It has been a while since I wrote here. I keep making notes of things I want to write, but then life just ate my time--mainly because my place of work evicted in June, and when a theatre tries to move out of a place it has been for nearly 30 years...well, it's just a Pandora's Box. But with all of that, I managed to get away for almost three weeks at the beginning of the summer, which was desperately needed and highly anticipated.
Let me take you back a few steps.
When Yuki was still a baby (OK so that is more than few steps), my mother said to me that when Yuki reaches school age, I can enroll her in a school in Japan during the summer if I wanted. I was super excited to hear such an opportunity existed, and had it in my head to make that happen but had no idea how to do it. I figured, I would not worry about it until after she started Elementary School because her Japanese immersion preschool was year around so it made sense to me that we would do this when Yuki had a big chunk of time off. Well, that time was upon us now. Between kindergarten and 1st grade, we had a trip to California planned so we did not do it. But, I have heard from some of Yuki's old preschool friends that they've done it and it was really fun.
We're going to do it too!!
Yuki was pretty versatile in both languages throughout her preschool years, but once in kindergarten, her Japanese almost completely disappeared. I would speak to her in Japanese, but she would answer in English. Then slowly, as I need to convey more complex thoughts, I would switch over to English for the matter of practicality. Then I would get frustrated. Yuki was still in a Japanese class and there, she seemed to speak it and we were working on her writing and such, but it was clear that an opportunity to speak it was going to be very important in her keeping up. I mean, why learn a language if there was no need to use it? Yuki is fully aware that I speak English, so she did not need to speak Japanese. It was helpful still, that she has family in Japan and some friends (children of my friends), and when we would go there, I would hear her trying to speak it and getting by but her sentences are no more than 3 words and her vocabulary was limited. Not her fault really, I mean, she had to learn stuff in English because that is the language of the country she lives in. But if she went to a school in Japan, she would have no choice but to learn. This seemed like an ideal thing that would ignite her motivation to continue using her Japanese if we could do it every summer.
So I started to ask around to moms I know who has done this, or was thinking about doing it as it is a very common practice amongst half Japanese children to do this sort of thing. Everyone I talked to said it's so great and their kids love it. I read up on the inter-web and though there were some cases where a child was bullied, or the school was not particularly interested, the general consensus is that it's a great experience. During the fall, I kept gathering information but still wasn't 100% clear as to where to begin. Do I look up a school and contact them? Or do I contact the city? Is Yuki's Japanese proficient enough to keep up with the first grade in a class room setting or should I look up a kindergarten? What about the private school that I attended where all of my nieces also went and several of my friends' daughters go? All that was swimming around in my head and building some level of stress while Yuki's every day routine was being established--between the new Japanese class which involves a nearly 90 minutes of driving time in traffic, violin, and my work getting increasingly stressful pending the move. But then I came across the most helpful information, which was that most schools don't need much preparation for your child to visit. In fact, it's best if you wait until mid May.
Let me explain why.
Japanese schools run in tri semester system. New school year begins in April and it goes until late July (this is why kids from the States are able to attend school in Japan to begin with). They take about 5 weeks off for the summer, then they go from September to December. They have two weeks off, then the last semester goes from January to March. Then they get two weeks before the new grade starts. So, if you contact the school in the fall, it's useless because everything will change in April. If you contact them in April, teachers are just trying to get settled and can't think of a visitor in a class room. Bu then in early May, there is a string of holidays in Japan entitled Golden Week, and once that is over, schools have the brain space. Another information I came across that many of the schools are so accustomed to this that they won't need much warning, which amazed me. So I decided to wait.
Right around April, I went back to seriously figure out how to do this.
Tokyo is divided into 23 special wards, 26 cities, 5 towns, and 8 villages and each of them have its own government--much like cities in the US. Therefore, everyone of them has its own procedure for registering your child to a local public school who lives abroad. My sister in law found a link to a page with information in the ward where my family lives (Suginami) and sent it to me. I learned that there, as long as I have a form that says I am in fact staying with them, by my family member who is a resident there, and Yuki and I are both Japanese citizens, I can enroll Yuki. I looked up the school in the area and she would go to Ogikubo Elementary School, about 4 min walk from my family home. I went to the website, it looked like a big, but nice school. It also said that we needed to do it in person once we got into the country, but had no information as to how long it takes.
So I called them.
The city clerk was really attentive and nice, and explained to me that they can grant the request on the spot. I had already sent a fax (yes, a fax) to the school and the clerk just heard from the school about it. She said that she would talk it over with the school to make sure, but it should not be a problem.
Sigh of relief.
It is amazing and unexpected how international Japanese public school system seems to be about this particular thing. While every city has its own rules about it (some has a requirement of 3 wk minimum to attend, or some requires you to register as a resident before you can apply, etc) every school HAS to accept a visiting student as long as they belong in the district. And for some schools, it is totally a no big deal situation.
Initially, I was hoping to go back for a month. But given my work situation, the best I could do was just under 3 weeks. We were getting there on Monday, which gave us time to go to the city office to get paper work in, get over jet lag, shop for some supplies, and be ready for the next week and Yuki would attend for a week. Then Philip would join us on the second weekend, we would take a family trip with my dad and my brother's family for the weekend, then spend the rest of the following week playing before coming home. I thought, I'd try for a week this year, so if for some reason Yuki hates it, it's over fast, but if she loves it, it would serve as a good intro and trial for the future.
I had no idea how Yuki would be. But when I told her about it, she seemed really excited--then I realized, she is never one to turn down opportunities. Whatever class I've suggested, she's always been up for trying and coming out loving it. That is a fortunate thing for us. And because I am not certain how long this will last, it was a good timing. She had many questions about what to expect, and we had many conversations.
So on June 30th, the day after a huge event at my theatre, I staggered onto a plane with Yuki in tow (and then there was that whole she-threw-up-four-times-from-a-bad-burger-she-ate-at-the-airport situation on the flight, but we're going to just skip over that as if that didn't traumatize us). We landed on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday, I head out to the City office, which is just one stop away on a subway in a building literally above the station. Universe couldn't have made it easier for me. We go in, find the office of education, turn in the form, they call the school to verify that they have room for Yuki, we confirm the starting date (which is the following Monday). They hand me a couple of official document stating that Yuki is now formally registered and we were done. In about 45 min. I had anticipated a half day visit there so now we had no choice but to go to Denny's across the street and get our selves some dessert treats.
The city office clerk informed me that I should call the school at around 4pm to speak with the Vice Principal. I called her at 4:02. She asked me if we could come by the school to go over some paper work. We went. The school is less than 5 min walk from my family's house, just one turn. We walk into it and go to the faculty office and are introduced to Miss Koizumi, one of the first grade teachers. She goes through a stack of paper work for me to fill out, all pretty similar to what you'd do in the States. Then she kindly took us on a tour. The school was renovated 3 years ago, so it was so very big and clean. She gave me a short list of supplies and we left.
Yuki was super pumped. She wanted to go "tomorrow."
From Thursday through Sunday, we saw some friends, bought the stuff, put name on the stuff, and I even stuck Yuki in a Saturday and Sunday school at the church where I used to go where both of my nieces are teachers. She had a good time at both, which was a good indication and prep for Monday. My third niece loaned Yuki her old book bag from elementary school, which is a very specific kind of leather back pack called "ransel" (came from Holland in the 1800's, apparently) that EVERY elementary school child carries. Hers is a black one with a school crest on it (exact kind that I carried because she goes to the same school), but for public schools there come in every color and some even has some bling. They run anywhere from $300-$800 or so, so I initially told Yuki that she will be using her back pack. Imagine her face when she got this from her cousin. So we were set to go.
Day 1: What are Text Books?
We get up way too early from excitement. We eat breakfast. I do not need to pack her lunch because they serve lunch. I go over the short list of things she is supposed to have in her book bag. We venture out to the street. We get to the corner and turn right and run into a stream of children walking themselves to school. Some are with moms but some are not. It's pretty common that kids walk them selves there especially where it is marked as school zone. In this case, it's a straight shot to the school from that spot--about a quarter of a mile. There are two adult crossing guards at the one small intersection, but the rest is easy. I walk her amongst the sea of yellow hats and we enter the school. The Principal and another teacher are standing at the gate welcoming all the kids and at the entrance to the building was Miss Koizumi, waiting for Yuki. We walk up to her and she takes her in, I follow. First, there is the shoe changing area (kids in Japan has to switch from outside shoes to inside shoes when entering the school building) where Miss K has designated a shoe cubby for Yuki with her name on it.
Yuki switches out her shoes then we follow Miss K into the faculty office for just a second where she gives her the super spiffy name tag. It is made out of yellow plastic and the top part has a safety pin built in so that the kids can wear it on their chest. But the cool feature of this said name tag is that one side has the name but it SWIBLES to just show a school logo so that when kids are walking to and from school, their names don't show. WHAT? It makes no sense for me to have one, but I wanted it. She also gave Yuki a school badge and a yellow hat. Then Miss K took Yuki up to the class room and I said bye there.
I was nervous for her. And for me. I have no idea what I was doing as a Japanese mom. But I some how figured this thing out and got her there. I know that seems dumb to be impressed by and there are many people who get stationed in a foreign country and have to figure out everything with little to no language skills. I speak the language. This is my home town. And yet, I was totally stressed out for almost a year. But the day was here. She was in. And off I went home to hang out with my dad and to grab lunch with my best friend who lived not far from there.
That day, I went to the school to pick her up. We stopped at 7-11 right by the school and I bough her some ice cream treats. She was beaming from the day and told me how interesting and fun it was and how much she liked the lunch they served. She came home with some paper like kids do in the States.
Later, I learned that she was supposed to bring back her text books for reading and math. Text book. Yuki has yet to learn what that is. I explained to her that those are books that Miss K gave her and instead of sheets, kids in Japan get text books and they take those home and do things from it. I told her that when she gets older in America, she will get them there too. She told me that she met a girl named Sarah (not terribly Japanese name) and that she is really nice.
Day 2: Swimming!
Miss K informed me that there was swimming on Tuesdays. I was not required to buy Yuki a school bathing suit since she was only there for one of them, but when we went to the store (like Target) to get other school supply, there were some "school swim suits" for, like, $8. So I bought her a pair. It's just a very simple one piece that is navy or black. Then we needed to have a white swim cap, which we purchased (again, for like $5), a swim bag and a towel. And here is something I forgot from my childhood. Moms have to take their kids' temperature in the morning and record it on the swim card and sign it to show that the kid is healthy and therefore can swim that day. WITHOUT IT, SHE CANNOT SWIM. Those words echoed in my head as if to say "if you forget this thing, you have failed as a mother" so we woke up, once again, way too early and got it done. Yuki told me that she REALLY wanted to walk to school by herself and back like the other kids. I told her that I needed to go to school with the morning to pay for her lunch. AND that I was not confident if she knew where to turn that one turn. AND that she did not speak Japanese well enough or say her grandpa's house address, or know the phone number if she got lost. As I was saying these things, it occurred to me that those would have been good things to teach her and my active imagination was taking me to a place no one wants to go. By the time I got done talking, we were both horrified. We compromised by agreeing that I would let her walk there with friends and I would just follow behind so she can pretend I wasn't there, and on the way home, I would meet her at the playground, about 2/3 way home and before she needs to make a turn. She agreed.
I took this opportunity to spend time with one of my nieces who is now 19. We go out to see Maleficent staring Angelina Joli. It was nice to hang out with her.
She asked if I wanted to go shopping with her afterwards, but I wanted to make sure to be home in time so I came home. Right around the time the school was getting out, I headed out to the spot to meet Yuki. Summer in Japan is brutal. I, in fact, avoided going to Japan in the summer for over ten years because why go there where it's so miserable with heat and humidity when I live in Seattle where summer is the most gorgeous time of year? And yet, there I was, standing in the playground, where I used to play, on a really hot day with my mother's parasol and a hat and a bottle of water waiting for my daughter. I got there early and it was just a matter of 10-15 minutes but I almost passed out from the heat. Then I saw one small figure in a distance with a yellow hat on and it got closer and closer and it was Yuki smiling from ear to ear having walked all that way by herself. I made her turn around so we could once again duck into 7-11, that day more for me than her to get an icy treat, then we headed home. This time, she brought back her stuff and we did home work.
Day 3: Emergency plan is a good thing to have
Yuki continued to insist that she was now confident enough to walk there and back by herself. I was still not positive if she knew where to turn so I said I would let her walk to school (since she would be following many kids) and on the way home, would meet her right at the corner which was more distance from yesterday. She was not 100% happy. Then I reminded her of our conversation and told her that if we do this every year, she may walk all by herself when she was older and could speak better Japanese. Then we discussed a back up plan. I asked what she should do if she got there and I was not there. She paused. I said if she did not see me, to turn around and go right back to school because they would have my phone number. She nodded. I walked her to the corner and watched her walk away, and very shortly after she started on her route, her friend Sarah screamed her name, jumped off of the back of her mom's bike, which almost caused her mom to fall, and ran up to Yuki. They seemed to be communicating somehow and soon they were swallowed by the sea of yellow hats. When I couldn't see them anymore, I turned around and headed home.
That day, I had to go down town to run some official business. I went out after the rush hour was done, at about 10:00 am and the whole thing took about an hour and a half to complete. I stopped at the store on the way home and took the bus from the station. As the bus was stopped at the red light, I saw a mom with a school aged child with a yellow hat on a bicycle. Just for a second, I had a panic attack, like "is the school over early today??" but then calmed myself down because every public school kid wears that hat and there are two other elementary schools in the neighborhood. I got home and looked at the school schedule and it had no mention of that. But shortly after lunch, the phone rang. I had a weird feeling it was the school so I picked it up right away. Sure enough, It was Miss K. She said in a very sheepish voice, "I am so sorry. I forgot to mention that today was an early release. Miyuki is waiting for you in the office." I told her I will be there in 5 and I ran to school. It is so odd how you have an intuition and you fight it off. CRAP. I got there and Yuki had a crooked smile like Charlie Brown with a wiggly line across his face. She was scared. I thanked the teachers who smiled and padded Yuki on the back. I took a moment and looked into her face. She was tearing up but was fighting it. I held her and told her that I had no idea it was early release that I was really sorry I worried her. She said "that's OK." She said she got to the corner and did not see me so in panic, she ran back to the school like we talked about. I told her it was a good thing we talked about it, and that it was good that she remembered what to do and it it was the right choice. As we were walking out, the security guard and the crossing guard all said "Oh I'm so glad you found your mom!" Which gave me a great comfort that everyone was looking out for her and also embarrassed me to no end even though it was not my fault. We stopped at 7-11 to get our usual treat and walked home in shock. I kept thinking what would have happened if we did not have that talk. This is what a parent head does. After you avert a crises, you go back and play it out in your head with about 50,000 "what if" scenario. You don't need to. Your kid is fine. It all worked out. And yet, you can't stop your head. So for the next 24 hours, I kept replaying that and was having mini heart attacks all over. Joyous.
Day 4: The tearful farewell
After that trauma of Day 3, we regrouped and faced her last day. She walked to school fine and I did things around the house. Then at the end of the school day, I went to get her so that I can thank the teacher. I was hanging out by the entrance, but decided to go up to the class room area. As I came up, I could see that they were having some sort of end of the day wrap up class room announcements. After a couple of different students taking turns to speak, I could see Miss K calling Yuki up. She stood her next to herself and was giving a whole speech. I couldn't hear a word but I could tell that she was giving a thoughtful good bye. Then two other kids came up and handed Yuki a large envelope. Then everyone clapped. As the class broke out, I went in and thanked Miss K and gave her a package for smoked salmon I brought from Seattle. Then I asked if I could snap a photo with the kids and she gave me permission.
After the photo, Yuki was swarmed by her new friends. Everyone was pushing to get to her to say good bye. Then they all followed us down the stairs and out the door, saying good bye over and over and waving. One girl was crying. After only 4 days. They the group got smaller and smaller as we walked. When we got home, I opened the envelope and there was a good bye note from every child, bound in a hand made book. I have no idea when they did this. We looked through ever page. Many of them said they will remember her and that it was so good to have her visit their class. My heart was full. Yuki had a great experience. She was sad to leave and told me that she wanted to come every year. Seriously, it panned out like I was hoping and I couldn't believe it. I told her that I will try to take enough time off so that she can go to school for two weeks next year. I truly hope that I can give her this experience every year during elementary school.
The following week, Miss K called me and said that there are some text books Yuki could take home if she wanted, so with Philip, all 3 of us went back to the school. Miss K told us how great it was to have Yuki in the class--and that many of the kids talked about her visit. It was good to know that it not only serviced Yuki but also the kids there. I told her we will be back. She said she was looking forward to it.
The boy right in the front and center bragged to me that he knew some English.
As Halloween approaches, we plan to write a letter to them with photos enclosed along with some Halloween related goods for them to have. Next year, I will be less of a spaz.
Let me take you back a few steps.
When Yuki was still a baby (OK so that is more than few steps), my mother said to me that when Yuki reaches school age, I can enroll her in a school in Japan during the summer if I wanted. I was super excited to hear such an opportunity existed, and had it in my head to make that happen but had no idea how to do it. I figured, I would not worry about it until after she started Elementary School because her Japanese immersion preschool was year around so it made sense to me that we would do this when Yuki had a big chunk of time off. Well, that time was upon us now. Between kindergarten and 1st grade, we had a trip to California planned so we did not do it. But, I have heard from some of Yuki's old preschool friends that they've done it and it was really fun.
We're going to do it too!!
Yuki was pretty versatile in both languages throughout her preschool years, but once in kindergarten, her Japanese almost completely disappeared. I would speak to her in Japanese, but she would answer in English. Then slowly, as I need to convey more complex thoughts, I would switch over to English for the matter of practicality. Then I would get frustrated. Yuki was still in a Japanese class and there, she seemed to speak it and we were working on her writing and such, but it was clear that an opportunity to speak it was going to be very important in her keeping up. I mean, why learn a language if there was no need to use it? Yuki is fully aware that I speak English, so she did not need to speak Japanese. It was helpful still, that she has family in Japan and some friends (children of my friends), and when we would go there, I would hear her trying to speak it and getting by but her sentences are no more than 3 words and her vocabulary was limited. Not her fault really, I mean, she had to learn stuff in English because that is the language of the country she lives in. But if she went to a school in Japan, she would have no choice but to learn. This seemed like an ideal thing that would ignite her motivation to continue using her Japanese if we could do it every summer.
So I started to ask around to moms I know who has done this, or was thinking about doing it as it is a very common practice amongst half Japanese children to do this sort of thing. Everyone I talked to said it's so great and their kids love it. I read up on the inter-web and though there were some cases where a child was bullied, or the school was not particularly interested, the general consensus is that it's a great experience. During the fall, I kept gathering information but still wasn't 100% clear as to where to begin. Do I look up a school and contact them? Or do I contact the city? Is Yuki's Japanese proficient enough to keep up with the first grade in a class room setting or should I look up a kindergarten? What about the private school that I attended where all of my nieces also went and several of my friends' daughters go? All that was swimming around in my head and building some level of stress while Yuki's every day routine was being established--between the new Japanese class which involves a nearly 90 minutes of driving time in traffic, violin, and my work getting increasingly stressful pending the move. But then I came across the most helpful information, which was that most schools don't need much preparation for your child to visit. In fact, it's best if you wait until mid May.
Let me explain why.
Japanese schools run in tri semester system. New school year begins in April and it goes until late July (this is why kids from the States are able to attend school in Japan to begin with). They take about 5 weeks off for the summer, then they go from September to December. They have two weeks off, then the last semester goes from January to March. Then they get two weeks before the new grade starts. So, if you contact the school in the fall, it's useless because everything will change in April. If you contact them in April, teachers are just trying to get settled and can't think of a visitor in a class room. Bu then in early May, there is a string of holidays in Japan entitled Golden Week, and once that is over, schools have the brain space. Another information I came across that many of the schools are so accustomed to this that they won't need much warning, which amazed me. So I decided to wait.
Right around April, I went back to seriously figure out how to do this.
Tokyo is divided into 23 special wards, 26 cities, 5 towns, and 8 villages and each of them have its own government--much like cities in the US. Therefore, everyone of them has its own procedure for registering your child to a local public school who lives abroad. My sister in law found a link to a page with information in the ward where my family lives (Suginami) and sent it to me. I learned that there, as long as I have a form that says I am in fact staying with them, by my family member who is a resident there, and Yuki and I are both Japanese citizens, I can enroll Yuki. I looked up the school in the area and she would go to Ogikubo Elementary School, about 4 min walk from my family home. I went to the website, it looked like a big, but nice school. It also said that we needed to do it in person once we got into the country, but had no information as to how long it takes.
So I called them.
The city clerk was really attentive and nice, and explained to me that they can grant the request on the spot. I had already sent a fax (yes, a fax) to the school and the clerk just heard from the school about it. She said that she would talk it over with the school to make sure, but it should not be a problem.
Sigh of relief.
It is amazing and unexpected how international Japanese public school system seems to be about this particular thing. While every city has its own rules about it (some has a requirement of 3 wk minimum to attend, or some requires you to register as a resident before you can apply, etc) every school HAS to accept a visiting student as long as they belong in the district. And for some schools, it is totally a no big deal situation.
Initially, I was hoping to go back for a month. But given my work situation, the best I could do was just under 3 weeks. We were getting there on Monday, which gave us time to go to the city office to get paper work in, get over jet lag, shop for some supplies, and be ready for the next week and Yuki would attend for a week. Then Philip would join us on the second weekend, we would take a family trip with my dad and my brother's family for the weekend, then spend the rest of the following week playing before coming home. I thought, I'd try for a week this year, so if for some reason Yuki hates it, it's over fast, but if she loves it, it would serve as a good intro and trial for the future.
I had no idea how Yuki would be. But when I told her about it, she seemed really excited--then I realized, she is never one to turn down opportunities. Whatever class I've suggested, she's always been up for trying and coming out loving it. That is a fortunate thing for us. And because I am not certain how long this will last, it was a good timing. She had many questions about what to expect, and we had many conversations.
So on June 30th, the day after a huge event at my theatre, I staggered onto a plane with Yuki in tow (and then there was that whole she-threw-up-four-times-from-a-bad-burger-she-ate-at-the-airport situation on the flight, but we're going to just skip over that as if that didn't traumatize us). We landed on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday, I head out to the City office, which is just one stop away on a subway in a building literally above the station. Universe couldn't have made it easier for me. We go in, find the office of education, turn in the form, they call the school to verify that they have room for Yuki, we confirm the starting date (which is the following Monday). They hand me a couple of official document stating that Yuki is now formally registered and we were done. In about 45 min. I had anticipated a half day visit there so now we had no choice but to go to Denny's across the street and get our selves some dessert treats.
This child's capacity for ice cream is not to be believed
The city office clerk informed me that I should call the school at around 4pm to speak with the Vice Principal. I called her at 4:02. She asked me if we could come by the school to go over some paper work. We went. The school is less than 5 min walk from my family's house, just one turn. We walk into it and go to the faculty office and are introduced to Miss Koizumi, one of the first grade teachers. She goes through a stack of paper work for me to fill out, all pretty similar to what you'd do in the States. Then she kindly took us on a tour. The school was renovated 3 years ago, so it was so very big and clean. She gave me a short list of supplies and we left.
Yuki was super pumped. She wanted to go "tomorrow."
From Thursday through Sunday, we saw some friends, bought the stuff, put name on the stuff, and I even stuck Yuki in a Saturday and Sunday school at the church where I used to go where both of my nieces are teachers. She had a good time at both, which was a good indication and prep for Monday. My third niece loaned Yuki her old book bag from elementary school, which is a very specific kind of leather back pack called "ransel" (came from Holland in the 1800's, apparently) that EVERY elementary school child carries. Hers is a black one with a school crest on it (exact kind that I carried because she goes to the same school), but for public schools there come in every color and some even has some bling. They run anywhere from $300-$800 or so, so I initially told Yuki that she will be using her back pack. Imagine her face when she got this from her cousin. So we were set to go.
Day 1: What are Text Books?
We get up way too early from excitement. We eat breakfast. I do not need to pack her lunch because they serve lunch. I go over the short list of things she is supposed to have in her book bag. We venture out to the street. We get to the corner and turn right and run into a stream of children walking themselves to school. Some are with moms but some are not. It's pretty common that kids walk them selves there especially where it is marked as school zone. In this case, it's a straight shot to the school from that spot--about a quarter of a mile. There are two adult crossing guards at the one small intersection, but the rest is easy. I walk her amongst the sea of yellow hats and we enter the school. The Principal and another teacher are standing at the gate welcoming all the kids and at the entrance to the building was Miss Koizumi, waiting for Yuki. We walk up to her and she takes her in, I follow. First, there is the shoe changing area (kids in Japan has to switch from outside shoes to inside shoes when entering the school building) where Miss K has designated a shoe cubby for Yuki with her name on it.
There is even a designated umbrella holder for each class. Something Seattlites will never understand.
Yuki switches out her shoes then we follow Miss K into the faculty office for just a second where she gives her the super spiffy name tag. It is made out of yellow plastic and the top part has a safety pin built in so that the kids can wear it on their chest. But the cool feature of this said name tag is that one side has the name but it SWIBLES to just show a school logo so that when kids are walking to and from school, their names don't show. WHAT? It makes no sense for me to have one, but I wanted it. She also gave Yuki a school badge and a yellow hat. Then Miss K took Yuki up to the class room and I said bye there.
I was nervous for her. And for me. I have no idea what I was doing as a Japanese mom. But I some how figured this thing out and got her there. I know that seems dumb to be impressed by and there are many people who get stationed in a foreign country and have to figure out everything with little to no language skills. I speak the language. This is my home town. And yet, I was totally stressed out for almost a year. But the day was here. She was in. And off I went home to hang out with my dad and to grab lunch with my best friend who lived not far from there.
That day, I went to the school to pick her up. We stopped at 7-11 right by the school and I bough her some ice cream treats. She was beaming from the day and told me how interesting and fun it was and how much she liked the lunch they served. She came home with some paper like kids do in the States.
Later, I learned that she was supposed to bring back her text books for reading and math. Text book. Yuki has yet to learn what that is. I explained to her that those are books that Miss K gave her and instead of sheets, kids in Japan get text books and they take those home and do things from it. I told her that when she gets older in America, she will get them there too. She told me that she met a girl named Sarah (not terribly Japanese name) and that she is really nice.
Complete look with the hat and the badge. The cover on the book bag was also issued
Day 2: Swimming!
Miss K informed me that there was swimming on Tuesdays. I was not required to buy Yuki a school bathing suit since she was only there for one of them, but when we went to the store (like Target) to get other school supply, there were some "school swim suits" for, like, $8. So I bought her a pair. It's just a very simple one piece that is navy or black. Then we needed to have a white swim cap, which we purchased (again, for like $5), a swim bag and a towel. And here is something I forgot from my childhood. Moms have to take their kids' temperature in the morning and record it on the swim card and sign it to show that the kid is healthy and therefore can swim that day. WITHOUT IT, SHE CANNOT SWIM. Those words echoed in my head as if to say "if you forget this thing, you have failed as a mother" so we woke up, once again, way too early and got it done. Yuki told me that she REALLY wanted to walk to school by herself and back like the other kids. I told her that I needed to go to school with the morning to pay for her lunch. AND that I was not confident if she knew where to turn that one turn. AND that she did not speak Japanese well enough or say her grandpa's house address, or know the phone number if she got lost. As I was saying these things, it occurred to me that those would have been good things to teach her and my active imagination was taking me to a place no one wants to go. By the time I got done talking, we were both horrified. We compromised by agreeing that I would let her walk there with friends and I would just follow behind so she can pretend I wasn't there, and on the way home, I would meet her at the playground, about 2/3 way home and before she needs to make a turn. She agreed.
With her swim gear. And me following her like I am not there.
I took this opportunity to spend time with one of my nieces who is now 19. We go out to see Maleficent staring Angelina Joli. It was nice to hang out with her.
She asked if I wanted to go shopping with her afterwards, but I wanted to make sure to be home in time so I came home. Right around the time the school was getting out, I headed out to the spot to meet Yuki. Summer in Japan is brutal. I, in fact, avoided going to Japan in the summer for over ten years because why go there where it's so miserable with heat and humidity when I live in Seattle where summer is the most gorgeous time of year? And yet, there I was, standing in the playground, where I used to play, on a really hot day with my mother's parasol and a hat and a bottle of water waiting for my daughter. I got there early and it was just a matter of 10-15 minutes but I almost passed out from the heat. Then I saw one small figure in a distance with a yellow hat on and it got closer and closer and it was Yuki smiling from ear to ear having walked all that way by herself. I made her turn around so we could once again duck into 7-11, that day more for me than her to get an icy treat, then we headed home. This time, she brought back her stuff and we did home work.
Side note: the reading assignment was the exact story she jut got done eading at her Japanese class in Seattle. I would like to high 5 her teacher here.
Day 3: Emergency plan is a good thing to have
Yuki continued to insist that she was now confident enough to walk there and back by herself. I was still not positive if she knew where to turn so I said I would let her walk to school (since she would be following many kids) and on the way home, would meet her right at the corner which was more distance from yesterday. She was not 100% happy. Then I reminded her of our conversation and told her that if we do this every year, she may walk all by herself when she was older and could speak better Japanese. Then we discussed a back up plan. I asked what she should do if she got there and I was not there. She paused. I said if she did not see me, to turn around and go right back to school because they would have my phone number. She nodded. I walked her to the corner and watched her walk away, and very shortly after she started on her route, her friend Sarah screamed her name, jumped off of the back of her mom's bike, which almost caused her mom to fall, and ran up to Yuki. They seemed to be communicating somehow and soon they were swallowed by the sea of yellow hats. When I couldn't see them anymore, I turned around and headed home.
"Quit looking at me, mama!"
Day 4: The tearful farewell
After that trauma of Day 3, we regrouped and faced her last day. She walked to school fine and I did things around the house. Then at the end of the school day, I went to get her so that I can thank the teacher. I was hanging out by the entrance, but decided to go up to the class room area. As I came up, I could see that they were having some sort of end of the day wrap up class room announcements. After a couple of different students taking turns to speak, I could see Miss K calling Yuki up. She stood her next to herself and was giving a whole speech. I couldn't hear a word but I could tell that she was giving a thoughtful good bye. Then two other kids came up and handed Yuki a large envelope. Then everyone clapped. As the class broke out, I went in and thanked Miss K and gave her a package for smoked salmon I brought from Seattle. Then I asked if I could snap a photo with the kids and she gave me permission.
After the photo, Yuki was swarmed by her new friends. Everyone was pushing to get to her to say good bye. Then they all followed us down the stairs and out the door, saying good bye over and over and waving. One girl was crying. After only 4 days. They the group got smaller and smaller as we walked. When we got home, I opened the envelope and there was a good bye note from every child, bound in a hand made book. I have no idea when they did this. We looked through ever page. Many of them said they will remember her and that it was so good to have her visit their class. My heart was full. Yuki had a great experience. She was sad to leave and told me that she wanted to come every year. Seriously, it panned out like I was hoping and I couldn't believe it. I told her that I will try to take enough time off so that she can go to school for two weeks next year. I truly hope that I can give her this experience every year during elementary school.
The following week, Miss K called me and said that there are some text books Yuki could take home if she wanted, so with Philip, all 3 of us went back to the school. Miss K told us how great it was to have Yuki in the class--and that many of the kids talked about her visit. It was good to know that it not only serviced Yuki but also the kids there. I told her we will be back. She said she was looking forward to it.
The boy right in the front and center bragged to me that he knew some English. 
As Halloween approaches, we plan to write a letter to them with photos enclosed along with some Halloween related goods for them to have. Next year, I will be less of a spaz.
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-Nikki