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ekusudei7 ~*~ The Journey
The entrance exam which had managed to throw my whole family into such uproar was over too quickly. "So this is what happens when your dream comes true", I thought, and returned home with an empty feeling, but as the days went by I completely forgot the valvular disease and my joy rose up more and more.
As the day of the entrance ceremony approached, I was in an exuberant mood once more. It felt as if I was going on a school trip. Instead of the dorms, it had been decided that Kimi-chan (the aforementioned Idenawaki Kimiko) and I would be boarding at my aunt's house.
My packing was done and it was the day to depart Tokyo.
"Because you're leaving your parents' home so young....."
I have a hunch I received this and various other sermons, but they just went in one ear and out the other. My older sister was lonely and cried, she stayed in her room and didn't see me off. Everyone in my family gave me sidelong glances with worried faces; I alone set out for my beloved Takarazuka in good spirits. And they all lived happily ever after.
8 ~*~ Entering the School
Dressed in my gray school uniform and regulation cap, on the morning of the entrance ceremony I stood with Kimi-chan in front of my aunt's house for a commemorative photo, and then we set out for school. We went down from my aunt's house high on a hill, to the closest train station, Obayashi Station on the Hankyu Imazu Line. We rode for two stops, to Takarazuka Minamiguchi Station, then we crossed the big bridge, turned right, went a short way down a narrow street, and arrived at the Music School.
Incidentally, since I'm writing this, the way home was one stop from Minamiguchi, getting off at Sakasegawa Station, buying an ice cream from the sweets shop in front of the station, and climbing at an easy pace up the hill road while eating and talking. Sakasegawa Station was busier than Obayashi, with a bus and taxi terminal as well; in any case, the hill road was gentler in this direction. For the one year until they built the addition to the dormitory, this became the nostalgic path I took every day.
When you enter the school gates you soon find yourself in the foyer of the school building. It's a small, three-floor building, but although the student population is 80 strong, it was plenty big enough. In one corner of the large Family Land, it seemed to feel as it if quietly stood in another space.
And in the deep pool of 60 years of history and tradition, ---We were the 60th class, bound to debut in the 60th year since the foundation of the Takarazuka Revue---we new students were easily swallowed up; I remember thinking such an oppressive atmosphere flowed around us. Ours was a tiny existence.
The entering students were sent to the auditorium on the first floor. Just like any other school, we had a congratulatory address from the principal, words from the representative of the new class, etc., etc. There was only one, very large difference, which startled. That was when the students a year above us, the honkasei, entered the auditorium.
A loud voice exclaimed: "The honkasei class are entering!" And then, moreover, they came marching in in crisp military formation without break. I was really shocked. As surprised as if I had time warped into the middle of a war.
The way we wore our uniforms, our hair style, how we walked while in school, how we spoke, how we rode the trains, and a million other things.... from start to finish they were all established, all according to the rules, and doubtlessly unchangeable. In that moment I doubt I was the only yokasei thinking I would quit and go home.....
The entrance exam which had managed to throw my whole family into such uproar was over too quickly. "So this is what happens when your dream comes true", I thought, and returned home with an empty feeling, but as the days went by I completely forgot the valvular disease and my joy rose up more and more.
As the day of the entrance ceremony approached, I was in an exuberant mood once more. It felt as if I was going on a school trip. Instead of the dorms, it had been decided that Kimi-chan (the aforementioned Idenawaki Kimiko) and I would be boarding at my aunt's house.
My packing was done and it was the day to depart Tokyo.
"Because you're leaving your parents' home so young....."
I have a hunch I received this and various other sermons, but they just went in one ear and out the other. My older sister was lonely and cried, she stayed in her room and didn't see me off. Everyone in my family gave me sidelong glances with worried faces; I alone set out for my beloved Takarazuka in good spirits. And they all lived happily ever after.
8 ~*~ Entering the School
Dressed in my gray school uniform and regulation cap, on the morning of the entrance ceremony I stood with Kimi-chan in front of my aunt's house for a commemorative photo, and then we set out for school. We went down from my aunt's house high on a hill, to the closest train station, Obayashi Station on the Hankyu Imazu Line. We rode for two stops, to Takarazuka Minamiguchi Station, then we crossed the big bridge, turned right, went a short way down a narrow street, and arrived at the Music School.Incidentally, since I'm writing this, the way home was one stop from Minamiguchi, getting off at Sakasegawa Station, buying an ice cream from the sweets shop in front of the station, and climbing at an easy pace up the hill road while eating and talking. Sakasegawa Station was busier than Obayashi, with a bus and taxi terminal as well; in any case, the hill road was gentler in this direction. For the one year until they built the addition to the dormitory, this became the nostalgic path I took every day.
When you enter the school gates you soon find yourself in the foyer of the school building. It's a small, three-floor building, but although the student population is 80 strong, it was plenty big enough. In one corner of the large Family Land, it seemed to feel as it if quietly stood in another space.
And in the deep pool of 60 years of history and tradition, ---We were the 60th class, bound to debut in the 60th year since the foundation of the Takarazuka Revue---we new students were easily swallowed up; I remember thinking such an oppressive atmosphere flowed around us. Ours was a tiny existence.
The entering students were sent to the auditorium on the first floor. Just like any other school, we had a congratulatory address from the principal, words from the representative of the new class, etc., etc. There was only one, very large difference, which startled. That was when the students a year above us, the honkasei, entered the auditorium.
A loud voice exclaimed: "The honkasei class are entering!" And then, moreover, they came marching in in crisp military formation without break. I was really shocked. As surprised as if I had time warped into the middle of a war.
The way we wore our uniforms, our hair style, how we walked while in school, how we spoke, how we rode the trains, and a million other things.... from start to finish they were all established, all according to the rules, and doubtlessly unchangeable. In that moment I doubt I was the only yokasei thinking I would quit and go home.....
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Date: 2010-10-04 09:46 am (UTC)Can't wait to read more!
No wonder, one hardly sees the TMS girls smile or laugh .___.
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