deja vu

Believe it or not, pictured above and below are 2 DIFFERENT ceremonies welcoming the new teachers and students to each of my junior high schools. You might notice that they bear a striking resemblance to one another (my, my nothing gets past you!). So the ceremonies are fascinatingly boring, as the routine formalness of the ceremony, mixed with the emotionless students make for a sobering one hour procession (versus a "celebration" that we are more accustomed to back in the States.) But I went to both of mine - just to take some pictures to remember the monotony by (and it got me out of the office for the day...). Can you spot the ONLY difference between the schools' setups....the "school flags" (which are hanging far right) are different. Unfortunatley, it's going to take a bit more than that to stimulate my brain during the mindless/mindblowing assembly.

The grand entrace.

Every student must take exactly 2 steps inside the gym, say "Hai!" and bow, proceeding to their seat.

No we're not at a circus, the red stripes are for "formal ceremonies" in Japan...kinda hard to take it seriously when I feel like I'm at a TGI Friday's (minus the quesadillas and margaritas).

Sitting, standing, bowing, sitting, bowing, singing, bowing, standing, bowing, sleeping....

am I missing anything?

The closing: The first year students proudly carry their prison-placement chairs to the classroom they will come to despise (8 hours a day, 320 days a year) and to love (strangely maybe the "comforts of home" mentality applies...?) Some schools give certificates/ribbons even trophies to newbies. But these schools give them their first assigment, physical labor of course, 'setting the stage for learning', all the while permanently ingraining in their foreheads that they are peeons, and their teachers are the slavedrivers...now haul your chair up to your desk and place in the classroom that will become your second home (all 2 square feet of it). I giggled during this strange rite of passage, while the other teachers grinned as they knew it meant less to clean up after the assembly.

Picture below: more singing...Japan's anthem, the Iwate anthem, the school song, the 'congratulations' song

Is there such a thing as adult-onset of ADHD? I couldn't possibly stay a second year, for fear of said diagnosis. I'm already exhibiting some of the symptoms (see picture below: my brain is derailing during the ceremony as taking pictures of my old pair of geita seemed amusing at the time...)