Take Your Daughters to Work Day

Not really.... but I did take Noelle and Kaela to my school for the morning.  

In April (when the Japanese school year begins) I started a part-time job assisting two English teachers at Fukugawa High School.  The teachers I work with have never lived in an English-speaking country, so they depend on native English speakers for help.  It's a very fun job!  Two of my classes are on an "English major" track in high school.  They study English 2-3 hours a day at school.  

The students were working on short book or movie reviews, so Noelle and Kaela demonstrated by reviewing Harry Potter and the Disney animated movie "Anastasia."  Here students are practicing in pairs.

After class, lots of excitement!

Lunchtime!  There is no cafeteria in the school - only a tiny snack counter.  Students bring bento from home and they sit in the classrooms or out in the hallway in a common area. Can you imagine someone coming into the Russell Street School cafeteria and taking pictures of your food? :).

 Heading back home on the trains... a really fun morning!

Children's Day

May 5th in Japan is a national holiday - Children's Day!  That's right - an actual national holiday dedicated to honoring and celebrating children!  Years ago it was called Boys Day, but has since been changed to include girls as well (and girls still get their own special holiday as well!).

Children's Day became a national holiday in 1948, shortly after the end of World War II.  Why do you think that timing might be significant?

Photo by Nancy Ericson

Traditionally on Children's Day, carp-shaped flags are flown.  When the flags are flying in the wind, they are supposed to resemble fish swimming upstream.  There is an old Chinese legend that says a carp swimming upstream becomes a dragon.  So these flags are symbols of courage.

Photo by Nancy Ericson

Photo by Nancy Ericson

If you could create a National Holiday in America to celebrate children, what symbol might you choose to use?

Another mysterious sound...

Last time I posted about a sound we hear outside each night - the fire prevention volunteers.

There's another sound that was a mystery until recently, when one of Tommy's school friends explained it.

Every evening at 5:00 pm we hear a short (maybe 10 seconds) instrumental tune being played, from a loudspeaker.  It sounds a bit like the music on a carousel, but it's slower and gentler.

It turns out that the tune is a signal for children in the neighborhood to go home (presumably for dinner).

Children of all ages here freely walk around, play in the park, and take trains or busses home alone to and from school.  It is not unusual for me to be on a bus and see just one young child traveling alone.  This is perfectly natural here and not considered unsafe.

So, the 5:00 pm broadcasted song indicates a sort of curfew.  I imagine that Japanese Moms are home cooking and they know that when the song is played, their children will hear it and immediately get home.  Sounds like a great system to me!

A visit to an orphanage

Last month, Kaela, Tommy, and I visited a Red Cross Hospital orphanage with our youth group. The teenagers presented a little program of songs, and then they had free time to play with the children.  There were lots giggles and photographs.

Only later did I learn that some of the adult helpers in the room were actually parents of the children.  I learned that in Japan, adoption is extremely rare, and so orphanages are much more common here than in the US.  Some children grow up in the orphanage, and others get "checked" in and out by the month or year, or whatever.  This seems shocking to us but it is very normal in Japan! 

Daiko drumming

A few days ago I caught a few minutes of a Daiko Drumming performance at the American School.   Daiko drumming is an ancient Japanese art, and all elementary school children learn it at least a little bit.  These students are part of an after-school club that practices and performs traditional Daiko drumming.