March 19th: Kogawara Elem. Graduation

I've been blessed with the opportunity to teach English in Japan for almost 5 years now and over the years the number of students that have had my English class(es) is probably over 10,000. While I was in Hachinohe, I circulated to 48 elementary schools and 4 jr. high schools for 3 wonderful years. Now in Tohoku Town, my rounds consists of only 7 elementary schools for a tour of 2 years.

Over the years, it has been extremely hard to build student/teacher relationships because I would only visit a school once a month. In Tohoku Town, my school visit ratio has increased by 4 times. So now I attend the same school about 4 times a month and that has given me the opportunity to actually get to know some of the student's personality, humor, study habits etc. With that, you grow attached to them and when they graduate, sadly that attachment has to end.

One of my favorite schools is Kogawara Elem. The students there are excellent. They're not shy and reserved like some other schools, but very outgoing and friendly. One of the best classes were the 6th graders. I once had a class with them were I spent the entire period telling them about my trip to Thailand. They were all interested and had lots of questions. Then after the discussion was over, we went into the next room where I had laid my Thai photos out on tables. They walked around saying, "What is this? Whoa look at that! That looks delicious!" It was such a fun day because it wasn't just about teaching English, but about internationalism and sharing a new part of the world to them. Gotta thank Mr. Tsukekawa Sensei for that one.

Anyways, congratulation and 頑張れー！！I won't forget you!