November's 12 on 12

Welcome to the November edition of 12 on 12. This month you will get more than 12 pictures because some of them go together to make the point and I didn't want to jip you of some good pictures.

I got up extra early for you guys this month so I could get some pictures of the elementary kiddos going to school. There are rules as to how children can get to school here in Japan. Elementary and Jr. High students can only walk to school. High school kids can ride their bikes or take the city bus. They can not get a driver's license until they are 18 and if that happens while they are still in high school, they must get the Principal's permission to obtain the driver's license, which almost never happens.

Now back to the elementary students. They create a human bus system. They each wait at a certain spot on the way to school. As the group of students reach them, they get 'picked up' and continue to walk. There are parents who walk with the kids to certain points and they wear an orange jacket and carry a yellow flag. There are 'crossing guards' at the traffic lights and they help remind the traffic to stop for the kids. The parents wave the flag to the next parent if no parent walks a portion of the route. It is very interesting to watch. And yes, it is mostly moms, but I have seen a dad do it a few times.

So, now I will take you on a tour of my high school, Himeji High (also know as Himeco).

We will start by walking up to the front of the school. If you remember from September, I walk up a pretty good hill and then arrive at the school. I am standing at the top of that hill taking this picture. The high school is not that big. It is 1 building and it has 4 floors. The teachers office is on the right side on the second floor and my classroom (LL - Language Lab) is on the 4th floor on the left side. The area right in front is the walkway between the 2 wings of classrooms.

These two pictures are taken from the walkway (I am on the 2nd floor). The one on the left is looking at back at where I just was (the last picture). Notice all the beautiful Autumn colors!!! The white building on the right is the gym. It is 2 story. The bottom floor is different classrooms used for guitar, judo, ken do and other club activities. The top floor is the actually gym where they play basketball, volleyball, badminton, etc. The clubs take turns using the gym on different days. At the end of the walk way on the right side, you might notice a brown building that is somewhat rounded. That is Parnuss Hall. I will blog later about that building.

The picture on the right is from the same walkway, but now I am looking the other way into the school. Like I mentioned before the school has 2 wings of classrooms and 2 walkways that join the wings. It makes for a hallow center. In that center, you can see there is a small garden area. There is also a small pond with some goldfish (guess I didn't capture that on the picture). On the top of the classrooms on the left is an observatory (it didn't show up in the picture, sorry).

This is the view out of the teachers works room. It looks out on to the filed where students participate in gym class as well as club activities (baseball, softball, soccer. etc).

These are some of the views out of my classroom windows.

This is Nagoyama Cemetery (Mitch blogged about it last month). More fall colors! I love this place in the fall. And I get to stare out at this view when I am in class. This picture is looking to the southwest.

These pictures are looking north out of my classroom. In the left picture, you can see something white on top of a mountain. That is Mt. Shosha. The picture on the right is a close up of the white thing. It is the building for the rope way (like a ski lift I am told) that will take you to the top. Tom Cruise filmed The Last Samurai at the Temple on this mountain. Be sure to check Mitch's blog for pictures of our trip to Mt. Shosha later this month.

This is a typical classroom (I teach in a high tech room, or so they say). Notice that there are windows on the hallway side (the side I am on taking the picture) and on the other side (which is to the outside courtyard/garden area I showed you earlier). During the summer they opened both sets of windows to allow the breeze to blow through (remember there is no AC Or heaters in the classrooms). The desks are all facing the teachers staging area (there is a platform area that is about 6 inches off the ground where there is a podium and a black board for the teacher to use for instruction).

This is an interesting concept. This is similar to a bookstore however it is more like school supplies. The students can buy notebooks, buttons for their jackets, rain gear and other things they might need. There is now person who mans this store. The students help themselves and then pay for what they took. It is all on the honor system and it seems to work. It is located just outside the teachers workroom. The red machine on the left side of the counter is a change maker and on it is a paper that lists the cost of the different items.

These are some pictures of one of the walkways. Everyday at the end of classes, the students clean the school. The picture on the left is of the sinks. The white thing you see hanging from the facet is a net bag with soap in it for the students to use to wash their hands. The picture on the right is the students actually cleaning (sweeping). Now that is it cold outside, the windows stayed closed so it gets quite dusty when they sweep.

This is the bike parking area. Remember I said high school students can ride their bikes to school, well with over 800 students, they need a place to park them. They are assigned a parking space and that number correlates to the parking permit that is on their bike. It is a covered area and I have no idea what is on top (it looks like a parking lot, however I never see any cars up there).

This is the inside of the school cafeteria. I do spend some time over there as I have made friends with the Cafeteria Manager, Akime (she is the one who is second from the left, looks like she has red hair).

This is a look at a typical 3rd grader's class schedule (the one on the left is in Japanese and on the right is in English). There are 7 class periods a day and 5 days of school each week. That allows for 35 different class periods a week (Yes, I still remember how to multiple even though I am an English teacher for now). The students have 15 different subjects (some mandatory, some electives). It seems that the mandatory ones meet 3 times a week, most classes meet 2 times a week with a few that only meet 1 time a week. The students seem to think it keeps them from getting bored. I could see how that would be the case. When I explained a typical schedule for an American Senior, they were shocked at how boring the schedule looked. In case you can't read the picture, here are some of the classes this student has: English reading, English writing, English listening, world history, Japanese history, modern Japanese and classic Japanese (from what I can gather, these are writing and reading classes as the Japanese language has changed over time), social studies, Math I & II, Science, Home Ec, PE (mandatory and elective for this student), music, choice & challenge (from what I can gather, this is a class that introducing different career choices). Everyday they have a short homeroom after 7th period for 10mins. One day a week, they have a long homeroom (takes place during the entire 7th period)

This is the front of Shogai University where I go teach on Wednesday afternoons. Kind of looks like a church as it has a bell tower on the left side.

I hope you have enjoyed November's edition of 12 on 12. Please note that I am writing more on this blog. I will be posting a 'Japanese sign test' pretty soon, so be sure to check back when you can. Have a great Turkey Day everyone!