Not soon after fare welling the 3rd graders, are we back to welcome the new ichi nensei students (1st graders). This occurred last week. The setting was the gym again, the red vinyl was laid out, chairs were set, microphones tested, flowers arranged, speeches rehearsed and the teachers were in the best dress. The "Entrance Ceremony" as they called it, almost rivalled the farewell ceremony for the departing students. Again, a great effort which makes it special for the new students. Something that is so far from what happens in Australia.
Doesn't the microphone look pretty!
No, it's not de ja vu ... it's the same setting as the farewell ceremony but I assure you this is a different occasion.
Pretty flowers.
More flowers.
I think I have an obsession with taking pictures of flowers now.
We welcomed 35 new students to Ichu this school year. This was the 1-1 class. So they got to walk the red vinyl carpet. I wonder if I get to walk the red vinyl when I leave. The kids entered looking small, nervous and unsure of what to expect. Questions of "Will I like the school?", "Will I make new friends", swirling in their heads. All the while mindful of doing the right things and not falling over. Of course, not having been at the school before, they had no chance to rehearse where they were meant to walk and who they are meant to bow too. The kids had to be coached in their classrooms before coming out.
The 1-2 class with one of our new teachers as their homeroom teacher.
My new Kocho sensei (principal) in the bow tie and my Kyoto sensei (vice-principal) next to him.
Introducing the new Ichi nen sei class of 2008/2009.
After the ceremony, they sauntered to their new classrooms and then proceeded to be given their fat stack of textbooks. 
Damn, that's a lot of books.
Since last week, I had a few classes with the new students and they seem pretty cool so far, although very quiet. They are so raw to English that some of them don't even know the alphabet. So our first few lessons are to teach them the alphabet and how to write them. Excellent time to mould these young minds and bend them the way that I want them .... whoa hahaha. Now having zoning for Chu gakko (Junior high school), there are inevitably siblings that attend the school. I've spotted a few new students that are splitting images of their older siblings that I have taught. It's amazing really!
And after all was said and done. All the teachers were given sakura tea. Interesting taste actually, it's really salty as the sakura is fermented. Don't know if its my favourite tea, but certainly interesting to try.
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