John Stupart.com

The week has pretty much been a normal educational cornucopia in rural Hokkaido. The usual constant ‘gaijin’ aura of weirdness that draws stares from everyone, including coworkers (the PE teacher looks at me like I’m some sort of hamburger. It’s… unnerving.), elementary school visits, replete with tiny Japanese kids screeching their favourite slogans and trying to scare the bejesus out of me at every turn. On one such occasion, my vigilance was momentarily down as I was walking towards the lunch room, chopsticks in hand, when one Ninsei kid (2nd grade elementary school, so I think about 7 or 8 ) jumped out of thin air and made me scream out like a little girl. Yes, I think I left my dignity sitting next to my pride at OR Tambo!

I neglected to mention in my post on the school festival that afterwards there was a celebratory enkai, or drinking party basically, to enjoy all the hard work done in making everyone cry. Following that was the nijikai (sp?) where we shuffled off to the principal’s house and partook of more foamy beverage and chitchat. From what my JTE english partner teacher Eizo translated, albeit embarrasingly, included the topics of “underhair” and whether I loved Japanese women more than South African women. No pressure!

But then it was my turn to be embarrassed. The science teacher, who also speaks pretty damned good English, and Eizo asked me various things about what I studied (Strategic Studies, which in simple terms means I studied war and conflict!), and how different SA is to Japan. Unfortunately for me, they knew that SA has the highest murder rate in the world (this honour sometimes shared with Brazil) as well as rampant crime across the board. Should they come to SA? The diplomat I’m supposed to be on the JET programme should say ‘sure! It’ll be great!’, but the pragmatist I am realised that, were they to visit SA as tourists, the chances of them being mugged, hijacked or murdered was a very real possibility. My reply? “Sure!”, I said, “But make sure you go with me.” Because while I’m just as likely to be a victim of crime, I would at least know not to go traipsing around Hillbrow at any time of the day with an expensive camera looking obviously foreign! Out here of course there’s no such thing as crime. And what little of it there is is largely committed by those dirty soviets in Wakkanai, so it’s very hard to try sell the positives of SA, of which there are myriad, when the very real chances of them being another statistic weighs heavily on their thoughts.

 It’s tough, but it’s the reality, and I told myself before even coming here that I wouldn’t try and sugar coat the reality of our country’s problems, no matter how much I love it. Before I sound too much like a whiny ex-pat, which I certainly hope I’m not, I would dearly love for the Japanese to see the country I love and live in. As much as Japan has been a major awakening for me, so too would SA blow their mindhole!

Besides, I can’t teach them how to pronounce wildebeest, so I’m just going to have to show them one!

A Wildebeest, in case anyone wondered…

A short update, but a cool one as always! I went a-searching for wildlife and some cool autumn colours before it all disappears, and it seems the latter was already occurring! No more rich browns and reds, and more grey fields and bare trees. It snowed all morning yesterday, with more on the way supposedly tomorrow, so winter is definitely on the way!

Ironically, it seems swans migrate to Soya-gun (the sub-prefecture I live in) during the winter. Lord knows why! At any rate, we found a rather cool gathering of the beasts at a local lake. I plan to return in winter proper when it’s all snowy and looks more than a crowd of unruly feathered fowls surrounded by bird droppings! The ducks weren’t shy either. They knew where the food comes from! The swans also caught on pretty quick.

Of course, we didn’t really have anything for them to eat, so they quickly lost interest. Also, it was just about zero degrees at the lake shore, and with just a hoodie and shirt, I was woefully underequipped to stand around with the damned swans, no matter how pretty they’re supposed to be!

That’s my “Let’s get back in the car with the heating!” face.

While exploring, Heather deftly spotted a giant Elk or somesuch large antelope-like beast in the nearby pasture. Because of a shitty zoom function, I could not manage much closer shots, but still! Deer! That wasn’t the only one, however, as we soon spotted a guy much closer, and not as skittish as to run away the moment I got out of the car to take a picture. They’re quite impressive beasts considering the harshness of the climate.

Elk/Stag #1

Elk/Stag #2

And to end, I’ve become addicted to a J-pop group. I guess it was only a matter of time. “Anna” from the Black Roses. Shameful, I know, but it’s still catchy!

The Takushin Junior High School ‘festival’ took place over the weekend, and it’s certainly unlike anything I ever experienced in my long years as a schoolkid. Designed to showcase the school’s ability to produce young and upstanding members of society, as well as ultimately showing the kids’ parents what they’ve been up to while at school, the festival to my mind would be a brief talent show followed by some speech by the headmaster, and then some tea at the end. How wrong I was.

The School Hall/Gym

The day starts with some skits and shows put on and produced entirely by the students themselves, unbeknownst to their teachers. The first graders showed some rather odd dance sequences set to some strange local Japanese show. Something about bees and world peace, I think. The second graders were a bit more varied, ranging from gymnastics to a rather amazing solo performance by two girls who could easily have a career in opera someday. Seeing such small girls emitting such loud and harmonious voices was startling to say the least! Likewise a boy who is normally quiet as a mouse in the English class did a solo piano/vocal routine which was seriously impressive for someone who is just 14 years old. Third graders then did a whole range of things, ending in an eight-piece rock band number. Considering students are at school from 7am until 6pm, I’m truly amazed they find the time to develop these talents so fully!

First grader Yuto displaying his innate Shinobi stealth picture-avoidance technique. Unluckily for him, I was faster!

The families of course all rock up to watch their darlings doing their thing. What was interesting was the array of recording equipment. Vast wathes of electronic gadgetry all designed to capture their offspring’s every move in high definition video. No pressure! Following the skits, the choir does their thing, singing songs I doubt I’ll ever understand, but done on a level the choir teacher at my senior primary certainly could never achieve!

The Japanese Paparazzi. There were more cameras on the balcony above and behind this lot

What I found truly moving was the revealing of a mosaic the school had been working on for weeks. Every year each person of school, students and staff alike, complete an A3-sized grid of coloured paper squares, which then form a larger picture. This year, much to my surprise, the picture was of 3 African elephants on the savannah, doing their thing behind a giant moon/earthscape. Considering the likelyhood of this having something to do with ME being from Africa and all, I was really impressed! My square of blocks is the front elephant’s right foot. Yes. That’s all me! In all seriousness though, I really did appreciate the sentiment, and it all just made me feel even more welcome in the village.

The Mosaic. You need to look at it from quite a distance to fully appreciate it. But you get the picture…

Then came the plays through each grade. I had written before about the props used in these, but I could never have had any idea. The first graders depicted a story about a human possessed by a demon who is then taught the importance of compassion and love… and then promptly dies in a sword fight with another demon. Happy ending? Hah!

The second graders did a play on a young son leaving his family to go fight in the war. Of course, him and his comrades are presumed dead in combat, and his mother, after a few scenes of heart-broken misery, collapses and succumbs to her sorrow. Of course, to add to the misery, and to further rend your heart, the young son returns, on a crutch nogal, only to discover his dead parent on the ground. Happy ending? Hah!

Japanese officer, lamenting the loss of his brave troops…

The third graders did something involving a helluva lot of dialogue in Japanese and not much scene changing, so I honestly have no idea what the story was. It did however include, in this order: Terrorists, schoolkids and fairies. All of them die, of course, except for the terrorists. I’m not exactly sure what the moral of the whole thing was either. Utterly confusing! Still, it seemed dramatic, and nobody laughed, so I’m sure it wasn’t a comedy…

Fairies and 1 x school kid. Before the end, all would be dead!

The next day sees the really solemn stuff. Mostly choir songs, but really sorrowful ones. At the end there was a tribute to the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, replete with rather graphic shots of the victims. Very interesting to note that, when the 6th of June passed this year, most Americans remembered more about Paris Hilton’s court debacle than the Normandy Landing anniversary, whereas the Japanese have a moment of silence on the anniversary, throughout Japan, in almost every office and school. And even in a school festival, a moment of reflection is acceptable. A stark reflection between cultures if nothing else.

WW2 Atomic Bombings Reflection

And then the waterworks start! The class president says his speech and is thankful for all the effort everyone put in. And this, being his last act of office before the end of the year approaches, makes for an emotional moment. A quick pause to make sure the tears are coming and then it’s just a waterfall. Students, parents, teachers. All are struck by this heartfelt gesture and respond in kind. From my perspective, I just can’t understand why on earth everyone is crying! Sure the festival was impressive, but tear-jerkingly impressive? I guess I just don’t have a heart or something.

The choir head student then gave his address, and of course this is his last act of office before the end of the year, so he breaks into sobs, swiftly followed again by grades 1-3 and the rest of the hall, all the while having this erstwhile moment recorded by a million video cameras.

 So the lesson? Festivals in Japan are festive for the first half, and then it’s only a good festival if you cry. Anything less is just unacceptable.