A new day!

Today when I woke up I felt something that I haven’t felt in a long time. It was sudden feeling of nerves mixed with excitement of the unexpected adventure of your first day of school.

It was strange to be having such feelings considering I have been teaching with the same teachers, for the same school, with the same students (excluding first grades) for over a year.

However, recently there was a tsunami that damaged the school - damaged as in completely flattened the surrounding areas and destroyed everything on the ground floor and first floor.

It has been about 5-6months since the tsunami and we have finally been given the all clear to return to the school. 

When driving towards the school you see the occasional building remaining with some people rebuilding, but a part from that the only building that truly stands out is the school that was once hidden from view on the main road. Driving here was a fun adventure in itself as I meandered around potholes and drove slowly over the sections of graveled roads. 

Turning the corner in to the school drive was a splendid sight as the playing field glistened with new white sand, surround by a new vibrant green fence that was still being erected... the playing field changing rooms had been repainted and looked brand new. Nearly ever student now bikes to school (no train and limited bus service), so it was no surprise to see a massive row of bikes of all different colors and size... only one bike shed remained at the far end of the car park. Even the car park itself had a new surface - it was once gravel (those big grey stones) but was now looked like the riverbed had been washed up in our car park.

Entering the school was a joyous experience and one I had been looking forward to...it was almost like returning home after a long tiring holiday. The shoe boxes were all the same but of course the names had been changed around. To be honest i half expected to not find my name and almost took a blank one but then i spotted my name - again this made me feel welcome because when i first came to japan, none of the schools had put my name on my shoe box...even back in may when i started at my new school it took them a week to get a shoe box sorted.

Walking into the corridor you had the mixed smell of fresh paint and cleaning fluid. The paint though reminded me of the cheap water base paint used in new houses to lightly color the wall - so a slight powdery hint to it - although that could be some of the re-plastering.

Going into the staffroom was a weird feeling because for most part the desks were set up similar but it felt empty and bare... all the desks were brand new but because many books etc were lost the desks weren’t cluttered...in fact my desk had nothing what so ever - which is very rare because usually you have all the various English books, along with the collection of Japanese language learning books from previous ALTs and your desk is full of worksheets and other teachers stuff that your not sure if you can throw away...

I asked my teacher if they have any of the teaching manuals or at least the CD for a listening exercise in the book - unfortunately I was told they will be getting replacements in march - so until then I have literally become the only foreign sound the students will hear until then - unless of course they use the internet or bump into one of my friends.

I have actually just returned from my first class of the day - the only unusual experience being back was the fact the students seemed more tired (possibly because of having to bike to school) and the fact this school has the step-up blocks in front of the black boards which make me feel so much taller and for most part un-necessary.

All in all it is my first day back - I am extremely tired due to weird dreams last night but I am happy to be back - its like moving into a new home or one that has been refurbished.

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