Logan graduated from yochien!!! It may seem silly to make a big deal about a Kindergarten graduation, but in Japan it is a HUGE deal. Only parents, the graduating students, and faculty were included in the ceremony. Kelsie was invited to go play at her friend Ayu-chan's house during the ceremony. We hired our friend Sophie to babysit Avri for us at the church, because I knew I would need to feed her right after the ceremony finished.
The children walked in an orderly fashion one by one to their seats. During the ceremony they recited scriptures and sang songs. A few of the adults said a few words and then the students were presented their diplomas. Subara-sensei read letters from the parents to the children while they received their diplomas. In Logan fashion, when it was his turn to walk on the stage he tripped on one of those outlets that are on the floor that can open up. lol Yes, our child was the ONLY child to do this. All Kurt and I could do was laugh. Most parents were crying because their "babies" were growing up and moving on...and all we could do was laugh. We sure do love our Logan. In all seriousness, we are very proud of Logan. It is not easy to attend school in a different country and in a different language and he did it! Sure some days were hard and we made lots of mistakes, but he did it!
Logan and his yochien friends. Only one of his classmates will be attending the same shogakko (elementary school), so the graduation truly was a good-bye. There is a good chance he won't see many of his friends again.
Sho-kun (in the middle bottom picture above) is holding his diploma. It is HUGE!
After the ceremony, the mothers, children, and teachers celebrated at a luncheon. We had Japanese bentos for lunch. Mine was almost all sushi (which I don't eat) - so I sneaked a lot of the fish to Logan since he loves the stuff. (I didn't want to see rude for not eating anything.)
Once we were finished eating the kids put on a program for their teacher. Logan was part of the "thank you train". The man is the picture is one of the Dads and is really a train conductor.
These are some of the other presentations.
Overall, we had a great, but very LONG day. The ceremony was close to 2 hours and the luncheon was 3+ hours!!! Each teacher and administrator had to say something....they interviewed the children....they were presented gifts and gifts were presented to the teachers...they sang songs, etc. By the 2nd hour Logan and I were definitely ready to go home since we couldn't understand the Japanese. :)
Logan was given an umbrella with his name on it, pencils with his name engraved on them, a little toy train, a copy of the New Testament, 3000 yen (roughly $30), mochi, and gift certificate to a book store.
From our family (Kurt & I and my mom), he received "Wreck It Ralph" and new red Adidas shoes which he loves (red is his favorite color).
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