they said, handing me a pair of slippers half the size of my feet and sitting me on the sidelines of a gymnasium full of high-schoolers mingled with bored faculty members. The principal, kocho-sensei, whom at that point I still hadn't met, introduced me to the seated teenagers and yawning teachers. He talked a lot (for never having met me), but I was only able to pick up a few words from his speech (I heard him mention the names of a couple Japanese poets -- Matsuo Basho and Shuntaro Tanikawa -- however, in what kind of context I have no clue).
After kocho-sensei spoke and descended, I was waved to the stage. The stage itself was adorned with a huge American flag, and as I stood up they began to play the national anthem. I'm sure the school had the greatest intentions (trying to make me feel welcomed and such), but I started to feel very awkward, not really knowing what to do with my hands while my nation's anthem is played (hold one over my heart or something? That seemed ridiculous), and, to make everything worse, my slippers flew right off my feet as I started up the stairs to the stage. This made all the kids erupt in laughter, drowning out the sound of O'oh say can you seeeee, which altogether had an undeniable symbolic effect. Here I am, representing the United States in the quaint town of Nagahama, and in my first month I've managed to trigger a throng of teenage laughter during our nation's anthem.
Next came my speech, in Japanese, which altogether spanned no more than a quarter of the time it took the American Sports Song to finish out. Not knowing any Japanese really, I had strung together a series of banal facts about myself: I like reading. I like snowboarding. My Japanese is shit. And so on. After the predictable conclusion to my speech (doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu), I received a deafening rattle of applause. I really swooned 'em apparently. Then I descended the stage in dirty blue socks, slippers in hand.
[ common Japanese office relations ]
3 Comments for this Entry
mexi-nugget
Maybe you just cut foot-loose. It seemed to work for Mid-western high school students...
Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 08:50 PM
Ryan
so wonderful. you realize you are going to write a book about all this right? good.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006 - 08:34 AM
Johnny
Hey buddy, I feel you! When I was at school in Japan, my host parents couldn't find me slippers almost the whole time I was there. They had to special order them from a Big & Tall-type store hilariously misnamed "Britishisms".
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 04:48 AM
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