Kada Jr. High

It is late Friday night, but I am so excited to share with all of you the wonderful week I had at my new school, Kada Jr. High. Everyone told me how small the school is because it is in a little fishing village on the outskirts of Wakayama. But I never expected it to be this small. All together in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, there are 80 students – TOTAL! There is one class at each grade level, and 6 teachers. Tonight they had a dinner at a Chinese restaurant near my apt. I had such a great time. The English teacher, Mr. Moriwaki, helped to translate some of the conversations. I wish I could find better words to describe the climate of the school, but it is basically like a family. They have made me feel so welcome. The students are kind and respectful. They have been together in the same class since kindergarten, so they are like brothers and sisters. It is so evident how much all the staff cares for each student’s well being.












On Wednesday, they celebrated their athletic festival. It was the first one I have seen in Japan. The students had a lot of fun. I participated in the tug of war and folk dancing. Some of the boys didn’t want to hold my hand, so of course I grabbed their hands and shook them all around. But a few of the other boys were quite the little gentlemen, bowed, and held my hand tightly as we danced. There was a nice opening ceremony with music and marching. By the way, the picture of the students lined up, is of ALL the students. Lunch was provided for us. Beautiful, but a little too raw. Can you find me in the tug of war picture?
There are too many pictures, so I will continue on teh next post.