Tokiwa Festival and Elementary Students

It is amazing to finally experience a Japanese school festival since there are no school festivals in the CSUN. I have only read and seen festivals in manga and anime and it was really nice to be a part of it this year. It was very interesting to see the students in school on Saturday and Sunday, buying food from different clubs (circles), participating in a tea ceremony, watching students dance, and enjoying the Comedians' performances.

The exchange students noticed the school spirit of the Tokiwa students. The university students who are a part of a team, club, or circle sold different things like hot dogs, gyoza, yakiudon, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, parfait, and crepes. Some of the students did not sell food; instead, they performed ikebana (flower arrangement) and tea ceremony. Other students did live performances such as band concerts and hiphop dance performances.

All in all, the festival has been one of the most interesting things we have done here at Tokiwa.




Elementary students here in Japan are so adorable! Most of them are respectful to their elders and it is interesting to see them go to and from school by themselves. On our way back to the dorms from the Mito Station, there were two elementary students behind us at the bus and they looked at us and started talking to each other. It was very cute because we knew that they were talking about us. One of the kids said something about 外国人 (Foreigners) and he asked the other kid, "アメリカとか、ニューヨークとか。。。" (Are they from America? New York?) I could not resist replying to them, so I said, "いいえ、ロサンゼルスから。" (No, I'm from Los Angeles). The look on the faces of those kids were priceless! The other kid whispered to him, "分かてるよ" (They understand us) and they smiled to us when I looked back at them. I want to interact with elementary students again and fortunately, we will be visiting an elementary students here in Mito. I'm looking forward to talking to children again.