We continue with weird schedules at school this week. The students came in today for a cleaning session, and the closing ceremony. We had the closing ceremony in the newly-refurbished gymnasium, which smelled like fresh paint and had a beautiful new floor. I hadn’t realized how crappy the old one was.
The ceremony was the same old thing, the opening words to the closing ceremony, the closing speech by the principal, the school song, the closing ceremony to the closing ceremony, and then we were out of there.
At one o’clock, the new students for next year came in and sat through an orientation session, and then walked around to buy their uniforms, textbooks, school bags, gym clothes, etc. I dropped by the orientation just to check it out, but I didn’t stay long. Not so exciting.
I spent some time talking with the principal in his office, and he confirmed that the job he mentioned to me before is located in Tokyo, and that’s a lot farther than I want to go for a job. He said that he’d keep his eyes open for anything else, so I’m hoping that it might pay off down the road. I’m not holding my breath, though.
Tomorrow there is a meeting to announce who is getting transferred, and who will be coming to join us at our school after spring break ends. This is a yearly ritual, and is always a hot topic for gossip with the teachers. Today I heard that Kimura sensei and Kawamura sensei will both transfer to Akashi Nishi high school, right near my apartment complex and across the street from Ito Yokado. I congratulated them – Akashi Nishi is what the Board of Education calls a “Super English High School”. They have three native English speakers there, instead of Takasago Minami which has just me. They have a big budget and really focus on improving English skills. It’s kind of a pilot program to see if adding more money and staff will make any difference in how well students learn English. Kimura sensei and Kawamura sensei aren’t our top English speakers, though, so I’m a little worried about them. I hope they do OK.
Kuniko had the day off today, and she had already made plans for dinner – salad udon. It was something new for me, and it turned out great. She cooked up udon noodles like normal, but then served them over lettuce, tuna, corn, and cucumbers with a somen sauce and a squirt of mayonnaise. Very, very good. With dinner we watched one of the movies we rented, “War of the Worlds”. Mah.
Tomorrow is my last day before a long spring vacation. My brother gets into town on Sunday night, so from there it will be lots of touring around and eating. Looking forward to it!
