the graduation ceremony

On Monday the third-year students at Gonan had their graduation ceremony. Many parts of high school graduation are the same in America and Japan, but certain things were different. My high school graduation happened at night in the summer. Many of the students wore dresses and suits and then we all wore caps and gowns over our clothes. My high school's colors were white and red, so the male students wore red gowns and the female students wore white. 

At Gotemba Minami the whole school attended graduation, including the first and second year students. In America, some of the other students may come to graduation, but not all of them. Usually a graduating student is given some tickets to give to their friends and family. Those are the people who are allowed to come to graduation. This also happens because graduation isn't always held at school. Many schools will have their graduation somewhere outside or in a special location. My graduation was held outside in a park. It was really pretty!

At Gotemba Minami, I really liked that the whole school came to graduation. It felt like everyone at school was saying "Good luck!" to the graduating students. There were so many people there! I thought it was really nice. 

Happy Valentines Day!

All the stores are filled with chocolate right now. Chocolate and lots of products for baking. It seems like cooking or baking something is a big part of Valentine's Day in Japan. I love to bake, so I think this is a great idea! In America, I often bake cupcakes for Valentine's Day, but many people just give out cards or chocolate. 

I think in Japan Valentine's Day is a day where women usually give gifts to men and then on White Day the women get gifts. Did I get that correct?  In America, we don't have a White Day. Instead everyone gives gifts to each other on Valentine's Day. Usually you celebrate with a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, etc. but many people also give little presents or small cards to their friends and/or coworkers, just for fun. 

In school, many students give each other little cards. Small Valentine's Day cards are sold in all the stores this time of year.  The cards often have cartoon or movie characters on them. Students give cards to each other at school and sometimes chocolate. In the past, it was also popular to make your own cards and give them away. My mother still loves to make her own cards. She has a bag filled with little pieces of red and pink,  pictures of flowers, and small pieces of decorated paper. When I was little we'd take the bag out every year at Valentine's Day and make dozens of Valentines for all our friends. I don't live with my mother any more, but she still uses the bag to make valentines every year!