Bunkasai!

So the Cultural Festival has come and gone. Weeks of preparations, rehersals, paintings, memorizing lines and songs, working stage directions, creating the program, etc. went into creating one fabulous day. Unfortunately for yours truly I had just come down with some kind of cold or flu that kept me home on Thursday, so I got to sit through the day with a fever and cough. And i had to lip sync for my big japanese choir debut. Lame. But all in all the day was fun. The program was a mix of plays, songs, speeches, dances, and more put on by classes, groups of friends, clubs, and teachers. In the end it turned out to be alot like some whole school talent show - complete, just like any talent show in America, with a group of under-clothed girls dancing innappropriately. I appreciated it largely due to the fact that it was performed to the 'Sister Act medley' in Japanese. And the girls first came out with habits covering their heads. However, i was unaware of certain unique Japanese requirements at such an exhibition - at least one boy dressed as a girl per play, having no idea how to run the stage equipment, and bringing at least 2 recording devices (video camera, cell phone, digital camera, tape recorder, film camera with extensive zoom lens, etc.) to the show. Here are some pics from the day that i captured on my (gasp!) single camera:

Princess Tomoko - named for the third grade english teacher and this class' homeroom teacher. Yes it was actually Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. And yes Snow White was played by a boy.

The mirror and wicked witch from Snow White/Princess Tomoko

My personal highlight of the day: two gym teachers, Ichimiya and Mizuntani sensei borrowed school uniforms and did a skit/song. Fabulous all around.

The first years' play. They're just so darn cute. Oh, and i helped make that backround by stamping my painted hands around. Pretty good, i know.

No, this is not a boy dressed as a girl again. This is a boy dressed as a transvestite. Yup, one of the third year classes wrote a play about a love story between a computer nerd and a transvestite.

The choir i 'sang' in. I'm in the back row, 4th from the right. Not that you can see me anyway.

The second years lined up to sing their very sad and very annoying song after a 20 minute play and 10 minute power point on World War II. Not so light hearted.

Here the students broke into a choreographed dance in the middle of the Pinnochio play. Pretty sweet. Except it was to the damn Mickey Mouse song. They really need to get a new song.

some weird chant and dance from the soccer team. mostly they looked crazy and sang the techno song whose name i dont know that goes "Right here, right now, right here, right now..."

The whole school lined up to sing the closing song called 'Signs', by the creepily named artist, Mr. Children