Port Europa

Yesterday was graduation at my junior high school and it was a very serious ceremony. There was no smiling or any memorial speeches. Infact everyone's speech seemed to have said the same thing. I saw people dozing off. It was like no-one cared. The tempo changed near the end when the one girl from the graduating class went up on stage to read some good-bye stuff from some people and she started to cry. Ohhh, awwww. Everyone sort of lost it there. I only have known the graduating kids for some 6 months, plus I don't know all there names, I only half of the class' names. So I didn't really feel anything. Then they played some songs. No 'Pomp and Cicumstance' though. Instead they decided it felt like New Years or something, and so they played that 'Auld Lang Syne' song and sang to in Japanese. You know the song, 'may auld the quaintence be forgot......'. It was sort of like any old graduation would be, but it just was a little different than what I was used to. Then afterwards they had all the kids circle up on this ball thing hanging from the ceiling in the gym and a couple of teachers opened it by rope and then confetii and some small balloons fell onto the graduating class of 15 students. It was all nice and everything. Afterwards we headed to the cafeteria for a 'tea luncheon' with the parents. It was just the graduating class, their parents, and the teachers. My principal bought be one of the Bento lunches that everyone ate. It was a little too formal and every had sit at certain tables. For some reason, and I didn't notice I sat at the girl's table, with the mothers of the students and a couple of female co-workers. There were some female teachers over at the male teachers/fathers table. I thought that it would be one of those standing room 'meet and greet' things like most graduations have afterwards. So yeah, the crying stopped and the year book signing began.
After graduation I sat in the BOE for a few hours then headed home in my 'cool suit'. There I changed out of my monkey clothes and took short walk around because it was a pretty pleasant late afternoon, where you didn't have to wear a jacket or anything and my little town is a beautiful place. The name of my town translated into English does mean 'Beautiful Mountain Village' afterall. Then for some reason I ended up at my neighbor's house. They are an older couple and are really cool. So they made me a small dinner and drank some sake together. It was pretty cool. And next Wednesday I have to go over there again to help him with his bottle of Scottish Whiskey. Crazy huh?
Today was crazy too, and absolutly exhirlating. I went on a school field trip, and ensoku, with my neighboring elementry school. I rode in one of the two buses with the kids up to Wakayama-City which was about and hour and a half away. To pacify the kids the bus driver played Shrek in Japanese on the two TVs that were in the Bus. I also got to shoot the shit with some of the kids. So this place we went to is called Port Europa. I went there back in January, but today I had the 'Passport' braclet, that was given to me by one of the teachers. So instead of paying each time you want to ride a ride you instead just waved your neon green braclet at them. So I was able to hit up some of the rides numureous times. Tjis place was a mini-theme park. It had a cool little roller-caoster where the cars spun in circles. Another ride was one of those boat diving rides where ride in this boat and it takes you up a ramp and then later sends you down a steep incline and you make a big splash. It was the best ride there. They also had a hydroluic seat movie thing, you know where the seats move in sync with the movie's motion so it feels like you are in a vehicle. In this case of Seafari, you where a whale like submarine following a dolphin that spoke Japanese. It wasn't too thrilling, but enjoyable. There were also a bunch of smaller rides. And the whole 'Europa' thing, all the buildings were built in an Italian style as to give you the filling that you were Europe. It really is sort of like a mini-Italian with some large old looking buildings and twisty small brick-lined roads with stores here and there. It was nice, but I was really ready to go after about and hour and a half. But were were there for about four hours so I did a bunch of rides several times. The kids were so excitied about everything. It was funny to see the little 1st grades get turned away by the larger rides, but by then end of the day they loved them and were riding them multiple times in a rode. A popular ride was the power dive ride, or the Twin Dragons. You know the ride where the vehicle swings between 2 'A-frames' and you go back and forth higher and higher. Unlike Great America in Gurnee where their Power Dive ride goes 360, this one only went half way and not upside down at all. But it still gave your belly a jolt. The day wore the kids out too. I am little tired myslef and I have to head to Gobo soon to study some Japanese, not that I don't really study all the time.
Anyhow, the day was a refreshing blast and really revitalized me from the events of this past weekend. I spoke of what happened before, and the past weekend was all-in-all great fun, just being here in Japan has been a blast, but some things have happened that have jolted me and at times gets me depressed a bit. But I have only been here now for 6 months and there many things that I have overcome, but just when overcome them, something new out-of-nowhere hits me.
Right now I have been listening to music that I have stored on my computer. While I do that I have also been reading 'The DaVinci Code' which is an alright book. I read 'Angles and Demons' about a year ago, which was an awesome book. Dan Brown seem to just keep using this same formula he has in all his stories, so the story is sort of predictable. He also tries too hard to write in a style to seem that it were a movie. Which makes for a fast read but seems I don't know how to say it, but dumbed now in a way. You know how when movies have to stop with the story for a moment and explain things. It is like being spoon fed all the time.
Also, in a way I am trying to up my tolerence a bit. So I have been meeting Miffy for some sake every night. Who is Miffy. Just a rabbit chracter that is on my coffee mug which come with my house. I actually have two Miffy mugs. I just more the sake in and place the cup in the microwave and then nuke the sake so it's all nice a hot. And why am trying to become more tolerent, well everyone has been inviting my out to drink, or whenever I end up doing something outside of work with other people; drinking always seems to come into play. And being able to hold your liquor is cool, well that is how it was back in college, but I have noticed that in Japan, if you can drink people under the table, at least in my little town, you socially more accepted. Especially if you can down a few small bottles of sake. Case in point, this past weekend after I finshed a couple bottles of sake with my teachers from　one of my Elementry schools, the principal then invited me over to dinner someday. This princpal never has really ever noticed me when I am at his school, but after downing a few bottles of sake, he then noticed me. So yeah, that's that. And I hope that the whole tolerence thing doesn't back fire, becasue I sort of kept thinking about drinking that damn cheap 'Maru' sake during the graduation ceremony the other day. Ahhh, Maru sake.....