to English and Korean.
The other has indentured herself to a supermarket to become a clerk. As a new employee in training they will only allow her to take 1 week of the 3 week trip to Korea she won for taking first place in the speech contest (oh well! shikataganai, nee! she tells me regretfully).
They could go anywhere in the world with their skills, if they had more than the marry-or-office lady checkbox to choose from, and if the school career counselors around here would only be a little more imaginitive, a little less discouraging, a little less sit up straight and tow the line.
Yep, I’m outta here.
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*Most recently, “standplay.” From “outstanding play,” as in grandstanding in order to attract attention to oneself. As in, ‘less standplay, more teamwork.’ AUGGHHHH!!! Who comes up with this shit?
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