JET Graduation Day!

Last Friday, there was a ceremony for the JETs who are leaving Kochi this year. Attendance was optional, but most of the leavers chose to go. It was a relatively simple and short ceremony, but I thought it was a good way to wrap up our Kochi experience, and it served as sort of a graduation day for all of us. We were even lucky enough to get a few going-away gifts: two naruko (the wooden clapping instruments used in Yosakoi dance) and a Kochi Ke pin. "Kochi Ke" means "Kochi Family", and it's a recent tourism campaign that is becoming very popular. Since we referenced it in this year's Genki Musical, I was really happy to get one of the official pins.

One of the naruko has a cartoon of local historical hero, Sakamoto Ryoma, and my name in katakana. The other one has a mascot character whose name I don't remember, and my name in English. In the middle is the Kochi Ke pin, which is shaped like a cloth-wrapped bundle, I think.

Later in the evening, there was a farewell party at the beer garden, essentially an all-you-can-eat-and-drink restaurant. I enjoyed talking with everyone, but I didn't drink much because I had caught a nasty cold the day before. There was also a big club event where one of the ALTs and a Japanese friend acted as DJs for the evening. I was really sad to miss that, since they were going to play a lot of dance music. But I wasn't feeling well enough to stay out all night dancing, so I went home and went to bed.

Saturday was a relatively quiet day, but today was mostly spent taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level N3. The test went from 12:30 until 4:45, with half-hour breaks between each section. I wasn't adequately prepared, but I think I may have passed at least two of the three sections. I'll find out sometime in September, in any case. It wasn't fun, but I'm glad I did it. And now I can ship my books home and stop studying for the summer! Woohoo!