Graduation and enkai...

Yesterday was my 3rd graders graduation day. There were tears, long speeches, lots of waiting, more tears, more long speeches and the obligatory 'bansai' after anything particularly official.

It was a good day, the lunchtime food was amazing, the gym wasn't as cold as it normally is and generally everyone was in high spirits. Times like these are always good times to be teaching at a high school. The teachers and students seem more relaxed and the general vibe around the place is one of relief - we got through another school year and another long Toyama winter is drawing to a close.

But it is sad to think that in one day a whole section of the school goes from being students to alumni in a matter of hours. Looking across the courtyard now I can see the empty classrooms of the 3rd grade.

The enkai afterwards was held just up the road at Tenbokaku, the local hotel/onsen facility where Koji and I often go for a quick onsen on the 6th floor. It was one of the best enkais I've been to. The teachers got rat-faced and even the ones who don't usually go in for the odd spot of karaoke were rocking the mic with vigour.

It was a riot. The Asahi Geishas were in attendence (famous all over Toyama don't cha know!) dancing the traditional owara dance along to such Japanese classics as 'Bridge over troubled water' and 'Top of the world'.

The karaoke bar was one of those stage affairs where you feel like a pop idol wannabe. But, in this instance rather than everyone sitting around the tables as fellow colleagues warble along to their favourite song, everyone was standing around the stage clapping and cheering along. I never realised that 'Bridge over troubled water' could have so much energy and 'oomph' until I heard the rhythm provided by the English and Maths departments. They clapped furiously along as though we were singing some type of Austrian 'oom-pa-pa' drinking song. Simon and Garfunkel would have been proud to hear such a rousing, 'fall-to-the-floor' rendition of such a depressing dirge.