School

One of the things we think will be most difficult for the kids – but at the same time the most important for the experience – will be attending public school in Japan. We never seriously considered putting the kids in an English-speaking school or home-schooling them. We decided early on that integrating into the neighborhood and the school would almost certainly be the most important part of the experience for them. But belief in the process doesn't make it much easier. I have no doubt there will be days when they come home exhausted, frustrated, lonely, or depressed. Of course those emotions were a big part of dealing with Japan for me the first time too, but in the end it was my own choice to go to Japan. It feels somehow cruel to impose that on them, even if it is "for their own good." Basically we are going for the "total immersion" approach. Not quite "kick them out the door and send them off to school" but pretty close to it. We've discussed with them what to expect, told them they wouldn't understand anything at first, and talked about just being observant and doing what the other kids do. They're both pretty excited about it, but naturally a bit nervous.

We tried to get as much done as possible before leaving, but it turns out there's not much we can do until we arrive. Only after we actually arrive in Osaka can we go to the city office, apply for our foreign registration cards, and register the kids as official transfer students. One thing I have been able to do was to contact the principal of the school they will be attending, and he kindly sent me both a general guide for students coming into the schools for the first time (usually as first graders, occasionally as transfer students from another Japanese elementary school, almost never as non-Japanese speaking students from the US) as well as a very detailed reply about possible differences he anticipates between US schools and the school in Japan. It has been very revealing going over the material with the kids, and here are some of the highlights:

First, the Japanese school year begins in April. That means that the kids will be joining the school as they enter the final trimester of the school year when we arrive in January, E in fourth grade and M in first just as they were here in the US. That school year will end in March, after which they will have a two-week break and then enter the next grade at the beginning of a new school year. The kids are pretty excited about getting to be in fifth/second grade half a year before all their friends back home. And I'm hoping it makes for a nice transition. If all goes well they can be fairly used to the routine (if not the language) by the time the school year ends and then going into a new grade can feel like a fresh start. That's the idea anyway.

We are walking distance from the school, and the kids will walk with other kids from the neighborhood en masse, accompanied by a representative from the local PTA. Since not all kids come home at the same time after school, volunteers from a local old folks home escort the kids back to their home neighborhoods. And yes, we will have to buy them the typical yellow hats and randoseru, the blocky backpacks, that all Japanese kids wear walking to and from school.

In addition to their commuting gear, we'll also have to buy them a whole array of other school clothes. Their school doesn't require school uniforms, but we will need to get them indoor shoes, outdoor shoes and gym shoes, as well as entire outfits for gym and for serving food, and individual bags to keep each set of clothes in. No wonder they need that big randoseru to keep everything in.

Wait... serving food? Yep. Students at their school don't bring in box lunches, but instead have school lunch where the kids take turns serving. They also take turns cleaning up the classroom and hallways after school. No janitors here. Needless to say, this will all take a bit of getting used to, and the kids will have to do quite a bit of looking around and imitating what everyone else does before they get the hang of things.

Finally, according to the principal, since the school is shitamachi (working class) the kids are a bit more rambunctious than most, and when they find out that a couple of American kids are coming to their school it will probably cause a bit of excitement. One more thing to overcome or one more thing to be excited about? We'll have to see.

All in all, I'm a bit nervous but not actively concerned about the kids well-being in school. I think the language barrier will be really tough, but that the kids will find ways around it until they learn enough to get by. My biggest worry is actually not that they'll be overwhelmed, but that they'll be bored. Once they get over the initial excitement and feel comfortable with the routine, I imagine it will be really tedious for them sitting in the classroom not knowing what is going on. We have a great school here and they are used to being stimulated and challenged for large parts of their day. I just hope they find a way to keep their interest up in between the subjects where they can better understand what's going on. We'll see.