On Friday (April 14th)
we had the farewell and welcome enkai for the new year. I went directly after school with Yuko and
helped set up. It was at The Bell
Classic, which is a fancy wedding hall near Kofu eki that always gave me the creeps
because it’s, well, a wedding hall and the concept of imitating church without
being a church is bothersome. However,
if I just think of it as being like a hotel it’s not so bad. In any case, it was very fancy, and I’m never
at home in very fancy surroundings. I’ll
have to work on that.It turns out that
three other schools were having their parties that night at that place as well,
so at the end I chatted with a few of their ALTs (including Mark, my
neighbor!). But I’m jumping ahead. The purpose of this enkai was to say goodbye
to the teachers who have left and say hello to the new teachers. So I got to see all the old teachers again,
which was nice, though they were so busy talking to people they didn’t have
time to eat! The dinner was fancy and nice
and came in many small courses so there was plenty of time to drink and talk
and mingle. I met a few of the new
teachers and got along alright with my Japanese. At one point we sang the school song without
accompaniment, and I have to say everything you’ve heard about the Japanese
being so amazing at music is true.
People at Eastman couldn’t do what these ordinary school teachers did:
sing in perfect fifths the whole way through!
In full voice, in perfect key, or I should say keys, we kept the harmony
almost to the end. I was impressed. It is a sound I won’t forget. It’s locked away under musical experiences
like the amazing voices of the little abbey on the hill in Urbania , Italy .
At the end of the party all the
teachers formed two lines facing each other and joined hands to make a bridge
(like London Bridges) and the old teachers passed under, stopping at every pair
of teachers to talk, of course. At the
end of the line teach teacher (including the former principal) was swept of
his/her feet and tossed into the air a few times. I certainly felt the love and felt like I was
part of a community. Too bad it happens
when you say goodbye! I still wonder why
the educational system tears the group apart every year.
I joined some teachers in the
party-after-the-party party but I didn’t stay long because I had to catch the
train home. I chatted long enough to
hear a good English joke from the geography teacher. “There are three rings in marriage: first the
engagement ring, then the wedding ring, then suffering. But in your case, it’s prospering.” Cute!
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