In Japan, school is no joking manner. Students are expected to arrive on time, in their proper uniforms with no excuses. I was amazed at how strict the uniforms are here. I grew up with uniforms back in California (Catholic high school), but we even had a little bit of wiggle room to be "individuals" with our shoes and jewelry. In Japan, even the girls cannot express themselves through jewelry, hair clips, and other accessories that make a person "unique".
At school, boys are expected to wear the black trousers and black jacket picked out by the school. Girls are expected to wear a long pleated blue skirt, white blouse, and blue jacket picked out by the school. The best part about their uniforms are the color-coded shoes they must wear! Each grade level in the middle school is assigned a "color" to represent their class. This year, the first graders are yellow, the second graders are green, and the third graders are blue. This is so that teachers can easily identify the grade level of each student just by looking at their shoes. I think it is amazing that the students wear these tennis shoes to school with color stripes on the side...very fun for me to observe! At my high school in California, we had the liberty to where the shoes of our choice. Here in Japan, students must remove their individual shoes at the door, place them in shelves, and put on their "school shoes", which cannot be worn outside. The Japanese are very aware of keeping the school clean by only wearing "indoor" shoes inside. This also took some adjustment for me...but eventually all things start to become "normal."
Each student must also wear a name tag on their uniform (written in Kanji) to identify their first and last name to all teachers and staff. Unfortunately I cannot read the name tags, so I have done my best to memorize students' names and with the new year approaching in April, I will ask students to create their own name tags in English!!
After school, the students put on their "P.E." uniforms. For about 2 hours after the school day ends, students take part in after school clubs: sports, art, and other clubs. They all have to wear the same P.E. uniform. A little side note: they wear their P.E. shorts under their uniforms to save time when changing! They quickly change as soon as the last bell rings in their classroom...this was a bit odd for me to witness at first. Boys and girls taking their skirts and pants off right in front of their teachers! But this is normal to them...they want to save the time of having to go change in a locker room...so they wear double layers (shorts under skirts and pants) to save the time! Incredible!
During assemblies, all the students file into the assembly/gym hall and sit on the floor during speeches. They must sit with their legs tucked under their chin. They are not allowed to spread out, but must sit in straight lines according to their homeroom class. The students are always in their homeroom during the day, never moving around to different classrooms (except for science lab and P.E.). The teachers in Japan must move from classroom to classroom, carrying their materials and texts on their own. I find this extremely unpractical and annoying; I am use to having my own classroom where students enter and leave during each period.
In the teacher staff room, ALL teacher desks are located here where teachers work and socialize. This took a while for me to adjust to because I am usually in my own classroom reading and grading, rather than in a large staff room with other teachers from other disciplines. For the most part, the room is quiet enough for teachers to get work done. Occasionally, a teacher will strike up a conversation and socialize near my desk. I try to pick out words I can understand (a game for me) and sometimes I chime in if the Japanese isn't over my head. Now that I have been here for almost 6 months, I am often part of the conversation with some teachers who feel comfortable enough talking to me in English/Japanese.
Each day, we are served a HOT meal that is cooked from the kitchen on the ground floor. The food is very delicious and is very affordable. Usually, the meal includes a hot soup filled with delicious Japanese vegetables, noodles/rice, and a small side salad. I have even eaten spaghetti with meat sauce, curry with rice, and clam chowder! It is fun to see the Japanese eat international cuisine and try new things each day. Every day, the meal is different and only 2-3 times per month, they serve fish (lucky for me!)
The best part of my week is going to the elementary school! They are so adorable and eager to learn English. During recess, all the kids put on baseball caps, color coded for their own class. It is really cute to see a whole flock of kids running outside with green, yellow, and red caps!
More to come! Hope you enjoy reading my blog! :)
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