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!