Ichigo-sensei brought me a cheese edamame bun from her favorite bakery yesterday. It was delicious. I really need to go there and buy some bread! So sweet of her. I also found out today that she is the disciplinary head at the moment as the usual teacher is currently hospitalized. That means she’s the scary teacher that yells at the girls when they do something wrong, ha. Good thing our school is calm and well-behaved.

First day of school selfie

Today was the first day of school which means I had to wear my suit again as I’m introducing myself to the whole student body. I got so many stares, giggles, and woahhh sounds followed with height gestures haha. Plenty of good mornings as well. We had the teacher’s meeting where I had to introduce myself in Japanese to the full staffroom this time. Lots of announcements plus some positive things where we clapped. Club achievements maybe for some of them? Then it was cleaning time. Every morning 40 minutes is allotted for students to clean their assigned area. I accompanied Ichigo-sensei to the entrance hall where she was assigned. The students took these small brooms and swept the hall, as well as a mop to grab extra dirt and dust. They cleaned on top of the shoe lockers as well.

At the entrance, you have umbrella racks. Most places have these, i.e. when I go to the convenience store I leave mine there. It’s polite not to carry a dripping umbrella through a building. When they were done cleaning, they had a log/attendance book that had to be signed to prove each student did their share. No janitors here, they clean everything. Afterward, we headed to the gym for the opening ceremony. The inside of the gym requires different indoor shoes, your indoor sneakers. I had to switch into guest slippers there. The students just walked around in their socks. There are about 400 hundred students. They lined up in neat rows and then sat down.

We all stood and bowed as the ceremony begun. Our principal handed out some awards first. All the girls were so quiet and serious. No whispering! The quietest assembly I’ve ever been to. A lot of bowing was involved and speeches by the principal and Ichigo-sensei. Kocho-sensei  introduced me and finally we got some reactions when he mentioned my family’s height. Dustin being 2 m, and Sophia almost the same really got some responses. I then gave my speech slowly and clearly (I hope!) in English. A tough crowd, no laughs at my jokes, but some smiles. It was rough.

No backpacks or school bags carried inside school, but also no lockers. I think everything might be kept in the classroom, but I’ll see soon. After school, all the students poured into the staff room, many carrying stacks of exam books and summer homework for the teachers.

Students start walking to school by themselves as first graders. Much more independence like Germany than USA in that sense. They all wear identifying yellow caps so that everyone knows they are first graders. So cute.