(Hakone Part Two is coming soon, but I wanted to share some school experiences first.)
10:45 a.m.
Last year’s school year has drawn to a close and the new school year starts today, April 7. Along with new classes and new schedules, we also have new teachers. It seems that teachers can only stay at one school for a maximum of seven or eight years before being transferred to another school by the Board of Education, although the average seems to be three or four. It also seems that to be a teacher in Japan, you have to pass a written exam, an oral interview, and a fitness test (of all things) before being allowed to teach. And apparently you can't choose if you go to elementary or junior high school, you just go where they put you.
This March, almost half of our teachers and our Vice Principal were transferred to other schools, to be replaced with new college graduates or teachers from other schools around this area. Unfortunately, most of the teachers who left were the ones I loved the most, the ones who really made my first eight months here so great. I’m trying not to be too bummed out by their absence, even though I hate not having them here any more. Their replacements all seem to be nice people and I'm sure that within a few months I will feel as comfortable around them as I did with everyone else, at least I'm hoping so. As part of the “old” crowd, I feel it’s my responsibility to help the new teachers feel comfortable here, but lacking language skills, I just smile at them and say, "The teachers here are very nice," because I don't know how to say, “I hope you’ll be happy here,” in Japanese. I hope I can say more reassuring things as the year goes by.
I was surprised that most of my friends who left, women in their 20s and 30s, have been mostly replaced with men: I only counted 13 women out of our 40-something staff. Some of the new men are stern-looking and unsmiling, but others have kind faces even though we can't communicate. The new band director, a man in his late 30s, reminds me of a Spanish toreador with his little mustache and goatee, and the new 30-something science teacher looks like he would be at home on a stage crooning Michael Bolton love songs. There is also a new P.E. teacher in his mid-20s, who is tall and extremely handsome, and carries himself with confidence. My personal favorite is the new music teacher, fresh out of college, looking for all the world like a Japanese Harry Potter. He’s 23 but looks 16, and wears thick-framed glasses and an eager smile. I feel like out of all the newbies, I want to help him fit in here!
Most of the new women teachers seem kind as well. The woman who now sits to my left, while nowhere near my age, does speak a little English and wants to be a social worker, so we have a lot to talk about in our broken languages. Another new teacher, third grade math, talks to me in Japanese and asks me how to say certain words in English. Only two girls at school are around my age: one is 23 and was here last year; the other is a 25-year old Japanese teacher who has a bright personality and good English skills. Including the new P.E. and music teachers and Mr. M from last year, this brings the under-30 crowd at my school to a grand total of six.
Today we had the entrance ceremony for students. In the morning, the second and third graders (last year’s first and second graders) crowded into one section of the gym and were introduced to their new teachers. After everyone sang the school song twice, the principal made a speech, and then each group of teachers (first grade teachers, second grade teachers, third grade teachers, supplementary teachers, etc.) stood in front of the students, bowed, and said, “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu (please be nice to me).” Even I got to bow and say hello, even though I was introduced as “The ALT” and not by my name. It was funny to see the students’ reactions to the announcements; there was a loud chorus of “eeeeehhhh!!!!”s whenever something unexpected happened (like the volleyball coach suddenly teaching basketball). And although the assembly started off rather gravely, as all formal occasions here do, by the end teachers were cracking jokes and the students were all giggling. I love it when that happens.
For lunch, we had another delicious bento box. But, just like shredding, I have a Pavlovian fear of them now. I can’t enjoy them for thinking another earthquake is going to strike—we had just finished eating bento boxes two hours before the tsunami came. (Side note: there was another aftershock last night as I was going to sleep. First one I've felt in a week.)
3:00 p.m.
In the afternoon, the new ichinensei students came in for their entrance ceremony. This time it was bigger, and parents came, too. It actually mimicked the sannensei graduation ceremony a lot, I thought. An hour before it started, parents and their children started trickling in. I was assigned Car Duty, so I joined five other teachers brandishing orange light-saber guiding sticks and waved the incoming cars forward to their respective parking areas. It was fun because I was placed beside the band director, the one who looks like a toreador. Luckily, he speaks some English, and we were able to have a lively conversation. I asked him if he spoke French, and his answer was, “Je t’aime!” which is always a good phrase to have handy. This he followed up with, "Ich leibe dich!"and "You are very beautiful!" Now I think he’s going to be a fun one to have around. :) I also got to talk with Michael Bolton, whose English is almost non-existent, but who has a kind personality and is patient with my bumbling Japanese.
Twenty minutes before the ceremony started, I made my way down to the gym. Harry Potter was lurking in the doorway, seemingly afraid to go in.
“Are you OK?” I asked in Japanese. He nodded.
“Nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Who are you waiting for?”
“The other music teacher.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Play the national anthem on the piano.”
“Oh, great! Don’t be nervous. You’ll be fine.”
Nervous smile.
“Breathe!” was my helpful advice, the only thing I had to say in English because I didn’t know the Japanese for it. I acted it out. “Breathe deeply. It’ll calm you down.”
Maybe he understood, because he opened his mouth and took deep breaths. He tried to smile but he still looked petrified. “It’s OK,” I tried to reassure him. Weak smile. Then we went in.
The ceremony was almost exactly the same as the sannensei graduation a month ago. The students filed in, this time to glorious upbeat music from the band, bowed, and sat down. There are seven ichinensei homeroom classrooms this year, two more than last year! As I watched the kids file in, I wondered, “Who is going to be trouble? Who is going to be fun? Who is going to be smart?” Most of the boys walked in with their 13-year old chests raised high and their chins in the air, like miniature Army recruits. The girls were less confident, and some seemed on the verge of nervous tears.
Harry Potter and Toreador played and sang the national anthem without a hitch. This is embarrassing, but today was the first day I realized that slow, beautiful song they play at the beginning of important ceremonies is actually “Kimigayo,” the Japanese National Anthem. I was also shocked at how short it is, just five lines:
Kimi gayo wa / Chiyo ni yachiyo ni / Sazare ishi no / Iwao to nari te / Koke no musu made (“Thousands of years of happy reign be thine/ Rule on, my lord, till what are pebbles now / By age united to mighty rocks shall grow / Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.”) [Not my translation, obviously.]
After we sang, the principal made a speech, the new homeroom teachers introduced themselves and called out the names of the students in their classes, the band played a song, two boys made speeches, the principal made a final speech, and then it was over. The students officially matriculated into junior high school and filed out the way they came.
Afterwards was the clean-up, the obligatory “good job, guys,” speech in the staff room, the passing out of more omiyage (I swear I’ve never seen so many good things to eat as I have this past week), and then, before I knew it, the first day of school was over. Tomorrow starts the real school year! 頑張りましょう！
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