Me at a rehearsal for the peace play.
Campfire!
This past week was a fairly busy one. On top of the usual classes I coached two girls for a English story contest and also got involved in the peace play at my shogakko (elementary school). Two of my 3rd year students wanted to take part in the English story contest so for the past month I have been practicing with them at least once a day. They did well I think but I wish they had had more time to practice. However with all their other commitments, sporting and academic it must have been hard for them. They had two tennis games to compete in, a Japanese test and all their end of term tests this week also to consider. Either way it was fun. The peace play was last Thursday, Friday was Irei no Hi (peace day) which is an Okinawan holiday commemorating the battle of Okinawa and wishing for world wide peace. The play was of surprisingly (for me) meaty stuff. It started in the present, some old ladies telling young kids about the war. It then whooshes back in time and we see a family struggling to get food during the war. The invasion then starts and the grandmother refuses to leave the house and flee to the caves, she dies as a result. Some more things happen culminating in the Okinawans sheltering in the cave only to be bullied by some mainland Japanese troops. The play ends with the death of a little girl in the cave. There was also pictures and video footage of the war shown. They certainly didn’t censor anything for the kids! I and my keyboard helped with sound effects; thunder, explosions, gunshots etc. It was a little hard keeping track and timing things (especially the explosions which ‘killed’ people) due to my lack of Japanese but I managed and it was a success. The highlight of the week was a night spent camping on a beach in Ogimi (Okinawa Honto) with Kelly. Great sunset, beautiful stars, lots of convenient wood for the campfire and of course fantastic company. Also what better way to wake up than to go straight into the sea for a swim!
Me at a rehearsal for the peace play.
Campfire!
This past week was a fairly busy one. On top of the usual classes I coached two girls for a English story contest and also got involved in the peace play at my shogakko (elementary school). Two of my 3rd year students wanted to take part in the English story contest so for the past month I have been practicing with them at least once a day. They did well I think but I wish they had had more time to practice. However with all their other commitments, sporting and academic it must have been hard for them. They had two tennis games to compete in, a Japanese test and all their end of term tests this week also to consider. Either way it was fun. The peace play was last Thursday, Friday was Irei no Hi (peace day) which is an Okinawan holiday commemorating the battle of Okinawa and wishing for world wide peace. The play was of surprisingly (for me) meaty stuff. It started in the present, some old ladies telling young kids about the war. It then whooshes back in time and we see a family struggling to get food during the war. The invasion then starts and the grandmother refuses to leave the house and flee to the caves, she dies as a result. Some more things happen culminating in the Okinawans sheltering in the cave only to be bullied by some mainland Japanese troops. The play ends with the death of a little girl in the cave. There was also pictures and video footage of the war shown. They certainly didn’t censor anything for the kids! I and my keyboard helped with sound effects; thunder, explosions, gunshots etc. It was a little hard keeping track and timing things (especially the explosions which ‘killed’ people) due to my lack of Japanese but I managed and it was a success. The highlight of the week was a night spent camping on a beach in Ogimi (Okinawa Honto) with Kelly. Great sunset, beautiful stars, lots of convenient wood for the campfire and of course fantastic company. Also what better way to wake up than to go straight into the sea for a swim!
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