Kofu Commercial College graduation 2010

[CDNSushi]

Okay, 2 threads discussed it... Now it's time to share the pix or "it never happened." Well, let me assure everyone that it did, and it went down without a hitch. To those who haven't been keeping up with the other threads, let me just point out that I'm not the one graduating -- I'm an English instructor at this Japanese two-year technical college.

As to the kilt... Many people were a lot less shocked than I expected, and I received several nice compliments, and one "the question" from a male office staff, to which I just simply responded "it's a secret" in Japanese -- I really didn't have time to formulate a more creative answer today... lol

Anyway.... Some of these will give you an idea of what Japanese college grad attire looks like. Notice, the white tie... That is indeed what most of the staff were wearing. That was the right call on my part, whether or not it suits the ensemble or not... hehe. You can't see it from the photos, but it has almost a "shadow tartan" woven into the silk, that's white on white.



This is me with the college principal and our Chinese teacher.



Here's me outside (it's a beautiful, warm, spring-like sunny day here today) with my favourite student. She was the best in her class and usually put in a lot of effort. I hope she goes far in life.



Here's me with some more students. As I figured, many ladies chose to wear kimono -- far more than the ones that chose business suits... I would have been absolutely THRILLED had any of the MALE students chosen kimono... But that's modern Japan for you... The traditional arts are largely seen as women's domain -- especially attire and tea ceremony, to name a couple.



Just some of my students. The young guy crouching down in the front is actually another instructor. He teaches computers. Again, notice the attire here....



NOT my best student... He wasn't even my favourite -- but I had a bit of a soft spot for the guy because I know he has a good heart, even if he had no interest or propensity for learning English. He's an amateur magician -- and a VERY good one. When other kids are out working at McD and 7-11, he does magic shows at hotels and spas... If he ever went pro, I know he'd be a hit! His stage persona is COMPLETELY different than the one he has in English class.... LOL!



Two more of my students -- doing what they did best during my classes -- goof off. Again, good kids, but English was just a bad dream for them.



Another goofy shot. Both students (despite being goof-offs) actually had some semi-decent English ability, just chose not to show it. The girl in the picture, about halfway through the semester, came around and started to partcipate and actually earned herself a pretty decent grade.

Well, that's all from MY camera. But rest assured, this being Japan, there were more cameras than people and so many photos got taken that a paparazzo would curl up in a fetal position in the corner and whimper. Amateurs. Heh! I'm sure I'll get more pix sent to me from the students and teachers, but I figured I'd get this up on the web while I had some free time today.

Thanks again for the good advice -- I'm glad I followed it and chose to wear the kilt outfit... I'll still figure out an occasion to wear my all-leather suit... heheh... But that'll be another day.

[MacKay71]

Great pics! Glad you picked the kilt!

[Jock Scot]

Brilliant, well done, bravo!!! You are obviously very proud of your students and you have done them proud by wearing the kilt. I really do have to say this. WE TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!

[Foosinho]

You look great; especially since a lot of the young women elected to wear kimonos. I think the white tie looks good too.

[Zardoz]

That's great, too bad the male students don't go in for their traditional dress.

[The Barry]

The outfit you picked out worked fantastic, you look great, and it looks like a good time was had by all.

Congrats on a sucessful outing!

[thescot]

You certainly chose well. Your outfit looked appropriate to the occassion, and you made it look very good.

[Macman]

Thanks for all the pictures. It's really neat to see a little bit of where you are and what you do.

[Santa Kona]

Thanks for sharing the photographs with us well done.

[Old Hippie]

Always fun to see another class venturing out into the world, sometimes helped along by a vigorous push from their instructors.

Looks like you had a good day -- and you look very nice. I think it shows a whole new level of respect to say, with your actions, "I honour your traditions, and thank you for the opportunity to participate. Here's a little of how we do it in my tradition." You weren't the centre of attention, but you certainly upheld the decorum of the occasion.

And I like it that you've got a soft spot for the underdog and the "slacker" -- to use a polite phrase. I have a few of those in my classes, too.

:ootd: