This is the past week in review. Just a snapshot of the kids’ second week of school and our 4th week here.
On Monday, September 5th, we took Avalon back to the Gymnastics Club Minoo to try the intermediate class. Much more Avalon’s speed, but a bit challenging and she complained about how long it was and it made her arms sore she said. Biked home in the dark. Late dinner.
On Tuesday, September 6th, John and I had our first Japanese language class – reading and writing – at the community center called MAFGA. We jumped right into it! Learned a few kanji (Chinese characters) and the hiragana and katakana alphabet.
Avalon went to a new friend’s birthday party after school. A nice girl from India named Gunjan. After Gunjan’s house she went party hopping to another girl’s house. People told me play dates in Japan are rare so I guess Avalon has some rare friends. Another mom brought her home late! She’d had cake and sweets for dinner. Here is a photo of Avalon at lunchtime with the girls at school:
While Avalon was out partying, the boys went off to try out the swim team program at the nearby Kayano Swim Club (below). John said it was a typical swim practice of swimming back and forth across a 25 meter indoor pool for an hour and a half. Kaiyo came home looking like a drowned rat and said he’s not going back (too much??). Halyard said the work out was “meh.” (too little??) The feedback wasn’t very full of explanation.
For my PTA friends back home:
On Wednesday, September 7, I dragged John to the 9am PTA meeting at school. He said it was going to be all women and he was right. Not only that, it was only the officers. Back home, PTA meetings aren’t sold out events, but at least a few parents come to see what’s going on. Here in Japan they don’t do it that way. So when I told a few PTA parent officers that I was going to the meeting they couldn’t believe it. Now I see why. One woman told me that was the first time she had ever seen any parent that wasn’t a class rep at a meeting!
I tried to explain that it was in the best interests of the school and parents to have as many people come as possible but she said no, they don’t want to. Here at OIS, PTA membership is not voluntary. You get charged a 3,000 yen (about $30) per child fee with your tuition whether you like it or not!
Later, John and I ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Yuimaru. It was delicious! When the woman came to take our order she said it was a “set lunch” and went away. It was so great to know that everything was going be to vegetarian so I didn’t have to worry about what I was getting. We both agreed it was an amazing lunch. See featured photo at the top for the full meal. The only drawback was that John and I both left a small custard looking thing in a miniature ramekin till the end thinking that it was a sweet dessert. Nope. It turned out to be soft tofu with a soy sauce and sesame dressing on top.
On Thursday September 8 it was Back to School Night for the Elementary School kids. We got to hear from the Headmaster, the Elementary School Principal, and Avalon’s teacher. It was also very nice to meet other parents with kids in Avalon’s class.
Avalon has been very worried about the curriculum so far. She keeps saying they’re doing everything that she did in 3rd grade at Davis Magnet. I told her I’m sure it’s all review right now and she insisted that this is how it was going to be for the rest of year. And then she burst into tears and cried about how she was going to be so behind when she gets back to Davis!
When I heard from Avalon’s teacher about the challenging curriculum ahead I was reassured and when I went home I told Avalon to enjoy the review she’s getting now.
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