Opening Ceremony at Higashine Shogakko

E and proud little brother getting ready to walk to school for the opening ceremony at Higashine.

Finally!  The much anticipated moment of starting school in Japan....

Modeling the randoseru!!!

That said, we had NO idea how much work it would be to prepare for school  and buy school supplies.  Seriously - we had to write the kids name on EACH individual pencil and EACH individual crayon.  Seriously?  Yes, sir.  And virtually everything needs its own special carrying bag - a bag for indoor shoes, a bag for the placemat, a bag for the plastic cup, a bag for books, a bag for a change of clothes - AND each bag has very specific dimension requirement - 20 cm x 25 cm or 18 cm x 32 cm.  My brain was swimming through honey in the school supply aisle....

Not to mention the Randoseru - the traditional backpacks that every child in Japan has.  The school told us they cost 30,000 yen (almost $400 - for a 6 year old's backpack - I almost had a heart attack).  I only hope we're not deported if they find out that we bought it on sale for only 10,000 yen (which is still $125 for a child's backpack - sorry, I'm repeating myself - I just can't help it - this STILL blows my mind).

 And we really didn't realize what a HUGE deal the opening ceremony is... thank goodness we got a clue a few days before and learned that all the boys wear suits.  What$#%$??  So, off to buy a suit we went.  And then imagine my surprise when all I can find are short suits - i.e. full suits for little boys but instead of pants, they come with shorts.  I found this so odd that I felt obligated to ask a poor unsuspecting Japanese mother also looking at the suits if a short suit was the right thing to buy for a school opening ceremony.  Sounds easy enough - but just imagine that conversation in my broken Japanese and with lots of pointing at the mannequin.  Ahhh... the fun of it all.

I thought I was being sooooo very organized by asking someone to call the school the day before the opening ceremony to ask them what we were supposed to bring to the ceremony.  They told us to bring the child's indoor shoes (and the corresponding bag, of course), his randoseru, and a bag to carry his textbooks. Check.  Check.  And check.  We're off to the ceremony with everything we need - or so we think.

We arrive.  We find out what class Ethan is in.  Ethan is ushered inside the school and we are pointed towards the gym.  No problem until we notice our first mistake.  Every other parent is carrying a bag with slippers in it.  Oops.  We didn't bring slippers for ourselves.  And no bag.  So, there we were, the only people in the entire gym who left our shoes outside the gym and walked around barefoot.  At least, we all had socks without holes in them.  A small victory, but a victory nonetheless - and even the little victories count these days.

And every other mother had on a large corsage.  Well, every mother except me of course.  Oops #2.  Clearly I don't love my kid and don't value education, as evidenced by my lack of a corsage.  And then, it becomes clear that the other parents are carrying a map of the gym that shows them where to sit.  Many of the parents had the maps protected in clear plastic folders, so it did not appear to be something that they picked up on their way in.  Oops #3 within about 6 minutes.  Anyway, we figured out where to sit and all was grand.

The gym - all the first graders processed in with their classmates and sat in the front with their fellow students.

Can't really say too too much about the ceremony, since it was all in Japanese.  Lots of local dignitaries were there and they each were introduced and said omedetoo gozaimasu (congratulations) to the students and parents.  That took a while.

The second graders did a little performance on an instrument that I have honestly never seen before.  It's a small keyboard that they rest on their shoulder with a tube that they put around the back of their neck and then blow into a mouthpiece attached to the tube. We think this might be the "harmonica" that we have to buy for E - at least that is how it was translated for us, though it is unlike any harmonica I have ever seen.






After the formal ceremony, we headed to the classroom where the kids got their textbooks and their extra-special yellow hat which they are required to wear when walking to and from school.  It's also very regimented, in that each family had to mark where they live on a map, which determined which walking group the child is in, and we *think* that means that these kids will all walk home together.  Or something like that.  We had already been given a map which told us very specifically exactly which streets E is allowed to use to walk to and from school.  Ok - got it.

All the moms crouched down helping the kids go through their new stuff.... Note:  E's desk is front and center.

After it was all over, the kids played on the playground after the ceremony and had a grand time - mostly on a rope swing, the monkey bars, and rolling tires back and forth.

Headed home...

And we celebrated the event with dinner and ice cream sundaes at a hamburger joint we had heard about it that is not far from our house.  The burgers did not disappoint (but the 4, literally 4, french fries that came with the burgers was a little shy from what I was hoping for).

Proud dad enjoying ice cream sundaes!

One more opening ceremony for R's yochien (kindergarten) on Tuesday and then real life begins!