I'm just winding down the day, having spent the evening plugging away at my novel. The morning I was surprised by a phone call from home, however it was not to be the biggest surprise of the day. With the last phone call from my parents, the trans-Atlantic line had been very echoey; today however, it was like talking to someone next door. The biggest shock however was right when I got up, it looked a bit bright outside behind my curtains. It was snowing! Although it is almost completely gone as I write this. I remember noting to myself last night how cold it was, with a sharp north wind. It was actually warmer when I was out today and it was snowing. I don't think it got below 0C.
The big thing on my agenda today, as I mentioned in my previous post, was the full day school cultural festival. Basically, I had wanted to watch all of my kids' skits and music performances at the school. It was very amusing and I was unprepared for the sheer scale of it. To begin with the setup, it's all very professional, speakers, video screens; everyone brought blankets from home to sit down on; it looked like a very comfortable way to pass the six hours of performances. All week the kids had been absolutely bouncing off the walls in preparation. I noticed that many of the teachers were looking more tired and haggard than usual too. Today, though, everyone was in high spirits, especially me, despite the weather. I am finding a lack of words to explain the differences between, say, a North American Christmas concert, and today's events. There are many similarities - perhaps the Japanese parents have more high-tech gear to record every minute detail. But the differences are more insightful if harder to describe. One difference that I did pick up on - and I see this elsewhere - is how independent the kids are. They are left to practice and produce just about everything for the show themselves. Teachers are really left in a support position. Now of course the teachers are there to help, but the kids plan everything in detail. If you left Stony Plain kids to their own devices they would get distracted and you would not see something of this scale. The kids here just problem solve themselves. Here, while the production was not a Kenneth Branagh Shakespearian production, it did go smoothly, was very creative and took a lot of work. The kids did everything; the grade sixes, for instance, scripted and performed a twenty minute drama, including a simple musical score for drums and piano to go along with the action; to painting
huge backgrounds of Shikaoi for a songs. I have included one pictures of the grade fours singing one of my favorite Japanese songs, "Sukiyaki". The kids will get a kid out of seeing the images on the web. They did a very good job, singing and performing the song on instruments (in the same song!). Lastly, I posted pictures of Shikaoi elementary Taiko drummers for my mother's enjoyment. This type of drum is something that has to be seen live to be enjoyed.
I'm just winding down the day, having spent the evening plugging away at my novel. The morning I was surprised by a phone call from home, however it was not to be the biggest surprise of the day. With the last phone call from my parents, the trans-Atlantic line had been very echoey; today however, it was like talking to someone next door. The biggest shock however was right when I got up, it looked a bit bright outside behind my curtains. It was snowing! Although it is almost completely gone as I write this. I remember noting to myself last night how cold it was, with a sharp north wind. It was actually warmer when I was out today and it was snowing. I don't think it got below 0C.
The big thing on my agenda today, as I mentioned in my previous post, was the full day school cultural festival. Basically, I had wanted to watch all of my kids' skits and music performances at the school. It was very amusing and I was unprepared for the sheer scale of it. To begin with the setup, it's all very professional, speakers, video screens; everyone brought blankets from home to sit down on; it looked like a very comfortable way to pass the six hours of performances. All week the kids had been absolutely bouncing off the walls in preparation. I noticed that many of the teachers were looking more tired and haggard than usual too. Today, though, everyone was in high spirits, especially me, despite the weather. I am finding a lack of words to explain the differences between, say, a North American Christmas concert, and today's events. There are many similarities - perhaps the Japanese parents have more high-tech gear to record every minute detail. But the differences are more insightful if harder to describe. One difference that I did pick up on - and I see this elsewhere - is how independent the kids are. They are left to practice and produce just about everything for the show themselves. Teachers are really left in a support position. Now of course the teachers are there to help, but the kids plan everything in detail. If you left Stony Plain kids to their own devices they would get distracted and you would not see something of this scale. The kids here just problem solve themselves. Here, while the production was not a Kenneth Branagh Shakespearian production, it did go smoothly, was very creative and took a lot of work. The kids did everything; the grade sixes, for instance, scripted and performed a twenty minute drama, including a simple musical score for drums and piano to go along with the action; to painting huge backgrounds of Shikaoi for a songs. I have included one pictures of the grade fours singing one of my favorite Japanese songs, "Sukiyaki". The kids will get a kid out of seeing the images on the web. They did a very good job, singing and performing the song on instruments (in the same song!). Lastly, I posted pictures of Shikaoi elementary Taiko drummers for my mother's enjoyment. This type of drum is something that has to be seen live to be enjoyed.
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