Miyako High School
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Our last school visit was at Miyako High School. The largest on the island, Miyako High School is 78 years old and has 994 students in 3 grades. The Japanese school system is different from ours – elementary school is grades 1-6, middle school starts again with grades 1-3 and high school is also grades 1-3, so a senior for us (or 12th grader) would be the equivalent of 3rd grade of high school. We were, again, welcomed with fanfare and an all girl orchestra that sounded terrific! The students sat in very neat and orderly rows for the assembly. The facilities here were much nicer than the other schools, though there was the same amount of disrepair and need of paint that we had seen everywhere else. Perhaps because of the weather, buildings just don’t stay new looking. Despite this, there was a warmth and a good feeling about this school. As at the other schools, there is a cleaning time after lunch and everybody cleans everyday.
We observed lots of classes, after school activities, students enjoying free time…. We had a meeting with the teachers and discussed much the same things as at the other schools. Some of the very same issues that plague American schools are present in Japan. My preconceptions of what Japanese schools would look like were challenged with all of these visits.
And then we were in for a treat – the town group of older women had organized a dance for us – they all showed up at the gym in their beautiful kimonos (hand made on Miyako of the special textile that we had seen made on Thursday) and taught us a traditional Miyakojiman dance. As hard as we tried to learn the steps, they danced circles around us, but we all had a lot of fun. It was great to see all the generations dancing together.
This was not the end though, as the teachers had also prepared a treat of dancing and snacks for us at our last meeting of the day. 3 of them danced yet another traditional dance and then taught us the “Champuru” dance (which means “mix-it-up;) they dance this at events and weddings. So we, in turn, taught them the “Chicken Dance.” It bewildered them, but they tried.
Later that night several of us tried to find a new restaurant for dinner. As we wandered the one main street, we came across the Superintendent of Education and a colleague of his who actually joined us for dinner and ordered for us traditional Miyako foods and beverages that we otherwise would not have known to try. Another really fantastic evening!
(new window if you want to come back to this page.)
Our last school visit was at Miyako High School. The largest on the island, Miyako High School is 78 years old and has 994 students in 3 grades. The Japanese school system is different from ours – elementary school is grades 1-6, middle school starts again with grades 1-3 and high school is also grades 1-3, so a senior for us (or 12th grader) would be the equivalent of 3rd grade of high school. We were, again, welcomed with fanfare and an all girl orchestra that sounded terrific! The students sat in very neat and orderly rows for the assembly. The facilities here were much nicer than the other schools, though there was the same amount of disrepair and need of paint that we had seen everywhere else. Perhaps because of the weather, buildings just don’t stay new looking. Despite this, there was a warmth and a good feeling about this school. As at the other schools, there is a cleaning time after lunch and everybody cleans everyday.
We observed lots of classes, after school activities, students enjoying free time…. We had a meeting with the teachers and discussed much the same things as at the other schools. Some of the very same issues that plague American schools are present in Japan. My preconceptions of what Japanese schools would look like were challenged with all of these visits.
And then we were in for a treat – the town group of older women had organized a dance for us – they all showed up at the gym in their beautiful kimonos (hand made on Miyako of the special textile that we had seen made on Thursday) and taught us a traditional Miyakojiman dance. As hard as we tried to learn the steps, they danced circles around us, but we all had a lot of fun. It was great to see all the generations dancing together.
This was not the end though, as the teachers had also prepared a treat of dancing and snacks for us at our last meeting of the day. 3 of them danced yet another traditional dance and then taught us the “Champuru” dance (which means “mix-it-up;) they dance this at events and weddings. So we, in turn, taught them the “Chicken Dance.” It bewildered them, but they tried.
Later that night several of us tried to find a new restaurant for dinner. As we wandered the one main street, we came across the Superintendent of Education and a colleague of his who actually joined us for dinner and ordered for us traditional Miyako foods and beverages that we otherwise would not have known to try. Another really fantastic evening!
posted by lisa at 7:02 PM
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