"Big Girl School"

Last Saturday we attended the opening ceremony for Hannah Jane's Japanese kindergarten. We were told to wear business attire which meant suits for both fathers and mothers. The mothers all had matching jacket and skirt outfits on, which had I not left mine in storage in Kettering, Ohio, I couldn't quite fathom putting on anyway. First, it's KINDERGARTEN -- she's three. Second, I knew that as soon as we walked into the door we'd be required to take off our "outdoor shoes" and put on slippers -- something I just couldn't see doing in a skirt. But this didn't stop the Japanese -- every mother was dressed from head to toe, complete with pearls and corsages, and on their feet were fuzzy house slipper-looking shoes. One American mom wore her fun teddy bear slippers -- I liked her. Anyway, here are a few photos to give you an idea.......

Here's Hannah Jane being led to her seat for the ceremony, which lasted well over an hour. The best part was that about 1% of it was in english-- not that it should be, but it just made it longer not understanding a word. The ceremony began with introductions, including those of the students. When the student's name was called out (in Japanese of course) they were suppose to shout out "Hai!" to let them know "Yes, I am here!" I wish I had a photo of her when it was called but it would have showed many of her Japanese classmates staring at her, and her staring at the pretty flowers on the stage. We don't blame her though -- we barely recognized her name: "Ru-GAH, Hanahjane Chan!"
The class introductions were followed by the same two officials that spoke at her orientation (also conducted in business attire) -- the Chairman of education for the prefecture, and Encho Sensei. Here she is, whipping the students into shaped:
Then the whole staff was introduced with talks from some, followed by performances from both the older girls and boys of the school:















Then a mother who I guess was representative of the entering students got up and gave a short speech and presented Encho Sensei and the Chairman with some papers -- not sure what that was all about. Then, straight out of Bill Murray's "Lost in Translation" movie, one of the sensei's got up and talked for about ten minutes, and then changing over to English, said exactly two sentences, conveying, "Welcome." The ceremony ended shortly after that and we went upstairs to Hannah Jane's classroom to retrieve her. Here she is showing Daddy(in suit and slippers)her cubby:
The stuff you see in her cubby by the way is a whole other blog. Here's just a photo of all the stuff I had to get or purchase through the school beforehand:














The stuff on the left we purchased through the school; the stuff on the right I hunted for for weeks. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has to have her name -- in Japanese-- on it: every 'pastel" (a very messy and somewhat non-washable crayon), every semi-permanent marker, every clay tool (which I don't even know how to use myself). There was even a set of paints (also not all that washable) and yes, that shiny sharp pokey thing near the bottom is a pair of adult scissors! I kept thinking, as I was labeling and sewing on her name a few hundred times, that the Japanese really do have more faith in their kids at a younger age than we do...a good thing?!?! I'll let you know, after washing her smock and uniform a few hundred times.
Speaking of, here's the formal uniform and backpack (all which cost more than I pay for my own clothes....):
The backpack just carries her attendance book and her bento lunch set. She carries a separate bag -- one of the dozen or so we had to buy beforehand--that holds her sports uniform (which she changes into when she gets to school), the smock that goes over the sports uniform, preventing it from getting too dirty, a separate bag with her indoor shoes, another bag with a plain cup in it, and another bag with a separate cup and toothbrush in it. At the beginning of the year I also sent her with a separate bag with a change of clothes in ("in case of wetness" as the manual says), and her class cap. This 'year's" cap is purple, signifying she's in the "Sumuri" or "violet" class of the Nensho or 3-year-old "grade." I guess it's an easy way for the sensei's to sort them all out, especially outdoors. There are 45 students in Nensho alone!

Back to the backpack and the bentos, we are also encouraged as Americans to make Japanese style bento lunches on the days we send the whole lunch instead of just rice (the school supplies the rest most days). I have just begun, but I found it's true that Hannah Jane will eat anything and everything, if it's in a cute shape of some sort:














The one on the left is a hot dog, and the little animal shapes are made of rice and "furikake" --flakes of seaweed and fish and and bunch of other stuff you can't imagine a toddler eating but Hannah Jane's use to. The one on the right is just plain on bologne and cheese on tortillas, with cut-out cucumbers and carrots. Not a scrap comes back (and the senseis do not throw away anything -- it costs them to dispose!) The bento sets by the way are all separately sold of course, down to the bag that it must all be toted in. Here you can see in both a separate container for the little wash cloth they use to clean their hands before eating (which I wet down in the morning while making steamed rice!) This cloth is separate from the cloth or hankerchief they carry everyday in their smock pocket to dry their hands after washing up. If you come to visit, you too might want to bring your own. You won't find many paper towels in public restrooms--Japanese don't do napkins or paper towels in restaurants and bathrooms...they carry them in their purses or pockets!

Well that's about it for now on "Daichi Youichen", otherwise known to us as "Big Girl School." Thanks for reading!