On April 9th, 2008! Marked the start of my son's next 6 years, he will be spending in elementary school! So, on this very day, it all began for our family, this gray cloudy Wednesday morning, kicked off, the day of his entrance ceremony! Grandma Mitsuko had flown in from Osaka the day before! And we were ready! No nervousness, no tears! Just ready to begin this new journey, straight on! : )
We first went into his classroom, along with the other parents and kids. We all lugged all the stuff that was required and we put his seat cover with cushion on his seat, put his yellow drawer where that needed to go, which was into his desk. He saw were he will be placing his backpack each day and so on. We basically got our kids all settled into their seats and got them situated. Then us parents left and went into the big gymnasium and the kids stayed behind in their new classroom with their new teacher and we waited for the ceremony to begin! The entire school, was waiting, yes all the other grades were also there to welcome the new ichinensei!!! Meaning the new first graders! And it was only fitting that the oldest class, which was obviously the 6th grader's escorted the youngest/tiniest class which is the ichinensei/first grader's into the gymnasium! Here is Branden being escorted by two of the 6th graders! : )
We live in the country side of Japan, and so it's quiet and not so crowded with people. The first grader's this year, is only made of 2 classes total. And the classes are only made up of 20 kids per class. So they will get a lot of individual attention from the teacher. I also was very fond of our teacher. In fact she is a mother herself, her son just started elementary school the day before (he's an ichinensei too). So, she knows how to deal with kids and she also knew our feeling as parents, since she went through that same exact thing herself, the day before. She explained that to all us parents. And she changed schools because she apparently can't be a teacher where her child goes to school? And so she is a new teacher to our school this year, although she is from the next town away, so she's from this area. So, she's a friendly mom basically, so we do really like this teacher. : )
As you can see from this picture, for entrance ceremony in Japan, the kids all wear little suits. But instead of pants, most parents opt for the little boys to wear shorts. I really like that and I find the boys all of them, looked so sharp! : ) The little girls also looked quite beautiful too, I might add, they wore little dresses! And one little girl was actually wearing pearls! Branden's suit, I looked for high and low, we got him a really nice one, and it had a pink shirt and a matching pink tie and hanky for the pocket with suspenders and the whole shebang! Ha ha ha. Ah well, it was a once in a lifetime thing! We wanted him to feel really good walking in there today and he did! And he had some black loafers, but all kids in Japan wear the white indoor shoes, as you can see by this picture : )
Bowing to the older kids! During this point, the man speaking was saying to the new class, the first grader's. To greet the older classes and bow, to them! Translating it into English what he was saying is quite hard but I will do my best, but basically, they are saying to the older class, "can I join you?" or perhaps more of a..."I'm new here, do you mind?" again so basically..."can I join?" Ah, well I hope you all know what I mean! : )
Meanwhile the older classes, sang 2 songs for the new first graders. Welcoming them! The man way in the back standing, also told the older classes, that they are to look out for the ichinensei from now on! That they go to this school now and they should try look out for them and protect them, because they are littler then they are, and whatnot. They bowed in return to the ichinensei, accepting them. And welcoming them! : ) It was so sweet! Again it's totally different then how we start school in America, but I really can respect the way it's done here. It's really quite sweet actually! : )
There was a lot of standing and sitting action going on back and forth, ha ha ha. For the kids and also us in the audience!
And then it was over! And you can see a blurry pic of B walking out! Also, I wanted to point out here, look at all the video taping in the background! And that's nothing, you shoulda seen on my side, one father was even standing on a chair, until people gave him a few dirty looks and then he got off! ha ha ha. But seriously everyone had a video camera and we were no different. Noboru was video taping and I was taking pics on this camera! Ha ha ha! : )
Noah behaved perfectly and so quiet!
There's grandma behind Noboru sitting, watching the kids file out!
There's Branden's seat! You can see his 2 handmade bags hanging on the side of his desk and his seat cover is on his seat. If you look really close you can see his yellow tray inside his desk. And the kids monitor/alarms on each child's desk were given for free by our school! I accidentally set the kids alarm off in Branden's room tonight.... I didn't know how loud it was, I tested it, all I can say is, I pulled the emergency cord out, it was so loud, it scared the bejesus outta me and then I got so nervous I couldn't get the blasted thing slipped in right to stop the noise. Ha ha ha. Darn it's loud! Lordy, it's loud! : )
Here's what the classroom looks like. An adorable yawning Genki-kun in the background there! So glad B's best friend and partner in crime (wink) is in his class this year! : )
The kids leaving their classroom! Genki in the white, right in front of his best bud, Branden! Two peas in a pod, they are! : )
Two of these are in Branden's classroom and they are actually all over the entire school, and hallways and bathrooms, just everywhere, even in the gymnasium, ha ha. Central heating in the winter and central air conditioning in the summer, typical/standard in America but uncommon in Japan, so it's lucky that our school is new. It's a very comfortable school, ha ha. : )
What a long morning! Ha ha ha. We all left soon after this picture was taken. All the kids got their backpacks and then we all left. : )
Noah hanging with the ichinensei!!! Ha ha ha! : ) Noah's lucky when he starts first grade, he gets to go with Branden and Genki! He'll have protection, ha ha ha, lol! : )
The teacher at the front of the classroom.
We all went to Coco's after it was all said and done! : )
So, after brunch, we all went home and changed clothes. Here is grandma chasing the 2 boys in the backyard! : )
They nominated grandma to be the oni/goblin! So they ran away from her and she chased them! Ha ha ha! : )
So after playing in the backyard, we all headed to swim club! Grandma too! : ) You guys who read my blog can keep up with our family every week and for the most part, you all know us, know what we are up to. And my family too. : ) But for grandma Mitsuko she really has no idea what we are up to every week, not even every month. I try to send 3 video tapes of the kids each year (every 4 month's or so) and pictures about twice a year (every 6 month's). But a nice sized photo album amount though. But for the day to day type stuff, she has no idea at all. For example, she had no idea B went to the compressed swim course, no idea what level he is. You know what I mean, I hope : ) the day to day mundane type stuff, our daily stuff, I think : ) So, for her, today she got to watch her grandson in the pool! And as you can see by this pic, she's the one wearing the white cap. She was watching Branden so much, watching him swim lap after lap. She enjoyed it thoroughly and that made me so happy she enjoyed it so much!
We came home from swim club and we lit up the grill. With the high winds, but thank god it didn't rain on B's entrance day though, but it was windy, really windy actually. So, we had to put the BBQ, on the side. We had yakiniku. Our first BBQ of the season! We ate indoors, because it was bitterly cold, but it was delicious, all in the same! Ha ha ha : )
We had yakiniku, beef and chicken, grilled bell peppers and mushrooms. My mil wanted grilled cabbage, that was a new one for me! Ha ha ha. But I didn't mind! And we had 3 times the meat in this pic. I think we BBQ'ed too much meat. Ah well, leftovers for tomorrow night, ha ha ha. : ) And no fancy place mats tonight. We were ready to eat and get down to business meaning the eating, lol! Some serious munching going on at our house that night! : ) It was a good visit from my mil this time. And it was an excellent entrance day, whole day and night actually, pretty A-okay, smooth sailing today! Oh my gosh you guys, my boy is a first grader, I can barely believe it!!!! : )
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