Goodbye, Okinawa!

My job in Okinawa ended in August 2008. I taught at so many schools, and everyone wanted to have a goodbye party for me. Here are some pictures from my last day with 3 different schools.

All of the students and most of the staff from Kayo Elementary School

First and second grade at Kushi Elementary School.

Sesoko Elementary School's 1st-3rd grade.

I also had a goodbye party with just staff from Kushi Elementary School. The teachers at that school were very nice and welcoming. They always included me in staff parties, even though I only went to the school once a week. In this picture, everyone is giving me a "good job" thumbs up.

At this party, a few of the teachers were a little bit drunk. In Japan, being drunk means that you can finally say what you've been wanting to say for a long time. One of these teachers said something to me that I decided to take as a very nice compliment. I could also have taken it as a backhanded compliment, but I'm sure it wasn't intended that way. This teacher told me that I seem like a Japanese lady, not an American one.

I'm sure that telling me I act like a Japanese lady is just about the best compliment a Japanese person could give me. But it makes me wonder why they have a negative impression of American women? Is it because the only American women they see are affiliated with the military and might not be so welcome on the island? Do they have a negative view of American women from the media and Hollywood movies? Or do they simply believe that Japanese women are the cream of the crop? In any case, I figured this meant that the staff like me a lot, so I was happy.

I also had a goodbye party with the staff from my office. They dressed me up in a yukata for the occasion. My supervisor actually had to come to my apartment to dress me because I didn't know how to put everything on. My lovely supervisor, pictured below, was kind enough to let me stay at her house my last night on the island.