And once again! Now, Japanese middle school.

So the joys of being able to start at a new school are numerous, but so are some of the headaches.


Pros: I get to wake up a little later, the kids are a little a lot more mature (or at least the equivalent of high school freshmen - but these kids are automatically much more mature), the area is a little cooler, the school is bigger and there are more interesting English classes (no animal onomatopoeia here).

Cons: Getting used to the intense (initial?) attention I got when I was in elementary (God I sound so juvenile), the school is a little bit farther out and hearing my host brother complain about being tired the whole way back doesn't help and well it just about stops there. (Juvenile I know.)

The day went relatively easy, there was an initial homeroom with my adorable teacher Miyamoto, who would later take time to send me ona little tour of all the clubs at school. I did an English conversation class and met (a foreigner!) a man named Dan. I wasn't elated or anything, but being able to speak 100% English felt a little good. One of the frustrating things about having some ability is that you end up with - no matter how wonderful a family - a family with more limited English than others. So your brain is extra taxed. I'm not really complaining though, it's just an observation I've made while here. What really sucks though is when people give up trying to communicate and convey rather simple ideas. It's basically I'm making the effort so why don't you - in the comfort of your own country at least.

For kyuushoku (school lunch) I ate the standard fare: rice, grapes, milk, miso soup and... unagi a.k.a. eel. Up to this point I hadn't really encountered anything challenging like overly touted in the West about apanese cuisine. I even actually watned to try eel. But when the bowl of chopped up pieces got to me, I got a little queasy. Well, after dumping it over some of my rice I gobbled (most) of up. It really wasn't too bad except some of the left over scales and overly sweet meat.

Afterwards the day flew by until the last hour where we went to the gym and played dogibi (a mix between dodgeball but played with a frisbee) where I thoroughly lost on each team I was on first. First, the first half of the class then Dan and I were on the girl's team to "help" them. One thing that actually kind of irks me about Japan is the lack of authority and self-confidence girls have in themselves. Or at least the feigning of such meekness to fit in with the sterotype of a pretty, reserved girl. Trying to get them to actually pick up the ball instead of running away from it was particularly amusing.

After getting our asses whooped, we went back up to homeroom, where everyone simultaneously started fanning each other. Miyamoto-sensei even went through the rows, fanning her students after our intense match of dogibi. Something an American teacher and my fellow classmates would NEVER do. In my humble opinion. Afterwards, Miyamoto-sensei sent me on a tour of all the clubs. Kendo, soft tennis (tennis played with a soft ball... for the girls - eh), Judo, baseball, track and field, art (4 kids - yay for surpressed creativity in Japan!) and finally brass band.

Brass band is my host brother's club. They are freaking amazing. It still amazes me what the Japanese work ethic has done for these kids. While they might not like every single thing about the work, work, work hard ethic of the Japanese - they do put effort into their extracurriculars. It's a requirement. And it shows in their excellent practice, where their sensei was only nit-picking on super difficult stuff. Wow.