Hatasome Elementary School
Timothy Dobbins
This was a big day for me in many, many ways. First of all it was
finally our chance to interact with students and teachers in Japan! We
did talk with university professors and students earlier this week,
but I feel that these three days are really the "meat" of the trip! It
was also an important day for me, personally, because I was slated to
give the opening speech at an assembly with 500 students and teachers!
EEK!
I had a great idea, though. Since the Japanese have a love for all
things Disney just like American children do, I thought that singing
"It's a Small World" from the ride would really have a profound
effect. It has a great message that is appropriate for the staff and
older students, and the little ones would just love to sing with us!
Since all the teachers were prepared to sing with me, it would be a
chorus of Japanese and American voices singing the song in their own
language!
Not so much. After the final line was translated for the crowd by our
wonderful interpreter Mori-san, I launched into the English version of
the song. I was met with stares and confused looks from 498 students
in front of me. Realize that this was on a VERY hot day, and we were
outside in the sun. A few had already been escorted back into the
building (unbeknownst to me of course) because of the heat, but there
I was giving my speech about community and connection throughout the
globe and then launching into song. Peep. At least my fellow teachers
where superb! It was later explained to me that the students thought
we were singing to them (which they all cheered wildly at afterwards)
and did not understand they were to sing along. Ah well. It was a good
plan.
We were greeted, however, with their school song afterwards which was
fantastic. After this we were escorted into the Library (no air
conditioning in this building at all - it was very old and run down,
actually), and given a speech or three by the administration. Everyone
at the school was so nice and welcoming, however, that even though it
took forever to translate back and forth, it was well worth the wait.
We spent the rest of the day walking through classrooms and observing
students. Hatasome Elementary is very proud to have won many awards
for their environmental programs. We even saw a fishtank that was run
completely through a wind power generator on the top of the building!
The Japanese are very aware of their connection with the land around
them, and are always striving to enrich their student's lives with an
appreciation of their beautiful natural environment. This is one
lesson we could learn, I'm sure.
A phrase that really opened doors with the younger school children was
"Kore we deska?" which means "What is this/that?" We observed some art
classes where this really came in handy! I also got to try my hand at
calligraphy (writing Japanese kanji) with a brush and ink. The
children all stood around me ooohing and ahhhing with each stroke. On
completion, the all applauded! I felt like a rock star! All the
children also wanted our autograph, which helped with this feeling.
They would run up with pen and paper and say "Sign Please!". Overall,
most were very shy to begin with, but opened up after a bit and loved
to try their English phrases on us.
We were escorted to certain rooms for lunch, which is completely
served (in each room) by the students. Amazing efficiency and order
during this time. They all know just what to do. My class (6th
graders) got everythign prepared (it all comes on a cart) and all the
desks arranged before a teacher even showed up in the room! Then we
all said "Itadekemas!" which basically means "Thank you for this food"
and we dug in. Not so great (it was a school lunch after all) but the
rice bread was heavenly!
The next 20 minutes after lunch is, if you can believe this, school
clean-up time. The kids have assigned tasks per week and they do this
every day after lunch. They clean the ENTIRE SCHOOL from top to bottom
- from bathroom to scrubbing floors - every day. Never a complaint or
a whine. Of course, there is horsing around as you would expect, but
they do the work. I'm not sure the school looked any cleaner
afterwards, but we certainly saw the grime disappear into trashcans
and sinks!
We then had an opportunity to talk with staff and parents about the
school and things they liked and disliked. It was hard to find any
negative talk, although I'm sure that was for our benefit. The end of
the day saw us getting back on the bus, and the entire staff (teachers
and administrators) all came out to wave goodbye to us as we pulled
away. Amazingly gracious people, the Japanese. We always feel welcomed
and honored here in their country!
That's all for now! Update on the Junior High (Middle School) that we
visited today when I have more time!