Thurs. Aug. 28 – So, this is an enkai…

School’s been pretty fun so far. My kids are super sweet! And I know we shouldn’t pick favourites, but I already have some students that are just too kawaii. I’ve asked them to fill out seating charts, so that I can start learning their names! I like how I can walk down the hallway, and they all greet me with a “Hello!” I hope their enthusiasm doesn’t wear off quickly.
At lunch, students eat their meals in their own classrooms. Selected students don aprons and wear headscarves, and dish out the school lunch. So far, it has included: milk, soup, rice, some meat and something sweet.
I’ve been assigned to eat lunch with a different classroom each day. Over the past few days, I’ve gathered the courage to initiate conversations with the kids while we’re all eating. On Thursday, we had noodles… so, the kids were watching me as I carefully plopped my noodles out of their baggie and into my bowl of soup. They laughed as I kept asking “Ugh…. Daijobu desu ka?!” (Is it OK!?) And then I tried some weird squishy fruit, and they could tell by my facial expression that I felt it was pretty gross.
Brushing one’s teeth is a very public thing here in Japan. Once lunch is over, the kids return their lunch trays. Then, everyone grab their toothbrushes and goes to town right there in the classrooms and hallways. (There are sinks in the hallways where you can spit). It’s totally normal to have a conversation with your friends while your brushing away. I was staring at one kid who sat at his desk, and brushed for seven minutes or so. My dentist would’ve been impressed, ha.
I had a talk with one of my JTEs that night as he drove me to the enkai. It seems like he’s impressed with my mad skills in the classroom, especially since I’ve never taught before. But he did notice that I look really nervous when I’m sitting in the teacher’s room. Everyone’s been really nice to me, but the language barrier totally gets to me. I can’t really initiate conversations in Japanese yet, so I don’t really talk to anyone. I do talk about the weather with the gym teacher who sits across from me, though. And the second- and third-year female teachers like giving me snacks, so we try to talk a bit then.