Counting 40 penguins, now to Elementary

Spring vacation is over and it's back to the routine. Not exactly, though. This, as you may be aware, the new term has just begun (I have signed up for another year, so I'll be here until at least next March) and this year there has been a substantial top-down overhaul of the English education system in Japan. Updated regulations for teachers, new textbooks, more vocabulary and longer sentences for students, and more English classes per week. These measures were implemented by the government because of the baffling disparity between how much time and resources Japan spends on English education and the apparent language proficiency of the population. All of which has made my coteachers very busy in preparing for this year. Not only have some teaching logistics changed notably, but starting this year I will be also working at Elementary School. True, I will be on average only there once a week, but it is still an exciting new development. My first day at Elementary was this past Tuesday. The first thing that I realized while thinking about what to share on this blog was how utterly different it feels from my first days last September. When getting to school on the first day, I wasn't worried about getting lost, there were no surprising cultural idiosyncrasies to make me feel as if I were in a foreign environment, I could introduce myself to teachers and students beyond "my name is Austin Royse"(which was met with some priceless reactions. One kid literally fell out of his seat when I started speaking Japanese), and can even understand a percentage of teachers' room banter. So though I was at a new school, the newness was limited to the location of the bathroom and people's names. I felt comfortable enough that by 2nd period, I was playing "Red Light Green Light" and tag in the school baseball field(while wearing my suit, by the way) with the 2nd graders. It was also comforting in that I already was familiar with the majority of the 1st graders (they recently graduated from my kindergarden). All in all, while young kids are still not my forte, I think that I managed to come across as a warmhearted(if at times stiff) new teacher and though I'm not thrilled about "repeat after me" sessions practicing "hello, how are you?" all day, I can't imagine being sorry I started at Elementary. Before I finish, I'd like to share with you a poster I found at Tomioka Elementary school(the school I went to on Tuesday).

I thought you would enjoy the above characters who seem to be promoting a certain lifestyle. Before I go further though, I'll have to mention something about honorifics. Honorifics are short titles that you tag on to a person's name. I bet you've heard of san(a blanket politeness roughly equivalent to Mr./Mrs.) and sensei(used for doctors, teachers, martial arts specialists, and many other professionals). Well, the list is not limited to these and what you might not know is that they not only can indicate politeness, but also things like intimacy. With that as a preface, I can finally explain the poster. We have Miso-chan(chan an honorific usually applied to young girls as a sign of intimacy). Rice man(reminiscient of the famous childrens' hero Bean Bread Man who is known to selflessly offer his head to the hungry). Wake-up-ealy-kun (kun being for young boys or young men). Go-to-bed-soon-chan. And the stay up late demon.