CEREMONIES

23rd Aug 2006

This morning I misplaced my keys just before I was leaving the house and I really freaked out! Prayed very hard that God will help me find it‚… Plus I was running late‚… In the end, found it on top of the fridge! Aiya! So silly‚… I put it there coz I had originally wanted to put out my non-combustible rubbish last night but eventually abandoned the idea as it started to rain‚… Aiyo, as a result, I rushed out of house & scratched my brand new black dress shoes‚… Then after I left my apartment, I suddenly remembered I need to pack in another omiyage (present ) for the Superintendent for our greeting visit later.. So I went back, grabbed the small gifts, then rushed to the office.

My base school‚’s English teacher, Ms Hosoyama, came to BOE today & I was being introduced to her. She seems v nice coz she chatted quite freely with me. She told me what to expect tomorrow when I go for Hokuryo‚’s school opening ceremony. Yeah am quite excited abt tomorrow!

In the afternoon after lunch, we went to the city office to greet the Mayor & Superintendant. Had to do a whole series of Japanese introductions to various people. Only ended up giving the small omiyage superintendent. The Mayor was too busy‚…But everybody is polite & nice. The radio station BeFm, wanted to interview us so Mr Murakami chose Wade & I to be the interviewees. I keep fumbling over my Japanese words‚….So paiseh‚…

After that we went back to the office & we were all presented with our official contract. Soon it was knock-off time! Yeah! Home sweet home!

24^th Aug 2006

For some reason or another, I kept waking up. Once at 5am, then at 630am & then 7am‚… I had a nightmare‚… I dreamt that I lost my way when I was traveling to Hokuryo‚…so I was really desperate‚… Used a public phone to call Murakami sensei for help‚… What a horrible dream! Finally woke up at 715am, washed up, changed, put on my make-up & ate breakfast. Decided to leave the house five min earlier to wait for the taxi. Realised the taxi was already waiting for me downstairs! Wow! Great! Chatted with the friendly taxi-driver a bit along the way‚…

Reached Hokuryo at abt 815am. That‚’s fast! Entered & changed into my indoor shoes & went up the staircase.. Saw the entrance of the teacher‚’s room when I went up one flight of staircase but alas, I forgot the name of the teacher that I met yesterday! Was searching for the piece of paper that bears the teacher‚’s name when someone saw me & said “Ohaiyo gozaimasu”. Oh no, I‚’ve been noticed so I had no choice but to go fwd & intro myself. Luckily, the teacher came to the door and she promptly introduced me to the staff. After which I did a self intro in Japanese. Then I was shown to my seat, complete with a desktop.

After some time, I had a meeting with the principal. He is a humorous guy and is oh-so-friendly! He brought me to the gymnasium where school assembly is held. The opening school ceremony started and the principal gave a speech. Later he introduced me & I was invited up on stage to give a speech in English. I was really nervous because I spoke in front of the whole school. But it turned out well! After that I went back to the staff room & a few students took the initiative to come to the staff room especially to say 'Hello' to me in English. I’m soooo amazed that they are so friendly! Then the teacher explained today’s lessons plan to me. I’ll be visiting two 3^rd grade classes today.

At both classes I did the same thing. Greetings, my self inro with posters, then students in groups of 4 or 5 showed me various rooms in the school & explained them in English‚…It was hilarious! Many of them had difficulty trying to explain in English what kind of room it is for‚…but they are all pretty genki (lively) so it was fun. One group was showing me a rock-statue right outside entrance. No matter how much I ask them abt the symbolism of the rock & what does it say etc, the student only replied

“Stone‚… ". Haha so cute!

Then after the second lesson, the teacher & I went back to the second class to have school lunch with the students. Chatted a bit with the students. Before I can finish my food, it was time to pack up. Wow, the students can really eat fast! The two participants who are going to take part in the speech contest came to look for me. So I helped them with their pronunciation in their speeches.

I left Hokuryo via taxi to the city office as I had to collect my Alien Registration card, together with Russell & Maeta san. She helped us with the procedures & brought us to open a bank account at Aomori Bank. Ha, I got my Snoopy bank book finally! Then we returned to the office. Seems like everyone else had a good time in their school ceremonies.

25^th Aug 2006

I went to Shimamori JHS today. We were all sooo nice to me. I was pleasantly surprised that I was allocated a personalised shoe locker that bore my name. Wow! The teacher, Ms Nakamura was v friendly. I did self-introductions & played a Q&A games with the students. It was really fun! It is a very small school. For each grade, there's only one class but the students were so responsive & eager to learn. After that they held a welcome reception for me in the school library. It was actually a formal reception with the principal giving a speech! I also had to give a simple speech and they presented me with a a bouquet of flowers! So touched...