It’s morning, just after the 10-minute homeroom meeting and before the first class begins. The students are walking into the office one by one, in the usual, orderly fashion, delivering their homework to the benign teacher who gave them their orders. Like reluctant soldiers, they stop at the door, say the name of the teacher for whom they are searching, followed by their own name (family name, given name), and rounded off by their class: Kurokawa Sensei, please; I’m Watanabe, Ryu; 1st grade, 3rd class. Then they deliver their notebook and exit the room with an “excuse me for bothering you” on their way out the door. All very tidy and…
Hello!
Yesterday I hurried into McDonald’s to grab a quick bite. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone wave. Natsuki and Shogo, two of my former student! What wonderful kids! It always makes me happy when students say hi. Sometimes they avoid me, like the other night at the convenience store when I heard a group of graduates saying, “。。。ネートだ。。。 はなす。。。 めんどうくさい。。。” They were saying something about how it was too much trouble to talk to me. My heart broke and I walked out of Lawson not wanting to bother them. It’s no wonder then that it makes my day when students say hello of their own accord, especially when they’re such great students like Natsuki and Shogo were! 
The dangers of PE
I often participate in PE class with my students if I have time. I’ve found it to be a very effective way of connecting with them. (Participating together in physical activities is one of the forms of communication that surpasses language barriers. Undoubtedly, that is one of the primary reasons for the Olympics.) During my first two and a half years in Japan, joining the students’ PE class was my regular routine; however, for the past year, I’ve rarely been able to join their PE class because either there is no PE class on the day that I visit the school or English is scheduled at the same time as PE. Today I discovered the most probable explanation for this.
Remarking to my co-worker that if it were convenient, it might be beneficial (especially for the next ALT) if PE and English class were scheduled at different times, she replied that the vice principal didn’t like when I joined PE class. I was more than a bit surprised since I’d been encouraged to join the PE class when I first arrived. She went on to explain that he was worried I’d be injured and that, since it’s not part of my job description, insurance might not cover it if I needed to go to the hospital. Ding! Suddenly it all made sense why my free time never matches up with PE class: the vice principal, who was transferred to our school last year, is the cause.
Another of my few pleasures in Japan crushed by bureaucracy, deceit, and Japan’s ever-prevailing “box of abunai“.