I remembered what else I was going to write about that I forgot in the last entry. The other reason why I’ve been so busy lately, Charity Show. But I will have to write about that after I write about Sports Day because Sports Day is interesting.
Sports Day for my school is held in May when the weather comes into one of the most stable times of the year. A lot of other schools hold it in September too but most of the primary schools hold it in May, as does my Junior High and a couple of other Junior Highs in my town.
This past weekend I was rudely awoken by the sound of the mega-phones and announcement system of the nearby primary school holding its Sports Day. Apparently, my friend’s child was supposed to be running but it rained in the afternoon and I missed it. I am a little bit gutted but at least I got a shed-load of sleep on Saturday and was vaguely productive this weekend.
What’s been interesting me about sports day lately though is the sheer amount of practice these kids do for it. Also the sheer amount of classes that get cancelled so that they CAN practice for sports day. This week I have taught a total of 6 classes at Junior High and erm only 2 at Elementary School (but that’s because I got a stomach bug and spent much of the day sleeping in the nurse’s office after I nearly collapsed trying to teach the little ones). I was due to teach 4 classes at elementary but only wound up teaching the 2 because one class was cancelled for sports day practice. At Junior High not much has happened this week but Sports Day practice, and we’re all praying that it doesn’t rain on Saturday! These kids practice so hard for Sports Day and I guess I’ll find out on Saturday what the fuss is all about.
As for Charity Show…
Every year for the last 18 Toyama’s JETs have put on a show to raise money for charities in Toyama, Japan, as well as international charity, Heifer International.
This year is the 19th time JETs in Toyama have put on a show such as this and I convinced in the week leading up to auditions to do so.
The show we are putting on this year is called Alice in Wonderland but it has a twist. Alice is from Toyama and wonderland is Tokyo. It’s all in Japanese, written by some local ALTs (ie not Japanese people) and translated into Japanese by some friends of ours, or translated by said writers, I’m not 100% certain. The songs are new takes on old favorites from back home and are awesome. I play Cat Maid, a maid at a maid café in Akihabara. I get to wear one of the best designed costumes I have ever seen and prance about the stage like the ditz that I am. :D It really is the perfect role for me. Now, if only I hadn’t gotten sick with whatever it was that has caused me to feel vile for the past couple of days and been able to make it to rehearsal.
Rehearsals are more or less every Thursday night and Sunday afternoon for the past month or so and is really putting my body through its paces, all this dancing and singing and remembering lines, phew, it’s a bit of a mission really. At least I’m not the girl playing Alice, she has to attend absolutely every rehearsal and remember her lines for the WHOLE show in Japanese when she doesn’t really speak much of anything Japanese really.
So anyway, this year’s charities are really awesome and I think it’s a great cause. If you live in Japan and wanna come… wink wink, come check out Toyama in the process! … the shows are on the 13th of June and the 20th of June. Tickets are selling now!
Hope all is well with all of you!
R
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