Flashback Avenue
I'm on Day Three of my Karaoke Spree. In the past three days, I've gone through 17 hours of karaoke. SEVENTEEN HOURS. ------ But! That's a story for another day.
Today, we're focusing on a bunch of high school kids from Hawaii whom I met last night.
Yesterday, I had dinner with a bunch of high school exchange students from Hawaii. They've been traveling in Japan for two weeks, and on their final night, they ended up here in Fukuoka. One of the local taiko drumming groups invited me to have dinner with them and the kids, then we headed out for karaoke. We were out until midnight or so. It was fun!
I can't tell you how much seeing those kids reminded me of my own high school trip to Japan... That was nine years ago. Nine! Can you believe it?? I mean, I wrote about going on that trip here in this LiveJournal before I'd even left! I even updated this LiveJournal from Japan while I was on my trip, then moped about being back once I'd returned. Was that really almost a decade ago?
This group of kids had more people in it (30~40 kids as opposed to the 20 in my group) and they were from a bunch of different schools and places (whereas almost everyone in my group was from Punahou School -- aside from two girls from the Big Island, then me and another girl from Maui). However, it was the same sort of trip. Travel around Japan for a few weeks, have fun, do cultural stuff.
The difference is that we didn't ever get to meet, talk, or hang out with non-Japanese people who were living in Japan. I almost wish we'd had that opportunity. ♥ I got so many questions about the JET Programme, what it's like living here (away from Tokyo, away from English, away from home), how much I get paid, how I applied, things I regret, things that I've enjoyed most, how I communicate with others even though I'm not fluent in Japanese and am completely illiterate, why I chose Japan, etc. It was like a mini-interview coming at me from all angles.
Luckily, I'm used to answering questions like these because they're always asked by Japanese friends, teachers, students, and (most frequently) strangers. I've become so accustomed to answering things like this that I don't even hesitate with my answers. I just answer everything directly and honestly. This was the first time I've had to answer these questions in English, though.
There was one boy who really sticks out in my mind. He's also from Maui (where I grew up). He couldn't believe that I was not only from Maui (one of the smaller, less urban islands), but from the ghetto-ish area, lol. xD People from Maui don't often leave -- they stay either by choice or because they can't escape, but the end result is the same in both cases: People just don't leave Maui very often.
While talking to this student, every now and again he would interrupt me simply to say, "I still can't believe you're from Maui. And you're here! You're like... inspirational!"
He was adorable.
It was fun being around all of those kids ---- and quite nostalgic. I hadn't spoken to that many high school students from Hawaii since... I don't even know! Maybe since I was a high school student in Hawaii? xD What's that, eight years ago? Lol, weird.
However, the weirdest part of the evening was during Karaoke. The kids kept putting in all of these current-day new songs. I've been so out of touch with Western Music for the past three-ish years that I had no idea what they were singing. xD
But that's okay. We just wow'd them with our ability to sing Japanese songs and keep up with the super-fast kanji that scrolls across the screen. 高校生に負けないよ！ >8D
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