are you, my judge?

Imagine, if you will, a teachers' room.  This room is filled with the entire staff of the junior high school you attend, all twenty-four of them, and they are not happy.  In fact, they are sporting some of the coldest, most serious expressions you have ever seen.  And there you stand before them, with four of your friends, all tasked with making your apology.  Would you be able remain steady in the face of this array of educational might and stern disappointment?

Well today five girls from the third year had to do just that.  They were caught late last week chewing gum in the school, something that is taken very seriously here in Japan.  Only one of them did not cry at some point, and one in particular was very upset.  They all came in and stood in a row at one end of the room and had to make an apology to the whole room, and I don't mean that they just said "I'm sorry" and were free to go.  I obviously don't know what they said really, but it was all fairly lengthy and involved.

When they had all finished, Watanabe-sensei, the head second grade teacher, had some stern words for them.  After he lectured them, he went around the room to see if the Principal, Vice-Principal, or other teachers had anything else to say, but they all just nodded their assent to what he had already said.  Only after this was finished were the girls allowed to go.

All of the teachers took this matter very seriously, but it seemed to me that the third grade teachers were particularly upset, especially Kawaguchi-sensei and Nakayama-sensei.  After the girls had left, both teachers spoke, I would imagine as part of their responsibility as the homeroom teachers for 3-1 and 3-2, respectively.  Nakayama-sensei was clearly upset, but Kawaguchi-sensei was even more visibly bothered by what they did, to the extent that after she finished she actually started crying a little at her desk with her head down.

You might think it a little extreme, but it makes a lot more sense when you consider the incredibly developed sense of group identity in Japan; everyone in a group is affected by the actions of its members, which makes Kawaguchi-sensei, as the leader of that group, even more invested than the average member of said group.  

It's pretty understandable then that she would get so upset that they would bring disgrace and embarrassment like that, especially right before the Culture Festival this coming Friday.  I think maybe they were chewing gum during practice or something, because I kept hearing the word for Culture Festival when they were apologizing.  Maybe they were in danger of not being allowed to participate?  I am not sure and I didn't want to ask given how serious everyone was.

So things aren't always peaches and cream but if that's as bad as it gets then I think that is just a-okay.  This is in sharp contrast to Dino's other high school on the mainland, where he forgot his jacket in class and went back at the end of the day and it was gone.  Gone I tell you!!  Who steals the teacher's jacket?  Geeze.  Oh I guess someone did break into my junior high though two or three weeks ago and steal some of Kawaguchi-sensei's clothes from her locker.  Yeah, that's pretty messed up.  We still don't know what that was about.  Kinda blows your mind a little, huh?

Other than that though it's a wonderfully safe and friendly place and the kids are awesome.  Just don't go to Nishisonogi High School if you want to keep your jacket.

tough love from the future,

-greg.

ps: does anyone besides Azad recognize my subject line?  where is Fred King when i need him....