shimabara part TWO: school

   

     The town of Shimabara has a school, and I attended this school ten years ago for about a week to experience education in another country. I hated it at the time, but looking back, it really was a great experience. Everybody wears uniforms, there aren't school buses, and you have to have two pairs of shoes: the ones you walk to school in, and the pair you wear inside. The entire day was held in the same classroom—even lunch; there were assigned students who served the food, and then after everybody ate, other students cleaned up, and then class resumed. There was recess outside in a fenced in dirt field. Packed in, hard, dusty dirt, completely flat, and the fences are about 20 feet or so high—sounds fun right? Kids played soccer, tag... I sat in the corner of the field and cried.
     I definitely didn’t learn anything in the classes (because my reading skills were those of a preschooler), but experiencing the culture was very worth it. At the end of every day, all of the students worked together to clean the classroom. There weren’t janitors. I remember the shock and embarrassment I felt when told that we had to wipe the floors in skirts; in fact, I didn’t even participate. I was a very shy first grader.
     I was so shy that my mom had to be with me at all times. About the middle of the week, however, I permitted her to use the restroom. She was gone for an awful long time, so I ran out of the classroom and to the restroom, only to find that she wasn’t there. While causing a lot of commotion, I found out she had walked home!!! I can still feel that strong feeling of betrayal, sadness, and anger. Thinking back, I can’t imagine how much I must have been embarrassing myself, and how much stress I must have put on the faculty. Good times.
     As a first grader, I dreaded being put through this experience. However as I get older I'm beginning to realize that my parents are always doing what's best for me, even if I don't agree at the time... Experiencing the way Japanese elementary schools work is something I'll always remember, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit it!