Come on, teacher... teach me something

This day marked the first day back to school for all students. The teachers’ room was abuzz; everyone looked spiffy. I was called into my kocho-sensei’s office (the principal’s room), where we went over the morning’s schedule. And then we sat in silence, because again my Japanese is quite limited. (I’m sort of studying now!) I was asked to give another self-introduction in the staff room – I recited the seven Japanese sentences I have committed to memory. And then I was brought to the gym for our assembly.
When I got to the gym, it was pretty empty. A few chairs were lined near one wall, where teachers would be sitting. A lone wooden desk with a microphone sat at center stage. It was the first time I noticed three flags, including the Japanese flag, were hanging on the wall on the stage.
Suddenly, reality hit me.
I heard a quiet rumble as I was sitting in my chair beside the assistant to the vice-principal. The students entered the gym in orderly lines, divided between boys and girls. The girls wore their sailor-like tops paired with their pleated skirts in navy blue; their white socks reach up to their knees. And the boys wore black slacks with crisp white shirts. Each student wears certain sneakers with colours that correspond to their grade. So, first-years wear blue ones; second-years have yellow kicks; and third-years have red sneakers.
I was impressed that each student quietly filed into the gym, and carried their wooden chair without complaint. I was also fascinated at how they managed to arrange their chairs into perfectly straight rows. Dude, that would never happen in my schools back home. I remember we would sit willy-nilly on the floor at our school assemblies.
The assembly opened with their school song accompanied by piano. There was bowing and tons of speeches. I was also asked to give yet another self-introduction in Japanese – this time in front of my 277 students. Let me tell you, I totally freaked out for a nanosecond when I saw all of those eyes gazing at me. But while I was standing up front, I saw one of my speech contest girls sitting in the first row… it was nice to see a familiar face!
I spent the rest of the day doing my self-introduction lesson. I talk about bits and pieces of my life and my country. The kids seem most interested in seeing Canadian money, the beaver, Twix the guinea pig and my parents’ Nissan X-Trail. (Japanese car!!) I’ve been playing “Pin the tail on the beaver” as part of my lesson – some classes are too cool for school. And I got the idea from Galileo to play Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” hahaha.