Graduation Day 2008 at TJH

Graduation Day 2008 at TJH - 9.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Hello All -

Last Friday was Graduation Day at Taisha Chu, and unfortunately it turned out to be a rainy day, as you can see from the picture above of me with Minami and Manami. (sure - now I get their names right.. LOL)

I posted about 80 pics to my Flickr site, so click on any of these pics to be taken to 4 and 1/2 pages to see.
There are pics of the classroom decorations, the ceremony itself and of course, lots of pics of my kids - the graduating 9th graders and the 7th and 8th graders saying goodbye to their sempai.

This class was special for many reasons - they were my first group of kids that I taught ALL 3 years of Jr High with - in fact i first met them when they were 6th graders in elementary school.
I got to know the boys in this class better than I have in any previous class - I will really miss hanging out with them.



And I got really involved in all the clubs this past year, trying to go to as many concerts, competitions and matches as I could.
My first year or two I spent most of my time with the kendo club and the brass band, but these past few years I've been able to get involved in most of the clubs at school, like the tennis girls below...



My favorite club this year tho was the Volleyball club - I had a great time cheering at their matches and I'm really gonna miss all 8 of the 9th graders who were on the team. They came up to me at the farewell ceremony a few days before graduation and said "Thanks" for all my support, and gave me a small gift. It was all I could do to not start crying like a little girl right there in front of them.

This past year wasn't the greatest for me - but this group of kids will always have a special place in my memories. I wish them all the best of luck in high school and in the future.

そつぎょうせいーおめでとうございました！
ジェイソン