Hide it all!
So, I had two interesting experiences today. The first was when, after turning in my Tokyo Orientation Assistant (TOA) Application, I was conversing with my supervisor – the illustrious Matsugi-sensei. She brought me the TOA yesterday, after having received it from Mohri-san (yes, he still adds a random H in his name) at the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education. I filled it out and wrote up a brief summary for a presentation I could theoretically make. Then I typed in all of the answers, and passed the paperwork back toward my supervisor. At this point, she said something that caused me to do an auditory double-take. She said, “We have exams here tomorrow for entrance to this high school. So, maybe tomorrow and the next day, you can just stay home if you like.” What?? Free vacation time?! Wahoo! I can finally do my laundry and get some cleaning done. Sweet. (Do I sound like a boring adult, or what?) Yeah. So, that was a surprise. The next surprise came when I was asked to help clean. I was taken aback, because normally I pitch in immediately. I simply didn’t hear the cleaning music (because it wasn’t playing), and didn’t see the usual kids doing their chores (because they weren’t there doing their usual chores). Perplexed, I said sure, and followed Matsuura-sensei out into the school. I soon discovered that due to the aforementioned exams being held on Thursday and Friday, that the school was being cleaned and purged of all kanji. You think I’m kidding? Nope. I personally removed the school motto and clock from every classroom, chalked the room numbers on the back, and stored them away. I personally took all the room plaques off of their doors, hid maps, and helped students paper over the remaining kanji. (There are some kanji permanently up on the boards, for instance, the days of the week for scheduling purposes.) I was laughing at the extremes to which we went. The bathroom signs were covered. Even the fire extinguishers were wrapped in paper. (That should be handy should there be a fire. Yikes. It’d never fly in America.) Because the students are being tested on kanji characters, they cannot allow any to be seen. I’d never thought about that before. It makes sense. We cover maps when we’re being tested on geography, etc. But imagine that due to your language, you had to remove all points of reference from a school. That’s pretty interesting to me. And I noted, with no glee, that there were two holes in the plan. There was a giant banner strung from the front of the school that we cannot hide or erase, so it will stay put. Also, the “off limits” signs were written in kanji. Whoops. Ha ha. All in all, it was a good day.
Also, I have made it a personal policy not to include any closeups of my students. I think it’s better for them, and safer for me. I really want to show you cool stuff about Japan, but I also want to act responsibly with my photos. Also, this website is public, and known to my employers – so they know what I post here. I think transparency is key, so I don’t get anybody (myself included) into trouble. 
Um, yes, that was just for your edification. Right. Move along, now. Get back to work.
