Hanami (lit. “flower viewing”) is the Japanese tradition of enjoying the few lustrous weeks of the cherry blossom before it falls in a billow of wind. Hanami is highly regarded because of the wab-sabi aesthetic of the cherry blossom: because the cherry blossom is imperfect in its quick decay, we must treasure its simplistic beauty while it lasts. For the Japanese, their idea of enjoying its natural beauty includes picnics under the tree, picture taking of the tree, karaoke amongst the trees, and drinking by the trees.
I personally have fun eating over-priced festival food – okonomiyaki, chocolate banana, fried chicken — and watching the intensity of the cameras people bring to these events.
I was lucky to stop by a couple shrines this week for hanami including Mishima Taisha Shrine in Mishima City. I actually went to Mishima twice, once with Hira-san and the second time with my ALT city-partners-in-crime, Emily and Aneeka. (Hira-san and Emily are featured in my video. Thank you!)
First Week: The Emperor and I
On Facebook, I already posted how I felt. Let me repost it here:
Ana Alcantara suddenly felt a calm wave as the children rushed towards her, calling out “Miss Ana! Miss Ana!” similar to that of Anna Leonowens’ experience in the King and I. I may or may not burst into song.
It’s not far from the truth. Even though I have three schools to teach, I will primarily be teaching in Ohito Junior High School where the girls are dressed in black, long skirted sailor suits and the boys wear the traditional Chinese-collared gakuran. So far, I haven’t taught a thing. May be that’s why it’s ridiculously fun right now.
Currently, my main responsibility is the creation of pink paper cherry blossoms. When I am not playing skip rope or dodge ball with the children, I am at my desk diligently making pink paper cherry blossoms. However, although I am responsible for creating an indefinite amount of these flowers I like to escape my duty (with the blessing of my coordinator and principal) to do random tasks around the school like helping other teachers during student health checks, sticking pink paper cherry blossoms on posters or walls, photocopying random worksheets, acting as assistant camera man to the many different school assemblies and ceremonies, playing skip rope, pretending to play skip rope, sticking pink paper cherry blossoms on students, and trading different items in school lunch with other students.
The girls are very curious about me so they ask me a variety of questions. Many do repeat themselves such as “Do you have a boyfriend?”, “What is your blood type?”, “How old are you?”, “Are you married?”, “Do you do the poo?”, etcetera. The boys like to play the game called, “Hello!” where one boy would stop me, quietly say “Hello!” and then would goad his nearby friend to do the same … but louder. This continues until I pass them by.
My friend, Kristine, who lived in Japan via The JET Program is astonished to why I have these movie-esque children. She wrote, “Any waves I felt were ones of nausea, as my demon-children ran helter-skelter, baring their fangs and proceeding to chew my worksheets into confetti. ” Right now, I don’t know if it’s just the afterglow of the first week, but I hope it does not diminish any time soon.
