it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday

i have a week and a half left here in japan. i've been saying goodbye for the past month, but this week it's has gotten more real. everything is the last. i was joking with my students last week about everything being my last at school..."last class, last school lunch, last ごみ(trash), last はきそうじ(time sweeping during cleaning time), etc." my last day at school was extremely great, but also very emotional. like i said in my multiple speeches these past couple of weeks, "although i am going back home, i will take many memories with me. i consider japan my second home and i will never forget all the wonderful experiences i've had living here." which is very true.

some photos from my last days at konan chugakko...

these two gals rarely came to class and did "para para" (japanese young people hand dancing) in the hallway. one day they taught me a little.


i occasionally played softball with the team after school. these are the 3rd graders. i told them to "look tough".


this is mr.sato's class, 2-5. mr.sato was taking the picture and said "any pose is ok" and this is what they came up with. nice.


this is 2-4, one of my favorite classes. they are/were awesome.


ikkui and kazuya (and me)


the 'lunch lady' nakamura-san, the head teaher horikoshi-san, and i. in the afternoons we usually chatted and joked around (mostly because we three had little or nothing to do.)


i've been slightly busy packing, but not too busy not to have fun. going swimming today, yey!

things i've done in the past couple of weeks (and i have photos of because i considered them 'photo-worthy'), but have been too lazy to post about...

1. last week at shintakao shogakko
i've been through a lot with these kids including intense dodge-ball games, rice harvesting, watching the musical Peter Pan (a theater company came to school, it was rad), and of course teaching them english. they have always been so genki (at times, too much so) and eager to learn that it was very sad saying goodbye. i took photos with every classroom at the end of my "last class". they wondered why i was leaving (which made me wonder more too) and asked if i was going to teach at another school in america (they don't know i'm not teaching certified). i signed about a million hats, bags, notebooks, pencil cases, scraps of paper, hands every day that week. they think my writing in english so fast is cool. one student wanted me to write my name in english, katakana, and hiragana (maybe only those of you who know japanese will understand the absurdity of that).



actually one of my old junior high school teachers switched to my elementary school so it was fun getting to teach english with him (he was the japanese teacher at junior high). this photo is taken with his 4th grade class, 4-2.


mari-chan is brazilian, not to mention one of the sweetest kids ever. she demanded to take photos together and with my two fluffy friends i use in class, bob and shunsuke. she also frequently yelled "ciao ashlee!" to me in the hallway.











2. sweatpants bowling (part duo)
actually this time it was only shane and i sporting the sweat-style. i guess those other losers didn't think it was appropriate. what is not appropriate about bowling in sweatpants? last time(in february) though the sweats were a big hit. so was taking photos of people's ketsu (butts) in their sweatpants. ナイス. nice.



















































3. 日本のりょうり (japanese cooking)
i attended the maebashi international association's japanese cooking class. that makes it sound much more official than it is...although, i did feel bad for not having brought an apron. my friend kumi and i decided to try it together. we made suimono (a yummy vegetabley soup), sekihan (rice with red beans), and an oily, slightly spicy vegetable salad(i forgot the name).

this was my cooking team.

bridget was shocked at the sensei's mad skills.

kumi and i pretending to 'work hard'.



4. okonomiyaki man
i can't take credit for finding this shop, i can only insist that this is the best okonomiyaki i have ever had. john introduced me to this glorious concoction: hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. we've frequented the place this past year and talked (well, mostly john does the talking) to the owner, hiroyuki, who is too affable for words. i like watching him 'do his thing' making each and every yaki-cake with care and concern. we promised to go at least once more before leaving japan.


5. i won an award...
at first i thought about not mentioning this, but i figured i've got the photos and i'm on a roll anyway. this past weekend was the farewell beer garden and people (mostly those from the JET program) voted on various awards such as "most likely to live in japan forever" or "most kawaii" (cutest). i was surprised (and absolutely delighted) to receive the award for "least japanesey"...i believe my kinpatsu (blonde hair) had something to do with this. justin, on the other hand, won "most japanesey" thus we had to inhabit our roles for this photo. i'm the loud, obnoxious american and he the strong, shy japanese.

here's to you, konan chu

today my head sensei saw my "christmas mix" on my desk and we listened to it all the way through in the teachers' office. it's july. that's why i love my school. it seems to be a little more relaxed than other schools (according to what i've heard from other ALTs). my kyoto sensei (vice-principal) occasionally breaks out into whistling or song. mostly whistling. i sit next to the (unorthodox) young lunch lady. we frequently show up at school wearing similar outfits, which i've learned is "kigau" in japanese. the students think my english teacher and i are "best friends". they also think that we love GUSTO (a family restaurant chain here)...possibly because we mention it in almost every skit we do or we end the skits with "well, let's go to gusto" "good idea!" it's been an amazing two years at konan chugakko. that's not to say that i haven't been "bored out of my mind" or irritated at crazy questions like "do you have apples in america?" ah, yeah. there's a lot that i will miss though. this week we are teaching the 2nd graders future tense (I will~.) i had them listen to "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan (arigato to claudio for translating it so the students could get the full meaning of the lyrics, you rule.) it's quite fitting considering i am leaving in a matter of weeks and i hope that the students do remember "Ms. Ashuri" or that i've made some sort of impact or rose some curiosity in foreign culture or assuaged fear of foreigners or made English more fun, etc., etc. i hope i did something good. lord knows i will miss them.