End-of-Year SPECIAL DAYS

There seem to be a lot of special events these days at school – or at least, times that would just pass by as regularity in England but are marked out as special in Japan. The way they are marked out – it seems to me – is by having special more expensive bentos (lunchboxes delivered to the school) that are nicer than usual. Most of the teachers order them and I did too – they are really good.

So on graduation day inside the bento was o`sekihan – rice with red azuki beans that I just LOVE. This rice is always cooked for a celebration. (And when a girl starts her periods incidently). I could understand having a special meal for graduation.

But then it was special bento time on tueday aswell. Tuesday was entrance exam day for the junior high school students who wanted to get into Taga in April. So we had a special bento again! That day I (we) ate tonkatsu (deep fried pork – really nice). Tonkatsu is traditionally eaten on days like exam days because it means good luck and hard work. I love the fact that certain Japanese foods are associated with meaning.

Then on Wednesday, another special bento – because it was marking day! Everything is made into such an occasion in Japan. In England I imagine, marking the school entrance exam would happen with each teacher in their own room trying to get it done at the end of the day according to the mark scheme. But in Japan it was an occasion. We all left the teachers room at 9 o`clock in the morning and went downstairs to the special conference room. Us English teachers all around a table working together other subjects sat together around other nice tables – the vice principal and principal at the head of the room just there to show their presence I imagine – can`t imagine they were doing anything. Just being THERE FOR THE TEAM.

All teachers were involved of course – a true group effort. So even the P.E. teachers (of which there are several at Taga) were present and distributed around to mark the exams of other subjects. It was fun, and at times like that I can see why the Japanese love their community spirit. It was nice working together. We were all consulting each other, some teachers (unsurprisingly the school nurse, and home economics teacher) came and served us tea. Then after an hour or so every teacher was presented with a big bag of snacks to keep us going through the hard work. I`ve often commented that the Japanese don`t tend to eat much when they work. But sometimes they surprise me – on this occasion they were just eating and eating continuously. Nearly finishing their huge bag of snacks. The Japanese have this funny ability to sometimes eat nothing for ages and then not eat much for dinner, and other times eat loads and loads. It confuses me! Of course we had a special bento that day too. But there`s no special food for marking I was informed by my supervisor – so my rice and tempura and lots of other nice little bits of this and that had no special meaning then.

Today is another special day. The Very Important Meeting in which all teachers are present to decide which students will enter Taga next year. Like the graduation ceremony and marking day, all schools in Ibaraki do this on this day. I am not in this meeting because it will be solely in Japanese. The meeting can go on for several hours as teachers debate which students should be selected. For those whose exam marks are at the borderline for getting into Taga all the teachers discuss the club activities the students have been involved in at their school, and the recommendation letters from the junior high school. Many teachers won`t contribute at all in this meeting but I was initially surprised to learn that the P.E. teachers have a lot to say. This is because Taga is a school in which the sports club activities are very important. Therefore, the ways in which students can contribute to this aspect of school life is VERY significant in the selection process of the school.

A 10 minute break just occurred and the teachers just came back to the room. Yuji told me that ultimately, despite it seeming very egalitarian (that`s what I was thinking as I was writing this – having all teachers involved in the meeting/ in the decision) only the principal has the final decision. He said that the unlike the structure of a company which is like a pyramid, the structure in Japanese schools is like a pen-top – (all the teachers on the same level of importance, including the vice-principal) and then just 1, the principal at the head, at the top of the whole organization who has the ultimate power over everything. (He has this supreme influence even though he is retiring this year by the way).

I wish I could be a fly on the wall of this meeting. I want to find out who has influence/ I want to find out if the women talk at all! But I`m confined to the teachers room because of my lack of Japanese – hey ho.