Graduation ceremony

On Tuesday my school held a graduation ceremony for the san-nensei (third year students) who are moving on to high school. It was a very elaborate ceremony, complete with speeches, diploma presentation, and singing. Everyone wore their finest black dress suites with a corsage pinned to the jacket. After the ceremony, we all went outside and formed a path. The school band started to play and then the san-nensei walked down the path, waving goodbye to everyone. Some students were hugging, others crying... I could not help but think, this is only junior high school graduation. What's the big deal? But it was very sweet.

Following the graduation, all the teachers including myself celebrated the day with an enkai (party). First we went to a restaurant for a traditional Japanese meal. My memorable quote of the evening, "what is this pink thing? It has eyes." Then we went to karaoke for two and a half hours. I was going crazy by the end. The karaoke bars here are so amusing. They sell cans of helium at the front desk and the monitor tells you how many calories you burned after each song.