Today Kuniko and I headed off to our first day of school. She was going back to her school, and I was starting at a new school. I put in a full day at work for the first time in a month, and it felt really good.
It will take a bit of experimentation until I get a good commute rhythm going. Today I made a few mistakes that cost me a few minutes, but on the other hand I was able to sit for most of the journey, despite a packed train every now and then.
I got to school a little early, but not quite as early as I was shooting for. Still, the principal called me to his office and hid me there to make sure that I had a dramatic entrance and surprise all the teachers.
We had a little time to kill, so I sat with him and talked about all kinds of experiences inside and outside of Japan. I learned from him that my new school sends students to Spokane, Washington every year, and that the principal himself took the trip last year. It sounds like English has a big role at my new school, and I was happy to hear that.
He brought me into the staff room for the morning meeting, and introduced me to all the staff. Everybody was murmuring when I came in, and some female teachers near the front kept saying “He looks exactly like Tom Cruise!” The principal bragged that my Japanese was better than his own, and I followed up that statement with a short, nervous introduction. It seems like all the principals like to steal your speech thunder around here – he told them just about everything about me living me with not much left to say.
I sat down after the introduction and got settled into my new desk. It was in a good spot, not isolated from all the other teachers like I had feared. I am sitting next to an English teacher, which helps a lot, although Matsunaga sensei looks at me with just a little bit of fear. She’s trying to keep her distance I think, and I only saw her smile once all day.
The other English teachers were nice enough, and there were a couple that I got along well with right away. I’m looking forward to getting to know them all better later on.
The next stop was the gymnasium for a morning assembly for the students and my introduction. I wasn’t quite so nervous this time, and since I was last on the agenda I could really watch and get a feel for the atmosphere of the school.
This is my first time teaching at a junior high school, and a few big differences became apparent today. For one, there is less worry about being cool. The students are obviously younger and they seemed less shy. Everyone knew the school song, which surprised me – nobody knew the school song at Takanan except for the guy playing the piano. They weren’t being treated as strictly as my previous school. Teachers asked students to behave with a small voice and a smile on their faces, and the students always reacted quickly and behaved.
Finally it was my turn for my introduction. The principal once again told them all about me, and was so excited that he told them that I was a great Japanese speaker. Then he seemed to realize that he had spilled the beans and tried to cover it by spending a few minutes telling them how important it is to use English with me.
I made a short speech in English, and then finished with just a little bit of Japanese. Then, a representative from the student council came up to the stage and made a short welcome speech to me in English. It was a good speech. He said that this school was “the most wonderful in the whole world”, so I guess I lucked out.
After the assembly I headed back to the office, but not before talking with lots of kids on the way. I got a chance to meet one of the disabled students, who was there with his mother. I wasn’t sure if he was even awake, but they introduced him anyway. He was a tiny little guy confined to a wheelchair – my school is actually set up with an elevator to handle physically challenged students, which is fairly rare, as I understand it.
In fact, one of the teachers that sits near me is handicapped – he is missing his left arm from above his elbow. I had lunch with him and another teacher and he set his bowl of noodles on top of the upper part of his arm and slurped it down with an amazing amount of dexterity. I wonder what other surprises lie in wait for me at the school.
My principal even gave me a tour of the school, so I got a chance to see the student council room, the art studio, the computer room, and most of the student’s classrooms. It is a smaller school that Takanan, but it seems like there are a lot of open classrooms – perhaps because of the diminishing enrollment across Japan.
I was eager to get some lesson planning done, since starting on Monday I will be teaching classes. Unfortunately they hadn’t yet figured out when I will be teaching, other than a few classes on Monday. I’m going to do a self introduction on Monday to a few classes, but hopefully that day I’ll know more about what they need me to do every week.
Another interesting person at my school was the office manager, an older lady who speaks really good English. She tried to get me signed up for Toastmasters right away. She was happy to help me get set up, and she told me that I was lucky to be teaching at the school, because the students have such a high level of English. Later this was confirmed for me when looking over their summer homework. The English level was much higher than even the best of my students at Takasago Minami, and that was a high school! Maybe the high level will be a big help while adapting to the junior high school environment.
Before I knew it it was time to go, so I had the vice-principal check off my timesheet and I hit the road. I took my sweet time getting home, choosing slow trains where I could sit over fast trains where I would have to stand, and I still made it back in an hour.
Kuniko was at a school event – a dinner to celebrate the start of the new school term. She didn’t get home until 10:30 or so, so I walked down the street for some gyoza and had a celebration-for-one at home. Now I get a whole weekend to relax before I go back to school on Monday. Lucky, lucky.
