My “Period of Reflection” in Okinawa
Seeing as the US military have been told to undergo a “Period of Reflection” as General Zilmer put it, I have decided to do the same with a few things happening around here. First of all, over the past 2 weeks my blog has been visited by at least 800 visitors a day, and 3 days ago I had my most successful day since this site started, with just under 1,700 visitors. I would like to offer thanks to you all once again for taking the time to visit my site, and especially to those who have left comments of their experiences or words of encouragement for my writings. But I don’t want your visit to be just a once-off; I want you all to return and continue to enjoy my writings. With that in mind, I need some input from you. What would you like to read about on this site? Do you want Okinawan news stories, stories coming out of Japan that wouldn’t make it onto international news feeds, personal views on the country and this prefecture? Give me some ideas so that I can entertain and maybe educate you a little in the future.
This blog was initially started to talk about SCUBA diving, but the amount I have done in the past 6 months is depressing, and I really don’t want to count the number of dives. A combination of my main diving buddy having a couple of problems meaning it was tough for him to dive, then pretty changeable weather since the end of last summer, and this lockdown over the past few weeks has meant that diving opportunities are limited. Classes have come to a halt temporarily as my students have a tendency to develop hypothermia if they spend more than 20 minutes in the pool at one time! Hopefully once the water starts to warm up a little then classes will pick up again. There have been some issues with organizing some of my classes: people not responding to emails after I’ve sent them course materials and am out of pocket; students organizing to meet me, having me pay to rent the pool & equipment, and allocate my whole day to the class, only for them to call me 20 minutes before hand, tell me they went out drinking the previous night and are too hungover to get into the water etc. But, that comes with the territory of teaching members of the community my students primarily come from.
I honestly can’t remember if I’ve written this on here before, but 2 weeks ago the Ministry of Education told me that they would be extending my contract in Okinawa for a 5th and final year. This means I have a job here until August 2009 and was a nice boost. I am 90% sure that I will be remaining at my current school, but that is not definite so I don’t want to get ahead of myself at this stage as anything could still happen. If I was told to move school then I’m not sure what would happen. I suppose I’ll cross/jump off that bridge when I come to it. On an educational front though, I am considering another month in Thailand this summer, doing the CELTA English teaching course. It would be an intensive 4-5 week course of 6-day weeks but I would come out of it with one of the best internationally recognized TEFL teaching qualifications in the world. So when my contract here finally expires I would be a qualified teacher and have 6 years teaching experience in total under my belt. That should give me a good chance of getting some other work either in Japan or in another country. I would look at doing the same course here in Japan, but it’s just too expensive. A course of this type would cost just under $4,000 in Tokyo; to do it in Bangkok would cost around $1,600. I know I would have to pay for flights, but even so it would be a hell of a lot cheaper on the whole.
And staying on the educational front, it was graduation day for all senior high schools last Saturday (March 1st). This was the 4th ceremony I have been to in Japan and they don’t get any easier to watch. That lump in my throat gets bigger every time. I think this year and last year were hardest because those students I have taught all the way from them being 1st years up to their graduation, seeing them all at least 2 or 3 times a week. They get virtually no holidays at our school so teachers spend a long time with the students and I had good teacher-student relationships with a lot of them (that’s not to be confused with Tyrone Hadnott-14 year old schoolgirl relationships!).
The main ceremony at school is fairly standard. The school song and national anthem are sung (the latter usually has some teachers and parents looking away or sitting down for it; the students always stand). The students then go to collect their graduation certificate from the principal on the stage while everyone applauds. The principal, head of the PTA, mayor of our village and a couple of other officials make speeches. It is then time for a couple of student speeches. The head of the student council (a 2nd year boy) made a speech, followed by a couple of 3rd years who addressed their classmates and teachers. This is an emotional time for the students, and I felt for the boy who made the final speech as he was already fighting tears when he started the speech. He did well to make it all the way through. Then they have a short video presentation for the students. The video presentation features music released in the past 3 years, along with photos & video of student activities and classes they have taken part in. At the end of this video, there is rarely a dry eye in the house. A nice part of the day for me is the chance to see some of the students who graduated last year and who are here to see their friends graduate. Some of them change so much (especially the girls), they are barely recognizable.
That night, I was invited to the 3rd years post-graduation party held by students for themselves and for the people who have taught them over the past 12 months. I didn’t really know what to expect but was told to dress smartly. One of my co-workers told me “It’s always a little scary!”. I had no idea what she meant by that, but on arriving at the hotel in Naha that was hosting the party, I realised. The kids who I had taught for 3 years and tried to help out as best I could had suddenly become adults. The uniforms, fresh faces, and similar hair had given way to prom dresses/smart suits, high heels and make-up! I looked at some of the students, and even now I’m not sure if they actually went to my school or not! But it was a good event all in all, and a nice way to say goodbye to some of my students. I would post pictures from the event here, although Japanese privacy law means I probably shouldn’t. It’s actually illegal to post photos of people up on the internet in Japan if you haven’t got their prior permission. So with that in mind you will have to make so with text only.
But I will finish with a video for you all. The clip in question is a music video from a Japanese artist called Gackt (an Okinawan singer), and the song is translated as “Like the flowers that bloom in the fields“. He first performed it at his former school during their graduation in 2006. Before the song starts, he makes a short speech to the students, in which he says:
A dream is not something you see.
A dream is something you make a reality.
It is something you follow through with, with extreme determination.
I’m looking forward to all of your futures.
Congratulations on your graduation.
I will post the video next and the translated lyrics below it so you can understand the meaning. It’s actually a very moving song and get the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end each time I hear it.
No one has engraved their name on the ground beneath the cherry tree
So let’s make a promise to
come here together again someday and do that
Like the flowers that bloom in the corner of the schoolyard,
where the echoing of the school bell can be heard
I want to express to you, who gently smiled for me,
a simple “Thank you”
One of these days, we’ll meet here again,
so until that day…
I want you to grow stronger and never-give-up,
like the flowers that bloom in the field
The road we got used to walking down,
and the scenery we saw from our classroom
With a smile upon your face and tears in your eyes you said,
“I’ll remember them forever”
We got used to always seeing, the setting sun coloring the rows of cherry blossom trees
And as we begin to walk towards the future,
we’ll hold each and every one of these memories in our hearts
Until you reach the place of the dreams you’ve envisioned
Don’t ever give up
You are flowers that have yet to be named,
but I want you to grow stronger and never give up no matter what
Someday, when the time comes
to look back down the path you’ve walked
I want you to have grown stronger and have not given up,
like the flowers that bloom in the field
One of these days,
we’ll meet here again, so until that day…
I want you to grow strong and never give up,
like the flowers that bloom in the field
I want you to grow strong and never give up,
I want you to flourish…
or Discuss this Article
I am a Marine currently serving in Iwakuni Japan. I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading your writings about all the news, please keep it up this whole thing isnt over yet. I look forward to reading your future writings. You have been my number one source of info since this whole lockdown thing started.
I have had an interest in Japan since university and several times have considered trying my hand at teaching English there (that is before the NOVA debacle). I found your blog at the start of this current Oki rape scandal when a poster from Japantoday recommended it, and since have found your writings very well crafted and thoughtful.
I’m not extremely interested in SCUBA diving (though I don’t mind hearing about the details of your most current dive) but I value hearing from a native speaker of English with good sources and insight in Japan. I’m very interested in hearing your take on the culture and local news as it exists on the ground, from your perspective and those of your close friends. In general, I’ve been dropping by almost daily and pan to continue for the foreseeable future. Keep up the good work.
PS: I’d love you hear your thoughts on the NOVA mess.
Hi Dave,
Good to see the increase in clicks. A similar phenomena happens with my Samui weather blog when the weather turns sour, I had a couple of thousand clicks in October last year and a similar figure in September!
Good on you. You do have a good writing style and in general I enjoy the subject that you choose to write about, especially if they concern the lesser known side of Japanese culture.
Also Okinawa’s WW II history is of interest to me and it’s interesting to see how the older local generation deals with this.
Just saw a little story on the BBC about a town in Japan called Obama and how they try to make the most of the current US pre elections.
Anyway, good luck with your blog and that your visitors may return!
Dave
I just came accross your site while trying to find out the real happenings in my beloved Okinawa. I am so very glad to find an uncensored enviornment to read and blog in. After 6 wonderful years at Kadena, we were moved on to the most awful place I have ever lived, and my memories of my 2nd home kept me afloat.
Sorry to hear of the winter blahs all your students seem to have. While I unfortunately did not get scuba certified, I spent so much time snorkling my hubby kept asking when I was going to grow fins.
Now that things seem to be somewhat on the mend, perhaps I will try to hop over. We got released from the prison known as Idaho after serving a 2 yr sentance, and moved to South Korea 6 mo. ago (we won’t even go there). I will tell you though, if you thought driving in Oki is a challenge, you ain’t seen nothing. I have seen things that would make japanese taxi drivers just pull off the road and start walking.
Please keep up the good work of getting the real news out. BTW; How was the whale show this year? Our first year we sat on the beach and watched a massive pod playing right in front of us. My daughter still talks about it 8 years later.
Nice to read your BLOG about Okinawa here. I have visited briefly before and liked it , very quiet and clean.
I live in Taiwan and there are some good diving spots here, perhaps you can come over and try it sometime. Okinawa is interesting politically too, having been an independent country in the past. We have two different names for Okinawa in Taiwan in Chinese which also reflects this I guess.
I remember some Okinawans told me how to say hello in the local language - ‘icha liba chou day’, something like that
Lastly I had a very funny experience when I was there. I was trying to cross the road, but I’ve been in Taiwan too long so never cross in front of a car (cars have right of way here). The driver stopped the car, I waited for him to move, he waited for me to move, a Mexican standoff Japanese style, went on for about 15 secs until I figured out I’d better walk across or we’d be there all day! I drive a scooter and car in Taiwan and let’s just say I’m glad I’m still here…..
Okinawa is similar to Taiwan in some ways, just quieter, cleaner, less crowded…I love the way some business people wear Hawaiin (Okinawan shirts) to work with shorts and shoes, wish we could do that here in semi-tropical Taiwan!