Christmas is probably one of the busiest times of year here at MeySen. It starts right about the day after Halloween, much to the demise of those NO CHRISTMAS till after THANKSGIVING people. We start in teaching our kids Christmas carols on a daily basis.
The first stop in the Christmas extravaganza is Caroling through the Ichibancho. When I told my kids about it, many of the boys groaned saying, "people talk in Japanese saying what is this funny club singing in English." But I think they secretly liked it. I definitely enjoyed spending the last few minutes of class singing Christmas carols for several weeks. The actual event was great though it was shortened due to heavy rain. The Ichibancho is this mile long shopping district that is covered in most places. We gathered our kids at fixed points to sing songs essentially to their parents who followed us around. There were also the random international looking people that you you could see pause and go: "Japanese kids singing in English?" The kids rocked their carols and sounded great.
A week later, I went and checked out the kindergarten Christmas party. This is probably one of the biggest deals in the immersion program. All of the kids from both campuses get together to sing, act and play games. It it is like your average American public school party/Christmas pageant on Muscle Milk. During the 4 hour ordeal, The students process in and sing Christmas carols in a Tree formation on stage then go through games and more songs. I swear every little thing that happened on this day was better than watching babies giggling while holding kittens dressed like Santa Claus; the cutest thing you will ever see. These kids also had talent. Part of the singing was in Japanese and students got to have solos (yes Im still talking about 4 and 5 year olds). The kids with solos had beautiful voices. On top of the singing there was a Nativity play and traditional Japanese dances. I wish I could show the videos I took on here cuz its just something you've got to see. After everything, there was the biggest smorgasboard of desserts known to man laid out and set up in about 2 seconds. All the parents, brought desserts to pass for everyone. The kids ended the day on N'Sync's "Merry Christmas Happy Holidays." It was just plain great.
The next day we had Christmas cheer day which was essentially a bunch of games with our campus and a video to get the kids pumped for their version of the kindergarten party. That weekend, 1st and 2nd grade and HS had their Christmas parties. On top of that I taught a normal Saturday for 3rd grade so I worked from 8AM-8PM straight. The first and second grade party was the kindergarten party on a smaller scale. The kids played games for prizes including a Christmas present pinata filled with candy. Also for the party, yours truly got to be the big man in Red.
Apparently in Japan, Santa does not need to be fat. The Santa suit is actually pretty slimming. From my experience, I give those mall Santas a lot of credit. My job was to help pass out presents and sing carols with the kids. I had kids tugging my beard, hanging on my leg, and a baby crying at me. Outside of that, it was pretty great to feel like the star (my brothers and sister can attest to my need for attention). Several of the kids kept trying to guess who I really was. Most of them kept guessing that I was one of the other teachers. One kid was convinced then I showed him the other teacher and he goes "Santa?" One girl was only convinced I wasn't the real Santa after she saw my shirt sleeve under the costume. After carols people were constantly asking for pictures with their kids. I think between helping with pony rides last summer and pictures Saturday, I'm going to be in a ton of random Japanese photo albums.
By Saturday night, I was pretty exhausted with the two four hour Christmas parties. The high school party was actually a walk down memory lane for the kids playing games they did as a kid.It was all kind of a blur because I was pretty tired but it went well.
With less than a week left, the Christmas season is still not over, this Thursday we have the 3rd and 4th grade Christmas parties which is the same as the others but without parents. On top of that, we are having a little Christmas party with other teachers Wednesday and a staff party Thursday.
The only downside to all this Christmas celebration is that it just doesn't quite feel like Christmas over here. No matter how many days in a row I blare Christmas music, something's still missing for Christmas here in Japan. The first real snow of the season Friday was a nice touch. Sunday night we went to check the lights out downtown and the was the first time I actually kind felt like Christmas is coming up.
The first stop in the Christmas extravaganza is Caroling through the Ichibancho. When I told my kids about it, many of the boys groaned saying, "people talk in Japanese saying what is this funny club singing in English." But I think they secretly liked it. I definitely enjoyed spending the last few minutes of class singing Christmas carols for several weeks. The actual event was great though it was shortened due to heavy rain. The Ichibancho is this mile long shopping district that is covered in most places. We gathered our kids at fixed points to sing songs essentially to their parents who followed us around. There were also the random international looking people that you you could see pause and go: "Japanese kids singing in English?" The kids rocked their carols and sounded great.
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| just one of the tables of desserts |
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| Unfortunately I didn't get a ton of pictures dressed as santa. |
Apparently in Japan, Santa does not need to be fat. The Santa suit is actually pretty slimming. From my experience, I give those mall Santas a lot of credit. My job was to help pass out presents and sing carols with the kids. I had kids tugging my beard, hanging on my leg, and a baby crying at me. Outside of that, it was pretty great to feel like the star (my brothers and sister can attest to my need for attention). Several of the kids kept trying to guess who I really was. Most of them kept guessing that I was one of the other teachers. One kid was convinced then I showed him the other teacher and he goes "Santa?" One girl was only convinced I wasn't the real Santa after she saw my shirt sleeve under the costume. After carols people were constantly asking for pictures with their kids. I think between helping with pony rides last summer and pictures Saturday, I'm going to be in a ton of random Japanese photo albums.
By Saturday night, I was pretty exhausted with the two four hour Christmas parties. The high school party was actually a walk down memory lane for the kids playing games they did as a kid.It was all kind of a blur because I was pretty tired but it went well.
With less than a week left, the Christmas season is still not over, this Thursday we have the 3rd and 4th grade Christmas parties which is the same as the others but without parents. On top of that, we are having a little Christmas party with other teachers Wednesday and a staff party Thursday.
The only downside to all this Christmas celebration is that it just doesn't quite feel like Christmas over here. No matter how many days in a row I blare Christmas music, something's still missing for Christmas here in Japan. The first real snow of the season Friday was a nice touch. Sunday night we went to check the lights out downtown and the was the first time I actually kind felt like Christmas is coming up.
Love it! Thanks for sharing!!
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