Dude, that's messed up...

I spoke with the 3nensei JTE, Ms. Hashiba, about a couple of the "missing" students at the graduation ceremony the other day. First, there was Ryuu, a trouble-maker who always, well...gave me trouble in class. Anyway, I noticed that he wasn't at the ceremony, but later I saw him dressed in normal clothing right outside of school, taking pictures and laughing with his classmates. Ms. Hashiba told me that Ryuu had dyed his hair the day before graduation, and when told that he needed to re-dye his hair for the ceremony, he got upset and stormed out of school, saying he wouldn't come to graduation. Well, Ms. Hashiba talked to his grandma and told her that they'd make an exception this time, just so that he would come. Unfortunately, Ryuu's pride got in the way and he never showed up to the ceremony. Dumb dumb dumb. This boy's gonna look back later on this and realize how stupid he was. (Note: When I mentioned how in Yabuzuka they just hold down the kids who've dyed their hair and spray their hair black, Ms. Hashiba just gave me a look. She said that some parents might not think that the teachers have a right to do that. Um, Jeff...I guess Yabu IS pretty ghetto, huh? Don't you agree? Haha.)

The other student that didn't show up to graduation, Megumi, is someone whom I've never met before. Are you confused?? So was I. Apparently, Megumi never shows up to school during school hours. She occasionally comes in the late afternoon and studies by herself in the announcement room. She does so b/c she doesn't want any interaction with the other students. How can she graduate if she's never shown up to class, you ask? Well, in Japan, EVERYONE gets to graduate jr. high and I mean EVERYONE. Ms. Hashiba told me that even if a student shows up to school a few times out of the year, he/she would still get to graduate. Clazy. Anyway, Ms. Hashiba and the other 3nensei teachers did what they could to encourage Megumi to at least come to the graduation ceremony. That morning, Megumi ran away. Because the 3nensei teachers knew that Megumi didn't want to see her classmates, they offered to hold a second graduation ceremony later in the afternoon, just so she would attend. Ryuu was also invited. This was their last ditch effort to give these two kids their graduation certificates in a proper ceremony. Neither of them showed up. The teachers will now bring the certificates to their homes. Sad.

Because high school education is not compulsory in Japan, Ms. Hashiba worries about Megumi, since she is on the verge of not getting into a public high school. This would mean that she could either go to night school or get a part-time job, neither of which Ms. Hashiba sees Megumi doing. If Megumi doesn't get into high school (results are posted on 3/15), Ms. Hashiba guesses that she will most likely just stay at home all day, every day. I remember Jenny mentioned this one condition that many Japanese teenagers suffer from, hikikomori, which means to withdraw from society. It's more like an epidemic sweeping across Japan, where kids stay in their rooms all day, refusing to leave or interact with anyone. This problem in Japan persists as parents take a hands-off approach in dealing with it. Very sad.

Thought of the day:

On a lighter and weirder note, my tea lady at school put 2 teaspoons of sugar and a few drops of bleach in the vase of water for the flowers. Hmm...am I missing something??