Spring has sprung

Spring in Japan ushers in tons of changes. The cherry blossoms sprout up in early spring, encouraging people to enjoy the pretty views underneath the trees. It’s common to enjoy “hanami” (花見), which is the Japanese custom of enjoying the views of the flowers. Throughout Japan, a splash of pink washes the landscape. In April, the Fukushima peeps organized a solid Brazilian BBQ at one of the cherry tree-lined parks.


The sakura (cherry blossoms) are the light pinks ones in the background.

In late April, students had their brief two-week “spring break.” But the kids loyally report to school every day, so that they can attend their club activities. During this time, I opted to take a trip down to Hiroshima and Miyajima. That’s a blog for another time. In a nutshell, it was quite the sobering experience.

Japan’s school year kicks off in late April/early May. At my junior high school, the third-floor was filled with the faces of 95 kiddos all dressed in their new Nichu uniforms. They graduated from the two nearby elementary schools, so I’ve already had some experience teaching them. It’s been interesting seeing how they’ve gone from being the “mature” sixth-graders at shogakko (elementary school), to the overtly genki ichi-nensei (first-graders) in junior high school.

The current san-nensei students (third-grade students aka the JHS seniors) have definitely carved a special spot in my heart. They’re probably the hardest working students, and are the least afraid to approach me in English. I was eating lunch with one of the homerooms last week, and was asking about all the school gossip. But they turned the tables on me, and asked: “Do you have a boyfriend?” This question isn’t out of the ordinary, especially since kids will be kids. But this particular student is one of the most soft-spoken kids ever, so it was pretty funny to hear him utter those words. He then giggled like a schoolgirl – pure jokes.

In Japan, teachers also face rotation at the start of the new school year. Kocho-sensei (the principal) informs those who will be leaving and staying on a one-on-one basis in his office, because everything is supposed to be veiled in secrecy. But everyone talks in the staffroom. I was able to find out who was leaving Nichu before the official “farewell” party, where the teachers are revealed. I only work with two JTEs; one of them was transferred to another city. At the end of the term, we went out for dinner and karaoke one night with my friends in Koriyama. She’s a riot!

I also lost some of my favorite elementary school teachers. Shogakko (elementary school) staffrooms are slightly overwhelming to me, since the teachers rarely understand English. There's tons of polite smiling, and many"Gomen nasai!" (Sorry!!). When I re-started my shogakko visits this month, I noticed that "Beverly Hills 90210-sensei" is no longer at Gohyakugawa. He was one of the roku-nensei (sixth-grade) homeroom teachers, and always made an effort to talk with me. Our conversations often revolved around the TV classic, Beverly Hills 90210. Apparently, he attributes his limited English skills to that show. He'd tell me things like "Ah, Burandon! Burenda! Peachy Pit!" Hilarious. I also miss Manami-sensei, who had one of the genkiest third-grade classrooms ever at Iwane. Boo boo!!

Lastly, YoVilla earned the top spots in FuJET last March. I’m now the vice president of this chapter! It was a tight race, so I’m definitely giving shout-outs to our opposition – JAlex! I am pretty excited for what’s to come!! Our first major events include a trek up the infamous Mt. Fuji, followed by Tokyo Orientation where we meet all the incoming Fukushima JETs.



We did a lot of ridiculous stuff during the campaign season. We did a video shoot in shorts, despite the fact that it was still cold outside. I could only laugh when my elementary school students saw us, then quickly sped off on their bikes after a quick hello. Kimoi ("Creepy!"). But seriously, Mateo, mad props on making the videos.