My Schools

Miya JH, as stated earlier, is very small. The building is quite old, but very pretty, and today I managed to get some pictures of it. I also got some great stuff at Kuguno JH last week, so this post shall serve as your introduction to my junior high schools.

"Miya Junior High"


It's very small - only 2 stories and really not much more than one hallway in each. There is a fairly new gym in the back, and the building that holds the science classroom (on the left) is somewhat younger than the rest of the building. My Kyoto-sensei (vice principal) told me the school opened 60 years ago, and though some of it has been updated since then, all of the wood is original.



The genkan, or entryway, where you swap out your outside shoes for indoor shoes. I even have my own locker ^__^ It's the one on the bottom right, second from the corner.


Downstairs...

And upstairs...


There are only 3 classes - the 1st years, 2nd years, and 3rd years. All told, there are just over 80 students, with the 2nd year class being the largest. There is no cafeteria, the students eat lunch in their classrooms. Also, the kids stay in the same place for each class and the teachers move around. The classrooms all look more or less like this


This is my desk, in the teacher's room

There's really no such thing as personal space here, everyone works together as a group. Even the people at the BOE are set up like this - everybody's desks squished up together and no walls to separate. And I thought my cube was small! lol

"Kuguno Junior High"


Kuguno JH is much newer than Miya JH, only about 2 years old. The gym is even newer, Mano-sensei told me that it was just built last year! The building is also very beautiful, but in a slightly different way from MJH; at Miya there is like this old charm to the building, and history in the way the floors creak and all the pictures of old classes on the walls. But Kuguno is new and really pretty and it smells fresh. And it's more of a mountain town than Miya so it's got a bit of a different feel to it. It's somewhat larger than MJH too; still only 2 floors but they make a big 'U' shape and there are more rooms. KJH has about 112 students.



The student's entrance, where they keep their shoes during the day


This is the 2nd grade classroom at KJH


The cafeteria, where all the students eat together


Baseball practice!


When I left KJH last week I ran into some of my students. They had just finished up baseball practice and were heading home when I left to catch my train. They were so cute - they saw me from a distance and when I waved I heard "ah! nu teacha! nu teacha!" and a bunch of them came running and screaming, so excited to speak with me ^_^ They each told me their names and that they play baseball and then they asked me where I was from.

Me: Colorado
Kids: Ah! Colorado! America?
Me: Hai!
Kids: hmmm... Colorado... Colorado... Rockies!
Me: Yes! That is the name of our baseball team!
Kids: *excited*
Me: We have a Japaneses player on our team, does anyone know his name?
One Kid: Matsui!
Me: Yes! Kazuo!
Kids: Kazuo! Kazuo!

It was SO AWESOME. I couldn't believe how excited they got. I can only hope that enthusiasm makes its way into the classroom, but at the very least I'm going to make a concerted effort to catch a few of their games, I think they would really like it ^_^ When I asked if I could take their picture they practically knocked themselves out squirming to pose for it



Best. Kids. Ever.