Welcome to…
🎨 Artwork Journey
Artwork Journey is a section of the Emily Lupita ❤️🔥 Newsletter Series featuring new Lupita paintings I made while reflecting on my world journey - with accompanying short travel essays.
Lupita With Her Students, Izumigaoka High School
By Emily Lupita
Miyakonojo City, Japan, 2001-2004
About the Painting:
I taught English at an academic high school in rural Japan for three years (2001-2004). The school was for advanced-level students and they studied so very hard. The rules were strict. Students were required to wear uniforms and had to cut their hair in specific ways, including keeping it straight and black, without any hair coloring or styling.
I wore brightly-colored blouses and had long, naturally curly, brown hair with blonde highlights. I took to wearing these gorgeous beaded flower clips I found at a local shop to keep my hair out of my face. I was also the only non-Japanese person in the entire school, so I was pretty easy to spot.
The students enjoyed my class because it was the only one where they got to sit in a different seat, rather than in their same assigned seat where they’d sit in every class all throughout high school. When they entered my classroom, students drew a chopstick with a number written on the bottom and that would be their seat for the day. We had lots of fun playing trivia games, doing scavenger hunts, and listening to music as part of our lessons.
When I was preparing to go back home to Iowa, a group of girl students who I’d taught all three years came to my classroom to say goodbye. I asked them to tell me their dreams for life, and they had the most wonderful ideas for their future. We all cried when it came time to leave. I still think of them, and hope all their dreams are coming true.
Good journey,
❤️🔥Emily Lupita
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You’re so cool!!