After literally months if not year(s) to prepare for this cultural festival; its over.
Not quite over, because tomorrow is clean up day; but the actual two day long festival is over.
Did I have fun?
Yes.
Am I tired?
Holy crap I am so exhausted I cannot even stand up straight without feeling dizzy.
I think this month is the most challenging of all the months I have been here in Japan (in terms of my school life).
I've had to really stuff down all the selfish feelings that I have within myself and give it all I've got if not more to the success of this festival.
Oddly enough- I have really grown from this experience.
I realize that it's truly not just about how my exchange turns out.
It's not about how my exchange will affect me in the future; how it would benefit my salary, and my exposure to the different cultures around the world.
My being here in Japan has more; I've learnt that the giving back is so important.
Joining the art club was initially selfish.
It's a requirement to join at least one type of club activity if you are an exchange student.
It shows that you are 'experiencing the Japanese school lifestyle, and embracing the commitment to school'.
So I did.
Of course I wasn't going to be committed to school- I loved my own time, and I've always had a better life outside of school even back in New Zealand.
I had three genuine but embarrassing reasons for joining.
One- because it was easy; twice a week, and you are allowed to paint whatever the heck you wanted.
Two- I could get away from my former crazy host family.
Three- It was individualistic. I missed my space, and I needed some time to myself, and my music, and my art. It was a way to escape.
Little did I realize that the Art Club was, and is a major influence in the cultural festival every year at my school.
The minute I started term two, I had been rushing to get my painting done,
and when I finally did; OH MY GOD.
The liberation- and the boost of confidence that you can handle anything in any given situation?
 | |
| the finished result! |
Not only did I finish my painting in record time- I finished the first too :D
Everyone started a month earlier than I did but because I was so determined to not be a loser and not end up finishing the damn thing in time, I stayed behind every day to paint.
Unlike the Art Department in my high school in New Zealand, there is no design, graphics, painting, or photography in Japanese schools.
It is all combined into one club, and that is, the Art Club.
So our club represented anything to do with the creative side of the school, and unfortunately, many students realize this and the members of this club have always been very few because of the pressure that is placed on these kids to produce good work.
Once you join a club, quitting is not exactly the wisest option.
So choose wisely, if any one you out there is coming on exchange to Japan in the future.
Because once you commit, then quit?
You would be very high on the reasons that define the stereotypes on foreigners that exist in Japan.
The kids that do dance or the marching band have it off worse I think.
They practice the same dance routine for a whole year just for this cultural festival.
The minute the culture festival ends, they will learn a new routine for the following year's cultural festival.
Japanese people put a whole new level of dedication out there, thats for sure.
The same dances, routines, and songs, practiced over and over again for three hours every single day after school, 6 days a week, and every single day of summer vacation.
Talk about intense!
I never understood why the kids would even bother to do dance, but then I realized that the Japanese people have this insane need to do everything to the best of their ability.
If that means giving up their social lives, and any 'private time' they might crave at the end of the day?
That's the sacrifice they will pay.
Just so that they can represent their school with pride, and look back in a decade's time and say, "yes, I went to that school, and I contributed to its outstanding and ongoing reputation it has today."
I hate complimenting myself, or thinking good about myself in any possible way because I have this fear that if I somehow allow myself to be happy with the way I am, I'll never improve.
Sometimes this isn't too good for the self esteem but- it really pushes me to do better, and greater things with myself that I wouldn't have bothered doing in the first place had I settled for what I thought was sufficient.
My class also managed to finish selling ALL the candles that we made by hand.
My job was to run around for two hours each day advertising our candles.
In Japan, these girls are called the いっらしゃいませ girls, (Irrashaimase) , and anyone that has been to Japan knows how awfully annoying they are.
The high pitched screaming, and not to mention their obscene need to drag out that last syllable of せ for eternity.
I've had such little respect for these girls ever since I've arrived to Japan.
I've always thought it was such a boring, (not necessarily comfortable), but it must be such a boring and unskillful job.
Don't get me wrong- I think it doesn't exactly require 10 years in an Ivy League college to study the art of perfecting that せ sound, and the skills needed for shouting above the other いっらしゃいませ girls that are doing exactly the same things you are doing aren't exactly high.
However- it is a TOUGH job.
I was asked to wear a cardboard sign around my neck, and first call out いっらしゃいませ,
then I would proceed to call out the details of what our class is selling, and for how much.
Doing it for a short while is fine, but the moment you realize that you have repeated yourself so much that your words start to tumble over one another, and your voice gets dry on that very significant syllable of せ you start to tire out.
20 minutes in, I was already hoarse and struggling to run and scream at the same time without looking like a total amateur.
Needless to say, I have lost my voice completely.
:) but it works. It caught people's attention, and our class was one of the very few to have sold out completely.
I've also gotten to know the exchange kids a lot more.
I still miss the old exchange kids- and trust me, nothing will ever replace them.
But I appreciate my new foreign buddies a lot, and am thankful that I am not the only exchange student in my school.
They do not have as much freedom as I am privileged with, so every single opportunity to hang out and have fun is treasured.
Just the way it's supposed to be every single day with whomever you meet and spend time with anyway. =]
7 straight days of school, and one more day left to go.
I don't know how I got up at 5AM each morning, and sleep at 12, and still manage to smile.
Perhaps there was the help of chocolate and junk food,
and maybe the help of coffee in the morning too,
but I can't believe I went without a single break.
The fact that these Japanese kids can do this on an annual basis and still study for the tests that they are required to study for puts us all to shame, I think.
Because we obviously do not know what its like to be under such pressure that we relax.
We are mediocre, and we don't challenge ourselves.
However- there is always a positive and a negative to everything.
In this case I think that there isn't a balance in the Japanese school.
They are completely leaving out the fact that one needs to develop character through personal experiences too, and not just within the community.
By depriving them with so many restrictions and obligations on a daily basis- where does one get any experience outside of the four walls of school?
Where does one learn social skills that don't involve just conversing with your classmates, but also with the opposite sex, and with people both younger and older than you?
These skills the girls definitely lack- and its a huge pity, because everyone has the potential to be great.
When the kids enter university, that's when they start developing a sense of self.
However, I do think 20 is far too late, and that you should already be an adult once you hit the age of 16.
The downside to giving kids too much freedom is that one becomes rather self centred.
You tend to only participate in things if it will benefit yourself, and that mentality will start to dominate most of your decision making.
Before I came to Japan, I didn't know one could be so committed to school.
After all, it was JUST school.
But I realized something today after the cultural festival.
It would not have been a success if not for everyone's contribution and time.
It was amazing to see how everyone just.. worked together without any conflict whatsoever.
Back in New Zealand; when preparing for events such as the ball or some random international day,
there would always be some drama about how one cannot compromise for another.
This rarely happens in Japan from what I've seen so far, if not never.
The ultimate big picture rises above a particular shade of pink for some particular cloth.
It rises above who said what and when and how.
I've learnt to also compromise.
My time, my sleep.
To contribute to a school that has wronged me at times but has had a major impact in helping me move out of my former host family too.
Giving isn't just baking for your friends, or remembering their birthday.
It isn't just spending time with the ones you love.
It's sacrifice.
And for one last time, (for hopefully a very long time)
お疲れ様でした！
and all my love always!
April
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