Goodbye Tawara, Hello Nawa

For those of who don’t know anything about the Japanese education system, I will enlighten you on one aspect. Teachers involuntarily get transferred from school to school with little warning each year. I don’t exactly agree with this system, but I suppose there are advantages and disadvantages. You could say that I’m somewhat lucky because I knew going into this that I would have to switch schools after two years if I decided to stay. It doesn’t make it any less sad really, but at least I was prepared.

I think that many JETs entertain the idea that they will be able to persuade their BOE’s to let them stay at a single school, but when it comes to the Japanese rule book, changing things and testing it isn’t exactly Japanese style. As foreigners, we are here to suggest our ideas in hopes of opening peoples’ eyes to other options, but it’ll most likely lead to hassle and stressed relations. Therefore, once I decided that I wasn’t going to put up any fight (thanks to my sempai trying to fight the good fight himself and losing), I decided to look at the positives and embrace the opportunities of transferring to a new school.

Before I tell you about my new school, I want to write about leaving Tawara JHS. In fact, I want to dedicate most of this post to Tawara.

Saying goodbye at Tawara was a long and sad process. I came to Japan literally knowing nothing about how Japanese schools worked and over two years, grew into an experienced teacher. Tawara raised me, and I am grateful to have had such a wonderful school. The staff and students were very kind to me, and I can honestly say I had a perfect experience. Over two years, I made friends with teachers and formed strong bonds with students. All good things must come to an end, though….BUT I’m a pretty firm believer that when one door closes, another one opens. I’ve gone through life moving from one great experience to the next. Of course they haven’t come without struggles.

I have always been pretty open with my students about how I would only be at Tawara for two years, but many of them seemed to forget that. When I had about one month left at Tawara, I made my final bulletin board. The theme was, “Sayounara Tawara. Thank you for the memories.” I posted pictures of our times together and wrote a heartfelt message thanking everyone and telling them how I’ll miss them. Once that board was up, I had students coming up to me every day telling me not to go. Literally some students were in tears hugging me! It was hard for me to stay composed as well. I would tell them that we still had a month left together, so let’s enjoy it. That seemed to help.

As the semester began to wind down, little by little, the final goodbyes began to roll in. For example, the last  3^rd grade English test of the year had a section where they must write a message to me in English. I was touched and had no idea how much my smile meant to them. I always tried hard to smile and laugh as much as possible with the kids. I was happy to know that they noticed.

I had my last informal nomikai (drinking party) with my peers where they chanted for me to give a speech. They love speeches in Japan.

On my last day of art club (I was an active member of the school’s art club), I bowed, and thanked all of them for the fun times. Two of the members came up to me, teary-eyed, and one of them said to me in English, “You are a part of my life.” I was so impressed. I had no idea how much I influenced these kids.

Saying goodbye at my elementary school was particularly difficult. I only taught the new 5^th graders for one semester, but there was this strong bond between us from the beginning. I loved them so much, and they loved me! When I would walk in to class to teach a lesson, the students would clap and cheer and yell, “Stephanie is the best!” I felt like a celebrity haha! I ate lunch with each of the 5^th grade classes before leaving. During those lunches, students gave me all their little treasures: key chains, pencils, bracelets, notes, and toys. Almost every student (in 6^th grade too), wanted my autograph before I left. I had to chuckle at the kids who wanted me to sign their arms in pen. Before leaving each class, I gave little farewell speeches, and the kids stood up with big smiling faces and yelled, “Goodbye Miss Stephanie! Thank you!” I was surprised by how sad the elementary staff was, too. I didn’t have many opportunities to talk with all of them, but on my final day, I gave a speech in the staff room, and received many gifts, compliments, and thank yous.

In my last classes at the junior high, I gave personalized speeches to each class. I was given booklets containing messages from all the students. On my very last day, I had to give two big speeches. First, I gave my speech in the gym in front of the entire school. I did it in English and Japanese because I wanted to make sure everyone could understand. I was given flowers. The second speech I gave was at the formal party for the end of the semester. It was fun and relaxed. Everyone was pretty drunk. I got up in front of everyone, said the serious stuff and closed with funny anecdotes. I was given nice gifts by the teachers.

Messages from the students.

After my speech.

MANY MANY GIFTS! ...yes, that's a pumpkin lol.

With that, my time at Tawara ended. However, my relationships remain. Already I have spent time with Tawara teachers outside of work. I have become friends with former students using social media. Also, since teachers are transferred from school to school each year, I’m sure the new school year will bring Tawara teachers to my current school. Already there is one teacher from Tawara here.

So now I will tell you a little about my new school. It’s called Shijonawate JHS, Nawa or Nawate for short. Unlike Tawara which was a 45 minute commute, it’s very close to my home, so I can walk or ride my bike (riding a bike is a little difficult because it’s all uphill. I can usually make it about halfway until I need to walk with my bike haha). It’s really nice being able to leave work at any time without worrying about bus times. Going home is downhill, so I can get home in about 5 minutes! Nawa is quite a bit bigger than Tawara, so names will be harder to remember, but it’s not that big of a deal.

I previously said that I wanted to look at the positives and embrace the opportunities of going to a new school, and I have done just that. Knowing how things work at Japanese schools has been very helpful. Also, my Japanese speaking abilities, teaching abilities, etc. have improved by a thousand haha! One of the most important things is that I’m not nervous in front of my coworkers or students because I’m used to teaching now. I don’t know how long it has been since this school has gotten a new teacher with experience teaching in Japanese schools (many years probably), but I think I’ve shocked everyone at Nawa with my confidence. I might have even overdone it a little. I have worked at Nawa for a full week now, and it seems like people have adjusted to me and are starting to embrace my openness. The kids seem to really be into me so far. They are much shyer than Tawara kids in my opinion, but I will be sure to break them of that haha! I’m still adjusting to the different teaching styles of my fellow English teachers (surprisingly I only teach with 3 out of 7 of them), but it hasn’t been so bad. I still haven’t taught all the classes yet, but so far, so good. As I’m writing this, I plan to attend art club for the first time today. I’m looking forward to that. I brought some of my old ideas to this school like my bulletin board, for example. People seem to be pretty excited about it.

Overall, the atmosphere of this school is much more relaxed feeling than Tawara. I always heard Tawara was kind of strict, but it was all I knew. I feel pretty welcomed at this school. I could see myself working here for another 2 years. I’m interested in finding out what working here will bring and what relationships I’ll form with students and staff. Perhaps it’s too early, but I have already thought about having to say goodbye to this school as well after two years. It’s a never ending cycle haha.

One thing that I have learned throughout my various experiences in life so far is that no matter what you do and where you go, if you are like me -someone who likes to travel and move around- you will always have people and places you will miss. It’s an inevitable part of living the kind of life I’ve chosen so far. In college, I met so many different people from all over and Japan is no different. There are people who have come and gone in my life. There are places I have visited throughout the world. I will always miss those people and places (and perhaps I will meet them again!), but I am so thankful to have had the experiences. Who would I be without them? I feel my life would be so dull. I can truthfully admit that my life is particularly exciting! I never have a dull week. There are always things to do, places to travel, and goals to accomplish. I used to fear not having a concrete plan. I think at a young age, having a solid goal is important and useful, but now, at this stage in my life, there are so many options that have opened up to me. It’s exciting! With all my experiences, the world has become a much smaller place.