There's no escaping the formalities of spring in Japan: graduation ceremonies, entrance ceremonies, retirement parties, etc. And each of these events is orchestrated as if it was the Academy Awards. If you've ever wondered where all the pomp and circumstance comes from, it starts in kindergarten, when 4- and 5-year-olds have to sit through lengthy, meticulously planned kindergarten graduation ceremonies as their last requirement to get into elementary school. The kindergarten graduation ceremony is the training ground for tomorrow's retirement-party emcees.
The kindergarten graduation ceremony is the point of a great transformation for children, when they go from being swirling masses of pandemonium to being bashful, obedient Japanese children.
Recently, I attended the Shiraishi Island kindergarten graduation ceremony, where I can no longer say that I am a volunteer English teacher since they started paying me a salary (5,000 yen per year). However, despite my promotion to a salaried position and my master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language, I've never attained the status of "sensei." Everybody still calls me Amy-san.
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