The Crazies (cont.) At the School Festival!

The school festival is today, and I must say that it is a bit bewildering. How a festival works is so ingrained in their society that they don't even think they have to explain it to a foreigner. It makes sense, naturally. Silly foreigner.

I ate entirely too much delicious food. The yakisoba was the best I had ever tasted, and the karaage was wonderfully fatty. I had two doughnuts that were beyond tasty, and rivaled that of an American doughnut. Until now, I was under the mistaken impression that nothing could outdo the glorious taste of an American doughnut, but I was wrong. So very wrong! They dissolved in my mouth like a precious nectar, and like that, the taste was gone and I was left wondering at its glory. Would I ever taste anything so heavenly again? I decided not to buy a second box, in honor of the first box's memory (and also because I did not want to completely betray my diet).

I met who I think is Fujii's girlfriend today. Her english was not very good, but I finally understood that we were going to go see a drag show. A drag show? I thought incredulously. Surely the Japanese are far too uptight for that. As I walked to the gym, I saw three of my students, who were, by the way, the most masculine in my third year, looking like bizarre Picasso's of a girl.

"Tetsuya?" I asked, my confusion painted on my face as prominently as his lipstick and mascara.

The boy snickered, and nodded. "Aren't I beautiful?"

The were paraded on stage, asked their favorite type of man, and what kind of date they would go on. Strangely, the boys were brave enough to down the clothing of the other sex, yet not brave enough to answer the questions into the microphone. Then five girls were asked to go up and stage and give a banana to their favorite girl. Most of the boys thanked them for their prize, but others were more creative.

"I'm so happy." One's rich baritone says, clearly making fun of the typical girl in a drama.

The other, I could not understand, but his prepubescent crack in his falsely emotional voice led me to believe he was trying to be funny. Everyone laughed at him, in any case.

After that, I watched the bands and karoake, where I got to know a little more about Okada-sensei.

Initially, I did not sit next to her, but instead gradually drifted over to her sit by sit because I kept wanting to say some innocuous comment, and hated that there was no one to listen to me. We talked about how the singer was really bad. Then Okada-sensei, being the nice girl that she is, said that maybe, the stereo was broken. The guitarist, Shota, on the other hand, was excellent, and I wished that he wasn't stuck with clearly second rate players. The next band that played was all about drama. One of the actual members could not preform because his hair was too long, and he had dyed it, which is an awful big no-no, even at a low academic school like Togi. The crowd cried "Kyousuke! Kyousuke!". He came out, with tears in his eyes, and thanked them for coming, and expressed how much he wished he could be performing with his band. I had never seen anyone so emotional but something that was clearly their fault. I may not agree with the strictness of the rules of appearance in Japan, but the boy knew the consequences. Perhaps his tears were the tears of someone trying to be free, but feeling the constriction of society's bars press up against his chest he reached out for the sky.

Okada-sensei is very kind, I realize. I told her that follow her like a puppy, and she laughs at the idea, but lets me follow her anyways. In my heart of hearts, I know I'm seriously taking down her cool points, but then again, I've made it my mission make her english better. I already think it has improved leaps and bounds since I have come. I'm embarassed to say this, but I seem to think it to be a better idea to teach the English teacher's English, rather than the students.

I wish I could describe her properly, but I know very little about her. I know that she leaves close to the drummer of one of the bands that performed today, and that she learned the trick of fanning two people at once from her ex-boyfriend. This trick was much appreciated by me today, as I kept forgetting my damn fan. In America, one usually thinks that fans are useless. But here in Japan, I have learned that their usefulness is so great that it is nearly ineffable.

I hope that after today, I have endeared myself a little more to Okada-sensei. It sounds very dorky to say it, but I hope that we become friends.