School has officially started! I don’t know if it started Thursday when it was the opening ceremony or if it started Friday when we had the welcome ceremony for the first graders. Either way, come Monday, we will be back in session! I think I like how the school year runs here more than in America. Yes, in America you have a three month break.. But students go back when the nice weather is ending (how depressing) and it starts to get cold.. (bleh ?) versus Japan where when the ume trees are blooming that means the end of the school year is near (how pretty!) and when it’s time for the new year to start, cherry blossom trees are blooming (eeeee!) and the weather is nice. How else can you get excited for school other than pretty trees and great weather? Oh, and the opening ceremony and welcome ceremony for the first graders of course.
For the opening ceremony I was actually at my secondary school… Not to be biased but I enjoy the ceremonies at my primary school more… Even though the layout of the ceremony is exactly the same as my primary school. At this opening ceremony, the new teachers were introduced and announcements were made for who was teaching what grade. It reminded me of an award ceremony. 6th grade goes to….Yamazaki (not a real name) Sensei (and the crowd goes wild)! Of course we (the teachers) all knew who was assigned to what grade but we had to keep it a secret from the students until the ceremony… Because we spend every waking hour with them when school isn’t in session and my Japanese conversation skills are that good where I could tell them… ?Any new students also had to introduce themselves, say what grade they’re in, and where they came from. At the end of the ceremony we sang the school song which kind of reminded me of Rudolf the red nose reindeer and then the kids went home.
For the welcome ceremony I was back at my primary school (yay!). For the most part it was the same set up as graduation. Except the ceremony itself was a lot shorter and instead of saying goodbye we were welcoming them… But the set up was the same and the people were the same (except for the 6th graders and their parents. The students were cute. So cute you couldn’t not smile when they walked in. There was a speech from the head of PTA and the principle then the homeroom teachers for each class announced each student for everyone. At the end, each class and their parents had a picture with the homeroom teacher and the vice principle and principle. If you thought people made a big deal about their kids starting elementary school in America, Japan makes it bigger.. and a lot more formal.
For the most part, I blended in with the rest of the teachers. You couldn’t tell I was a foreigner.. Until we had to stand to sing the national anthem and I just stood there with my mouth open looking like an idiot… Other than that, I totally blended in…
After the ceremony was over, the older grades helped clean the gym and then were dismissed. We (teachers) had lunch (in the shape of an ume flower) and then changed to finish cleaning the gym. The rest of the day was filled with meetings and getting ready for the first day of school on Monday. I still haven’t gotten my schedule yet but I’m confident I will get it before I teach my first class…Hopefully. My primary school I’m not too worried but the secondary school I’m a little concerned it’s going to be a game of “Who am I teaching today?”. At least I got my lunch schedule… Because that’s what’s really important right?
