Tales from Middle School in Japan

In all my schools there are probably only two kids that I would consider problem children. Which means I’m pretty lucky. And the two of them aren’t really problems at all. They are both in the same class, a grade 7 class. One just sits there and does nothing. At first I thought he would be a real class disrupter, but really all he does is sit there – he doesn’t stand up,...

I Miss My Grade 3ers!!

Yesterday was the graduation of the grade three students at middle school (9th year of schooling). And I didn’t get to be there Yes, I’m sad about that because I got to know my grade 3 students the best out of all of them – especially the girls who were a lot of fun. Last week they had a fun goodbye party where the whole school played games. One of the competitions was for...

A week or so in Japan

Here’s a week or so in the life of me!   The week starts off with the water in the gutters all iced over. Coming from a country that is nice and warm always, stuff like this is exciting to me.   So at my middle school they were playing volleyball. At the end the winners played the teachers. OMG it was freezing inside that gym, I think I died. I didn’t have gym shoes...

Traditional Christmas in Japan

You may have heard about a “traditional” Christmas in Japan, and I’m talking about food here – KFC and Christmas cake. There is lots of information out there on Christmas in Japan, let me throw you a link to Tofugu whose post is nice and quick and easy to digest. I had a talk with my middle school kids about Christmas, and I think the general consensus was they...

Spew Shoku!

給食.　Kyushoku. School lunch. Some people love it. Not me. When it’s bad, it’s very very bad, and when it’s good it’s pretty bland. Lunch time is a time I fear at school… If you are curious about what school children eat in Japan, here is a collection of photos of school lunches… I go to five schools, but from Monday onwards only four. At the school...