My First Day

After writing my first entry, I started to get my clothes together for the day. Mr. Hotta's mother was sitting at the tablet of the deceased in the next room. Everyday she kneels, rings a bell, prays, and offers beer, sake, and food for their ancestors. It is a very admirable custom. For breakfast we had eggs, bacon, lettuce, toast, and fresh strawberries picked in the garden down the road. Junnpei makes for great entertainment during our meals. Mrs. Hotta took a picture of Junnpei and I as we left the house for school; I was wearing a suit and Junnpei had his school uniform on.

The drive to school is short, but we cross the Kamo Gawa (Kamo River) on our way. We can also see mountains to the east, including Mt. Hiei. Mr. Hotta drove us by the Kamigamo Shrine, which is the oldest Shinto shrine in the city, and told me it is the most famous shrine. At school Junnpei ran off to class and Sister Beatrice took me to the playground. The school is having a large sports festival on Saturday and they are practicing during first period. I was introduced by Sister Beatrice and then handed the microphone, which was nothing more than a pen. I gave my introductory speech in English first, and then Japanese. I watched the students practice their marches and then run some relays. One relay is called the "centipede race," in which the students are in a line and they have their legs tied together.

I had some time to unpack in my room before going to lunch with Junnpei. I went to his room, room 5, and all of the students started hanging on me, staring at me, and asking me questions which I could not really understand. About ten students all pulled me to an open desk and had me sit. Keep in mind that the desks are for second graders...very small. We lined up and went to the lunch room, Marion Hall. At Notre Dame, the students serve each other their meals. Junnpei is only in second grade but he knows how to show me around and take care of me. Lunch consisted of rice, salad, and fried fish.

Classrooms are about the same size as those in US schools, but they cram about forty students into each one! The only visible technology in the classrooms are large flatscreen TV's above the chalkboards. I helped Junnpei and the other students clean the classroom after lunch. It is interesting how the teachers leave the students in the classrooms alone for significant periods of time. The students fool around a little but are well-behaved for the most part. Each student does his or her duties, whether it be sweeping, clearing desks, hanging backpacks, or feeding the fish. The students are very responsible and take initiative to make their classroom better.

I sat in on several English classes, one of which is team-taught by Miko Sensei and Afrela Sensei. I was happy to see that they use music to teach. Afrela Sensei played the guitar while the students sang about the days of the week and about body parts. The students were very engaged in the activities, usually standing at their desks and moving their bodies. They sing songs and use gestures to show parts of the songs. I tried to follow as best I could. The students pray several times a day, but they prayed to Jesus in English, which I could understand. The teachers prepared a recall game to assess the students knowledge and pronuncation of our body parts. If the students struggled, then the teachers would sing part of the song Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to remind them. The activities were fun and engaging, but I wonder how effective teaching 42 students English in one classroom only twice a week can be.

I stopped in Yukita Sensei's English class for a while also. They are studying distances in meters and kilometers. I read the terms on the TV while the students repeated after me. The TV is a large touch screen and Mr. Yukita had prepared a powerpoint, which included a fun game at the end. The students had to try and answer questions like, "How far is it from Notre Dame Elementary to Kamo River?" Each group of students gave their answer and I chose 2km. The correct answer was 2km, so Mr. Yukita gave groups points on the board. I am sure I will be spending more time in Mr. Yukita's class.

After school I was going to go home with Junnpei, but Sister Beatrice arranged a later ride for me so that I could help the teachers set up large tents on the playground for the sports festival. I learned a lot today about the school, teachers, and students. The tent experience showed me how hard Japanese teachers work. They teach, clean, teach clubs after school, and do other tasks as well.

The Hottas picked me up around 5:30 and gave me a book about Kyoto. I was very pleased to have some information about the cities attractions, but almost too tired to even open it. I have been fighting the jet lag as best I can, but it is taking its toll. For dinner we had a type of meatloaf wrapped with cabbage, cucumbers and soybean dip, tofu with scallions, ginger, and soy sauce, salad, and bread. Mrs. Hotta is a great cook and takes good care of me.

Junnpei showed me a photo album of him, and I enjoyed it. Since I enjoyed it, Junnpei brought a stack of other photo albums. I also shared my own photos with Junnpei and his mother. I gladly went to bed at 9:00pm on my mat in the tatami room.