Let's see...six months have passed since my last blog entry. It's autumn now. I've finished school. I went back to Canada. I'm back in Japan. I'm looking for work. That's the gist of it...for now I want to blog about my most recent experience, going to an event at the high-school where Elise works, namely, the annual 文化祭(bunkasai), or "cultural festival". This was something I had seen in many anime and manga (Azumanga Daioh?), and I was looking forward to seeing what one was really like. I hadn't had a chance to see exactly where Elise works either, although I had already met some of her coworkers at a dinner party a few months back.
Anyway, the festival itself went over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and Elise and I decided that I would tag along on Sunday as it was the more happening day (not to mention I had a job interview on Saturday, but that's another story). In the beginning Elise was reluctant to let me come along at all - she was given tickets to invite friends and family, but she wasn't too keen on having her giggly, gossipy high-school students meet her boyfriend (and she thought I might embarrass her...can you believe that?). Nonetheless, I tagged along in the end and promised to try to keep a low profile (let me tell you - as a solitary white guy in an Asian girls school, let's just say it didn't work so well). We left our place at 6:30 am, the usual time Elise heads to work, but as it was the weekend we were spared the congested rush-hour trains. Elise went to the school right away, but the the festival itself didn't start until ten so I killed some time at a Starbucks and a manga/internet cafe (which is still awesome by the way - they should really have these things in Canada). I arrived at the school a little after 10:00, and I walked up to the reception desk where Lisa, one of Elise's co-workers, and a bunch of students were seated taking tickets and welcoming guests. I had met Lisa once before so I went up to her and said hi, signing my name and getting a program and a few pamphlets. At this point the girls had begun to whisper and giggle while looking over in my general direction, and I wondered if maybe they were Elise's students. I nodded hello as I passed by, which unleashed another flurry of giggles, and as I wandered off down the hall I began to think that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
I had no idea where to go at this point and Elise hadn't answered my cellphone call, but I was trying to find the stage because supposedly the first act of the day was Kiriko, one of Elise's students, playing the erhu (a Chinese Violin). We had actually gone to hear her play in a concert hall last year and she was amazing, so I was looking forward to a second performance. By pure luck I happened to take the right hallway that led me right to the gym, and I found a seat amongst the few guests gathered there already. Elise said they had decided Kiriko would play first thing in the morning to try to entice to people arrive early, but the plan didn't really work so unfortunately there wasn't much of an audience for her. I guess it was ok though because it turned out she had caught a cold and wasn't able to give as good of a performance as I had seen last time, but it was still nice. Elise took some videos of her the day before - the quality isn't very good, but you can get a general idea of what it was like. Amusingly enough she decided to wear a cutesy "bear" hat during her performance which looks pretty funny.
Elise found me during the performance, and afterwards we headed outside to have a look around. In the courtyard the the students had set up various booths and stands selling food and goodies - each class was in charge of one stand, and they chose what food to make and try to sell - such as okonomiyaki, yakisoba, Halloween candy, sausages, and ramen. I was quite impressed by the amount of effort the students had put into everything - apparently the cultural festival is one of the biggest events of the year, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Elise's homeroom class had set up a taco stand, and their advertising was pretty hilarious. On the front of the stand was a scary drawing of Seko's face (Elise's Japanese homeroom co-teacher), and the stand itself was called "Sekosu Takosu", a funny (or lame?) kind of pun that had me rolling my eyes. Also, the students from every class had to design a t-shirt to wear during the event, and they were something else - Elise talked about them in detail on her recent
blog entry, so go check it out - it cracks me up every time I read it.
Anyway, we wandered around the courtyard stopping at a few stands along the way, and Elise also took me to see her workplace. During this time we were periodically approached by various students Elise knew, all of whom wanted to know if I was her boyfriend, and she reluctantly confirmed the fact, leading to much squealing and a few thumbs up from some of the girls, much to our amusement. Afterwards we went back into the gym to watch Hikaru, another teacher and Elise's friend, and her "volunteer" club do a sign-language dance/performance on stage. This was followed by a few "freestyle" dance groups as well as a brass band performance (videos below). The band brought back fond memories of high school for me - they were just a beginner level band, but they looked like they had fun. After that we grabbed some lunch and wandered around the school building, looking at the various activities and info-centers set up in the classrooms of the school. There were a variety of things including some calligraphy, some manga drawings, flower arrangement, etc. As we were walking though the rooms we noticed that something was happening outside - some taiko drums had been set up, and two girls were banging out a beat as another girl was writing "love and peace" on a huge piece of paper with a huge calligraphy brush. We had a nice view from the window so we took another little movie.
Finally, we headed back to the gym for the final events, which Elise's coworkers were a part of. The first event involved some cosplay - girls were dressed up as Pikachu, Elmo (of sesame street fame), and, much to our amusement, characters from one of our favorite anime, "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi". They even did the famous Haruhi dance at the end, which was pretty impressive - if you're a fan, definitely check out the video we took - pretty funny. After that it was time for the final act - the teacher's performances. They were the highlight of the day, definitely - the teachers did an excellent job doing impressions of some of Japan's popular songs and acts, which the audience loved. I've posted links to the original videos and their imitations below.
It turned out to be a really fun event, and I'm glad I tagged along. Japanese high schools are sure different than those in Canada, and it was interesting having a first-hand look. I'm also impressed at how much the teachers were involved and all the work they put into it- it's something I think I would enjoy, rather then simply work in a "cold" eikaiwa environment doing nothing but teach English classes all day - something to keep in mind while I'm looking for work.
On the other hand, now Elise gets to deal with all her students bugging her about me once she goes back to school - she's not looking forward to that ^_^.
Videos
Kiriko was the first, and most talented, performer of the day. The erhu is a pretty neat instrument - I'd like to try playing it someday. Anyway, here are two clips - the first is a short part of a slow song, and the second is a longer clip of a very upbeat song that showcases some of the very funky things she can do. Some pretty wild techniques if you ask me.
Next up is a compilation of the various acts from day 1 and day 2. First up is the brass band I mentioned previously. Second is the karaoke - the students don't exactly have pop-star singing ability, but they seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless. One girl even started to goof around a bit and then forgot her lyrics midway though ^_^. After the karaoke are the dance numbers, and man...the first group chose to dance to Fergie's "Fergalicious", which includes such lycrics as:
So delicious (It's hot, hot)
So delicious (I put them boys on rock, rock)
So delicious (they wanna slice of what I got)
Fergalicious (t-t-t-t-t-tasty, tasty)
Is this appropriate for this type of setting? lol...
Here's a clip of the taiko drumming and calligraphy we saw from atop the third floor - you can't hear much in the beginning, but we opened up the window halfway through.
And last but not least, clips from the finale. For those of you that don't get the references, I've also included links to the original videos on youtube.
Frst up we have the students dancing the Hare Hare dance from the ending of Haruhi. Awesome. (but where's Kyon and Itsuki?)
Next is the teachers. Here is a clip of the school nurse - unfortunately we missed the beginning - she came on stage in her nurse uniform which she wears around the school all day, and when the music started she tore it off wearing her jazzy outfit - pretty funny.
This is one of Hikaru, one of Elise's good friends at work, but I don't remember the name of the song she sings. She had some trouble getting started and finding the right key to sing in, but I kept it in because I was impressed with how supportive the students were - calling out "ganbare" from the audience and clapping.
The second to last clip has two of the teachers singing and dancing to Dj Ozma's "Bounce with Me". Elise and I have seen the real Dj Ozma on TV many times - this is his most popular song and it always involves him and his group taking off their clothes midway through - and the teachers followed suite accordingly! I was impressed with the short teacher - he really got into it ^_^ Although he had a bit of trouble getting his shirt off...lol...
The final clip involved another two of Elise's friends mimicking Exile and Koda Kumi's "Won't be Long". Mitsue was Koda Kumi and I must say she did a really good job. Lisa was dancing beside her in the blue shirt, and she was sure into it ^_^
I think it's possible the teachers had more fun then the students ^_^
Check out Elise's blog for more info.
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