Gekidan visit

So, I didn't get to teach the fourth graders during my visit to Shinooka last week. Why, you ask? Because Thursday the players came to town. The entire school congregated in the gym to watch Yurayura Bashi (The rocking bridge). Apparently, the school has an event like this every year, and they switch between a play and a musical presentation. This particular group came from Nagoya, and transformed the gymnasium into a stage (the normal stage held the sixth graders). The teachers choose the play at a meeting by looking at the title-- no synopsis or anything. The teachers were a little nervous beforehand because they didn't know, and well, the audience varied from 6-12 year olds. My impression was that it was an okay offering, not great, but not bad at all.

It was a collection of Japanese fable type stories, with wolves, pigs, people, rabbits and foxes. The presentation was cute, but I found myself nodding off a couple of times. I walked in with the first graders. I've been trying to spend more time with them as I've realized that I only see them once a semester. They're so cute! They had some difficulties sitting still, but I think they did pretty well.

Lunchtime

I don't believe I've mentioned this, but one of the major ways Japanese schools differ from home is the amount of things they have the children do that aren't schoolwork. One of these is lunch. No, they don't cook their own lunch (although occasionally they do for Home Ec). What they do is serve their own lunch in the classroom. At lunchtime, the kids all move their desks into groups of 4 to 6, called han (lunch groups). Anyone who isn't on lunch duty sets their table. They all bring their own placemat/napkin, cup, hankerchief/napkin, and chopsticks. While they're preparing for lunch, all the students wear masks (the same ones everyone was wearing for SARS-- it's actually very common for someone with a cold, or a hypochondriac, to wear a mask when they go in public).

Anyone with lunch duty gets out a lunch outfit set-- a kinda chef hat, and a white smock-- and they wear their masks. Then they go to the lunch areas that have the carts with lunch on them. These lunch carts are taller than most of the first graders, and they somehow manage to maneuver them around. They take these to the classrooms, and dish out the food for all of the class.

There's always milk, some type of soup, a vegetable, some meat, and bread or rice. Most of the time there's some kind of sweet, although not necessarily something we would think of as dessert (e.g. chocolate to go in the milk, unflavored yogurt, or cheese with almonds). It's rarely bad, and sometimes it's really good.

They dish these all out into plastic plates and make sure everyone gets about the same amount. Then, two lunch monitors stand up and lead the class in grace, which is not nearly as peaceful as you might think. There's generally alot of yelling to sit down and be quiet, and then an order to put your hands together, with a reply, and "Itadakimasu," then everyone eats. Except for everyone who wants to change the amount of food they have. They all get up and go to the front to get more rice or soup, or get rid of some. Depending on the class, the teacher or a student will announce that anyone who wants an extra whatever (orange, cheese, etc.) needs to come up front, and they play rock, scissors, paper to determine who gets it (this is also how most classes determine which group I sit with, and many other things).

When food has been eaten, everyone is responsible for putting hir stuff in the correct place, dishes and milk bottles, and plastic trash separated from milk tops from burnable trash. Then the two monitors again lead everyone in saying "Gochisousama deshita" (basically thanks for the food). Then I have to jump quickly as the desks come flying toward me. Well, maybe not, but sometimes it feels like that. As soon as the meal is officially finished, it's cleaning time, and everyone puts their chairs on top of their desk and pushes it to the back of the classroom; I feel like I'm in a weird game of frogger as I thread my way across the room to the teacher, then to the door.

Pictures

Not mine, but kinda cool I like this guy's sense of humor.

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Your True Nature by llScorpiusll
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The quality that most appeals to you:	Beauty
In a survival situation, you:	Freak out
Your hidden talent is:	A beautiful mind
Your gift is:	Athletic ability
In groups, you:	Work for a common goal
Your best quality is:	Your industriousness
Your weakness is:	Your lack of focus
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