Back to School!

The second semester of school has begun in Kozakai! The Japanese school year begins in April, so the children are already one semester into their year. I teach at 3 schools: 2 elementary, and 1 junior high. My base school is the JHS where I spend 3 days a week (Tues, Weds, & Fri.) while I go to East Elementary on Mondays, and West Elementary on Thursdays.

The kids in elementary school are INCREDIBLE! They speak very little English, and sometimes none, but they are attentive and extremely curious about me! I teach grades 1-6, so I get to meet them all... which means I will be doing my self introduction for 2 months!!! AHHHH! So! I am not looking forward to repeating myself a billion times... but the energy of the children keep me going. The teachers in the elementary schools speak little English as well, so they just crowd control the kids for me, and try to translate some of what I say into Japanese!

The children love the little Canadian stickers, coins, and pencils I give them as prizes for the games we play. They gobble up everything I hand them! They love to ask me questions like "How old are you?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "What is your shoe size?" I had one girl ask for my autograph! She was SO cute!

We have a school lunch everyday, so I don't need to worry about my meal, unless there is a typhoon or some other natural disaster that prevents the delivery (like this week... TYPHOON!). The lunches are very healthy, and are specifically made to cater to the children's growing bodies. We drink a little glass bottle of milk everyday! We usually have miso soup and some sort of meat or fish, and of course... rice. I eat lunch with one of the classes... so they are always giggling when they see me using chopsticks.

The JHS is full of super kids who know an ok amount of English, but they are super shy about speaking it in class. During class they usually shy away from eye contact, and are very slow to raise their hand to answer anything.... but outside of class they are very friendly, and will say hello and goodbye to me in English when I see them in the hallways.

All the schools have 6 periods, followed by a cleaning period where all the children clean the school top to bottom. Then it is time to attend their after school club. This includes sports, music, crafts, etc. I've sat in on the brass band practicing. They are VERY good for their age! JHS is grades 7-9.

Tomorrow I am taking kendo classes for the first time. It's like fencing, but with a big wooden samurai sword. I can't wait! The kids are excited to have me join in after school activities!

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In other news... the earthquakes I experienced earlier this week were pretty big quakes. The first was a 6.9 and the second was a 7.1. The epicenters of these were both off the coast of Honshu island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. They caused some minor injuries in Kyoto, and a few minor tsunami. They are now starting to investigate if the 7.1 quake was in fact the serious quake that was supposed to hit this area of Japan. We all hope so! If the 7.1 was to hit land, it would spell disaster!

So... to keep myself safe, I must make an earthquake kit (water, radio, flashlight, dried food...) and as soon as I feel the ground move, I am to open my front door so that I have an escape route, make sure the gas is turned off, and HIDE under a sturdy table until the quake is over. Then I am to listen to the radio as to what to do next. Staying inside is actually safer than going outside! Who would've thought...

In other natural disaster news... we had a typhoon here this week. It hit my area, but by that time it was considerably weaker than what it was when it hit south Japan, where it killed 30-36 people. I am lucky that I am not directly on water... because the waves were flooding large parts of towns, and the winds were much higher there. My windows rattled all night long though... AND to top it all off... I felt yet ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE! Two natural disasters at once! What is with this country!?

Anyways... I am fine... and SAFE so don't let the news on tv spook you!