And finally out back behind the budoujou is apparently Yoda's house. I don't know what it's doing there but I think he's stealing the school's electricity. Pointy-eared freeloader.
Welcome to Fukuma Higashi Chugako(Jr. High School)!
Right around the corner is the side entrance where I park my bike and sneak in unbeknownst to anyone.
On that same side of the building is the long stretch that students walk down as they trickle in to school in the morning.
Shyokuin-jitsu. Since teachers don't have their own classrooms like most schools back home, they have to share one big office crammed with desks and all their teaching materials.
As you can see, it results in CHAOS!! ABSOLUTE CHAOS!!! OH, HOW I LOATHE THE DISORDER OF THIS ROOM!! I could write poetry about how much the state of this room pisses me off. >:-(
Each student keeps a pair of uwabaki with their name written on the back, in their own section of these shelves called gesoku-bako(outside shoes box).
Once inside, they have to swap their outside shoes(gesoku) for their inside shoes(uwabaki) before going any further.
Pools seem to be standard fares at most Jr. Highs that I've seen. I'm kinda hoping they clean ours before dumping students in it again this spring.
Sometimes on the way in, I'll pop my head in the office and say hi to the nice ladies that live there, Iita-sensei and Morimoto-sensei. Yes, I'm absolutely sure they actually live there!!
See all those flowers on the side of this hill next to the school? Me and the Principal spread all those seeds around last fall. This beauty owes it's existence TO ME!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!
Here's my desk. My beloved laptop and indispensible electronic dictionary stand at the ready on the left, while my trusty USS Enterprise mug serves up caffeine-laden goodness to the right. It's actually neater than it looks. I think it's the color palette that makes it look chaotic.
Outside the teacher's room hangs keys to the clubhouses and classrooms which are looked up after each day. In the morning, the first student in each class to show up will grab his/her class' key and head on up.
Since the teachers change classrooms instead of the students, each room is labeled with the grade and 'kumi' or group that lives there. Yes, I'm absolutely sure they actually live there!!
Communal sinks in the hall for wiping up during cleaning time, washing your hands before lunch and trying to drown your best friend in between classes. Did I mention the boys play rough?
The halls are so boring I almost fall asleep while walking to class.
Heading back down the hall, we pass the pay phones and Kumate-sensei's goldfish and go to the Teacher's Room.
The front entrance, complete with clock(a common feature in most Japanese Jr. and Sr. High Schools) so you know exactly how late you are to first period.
The courtyard. Boring, ain't it? Why not put some trees or a pond down there? Or trees and a pond? Or a Taco Bell for God's sake! Am I the only one with vision around here!?
As I've mentioned before, the students clean the school themselves, so in the back of each room is a closet full o' goodies to clean stuff and hit each other with. Yes, the boys play rough here. 🙂
This incredible device monitors degradation of the universe due to the entropic 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, by tracking progressive movement through the ubiquitous fourth dimension. Leave it to those wacky Japanese to come with an idea like this.
Your basic ACME classroom. About what you'd expect; chalkboard, desks, you know some chairs and stuff. They're usually not this sparse, but it was spring break when I took the picture, what do you want from me?
Out in back near the school entrance is the budojou which translates as 'martial arts place', but I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. Second floor is where the Kendo club practices (that's the thing where you put on a mask and armor and pelt each other with bamboo swords), but the first floor is where the Art club room and shop classes are so more goes on there than 'martial arts.'
The students have to walk all the way around to the back entrance to enter the school.
