It’s the first day of the first term of the year, which is also the first day of my last term at this school. The school year and fiscal year start in April here, whereas the JET year starts in July/August (for many countries; some start in April, so there are some new ALTs coming in right now). We have a new principal and Japanese teacher–two teachers who’ve come in, as opposed to the four who’ve gone out, since we’re going from two first-year homerooms down to one this year. Both are very nice people–the principal, from one of Justin’s elementary schools, ushered me into his office and we chatted for a bit; he can speak basic English and was a really warm and friendly man. The Japanese teacher is from Jordan’s school and seemed really sweet when she introduced herself to me. It’s funny how we could gossip amongst ourselves and get the full scoop on our new teachers.
Today was the opening ceremony and the introduction of the two new teachers, and tomorrow afternoon is the nyuugakushiki, or the ceremony for the incoming first-years (nearly all my 6th-graders from my elementary schools last year). School’s out for the day, though we still have to be here, of course.
I was writing a letter to Lindsay at my desk and thinking about The End. At the ceremony today, I realized that it was one of my last start/end ceremonies, and after tomorrow’s, the next one will be the end-of-term one, which will be where I say my goodbyes to the school. I also was telling the new kocho that I’ll be gone this summer, which surprised him because it was so soon…and it is. It’s just four months away, and…it’s going to be tough.
For now, though, it’s lunchtime–I wrote (as in, with a pen in a notebook) a bullet-point synopsis of the last two weeks, so I’ll post that and I swear it’ll be short and manageable.