My first week of school

So this was my first week at school and what a week it’s been. I was told that the week would probably involve a lot of waiting around the staff room, being asked to prepare for the 15 minute introduction that I’ll be giving to the students as my first lesson. I was told that there would be a lot of setting up and packing away for the opening ceremony and that although the teachers would refuse my help at first, actually they would really like me to get involved. These all turned out to be very accurate predictions.

I was lucky enough to attend two opening ceremonies in both my junior high schools. Opening ceremonies seem to be a bowerthon battle between the new students, the PTA (which they strangely call the PTA) and the staff. I’m not really sure of all the rules, as it was all in Japanese but even I had to go up to the front and help the staff team by bowing to all the new kids and parents. Its all very well organised and the kids march in alphabetically (counter alphabetically if you’re a girl) bow, stand up, bow and sit down. Then a register is called and one by one they shout ‘ はい‘ and then bow and sit down again. Who knows who won the bowing battle but it was good enough show for all the parents to want to take pictures after.

On the second ceremony I attended I got to witness a traditional Japanese drumming performance. That was quite fun but not as entertaining as trying to sight read the school song in Japanese. I can read music and I can read hiragana but both of them at the same time at speed isn’t what you would call music. It was fun having a go though.

At one point one of the teachers asked me what the equivalent to an opening ceremony in England was. I said we didn’t have one, which he seemed strangely surprised at. ‘But what do you do to welcome the new students?’.

We don’t have an opening ceremony in England because it basically comprised of a hell of a lot of bowing (You can’t shake each others hands for the same length of time), the national anthem (which everyone in England hates), the school song (I don’t think I actually had a school song) and a glorified register. Now we do do the register bit in England but it would be a bit lame to invite the parents and the rest of the school to witness a register, right?

Other than that, I have been constantly hounded by students shouting ‘HELLO!’ or ‘ピーター!’ and waving. When I try to develop even the most basic conversation they usually back down and claim to not speak any English. I am an object of amusement and fascination to the kids. Sometimes its as if they’ve not seen a white person before, and some of them have probably seen very few. At one point, when I went out to view the Baseball club girls were hanging out of windows on the 1st floor and shouting my name. Soon after the boys stopped their baseball and shouted some sort of salute, then all bowed towards me. I bowed back. There were even some girls that stopped their game of tennis after this and peaked around the corner to stare and wave.

So that’s school so far but I am yet to start doing any real teaching/ work. Which on the one hand is a little frustrating but on the other getting paid a full weeks wage for a bit of bowing, waving and colouring in isn’t too bad.