Tuesday, the only thing scheduled was an assembly for the students. A couple of minutes before the assembly, Tashiro asked me to say some parting remarks to the students. I had given a longer speech the day before, so I took that speech and cut out some of the sections and rearranged the paragraphs and let it go. Once I had that done, I took a short walk around parts of the school.
As I passed Katsumoto’s classroom, Shigeta came out and told me that he liked my speech the day before. He was standing in the door, the classroom was very stark behind him, everything was wiped down. Shigeta had never spoken directly to me before. He has always been a part of the group of boys I speak with, but he would always avoid speaking directly to me.
Chrissy and Jessie arrived right when I told them to, which was 5 or 10 minutes into the assembly. They got there just as I began my speech. I started the speech just fine, but when I reached the part about the girls’ volleyball team I broke down. I tried to look around and see something different, but I couldn’t. Everywhere I looked I would see another kid whom I would miss, another kid I would never see again. I paused and let Tashiro read her translation before I picked it back up. I composed myself partially and finished the speech, for the most part. I kept thinking, they won’t understand me anyhow, I could have read the phonebook and 90% of the audience wouldn’t have known.
After the assembly we had our last faculty meeting. I don’t know what I was thinking. I thought I would be able to breeze through them easily. But I had forgotten all about the formality of the final meetings. I have seen it a couple of times before. We had a student teacher leave early in the year and a specialist who worked with the Chinese students. Whenever someone leaves the school they give a short speech at which time the entire staff stands to hear the speech.
When I got up to give my speech, I had forgotten all about the teachers standing. They stood and I couldn’t say a thing. Tashiro saw me well up again and said, “Already?”
I couldn’t even look up. I think I swore softly to Tashiro and said, “They stood.”
“Of course!” she said.
All I managed for a speech was, “Thank you for giving me a place to call home.” I was done.
I just know that I deal a lot better with sarcasm then I do with formality. Fortunately, the day didn’t last forever. I was scheduled to get off at noon and I actually got out of there a couple of minutes early. I thought it would be difficult to say goodbye to Takehara, the vice principal and man I check out with everyday, but somehow I pulled that off and got out of there to meet Jessica and Chrissy back at our apartment.
The following is the speech that I read to the school:
Working with all of the students at Kawaragi has exposed me to a different style of education and a different dedication to work and study. Everyday I was impressed with the students’ dedication to their studies. Working with the teachers at Kawaragi, I have seen the same dedication that the students have and I have been impressed. The teachers are able to bring a great deal of knowledge and expertise into the classrooms for their students.
When I think of Kawaragi I will first think of the sounds of morning practice, for these were always the sounds that I would hear first when I came to school. I will hear the students practicing tennis with the sounds of the ball meeting the racket. I will see the students running for track and field with their black and white suits in the streets around the school. I will hear the baseballs hit in batting practice and the baseball team, as they would shout, “Ohayo” as I walked through the gate. I will think of the practices in the afternoon, of the girl’s volleyball team running around the field calling out the rhythm as they ran. I will think of the basketball team running drills across the field. I will see the Kendo club lacing up their helmets and striking each other. I will see the soccer club dribbling the ball between each other. I will hear the baseball team shout “Sayonara” as I would take my bike through the gate for my trip home. I will think of the sights and sounds, but I will picture the faces of the students who I have come to know.
I can only dream that I have had an impact on the students’ lives at Kawaragi. I hope that the students learned that communicating isn’t just about the grammar of a language or the vocabulary. I hope that the students learned that communication is about developing an understanding about another culture. I hope that students were able to see beyond the things that made me different from them, and that they were able to see what makes us similar. I hope that the learned that communication begins with a willingness to communicate. Communication does not need to be perfect. Communication does not take perfect understanding of grammar or knowing the right word for the situation. Communication needs only to have people who are willing to communicate. Communication often begins with just a smile.
1 comment:
WAhhhhh, why do you always make me cry, huh?? WAhhhhh booo hoooo hooo.
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