Chaos and Kairos

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Electives!

Kei came home from school last week with a list of electives that he could choose from. There were 14 of them and ninth graders get to choose four. The first elective he choose was PE. ( It is not like he doesn't have PE in school. He has a regular PE class in addition to basketball practice three or more times a week! ) "Kei, shouldn't you be studying something?" "Well, I plan to take Social Studies but English class is below my level and I already know the math and science..." "Okay, well, then take a variety." So Kei signed up for PE, Social Studies, Art (drawing), and Music (traditional Japanese instruments). I found out today that he got into all of his classes.

Kie came home on Monday very excited with her own list of 7 electives. Seventh graders get to choose one. She wanted to take industrial arts. (It is not like she doesn't study art in school--she has both regular art class and industrial arts class!) "Kie, aren't you supposed to take something to help you with a subject you are weak in?" "They didn't say anything about that. Besides, I don't know what I am weak in and, Mom, they're ELECTIVES. That means you get to choose what you want! Mom, this class does things with trees. I love trees!" Can't argue with that. So extra art it is! And I think she meant "wood".

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Parent's meeting

Monday was the first parents' meeting for the new 9th graders. Kei has the same teacher as in 7th grade. The meeting began in the gym with the principal and five main teachers responsible for 9th grade all giving speeches. Oh, it began with the new music teacher who made us all sing. We sang a song that the 9th graders are all learning this year--it is a traditional song from 100 years ago and she said that all us moms had learned it in Junior High. She was appalled that only 10 out of 91 kids had ever heard it and told us we should do better!!! I felt especially bad since I did not know the song and couldn't sing very well. I felt MUCH better later when I found out Kei was one of the 10!!!!

After the speeches, we got into our groups to decide PTA responsibilities. Takeshi and I had already decided that we would not commit to any big roles this year. Our class finally filled all the positions. They also talked about recruiting moms for very short volunteer roles as needed. They said they needed 5 moms for the upcoming sports festival. So I volunteered. Nothing so strange about that, but I am still not sure what I actually volunteered for! I will either be participating in some type of relay event involving moms from all grades or I am patrolling the grounds for 30 minutes or I am a receptionist. I was too embarrassed to ask since I had volunteered myself! I guess I will just find out when the time comes.

The adventure continues...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Kei's Basketball Team

Kei began 9th grade basketball on April 1st with a new coach. This coach has a reputation for making strong teams--even with no strong individual players. His teams have been top in our city. So Kei is quite excited for his last half year of basketball here. (Ninth graders only play the first half of the year since they have to study hard for high school entrance exams.) Takeshi and I went to cheer on Kei and the team at the opening games for this season. Kei's team won 73-40. It is fun to watch Kei (#18) play. He is quite a strong all-around player. He was feeling really good at the end of this game as he sunk the final basket just as the buzzer went off--3 pointer to boot! Doesn't get much better than that! (In this video clip, Kei starts out on the left and gets the rebound and passes to #33 who passes to #7 who passes back to Kei.)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Hello, Ogichu!

On Tuesday, Kie officially became a 7th grade student at Ogikubo Junior HIgh. Here in Japan, we celebrate entrances as well as graduations. The entrance ceremony was nice. There are 91 students divided into three classes. Kie is in the B class. One third of the students are from Kie's elementary school. It was fun to see all the kids dressed in their slightly oversized school uniforms.



After the entrance ceremony, the parents divide into the classes and each class must select 7 PTA committee members. It is an interesting process and must be finished before they will take the official pictures. While we were working on this, the PTA president came over and talked to me. Her daughter has been in Kei's class every year. That perked up the other parents' interest in me a bit. (People are often afraid of me since they assume I can't speak Japanese and it usually takes some effort on my part to get over that initial barrier.) Our group decided 6 of the 7 positions and were having trouble filling the last spot. At this point the PTA vice president, introduced me to the group as having filled that position last year and then asked me to talk about it! So I gave a short appeal and one of the ladies agreed to do it! This should help the first parents' meeting go well for me! I did enjoy all the PTA stuff last year, but it will be nice to have some time off!

Kie is growing up nicely. We are very proud of her!