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Snow Day -- Japanese Style
Feb. 15th, 2011 09:38 amNo update last Friday because of a national holiday. I had the time, of course, but I wasn't at my desk so I forgot until the day was just about over. It wouldn't have been anything but more complaining about the things I hadn't accomplished yet, so I think the omission was for the good of everyone. Now that most of my commitments for the short-term are filled, I thought I'd take this opportunity for a special-edition post.
I was up late last night finishing my monthly language test so that I could mail it today, so I didn't look up from my desk until I was ready to go to sleep. I had the curtains closed anyway, so I probably wouldn't have remembered to check regardless of what I was doing. There was a forecast for snow, as the teacher next to me explained that morning, but I didn't expect much.
Imagine the feeling of opening up my curtains this morning to find, not only snow, but a whole lot of snow! It dusted a little bit last weekend, but the snow that did stick was mostly gone by the next day. There certainly wasn't enough for a snowman, or even a snowball. But the snow this morning was different.
The moment I tried to walk my bike from under the stairs, I could tell how thick it was. This presented a rather disconcerting commute to school, since the sides of the roads that I normally rode my bike on had turned into big slushy piles of danger. I left much earlier than usual, thinking I might be able to sneak to the post office before the morning meeting and mail my test (I couldn't; it was closed) but that extra time turned out to be very helpful as I slogged through the streets trying not to get pegged by cars.
When I got to school, I felt a mix of both excitement and sadness. On one hand, now that I wasn't trying to plod through it, the snow was beautiful and the perfect consistency for all kinds of nice snow-related silliness. But on the other hand, I was at school and with the sun already out it was probably going to melt by the time I got home. The chimes rang and it was time for classes to start. I was a little bummed.
This being a Tuesday, I only have one class in the afternoon, so I usually spend the morning studying, making worksheets, or playing around on the internet in the staff room. I was checking the news when, gradually, I start to hear laughter and excited screams from outside. I get up from my desk to look out the window over the balcony and I see at least fifty students out in the field playing in the snow. I putter around the staff room for a few minutes before one of the English teachers catches me looking and suggests I should go out and play. I don't even ask for a second opinion, but I grab my coat and go.
I went on to spend an awesome half hour getting hit with snowballs, mostly missing on my own throws, and just generally being a goof with the kids. The entire second-year class had gotten the go-ahead from the first-period teachers, so it was a madhouse, made crazier when the teachers themselves joined in. There was even a semi-organized (semi- because we all forgot about the rules less than a minute in) game of snowball elimination. After we came back in, my gloves were soaking wet and I was sweating up a storm under all my layers of clothes. I even got rewarded with some snow in my pocket that, luckily, I found before stashing my coat back in my desk.
Kids in Japan may not get "snow days" the way I did as a kid, but they certainly make up for it in other ways. What twelve-year-old would say no to a school-wide snowball slug-fest instead of a first-period class? I would have wanted to go to school every day, even in the snow, if we had that kind of morning warm-up.
So, in other words, today was a pretty cool day.
I was up late last night finishing my monthly language test so that I could mail it today, so I didn't look up from my desk until I was ready to go to sleep. I had the curtains closed anyway, so I probably wouldn't have remembered to check regardless of what I was doing. There was a forecast for snow, as the teacher next to me explained that morning, but I didn't expect much.
Imagine the feeling of opening up my curtains this morning to find, not only snow, but a whole lot of snow! It dusted a little bit last weekend, but the snow that did stick was mostly gone by the next day. There certainly wasn't enough for a snowman, or even a snowball. But the snow this morning was different.
The moment I tried to walk my bike from under the stairs, I could tell how thick it was. This presented a rather disconcerting commute to school, since the sides of the roads that I normally rode my bike on had turned into big slushy piles of danger. I left much earlier than usual, thinking I might be able to sneak to the post office before the morning meeting and mail my test (I couldn't; it was closed) but that extra time turned out to be very helpful as I slogged through the streets trying not to get pegged by cars.
When I got to school, I felt a mix of both excitement and sadness. On one hand, now that I wasn't trying to plod through it, the snow was beautiful and the perfect consistency for all kinds of nice snow-related silliness. But on the other hand, I was at school and with the sun already out it was probably going to melt by the time I got home. The chimes rang and it was time for classes to start. I was a little bummed.
This being a Tuesday, I only have one class in the afternoon, so I usually spend the morning studying, making worksheets, or playing around on the internet in the staff room. I was checking the news when, gradually, I start to hear laughter and excited screams from outside. I get up from my desk to look out the window over the balcony and I see at least fifty students out in the field playing in the snow. I putter around the staff room for a few minutes before one of the English teachers catches me looking and suggests I should go out and play. I don't even ask for a second opinion, but I grab my coat and go.
I went on to spend an awesome half hour getting hit with snowballs, mostly missing on my own throws, and just generally being a goof with the kids. The entire second-year class had gotten the go-ahead from the first-period teachers, so it was a madhouse, made crazier when the teachers themselves joined in. There was even a semi-organized (semi- because we all forgot about the rules less than a minute in) game of snowball elimination. After we came back in, my gloves were soaking wet and I was sweating up a storm under all my layers of clothes. I even got rewarded with some snow in my pocket that, luckily, I found before stashing my coat back in my desk.
Kids in Japan may not get "snow days" the way I did as a kid, but they certainly make up for it in other ways. What twelve-year-old would say no to a school-wide snowball slug-fest instead of a first-period class? I would have wanted to go to school every day, even in the snow, if we had that kind of morning warm-up.
So, in other words, today was a pretty cool day.
