Last Huzzah: The End of the Quarter

So here we are, finally at the end of this amazing spring quarter at Stanford (or rather in Kyoto at the Stanford Center in Doshisha University). On Thursday, we had a Closing Ceremony after the last final (of course it was Religion), and then last night we had our Farwell Party. The Closing Ceremony itself was a bit unnecessary, as it was just an hour ceremony where we received certificates ascertaining our completion of being abroad at Kyoto SCTI and listened to a few faculty/staff of Doshisha and Kyoto University we've never met before. Least to say I wasn't entirely enthusiastic as I wanted to celebrate my immediate hours after my exam of freedom in a different manner (something involving lots of food preferably). But we all suffered together through the Closing Ceremony and went our different ways, planning to meet up later in the evening for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The group ended up being half of the auditors from Doshisha and Kyoto university and half Stanford students, which was nice. Things as usual got a little crazy at dinner, but considering our reservation was at 8:15 on a Thursday night (DINNER WAS SO LATE I WAS SO HUNGRY), we were basically the only party in the restaurant so it was fine. Like usual, we had tabehodai and nomihodai, which translates to all you can eat and drink. This is a common phenomenon at Japanese restaurants, especially those that accommodate large parties of people. Generally, there is also a time limit to it. This one was at two hours, which is also a norm, though some can err on the 1.5 hours. If it's cheap (like Shakey's), then it's only an hour for nomihodai but tabehodai for the whole night. Anyway, it's a very awesome business practice and something I will definitely miss when I head back to the States. But after dinner, we just headed to the Kamagawa River bank and hung out till the last trains.

Yesterday, had to wake up and go to Doshisha for our Internship Orientation. Basically, Takano-san talked about various expressions and mannerisms of the Japanese workplace that we as American students would most likely be unfamiliar with. Granted, not very much pertained to me as I'm working in an NGO with mostly part time helpers that are all college students from Tokyo University...but it was still interesting to listen about the intricacies of the Japanese workplace. I'm not entirely sure I would really like to work for a Japanese company after the orientation though. It's a ton of bureaucracy and ceremony that I find possibly inefficient and unnecessary, but I'm American. I come from a different mindset.

Fast forward to the night. So I got home around 4:40 from rehearsal and had to be back at the farewell party at 5:30, though the party started at 6:00. I decided to make the conscious choice to be late. Besides, I wanted to make sure I looked appropriate for our last huzzah considering that the evening included all the teachers, all the students, all our host families, and other persons that the Director decided to invite. Thus, I couldn't just hurriedly get ready. I managed to get ready and arrive by 6:00 though, and upon arriving, Chelsea attacked me and we went to practice. Two weeks ago, Chelsea asked me if I wanted to sing at the farwell party with her, and initially I decline vehemently. Somehow though my mentality changed and we signed up to sing "At the Beginning" from Anastasia...a capella. Okay, so I haven't sung vocally in front of a crowd by myself since I was five or something. So I was VERY nervous. We practiced a few times though in the back corridors of wherever we were, and eventually were called onstage to perform. Of course, everyone got it on video, so it will appear on fb, but apparently we did well! And then the evening continued with a fun slideshow, lots of picture taking (including a BEAT KAL) photo, and lots of chattering with the host fams and friends.

It was a wonderful party and a wonderful way to end the quarter. Even my Japanese teacher Ueda-sensei came up to me and asked me if I was in a capella at Stanford and that I was fun to have in class (that was definitely a surprise to me). OooO I'm going to miss so many people here! I can't believe the quarter is already said and done. I leave for Tokyo a week from today (Saturday), which will be exciting, but at the same time I'm so nervous. At least though I have a week in Kyoto before I have to vacate the area and go on part 2 of my journey: Through the Looking Glass.