Last Day's of the Year

I was playing tennis with Mogi-sensei when I sprained my ankle. I thought I was really going to beat him but let's not talk about that. I went into the hospital and was tolled I had cancer. When I asked for Dr. Endo because he knew English, the doctor looked offended. But Dr. Endo agreed with the other doctor that I needed a cast and couldn't walk for a week. Then came the worst time: my colleagues deciding if I could go home. It didn't look good for me until my friends started showing up. I was brought crutches and allowed to go home.

Then came trash day. Every day at 8:30, every homeroom would something almost like meditation. Trash day was the first time I saw this happening. Every student cleans every day, but on a small scale. Every term, this time it's the winter term, homerooms, or kumis, would go and pick up trash in Sano. I went with Mrs. Negishi's kumi. I ended up making a game out of it: I-spy where students got points for saying the word in English.

Lunch is much more complicated in Japan than in America. A shy 7th grade boy asked me to go to his homeroom for lunch. In Japan, students do everything. One group organizes the room. One group gets the food. One group serves the food. That day, it was rice, salted cucumbers, oranges, and a beef stew. Denver told me to put rice, stew, and salad in my mouth at once and THEN chew. That seems outrages to me. Lunch is a lot bigger a deal in Japan.

Then there was the New Year's Ever festival, which I didn't much get, so I won't talk about it.

I think that the pre-school meditation is good for students. It loosens the mind for learning. It gets them in the mindset that school is starting, but it's not a big deal. It's a simple way to get the mind cleared of the things that aren't necessary that particular day. Students like it, and I know I like it, so teachers probably like it.