The Calm before yet another Orientation

Monday 15th of August

Note to self: when attempting to make a good impression – be sure to ensure that there are actually people there to make a good impression to….

Umbrella wielding festival goers braving the rain 

Rocked up to school on Monday morning and was met by a confused Vice Principal (VP) who asked if I was ok. As it turns out he hadn’t been expecting me to start until the 22^nd so was perplexed as to why I had come in when nearly every single other teacher was away for Obon – Summer holiday where a lot of people will go to visit their families, so there were 3 people in the staff room that day, including me.

I had been greeted by a group of students sitting outside, I assume waiting for a bus to go somewhere (as they were all in sports gear). A couple of them said “hello” and one even plucked up the courage to ask what my name was. I said it in English initially and when it became apparent that they weren’t having too much fun with the pronunciation I gave them the Japanese version “Kuroi” at which point one of the lads asked (in Japanese) if I had married a Japanese guy, as my name sounded like a Japanese surname.

Konoura Festival

It was overcast and as a result, a lot cooler so the windows were open to let the breeze wash through the staffroom and for the first time the air conditioning was off.

A teacher came in with her two young kids (about 4 and 6 I’d guess), the younger one in particular seemed quite intrigued by my existence and was neglected to cease her staring, resultantly walking straight into the fridge…. Unfortunately she didn’t seem to learn from this wee run in and when she was leaving with her mum and sister she again was staring so intently that her mum and the tea lady had to stop her from crashing into the bookshelf – I wasn’t aware how much of a menace I was to small children…

At midday an announcement came over the loud speaker and the VP and tea lady stood to attention, they explained that this was the anniversary of the end of WWII (which explained the ceremony being aired on the TV in the staffroom) a siren sounded for one minute while everyone (all three of us…) stood with our heads bowed.

That evening Alyssa and I went with Yuu to the Konoura festival, in the rain as it turned out. The first time it had rained since we’d been here and it had to be on fireworks night. Despite that it was a cute little festival (Yuu had made sure to emphasise how small it was going to be after we went to the fireworks in Akita city). There were a few food stalls, a band playing and Yuu introduced us to a few people from around town and I got to meet some of the kids that would be at my middle/elementary school. As the rain got heavier the fireworks were shifted forward so as to ensure that they would still be able to let them off before it got too wet. Shuffled home in the rain and started packing for Orientation in Akita city the next day.