Holy shit.

I gave my farewell speech this morning at Kawanabe high school. It went pretty well, I think I got the pronunciation pretty closely. Anyway, the day consisted of me sitting around in the office or chatting with a few kids here and there in the courtyard.

Four o’ clock rolled around, and the staffroom had all but cleared out. I mentioned to the principal who was right there that I was heading out, and this was the last time I’d be there. He told me to wait, he’d let the english teachers know that were in a meeting.

A few other teachers ran out to meet me and say good bye while I backed out my car. Then, as I started inching towards the gates, I saw a few of the volleyball girls who had been training start running up after my car. I turned around the school corner to head for the gates, and there must’ve been about 200 students who had all run from their club activities, all lined up. The word had spread within 5 minutes I was leaving, lending evidence to the japanese hive-mind theory. They made me get out of my car and stand in front of it, and the band kicked up the school song. The students never sing this song at assemblies when they’re supposed to, but as they all stood around me, they sang it loudly and strongly.

I don’t think my grinning or laughter hid the fact that my eyes were on the verge of overflowing.
I slowly drove around the center roundabout while everyone waved to me, saying goodbye, saying, “Come back!” Uto sensei, one of my favorite teachers, leaned in and thanked me for all my help.

I drove out the gates, offering one last wave to the huge crowd, and pulled into the road. Promptly exploding into sobs.
I’m glad I made it home alright.

“Home? What home? In a couple more hours it ain’t going to be home anymore.”

Shit.