So long, farewell, auf weidersehen、さようなら! (Sayonara)

So, as promised the graduation/going away party episode! Yay for more frantic games of ketchup! Sorry if these last few entries aren't exactly up to my usual standards, but in between meeting at least 2-3 people a day to say goodbye and packing, its kind of a blur over here! I'm hoping that all the sacrificing of sleep will lead to an easily (mostly slept through) plane ride. :P

Monday was our closing/"graduation" ceremony from the International Exchange Student Program. Tony, Maria, Jun-Ho and Haruka re-presented their speeches that they had given during the final presentation day a week and a half before and then they started handing out diplomas; first to level three - Tony, Kim, Adon and I - and then to all of the level four people, even if they aren't going home, because Level four is the last level you can completely as a student in the international exchange student center. We received our diplomas, took a class picture and had a little buffet of snacks before Tony and I received our grades. I got A's in all my Japanese classes, but the way Japanese grade and what constitutes as an A is a little different than their American counterpart (American University classes are so much harder than Japanese university classes!! I'm going to go home and have to get used to actually doing homework and really working hard for my grades! The horror! =O), so we'll see what the translates into PSU grades. Nothing too bad of course. :)

I said goodbye to the rest of the class and gave my flowers and thank you cards to Hachiwaka and Ikeda-Sensei (my two main teachers here...did I mention that Ikeda-Sensei is one of the co-writers of the Genki books? (For those not in the know, those are the books that are used to teach Japanese 1-110 at PSU) I got her to sign mine! :D) and started rushing around like a busy bee to try and get things done before Tony and my Oidashi Conpa (Farewell Party), that started at Big Echo Karaoke at 4:30 :) Can't have a party with out Karaoke, now can you?

4:30 came and Tony and I were waiting at Karaoke for all our friends to show up....you know, I've always heard that Japanese people are either early or on time...but so far, every time Tony and I show up early, they are always late! Mashi was first, at 4:33 and sometime between 4:35 and 4:45, Eijiro, Keita and Yuuki rolled in.

Eventually, Charles, Hikaru, Miki, Koki and Ayako managed to join us. Karaoke was a blast, and I think I recorded more videos at this one Karaoke than at any other just because there were so many moments of fun, such as this gem, courtesy of Charles and Mashi:

And of course, Ayako, Miki, Yuuki, Tony and I singing basically our anthem, "Kiseki".

After Karaoke, everyone parted ways for thirty minutes to go grab dinner before heading to the Kaikan for the Nomikai portion of the Oidashi Conpa. Even more people showed up to that! I think our Nomikai doubled the party in size with Ayaka, Gabira, Yasu, Yuki A., Yuya, Aaron, Kazuto, Nagai, Madoka, Hiroki, Jun-Ho, Joyo, Tomoko, Takami, Sat-chan and even Rinda joining in the fun. We tried playing Pani-Pani, but that only lasted so long since it was kind of hard to keep 25 people's attention on one game...so we eventually broke out into little groups on the sofas, with me and Tony group hopping.

It was a lot of fun and I got to see all my closest friends in one setting and everyone had a lot of fun. I got pictures with just about everyone at the party so that will be nice to look through when I'm missing them. Tony had to call it a night at around 12:30 since his flight was the next day, so when he left, everyone lined up and made us what we called "The Tunnel of Love", that Tony and I ran through before he left.

Can you feel the love (from) that night?

For the most part, the rest of us kept going strong throughout the night, and by 4:30 when it ended, there were somewhere around 12 of us. I made a little speech about being life long friends with everyone, wishing them well and thanking them for all the memories and gave everyone hugs. I didn't get too sappy, since I knew I'd be seeing a couple of them throughout the week at various points to say goodbye again. I won't lie and say it wasn't hard through. I waved at them from 2nd floor of the Kaikan and as I watched them disappear on their bicycles into the night (more like dawn), and it really hit me that their fading forms would be the last I would ever see of some of them. That was a really hard thing to stomach. But I knew that I had a lot of good memories with all of them and had had a great sendoff, and I even got to make peace and have the bittersweet closure with people that I had wanted to have, so that made it okay.


I guess being a blonde Gaijin (foreigner) in the middle of no-wheres-ville Japan makes you popular over time, huh? I didn't really realize how many friends I had until they all got together for Tony and I. O_O and these were just the people that could come. It definitely made us feel very loved.

To those of my friends reading this, I will have another Japanese post dedicated to all of you written at a later date, but for now : I love and will miss all of you. Everyone last one of you. So many of you told me you loved me because you could always count on me to laugh and smile...but what you failed to realize what that the reason that I was laughing and smile was because of all of you. You were my sunshine in Japan, and you all made it worth it even even when I had hard days, was frustrated because I couldn't express my feelings and opinions or because I was illiterate, when I didn't understand our cultural differences or why I couldn't do certain things and when I missed home, even for the briefest of moments. You all are so amazing and I'm so lucky to have met each and everyone of you. I truly, truly believe in 一期一会(One meeting, One chance), and I know that I met you all for a reason. You changed my life for the better and I can only hope that I made a lasting impression on all of you. Thank you for the awesome semester!

Tuesday was not my favorite day, as it meant Tony was leaving, and I would be the lone American in the kaikan, and it just plane felt weird to know that he wasn't right downstairs or I couldn't just call him and say "So-and-so just messaged me and wants to go to Yakiniku/the movies/karaoke/Uchijuss...wanna go?". The lady from the school also came to my room to do my "final" room check...which they're basically supposed to do the day of/the day before you move out...but because I'm moving out over Obon, a three day festival like the Japanese form of day of the dead where everyone goes to their hometown, they're not going to be there when I move out. It basically amounted to her standing in my room and telling me I needed to clean more and get my stuff packed before I left on Sunday (actually, I was just planning to leave it all there, so thanks for letting me know. :P), and then I finished out the day just kind of being a sloth, getting my report done and hanging out with Charles, because I needed some Americaness, what with the absence of Tony.

I'll hopefully get the chance to post about the last couple of days from the airport/right after I get home...but if not...this could very well be my last post from Japan O_O. So in the spirit of that, I would like to leave you with the most awesome picture from my going away party, and that awesomeness is the awesomeness that is Mashima Taku.Enjoy everyone. :3