Homecoming??

For a high school sophomore girl who moved to the US from Japan roughly 4 years ago, homecoming is a unique experience indeed. The students dress up, get together with his/her date or clique of friends, dine, then drive up to the school to dance...after a football game?

True, football is a big American culture, and adorning dresses you probably will never wear again and dancing in a cafeteria must come as only natural to the American teenager. But for this foreign sophomore girl, it is a different story. I must confess, it has taken me more than a little time to get used to the idea.

First of all, there are no such things as school dances in Japan. At least, no decent high school will allow such a thing, nor will the Japanese teenagers have time to attend it. If a school were to even mention, hint at the possibility of a dance party, the parents and school board would swoop at them instantly, demanding to banish such nonsense thoughts from their mind, and how dare they think of such a thing when their child had to study, did they ever think that it was these kinds of thoughts that lead to a loosely disciplined school?

But let us say that the parents did permit the school to hold a dance party. Then the Japanese high schoolers would be able to dance their hearts out and have fun, right? From what I am seeing, the answer is no. Students in Japan, especially high school students, are known for committing all their time for school work. I am kind of glad I moved to the US when I did, because I got to escape the hell that was the Japanese high school life. Anyways, because the students are so into their studies, I suspect most of the students will not be able to go to a dance party.

Having come from a place like that, I was nervous about wearing a dress. Hell, I was nervous about the homecoming dance, period. But despite my fears, the dance ended up being…well, okay. My friends and I dined at Steak ‘n Shake, strolled around the mall, and danced a bit at the homecoming dance.

So, with my fear of homecoming overcome, and armed with my past experience, I would be okay this week’s homecoming…right?