July 18th, 2012 in Daily
Me in my new Tarumizu High School Happi Coat
Last classes at Tarumizu.
First year OC students gave me some cool presents!
To the gym...
This was by far the most amazing send off I’ve ever had in my life. When I entered the gym, the band played for me and the students sung the school song. Then the third year class leader made a speech in Japanese, then another classmate read it to me in English, which she translated herself. Then they gave me some flowers and presents, and asked me to say how I felt. I just replied “Happy” and they all laughed because that was my cue for a speech. I talked with everyone for a while about how I really felt like I’ve been the one learning from them over the past three years. That the students are our teachers as well. One guy teared up! Amazing. After that I passed out these namecards 3rd years made for OC class as 1st years. I wrote thank you notes inside each one.
Finally, they formed the customary “tunnel of departure” with their arms as I left the gym.
Afterwards they had an assembly from the local police about drunk driving (???) which totally killed the mood! They can’t even start practicing for their licenses for another 6 months!
Card set of thank you and good luck notes from teachers and students. The traditional graphic paper cut was done by Ichiro-sensei, our cool gym teacher.
Always a great guy in class, he hands me this letter and says "don't open it until you get on the plane" - what a character!
Bye bye desk!
What a great day.
