Today was my last day of the school year at TJHS. There were no classes, but they had requested me anyways so that I could attend the closing ceremony. This was my first closing ceremony, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Given that it was a ceremony, I figured I was supposed to dress a bit nicer than usual, so I wore a suit. That turned out to be the correct choice, I believe. I almost didn't come to work this morning because I have been feeling sick since yesterday. I suddenly woke up with a very sore throat and stuffy nose on Tuesday night, barely got any rest, and was a zombie for most of Wednesday. By the evening I felt pretty weak and had the chills. I went to bed early, and felt a good deal better this morning, but it probably would've been smart to stay home today. However, I didn't want to miss my last day of the year.
The closing ceremony took place in the gym, which was freezing cold. You're supposed to wear special gym shoes when you're in there, so we all had to take off our indoor shoes and stand in our stocking feet on the cold wood floor. I think one of the teachers told me that it was 2 degrees Celsius in there. I could believe it. Even the students were shivering, and they're usually impervious to the cold.
The closing ceremony seemed to have three parts. I'm not sure what the first one was, but there was a brief speech and the students went through some sort of routine that I didn't entirely understand. After that was the actual closing ceremony, which was mostly speeches and the handing out of certificates. The final part was a farewell ceremony for the teachers who were leaving. Each year, some teachers get transferred to other schools. They work for the Board of Education, not the individual school, so they can be transferred pretty often. What surprised me was how many teachers were leaving. Out of the 15 people in the staff room, 7 were leaving. For most of them, it wasn't something they had chosen.
When the departing teachers lined up on the stage to give goodbye speeches, I could hear some of the students crying. At least one of the girls was actually weeping, and two of the boys were crying silently. Three of the teachers cried while they were on stage. One of the male teachers had to take a minute to compose himself before he could give his goodbye speech. I actually cried a little, though I think it was mostly because I find it hard not to cry when people around me are crying. After a few more speeches by the Principal and Vice Principal, the closing ceremony ended.
After the closing ceremony, there was some time for the teachers to mill around and say goodbye to the students. I went back to the staff room to warm up. For the rest of the day, there were no classes and no work to do, so I prepared for an afternoon of sitting around and passing the time. However, Y-sensei was hell-bent on getting rid of me. I would've been perfectly fine to just hang around and study, but she insisted that I go home and rest. Which I appreciated; I think she knew that technically I was supposed to go in to the office if I went back into town, but she specifically told me to go home and sleep. So I did.
Part of why I decided to go to work today was that I didn't want to miss out on the end of year enkai. It would be my last chance to party with some of the TJHS folks, and I quite like most of them. The enkai was at a rather fancy restaurant downtown. As always, it was sushi, sashimi and a variety of other very Japanese foods. When it came time to order drinks, I shocked everyone by asking for oolong tea. I guess I've developed a reputation for drinking, hahaha. But since I'm still moderately sick, I figured I'd better avoid alcohol for the time being.
This enkai felt a little more subdued than most, probably because everyone was saying goodbye. There were a number of speeches. I didn't understand most of them, but I tried to listen anyway. I didn't talk much until the very end of the evening, when I had a conversation with H-sensei. H-sensei is leaving to study English and communications in Fiji. I'll miss him; sometimes we would talk in the afternoons, in a mix of Japanese and English. He was endearingly awkward. He usually seemed kind of embarrassed when talking to me, so I wondered for a while if he had a crush on me, but it might just be that he's kind of awkward with everyone. Then again, he did ask me tonight if I had a boyfriend and went on to tell me that he doesn't have a girlfriend, so who knows. I would've gone on a date with him in a heartbeat if he had ever asked me. Anyhow, it was nice to talk to him one last time. I asked if he wanted to talk by email while he was in Fiji (at least, that's what I thought I was asking), but he said that he won't be bringing a computer, so that plan was foiled. That being the case, it's entirely possible that I may never run into him again even if he does come back to the Kochi school system.
Finally the enkai was over and it was time to make a choice: go on for more drinking, or go home. I would've liked to go to the nijikai, but I can't really drink alcohol while I'm sick and I certainly couldn't join in karaoke, so there wasn't much point. I did the responsible thing (for once) and decided to go home. T-sensei made the obligatory joke about how the two of us should go off somewhere together, then pretended to be astonished when I laughed at him. It made me happy when Y-sensei, the groundskeeper/cook/handyman, seemed disappointed that I wasn't going along for the nijikai. Y-sensei sits across from me in the staff room and seems like a really good-natured old man. I was glad to see that my presence would be missed.
So now I'm at home, messing around online for a little while before I go to bed. I really am disappointed that I couldn't stay out with the TJHS people, especially since this was the last time I would see many of them, but there's no helping it.
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