This year, it seems an early spring is settling in.
The cherry blossoms are due to go into full blossom within the next week; a whole 10 days earlier than normal.
The days have been inconsistent weather-wise; some mornings it will be pouring rain to only relent during the night, and some days will be sunny and breezy.
I will unfortunately be missing the cherry blossoms in Hokkaido because I will be travelling to Bali, Indonesia for my final vacation while living in Japan.
Before I came to Japan, I was always told that teachers are very respected and valued in Japan.
I was pretty happy with this idea because I didn’t relish the thought of going into a school with rude students.
When I got here, it was definitely clear that kids are quite different in the school.
For example, here the students spend about 15 minutes everyday cleaning the school; therefore, they have a greater respect for the school itself.
Another thing students are required to do is to greet (or as they call it ‘salute’) a teacher when passed in the hall or elsewhere.
It’s usually just a simple greeting like ‘konichiwa’ or ‘hello’ depending on the teacher.
But the greeting extends further than in the halls.
For example, when I finish work around 5 p.m., students are still involved in their after school clubs.
When I walk to my car, I walk past the baseball diamond.
When one student spots me, they yell to get the rest of the team’s attention, then they all face me, take off their hats, bow and yell hello or goodbye.
The students are incredibly respectful towards teachers and adults here.
Another type of greeting the students do is, before class all students have to sit up straight with their hands on their laps and announce the start of the class finishing with a bow and either a ‘please’ or a ‘thank you’.
The classes end in a similar fashion as well.
Recently, the students have started English class in the junior high school by saying ‘stand up’ and doing their greeting that way.
During formal assemblies, it usually starts with everyone – teachers and students, standing up and bowing to the Toyokoro and Japanese flags and singing the Japanese national anthem, and the Toyokoro Junior High School anthem.
During these assemblies, there are many bows, and not too much applause.
Japanese proverb – ame futte chi katamaru; after the rain, earth hardens.
Anna Marshall is in Summerland’s sister city of Toyokoro, Japan as the assistant English teacher.
