winter school day

Though winter is pretty much over. I wrote this a while ago for my own reference but maybe you will find it interesting.

I wake up to my kerosene heater turning on and quickly run into my freezing cold kitchen to toast some bread and use the washroom with my blessedly heated toilet seat. While there I turn the heater on in my shower room. Then I typically eat breakfast while lying in bed since the room isn’t warm enough and there really isn’t anywhere else to sit anyhow. I try to muddle through the news and anxiously anticipate the weather hoping for a massive snowfall. Once my room is warm enough I dash to the shower room and warm the floor before stepping on it. I gingerly shower trying not to touch the walls in the process. After my room is warm enough to live in and I pile my layers of clothing on, usually long underwear, pants and about three layers of shirts. On my way out the door I must remember what type of garbage day it is and grab the appropriate garbage, newspaper, milk carton, cardboard, glass, cans, plastic bottles, Styrofoam trays, battery etc.

I usually stop at the small combini (convenience store) and buy a hot coffee in a plastic bottle and a hard boiled egg then to school. Get to school and say good morning to the random kids wandering around. I may get a good morning back or simply a giggle, English is funny didn’t you know. Then enter the school and change into my indoor shoes putting the outdoor ones in a small locker. I walk up to the teacher’s room and call out “ohaiyo gozaimus” (good morning) when I open the door. I sit at my desk which is grouped in a quad with the 9th grade teachers and wait for the janitor to bring me my green tea while I charge up my ridiculously slow internet. At exactly 8:05 my vice-principal, principle, and head teacher come out of the principal’s office and the bell rings. The vice-principal waits for everyone to stand up and then bows and says ohaiyo gozaimusu to which we all bow and say it back thus opening the morning meeting. I usually don’t pay attention to the meeting, because it is in polite Japanese and my grasp of that level is sparse, unless I hear my name. It is often about inconsequential things anyhow like Hisashi had a stick in school or Miki was reading a comic book yesterday! Then once the meeting is finished the teachers all head off to their homerooms and if it is Wednesday or Thursday everyone in the school must spend the next 15 minutes reading a book.

Typically at junior high school I only have a max of 3 classes a day so the other 3 are spent surfing the internet, reading a book, studying Japanese or preparing for a class or activity. When I have a class the Japanese English teacher and I walk to class darting through the freezing hallways to the classroom where I plunk myself in front of the heater. The classes always start the same – the head students says “stand up” all the kids stand up then “good morning Ms.~ and Ms. Jenelle” then we say “good morning. How are you?” they say “Fine thank you and you?” The Japanese teachers always say fine but I try to change it up, and now we’re off. I am the tape recorder but I also make activities and often just wander around the class and help with mistakes or just get the kids speaking English. The class ends with the same stand up then thank you Ms. ~ and Ms. Jenelle!

Eventually lunch rolls around and we count how many teachers are eating in the teacher’s room then set out the lunch trays. There are three of us who usually serve lunch and of course the head honchos wouldn’t dare to lend a hand. Anyhow I typically serve the salad and whatever meat like thing we have that day. Aoki sensei serves the rice because he knows how much each person likes and Nakamura sensei serves the soup and sets out the milk cartons. I then warm my soup and whatever meat thing up in the microwave because they have been sitting in the freezing cold hallway for nearly half an hour though everyone always looks at me strange for doing so. The kids all have the same type of system in their classrooms and everyone starts eating promptly at 12:25 when the lunch radio show begins (I have an English radio show on Thursdays). Everyone puts their hands together and says itadakimasu (thank you for this food) and then digs in. There is a bit of talk during lunch but not much and the kids are not allowed to wander around. At 12:40 the radio show ends, everyone puts their hands together again and they say gochisosamadeshita (it was good food?) and then they clean up.
After lunch they have 25 minutes to brush their teeth and hang out until 1:05 when everyone cleans the school. Each person is assigned a room and must do a certain job and then report to the head of that room or area. I help clean the teacher’s room though for some reason I despise it even though it’s not hard work. During this time all the windows in the school are opened to let out the kerosene fumes and let in the freezing cold air. Typically I try to stay as far from them as possible. Then back to classes.

Once school is finished all the school teams/clubs – baseball, volleyball, table tennis, and band have a two hour practice. Sometimes I join one of the sports teams but not in the winter because the gym is freezing and all the baseball team does is run around the hallways like military trainees yelling out “ichi sore ni sore san sore shi sore ichi, ni, san, shi, ichinisanshi, ninisanshi” “ 1 it’s 2 it’s 3 it’s 4 it’s, 1 2 3 4, 1234,2234”. All the teachers are in the teacher’s room unless they are coaches so we will chat a bit or get ready for an event. The teachers are technically off at 4:50 but they usually don’t leave until 6 some staying as late as 10. I leave at 5:05 and must say “osakini shitsureshimas” (sorry for leaving early) or “otsukara sama deshita” (good work) and then put my outdoor shoes on in the entrance and bound away to my freedom. Though it is to a dark freedom because the sun goes down at 4:00 in the winter.