After a few weeks of vacation (kind of), things are starting to get back to normal around here. Back to work, back to study and back to blogging. So, what's been happening?


Well, last month was interesting. The school year here starts in April, so March was full of graduation ceremonies for the students and farewell parties for the staff. Most of the schools I go to were busy with graduation and preparation for the new year, so I didn't have many classes scheduled. I probably had as many days off as I had working days. This was nice, as the previous few months had been busy. Some of my working days were taken up with graduation ceremonies and end of term ceremonies, so I actually did very little last month.

Graduation ceremonies in Japan are pretty much what you'd expect. There are speeches, the students are presented with certificates, everyone sings the school song and national anthem, and then the graduating students leave school for the last time. It's tradition for all the remaining students and teachers to line up at the school gate and individually farewell everyone as they leave. This is a nice tradition, but I'm pretty sure it was started by someone who doesn't live in Hokkiado. In March, spring has come to most of the country. Not here, as you can see in these photos:

It was very cold and very windy.

These are from the Horokanai junior high school graduation:

The last week or so of March and the first week of April were not technically a holiday for me, but I didn't have anything scheduled so I didn't have to go to work. However, I wasn't completely free. Over ten days, I had about 6 or 7 farewell parties scheduled. These parties are for farewelling teachers, principals and staff. At the end of the school year, many staff get transfered. It's a different system from Australia, I think, and one that is pretty crap (if you ask me). Generally, teachers can only spend about 3-5 years at one school before they are forced to transfer. Get this - they are only told they will be transfered a few weeks before the end of the school year, and they are only told where they will be going a week or two before the new school year starts. So, in the space of about a fortnight (if they are lucky), they have to complete all their school stuff, pack their things, move to a new place, organise all the stuff that's involved with moving house, and start a new job. Nasty...

The parties were usually held at THE local restaurant/drinking establishment (yes, there's only one). I think the staff there got sick of seeing my face after I showed up four nights in a row. Most people only have to go to one or two parties, but because I visit so many schools and I am affiliated with so many groups (such as the board of education), I have many, many events to attend. But, they are generally good fun (and hard on the liver). Usually, the first two hours consist of speeches and a nice banquet style dinner. After the first two hours, the "official" party is finished. People are then permitted to leave if they want to (but almost nobody does). From there, it's the "second party", which is the party that everyone is really looking forward to. That's when everyone relaxes, ties come off, drinks start flowing and the karaoke starts. It's amazing to watch the change in people. Most of the people I work with are fairly quiet at work. Everyone takes their job seriously and works hard. They are not boring people, but they are definitely "controlled". But when an event like this comes round, most of them go completely bananas. I saw some teachers (and one school principal... heh heh) who are usually very reserved get completely wasted and act like baboons. It was great!

During my kind-of-vacation, I managed to get 3 days in a row without any events to go to, so I took a drive to eastern Hokkaido. It was great to get away for a few days, but what was particularly exciting was to go somewhere with some decent weather (ie. not snow and frigid cold). While my town was still experiencing winter, eastern Hokkaido was experiencing spring. Nice... I like winter and I like snowboarding, but the winter here is ridiculously long and so I'm ready for summer. I spent a few days driving, taking photos and mucking around at night. It was ... refreshing. Some interesting (but not unusual) things I saw while driving were:

An eagle (lots of them around)

Some deer (lots of them too)

A nice lake (tempting, but a little too cold for swimming)

The sea (again, too cold for swimming)

Another eagle (this one was MASSIVE - the picture doesn't do it justice)

Two of the more unusual things I saw were:

The bus stop scarecrow dressed like a Frenchman (according to the sign he's there to scare off people who dump their garbage)...

...and WARNING!: cow cross a street (no comment)

Now I'm back at work. A few of the teachers I worked with last year have been transfered. In some schools my desk has been moved. There are a few new faces and names to remember. But, it's pretty much the same as before, which is fine by me.