Culture Festival and a Salad

So, this past Saturday was the middle school's culture festival. Nat will probably have her own things to say about it which will be more insightful than my own, but here's my experience.

First of all, it went really well. It was completely different from what I expected, but a lot like an elementary/middle school talent show in the US. Though it was all day long. I got there in the middle of the jazz band's thing, but they were one of the first groups to go, so I didn't feel too late. Besides, parents were coming and going the entire time. There were student arts and crafts on display all around the gymnasium (which is in a separate building from the rest of the school). The students did really well. The first half of the day was performances by the various performance clubs (the jazz band, a choral group, etc). There was an all-girls musical/operetta version of Snow White (the kids need to learn to project their voices, but they still sounded good) and the students who did best with the English recitations got to (had to) recite on stage. Out of all of this, there were only two boys on stage. Both of them were from the first year English recitation. I was a bit surprised at how few parents came to support their children.

Lunchtime came and I walked home, ate some food and wandered along the seaside until it was time for the second half to begin. When I walked in, I was almost floored at the amount of parents that arrived for the second half. The seats were mostly full with several parents opting to stand in hopes they may better see their child/children perform. My faith in Japanese parenting was restored. The first performance was the PTA chorus (which Nat is in). They did really well, even if the men drowned out the women when the women were supposed to be singing an important line and the men were just singing "lalala" ("rarara"). The students demanded an encore. The PTA chorus obliged. Then, each class was called up to sing a song. Their performance would be judged and winners determined later. The first-year students were noncommittal, especially the boys. Second year were better and third year really put their hearts into it. I was somewhat surprised. Some speeches were made and the judgment of the class songs was announced. The third-year student announcing the program was in tears because her class lost. The student giving a speech immediately following the announcement was also in tears, as she was also a third-year and her class also lost. There was also a song by the entire student body, but they didn't fit on stage. They ended up having to make a half-circle that spanned half of the gym.

The day ended with a speech from one of the music teachers and I went grocery shopping before walking home.

The next two days were uneventful and relaxing.

Today, I went grocery shopping again. Usually, when I'm at the grocery store, I buy a lunch so I don't have to worry about cooking for myself and only have to cook dinner. I saw some salads and I thought they looked good, so I bought one. I'm eating it now and have discovered that it is a spaghetti salad. I know that when most Americans hear "spaghetti salad", they think of some sort of pasta salad, like one might make for a picnic or a potluck. No. Don't think that. That is not what this is. This spaghetti salad is spaghetti noodles with a regular chef salad on top. Lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced eggs...that sort of salad. It came with a soy-based dressing and is actually very good. But it offends my salad and spaghetti sensibilities.

I'll probably buy another one sometime.