A work related post today as tomorrow is the first day of teaching in a new school year here in Japan.

The start of a new school year brings a strange amount of stress here in Japan. Just a few weeks ago the old school year ended. You’ve had a short break and a shorter time to get ready. A few weeks ago you were telling junior high school students good luck in their future as ditch diggers–education is compulsory only until 9th grade–and then suddenly you’re combing through the lists of students assigned to your 10th grade class and going “Him? Really? Him again? And him? And him, too? Who the hell let them into high school? My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

My Reaction Upon Viewing My Student Lists.

Of course, I also accept that I’m probably the teacher that makes students swear when they discover I’m their teacher for the year. In fact, I often aspire to that.

Student A–Oh no! I’ve got Library.
Student B–(Points and laughs) You’ve got Library. Ha ha ha. SHUT UP! Ha ha ha.
Student A–AIEEEE! (Student A explodes.)
Student B–Wow!

(Note: My name, with two “L’s” and one “V” is about the most difficult name possible for Japanese to pronounce. In the Japanese version of Roman letters, it’s spelled/pronounced “Raiburi”; Library is “Raiburari”. Every now and then I get mail intended for the library. “Shut up” is a common phrase in some of my junior high classes.)

This year is especially odd as we have a new school building and three and a half new teachers. (One old veteran returned to the school last November after nine years away; I therefore consider him half new.) Although I’ve been at the office almost every day this week, it’s a different office. As crappy and dark and potentially toxic as my old office was, it was familiar. The crap was always in the same place–I had the same desk for 14 years. On the shelves above my desk were copies of the textbooks and a letter box stuffed with scratch paper and abandoned exam papers. Above that was a row of personal books and above that were copies of the Encyclopedia Americana from 1967. This means they were almost as old as I am and that they didn’t even include the moon landing.

Now, we’ve got shiny new rooms and shiny new desks and the old encyclopedias are stored away somewhere along with decades of dust and mildew. Our chairs are more comfortable and don’t have wheels that give off nerve shattering squeaks, but now our desks are crowded by desktop bookshelves and everyone can see us through large windows on one side of the office. Nothing has that lived-in look.

Even the old folks need maps to get around which makes us appear less than knowledgeable to the three and a half new people.

I’ll get used to it, though, especially when Pleasant gives way to Humid and the new air conditioners kick in. The old building had the world’s largest swamp cooler that worked until it got humid and cloudy.

I’ll also get used to the students, even those I expected to be digging ditches. They’ll be mixed with new students and I’m pretty good about leaving behind the old dust and mold, well except for what I carry with me.