*I realize that it’s no longer September, but this is something that I would like to share on heavywords.org regardless. I hope you enjoy it!*
Despite the lingering heat, Summer vacation is long over and I find myself wondering where the first half of September went. Growing up (and spanning well into my university career), September was my very favourite month. Being the bookish type. I absolutely loved the start of a new school year. There was always something so promising about shopping for new notebooks, highlighters, and, when I could afford it, a new fall wardrobe. In You’ve Got Mail, Tom Hanks’ character types to Meg Ryan’s, “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” That’s how I feel about September. It makes me want that bouquet. It makes me want to go to class and take notes and have an impossibly large pile of Victorian novels that need reading ASAP. I just love it.
But, as always, things in Japan are done differently. The arrival of my most favourite month simply means that the good times of summer have passed and that things at school are about to pick up where they left off. You come back after the break and things are exactly the same – the same kids in the same classes, the same teachers, the same lessons plans, etc. Not so exciting, right? September in Japan hardly even calls for a single sharpened pencil, let alone a whole bouquet.
However, there is one (that’s right, ONE) redeemable quality of a Japanese school this month: September means that it’s festival time!
Every year, Japanese schools put on two festivals, a cultural festival and an athletic festival (also known as “Sports Day”). At my school, the cultural festival means a day of performances in the gym ranging from skits and singing to traditional Japanese dancing and male teachers prancing around in plaid skirts. In between the shows, the kids have a chance to wander around the school and play the different games that are set up in each classroom. Since my students tend to despise anything remotely academic, they practically live for this day. Everyone also spends a lot of time decorating the school and showcasing projects that the students have been working on, so that’s always great to see.
Sports Day is equally fun for them and really entertaining for me. The school is divided up into five different colours (red, blue, pink, green, and yellow – this year I was on the red team), and the teams compete against each other in a variety of events. My personal favourites include “Bargain Sale” (the kids fight over a massive pile of tires) and this game where the teams hurdle a massive rubber ball through the air. Each team also has to produce a variety of cheers and a dance to be performed, and those are a ton of fun to watch.
Last year I didn’t really know what to expect and didn’t bring my camera, but this year I was prepared. Hopefully my photos can portray a little bit of what those two days were about. I have a feeling that when I leave Japan, these are some of the moments that I’m going to miss the most.
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