How to make a dull week go by quickly and, Graduation.

How do you make a dull week go by quickly? You only work for two days of it! I've been feeling rather sick and crap this week, so on Tuesday and today I went home from school halfway through the day. Add that to a public holiday on the Wednesday, and you've sort of got a two-day work week. I'd rather be at school and not ill, but on days without classes, why should I sit at my desk feeling horrible?
Rather than elaborate on details of snot and coughing, let's move on to graduation. Graduation! Yay! Thankfully, having been through the same thing last year, I was well aware of how sombre, stiff, and just plain boring Japanese graduation ceremonies were.
Some observations from this year's ceremony:
1. Fit in better this year through the suits-and-cheap-white-sneakers combo.
2. Far less tears than last year.
3. Blanked out during the speeches and made mental lists of songs to do at karaoke.
4. One boy gave me a rose. Charming!
5. The boss of the Okayama-shi BOE totally has a Hitler moustache.
After the ceremony, the graduates held a party for themselves, their parents, and their teachers. Last year I wasn't invited, and left school at the end of the day highly suspicious of the party decorations in the table tennis hall. This year, one of the mothers actually invited me in. That little gathering was Japan in a nutshell, for better or worse. I was seated at a table, all on my own. Worse still, it was a table surrounded by the other tables, all full of happy students and mothers. I filled my plate with the mini-sandwiches on the table, and waited for someone to take pity on me. Someone did, and I was invited to one of the mothers' tables. Someone asked me if I had eaten lunch, and I said I thought these sandwiches were lunch. It was then I noticed that everyone else had neat little sushi-bentos (There wasn't one for me since I wasn't officially invited, I suppose). Six or seven mothers suddenly looked nervous and muttered to each other, then they each took one piece of sushi off their trays and gave them to me, which was very kind. Then, inevitably, I was complimented on my chopstick abilities. And then my Japanese ability. And then they showered me with tea and sweets.
Japan in a nutshell, I tell you.

Some kids on graduation day:

The universally-adored maths teacher, flanked by a mob of fans. The boys on either side of him are brothers, by the way.
Me with Yasuomi, Naoto and Ryuichi. All funny, silly boys, and all half-decent English students. Ryuichi gave me a rose! (every graduate had one rose to give to someone - that was the only one I got)
Daishi and Makoto. Daishi was the star student of the school, and always the one to make speeches when required. Makoto, not so much.
Three of the best students in the school: Chiharu, Shoko, and Arisa. Shoko's mum is a high school English teacher, and she was one of the only students who actually held conversations with me.