Kai's random thought/fact/happening of the day

[Kai Shi]

As you may or may not already know, I've recently moved back to Japan. What's the scoop? I'm an English teacher at 1 junior high school and 3 elementary schools out in a semi-rural area of Japan. If any of you are interested in the route I took to get here, please feel free to ask either here or through PM.

So I thought I might start a thread on any funny little things I find/notice while I'm here in Japan. If there's anything in particular you want me to look into please let me know!  

[Kai Shi]

The junior high school kids at the school across the street from where I live are having their sports festival today (taiikusai). Its amazing how competitive they get and the range of competitions they compete in. Some of the events:

relays
tug of war
tornado race (4 kids hold a stick and twist their way around pylons in a race)
a bigger version of a sack race (4 kids pull a tarp while 6 kids stand on it and hop in time together)
A big ball game, where they line up super close together and try and pass a giant ball along their heads the fastest.

And probably the most fun, a really intense cheering contest! At my schools sports festival yesterday my team won. And they were so overjoyed that most of the girls were crying!  

[Kai Shi]

Cleaning time:

Schools in Japan are cleaned by the students. They have 10-15 minutes dedicated to cleaning everyday. At my junior high school, this time is after school. At my elementaries its after lunch break. Students have assigned areas to clean, whether that be their classrooms, the hallways, the staffroom or even the bathrooms. They sweep, dust and scrub the floors. Of course sometimes they don't always do the best job, the schools seem to acquire a dusty feel to them over the years but as the vice-principal of my junior high told me "It's not only about cleaning. We aren't just teaching them how to clean the school. We're teaching them responsibility. Not only cleaning the school but also their minds."