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From elementary school.
I can't even remember if I had a ceremony for graduation from elementary school. Regardless, I was sort of expecting something fairly low key, maybe a few little speeches, people would get certificates, and so on. However, I knew that it had to be something more intense when my host sister suggested that I wear a suit and tie for the occasion.
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| The nice, big, healthily funded elementary school. |
So we arrived at the elementary school this morning and my host family and I walked to the gymnasium and took our seats to wait for the ceremony to begin. The gym was split into several sections, one for parents, one for teachers, and two for students, with a stage at the front and various percussion instruments along one side. Other than the parents section it was empty. Almost all of the other parents were also wearing suits, with the only exception being an occasional kimono sticking out in the crowd.
The ceremony began exactly on schedule with a voice over the intercom thanking everybody for coming, and announcing the entry of the teachers. All of the teachers from the school entered in a single file line, and bowed to the families before taking their seats. After them, the students from the 5th grade class came entered (in Japan elementary school goes up to 6th grade), most of them with a recorder in one hand, and melodica in the other. (At this point I'm thinking "Everybody gets a melodica and unicycle? Why didn't I go to this school!?)
After entering in the quietest line of 5th graders I've ever seen, some of them moved over to the percussion instruments, and one of the teachers stood up, revealed herself as the music teacher by striking a conductor's position, and began leading the group of students into a tune.
Now, I'm sure many of you have had the experience of attending an 5th or 6th grade music concert, and for that I am terribly sorry. It's no secret that these concerts generally are of the quality that one would expect from a group of 10 year old kids.
Because of that, you'll understand my surprised when upon the conductor's signal the resulting sound was not a squeal of instrumental jabber. It was actually music. Heck, it was pretty good! All of the kids were on the same rhythm, playing the right notes, following the conductors changes. I, for one, was impressed.
And with the start of the music also began the progression of graduates into the gym. All of the 6th graders were wearing suits or skirts, and filed in single file to find their seat near the stage. Once everyone had entered the principal of the school went to the center of the stage and immediately began calling out names to receive their diplomas. Each of the students received their diploma and left stage in exactly the same, clean format: bow, grab the diploma with the left hand, then right, hold it out while you bow once more. Bend the diploma in half and hold it by your left side, turn and walk off stage. The uniformity of the pageantry was pretty remarkable. Following the diplomas the principal then addressed all of the students, talking about how as they grow into adulthood they can be the ones to help solve the world's problems, and how they need to continue working hard to accomplish their dreams. It was roughly the same nature of the speech we received at my high school graduation, except in Japanese.
My favorite part was what came next. After the principal and a few other teachers gave some speeches. The recent graduates stood and turned to face the audience, and then recounted their elementary story for first grade to present day. While they stood as a crowd, each member said one or two sentences without moving from their spot, creating this effect where you could hear different voices from different parts of the mass of graduates piecing together their collective story. It was really cool.
They then sang a song about continuing toward their dreams while never forgetting the past, to which the 5th graders responded by rising and singing a song thanking them for their guidance as their seniors, and promising to continue to work hard as the followers of their footsteps. (And as before their musical pieces were surprisingly well performed).
Once it was all done, pictures were taken for each of the respective homerooms, and the ceremony was drawn to a close. I'm happy I was able to see it, not only was it a lovely ceremony, but it was definitely different from the way I remember elementary school. The best part though, was that as the graduates filed out, my host brother, diploma in hand, was wearing the biggest smile in the room.
