So I went off to school this morning, walking around the debris all over the ground. Some intrepid homeowners were already out cleaning up, and the Ito Yokado construction site was already being repaired and replaced. What a mess!
At school I arrived early and got assigned to a cleanup crew. We worked outside for an hour or so, and during that time some strange looking mosquito bit me on the face three times, and the arm twice. I went to the nurse afterwards for some ointment, and that seemed to do the trick.
Today at school there were still no classes, and none tomorrow either. The students didn’t come today, but they’ll be there tomorrow for the opening ceremony, the speeches, and a homeroom class. My first classes will be on Thursday.
We did have a staff meeting today, and it was a perfect illustration of the Japanese meeting. We all went inside and sat down, and the principal, vice principal, and other staff stood up in turn to make announcements and speeches. I’ve been to a lot of these meetings, and it’s always the same. The teachers don’t hide their boredom, and the speakers don’t seem to care if anyone is listening or not.
The best part about today’s meeting was about halfway through, the groundskeeper was cleaning up outside the open windows, and started up a chainsaw to cut up some bigger branches that had fallen. Nobody could hear anything – maybe not even the speaker. I waited for him to stop and go ask the groundskeeper to hold off for half an hour, but he didn’t. He just kept on talking.
What’s better, the reactions of the teachers didn’t change at all either. Listen to a boring speech, listen to a chainsaw, either is fine.
Anyway, there’s this whole idea in Japan that it’s not the content of the meeting, it’s that there IS a meeting. It’s not the amount of work you do, it’s the fact that you showed up. Meetings seem to be largely ceremonial, and they certainly won’t let something like a chainsaw get in the way of getting the meeting over with.
I got to leave school a bit early, thanks to Mr. Hayashi, who told everyone that we were going back to the doctor (even though it was really just him and Mr. Komuri). I went home and called Kuniko, who was getting ready to leave school and go home to watch a DVD somebody had loaned her. I kind of invited myself over to help her eat dinner and watch the movie, and so we had a great evening in Osaka. I got there around 5:30, and left around 9:30. It’s an expensive trip for me, but every once in a while you’ve got to do something a little wild on a school night.
I should really be getting to bed – I’ve got to be up early tomorrow!
