The Start of School


Yesterday, February 8, 2012, the kids started at the Japanese Public school here in Utazu. As simply as I can put it - AWESOME! The four of us, accompanied by our new boss Tyler, arrived at the school at 8 AM. We were ushered into the office where the kids’ teachers each came to get them. Jaxon’s teacher, Kato Sensei, came first. She is a tiny, young woman with boundless energy. She brought a few of Jaxon’s classmates with her. They had all learned his name already and welcomed him. All his initial reservations seemed to drop away and off he went. Lily’s teacher (or, Riri as she is called here) is more reserved. She seems very nice, always smiles. I think the kids have been paired up well. It took her a minute, but Lily followed her teacher to class too.


The next hour was spent with Jason, Tyler and I being given a tour of the school by the principal. They first word that comes to mind when thinking of him is dynamic. This guy just emits pizzaz. He is also full of energy, smiles non-stop, and seems to be very active in the school. He is everywhere, all the time. Fortunately for us, he and Tyler go back a ways, having worked together. The two of them were like old college friends, chattering back and forth. The principal is clearly very proud of his school - which is one of the only ones around with heated classrooms (thanks to him). The building is amazing - full of windows and light. There are huge open rooms and hallways everywhere. In the hot weather they open all the doors and the walls slide away to make the school more of an open air building.


I could prattle on about the school all day. Bottom line, the kids cam home happy. They made friends, although they cannot quite remember their new friends names yet. Here are the complaints they shared.

Jaxon -“There is a girl in my class with a crush on me. She kept giving me her balls. I don’t like her back though - she doesn’t even know what hello means and she is too tall.”

Lily -”They kept touching my hair. And every time I said anything in Japanese they would all clap for me and hug me. They need to stop!”


Too funny. Here are a few of the big differences so far- the kids all wear uniforms. Despite the fact that the air outside is super cold in the mornings, the girls wear skirts and the boys wear shorts. All year. Brrrrr! We don’t have our unis yet, but I will post ics when I do. Also, the kids have two pairs of school shoes. The first pair (white) they wear to and from school and out to recess. The second pair (with with red for girls and blue for boys) they wear indoors. Each student has a shoe locker to switch back and forth right inside the front doors. Also, the kids eat lunch in their classrooms. The food is delivered to the room and students are assigned to be waiters, so they bring it too the desks. Yesterday they had rice with “little fish” in it and some tofu thing. Lily ate an apple. They go to school from 8 to 3 or 4, the dismissal time varies each day. And, everyone walks. No bike riding is allowed, and parents are not supposed to drive the kids. No busses either.



More later!

Comments

  1. slowneyFebruary 8, 2012 at 10:20 PM

    It sounds like a great start! How is the teaching going? Glad that you were able to Skype with Leslie. She misses you.

    ReplyDelete

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