Special events

I've been working since Thursday, but it's been great, because it's not the typical work of a teacher or ALT on summer break (perhaps sitting in an office). Instead, Higashi has been host to 30 students and 6 teachers from Hawata, Yamagata-ken participating in the 14th of a series of annual exchanges between the two towns.

We've been lucky with weather, especially considering Typhoon 8 about hit Taiwan had a significant chance of turning northeast and ruining a lot of our outdoor activities. Instead, we were able to make everything happen, from the afternoon of Physical Adventure at Higashi's Eco-Park, to the Ocean Experience day and final evening BBQ yesterday.

A student leaping from the 10m tall "jump-pole"

Especially interesting was me being asked to play and sing a very well known song called "Shimanchu nu Takara" at yesterday's BBQ. Nervousness was low, and I attribute that to the years of performing on stages in front of people and having taught the kids of Higashi for a year. And I know the song by heart. What I didn't know so well were the guitar chords. Unfortunately, wind was high, and the chord sheet kept getting folded in half, meaning I couldn't see. After getting a little bit flustered but unable to fix the problem or stop they song (you can't stop the music!), someone finally realized what was happening and came to hold the paper down. After that, it was smooth sailing. Of course, everyone was in high praises, despite my knowing that I could have done better (I've resolved to rock next years whatever special event).

Today is the farewell meeting, a 15-minute goodbye to be held in a couple hours from now. The students and teachers will then head to the Churaumi Aquarium and a few other places before taking their lodging for the night in Naha. Tomorrow they return to Hawata, hopefully taking with them some pretty fun memories.

So yeah, I've had to work this past weekend and another day or two yet. But it's not the normal sitting in an office kind of thing most people do all their lives. For that reason, among the many many others, I'm so glad to be on JET.