Open Campus

I haven’t been able to post as much the last few weeks, partially because I have been busy and partially because every time I am not it seems my internet doesn't work in my apartment. But I don’t want to fall behind because there has been a lot going on in the past ten days or so. The most recent piece of news was the commencement of Open Campus, a combination school festival/open house for new or perspective students. Beginning last week Wednesday classes were canceled so the students could prepare for the festivities that would take place on Saturday and Sunday. At first I was surprised as I didn’t know why this preparation would take so long, but once I realized how intricate the attractions were it all became clear. Junior high school students were given a theme by grade (first graders focusing on traditional Japanese crafts, second graders on the war in Okinawa and I’m not sure what the third graders were assigned to), and in addition to filling their classrooms with elaborate paper cut-outs and paper mache structures, each student created a page to a newspaper, focusing on one sub-topic. The result was very impressive. The high school students prepared their classrooms in a similar way, but more attention was put on their larger task of preparing food and drinks to be bought and consumed by students and guests. Some examples of these foods are pizza, taco yaki (friend octopus), crepes, curry and Okinawa soba (noodles), just to name a few. Other high school classes put on haunted houses or other attractions. I must admit though, while their level of effort was impressive, the flavor of the food left something to be desired. Haha

I played my own role in the open campus celebrations, preparing a room dedicated to showcasing all of the school’s international connections and abroad programs, as well as giving tours to parents and students of the new Global Dorm. The other TAs and I also were presented with other international students and teachers at a presentation highlighting the school’s academics (displays of mental math genius), dedication to the preservation of Okinawan culture (fantastic demonstrations by the karate and kendo clubs), and the emphasis on a global perspective. By far the most amazing part was the karate demonstration. So many of the members were little high school and junior high school punks, yelling in the halls or being mischievous with their friends in class. I was so impressed with the level of effort and concentration these students were able to put into their practice of karate. I had chills every time I watched them perform. So impressive!

I had the privilege of dipping my toes into the waters of Asian martial arts myself. Last week I was able to attend a karate lesson, and it was a very enjoyable experience. Karate is an art based around self-defense and preservation. The main weapon anyone possesses is their ability to harness not the strength from their muscles, rather to find the stronger position and use leverage to defeat their opponent. It also seems to be similar to ballet in the way one has to think about their body and the movements they make. I really enjoyed the experience and hope to continue learning.

In addition to Open Campus, this past week was the great Naha Festival here in Okinawa. We had to work over Saturday and Sunday, so unfortunately I missed most of the festivities, but our coworker David took some time off and was able to see a few parades and, the highlight of the festival, the east-side/west-side tug-of-war.  According to the Guinness Book of World Records, apparently this festival holds the title for the world’s largest piece of rope. The entire city comes together and the east and west sides battle it out in a massive tug-of-war, hoping to become the winner for the year. Once the match is over, the rope is cut into thousands of tiny pieces. Residents bring the rope home with them, where it is supposed to bring good luck. David was kind enough to grab some for Ben, John, Abbey and myself. We were able to head out after open campus on Sunday and experience some of the fabulous festival foods and fireworks.