Hello!
I have now successfully my first week at a Japanese high school (kind of). The reason why I say "kind of" was because it was only half-days for the first week, because it was still technically spring vacation. I just got back from my first (half) day of school as a second year, which was super exciting! But first I'll talk about my time as a first-year student.
To give more insight into the Japanese school year, it ends before spring break and you move up a grade after spring break. Thus, summer break is in the middle of the school year. My school is a rich private school, so of course the students didn't ACTUALLY get a break for spring break. They had half-days of school every weekday. Americans would not consider that break haha! Anyways, I attended the last week of those half-day classes. Every day got better and better!
The first day of school was definitely not how I thought it would be. Note: the fewer expectations you have, the better! Almost every exchange student talks about how the kids scream and shriek when you wave at them, but that was not my situation. The kids in my class were already very accustomed to foreigners, because a long-term exchange student had been in the same department the past year, as well as two short term exchange students actually being in the class. I had to start most of the interactions I had with people, which is not necessarily a bad thing!
There's actually a considerable amount of people who are half Japanese and half something else. I was pretty surprised!
The last day before the new school year was definitely the best. I guess it technically was the new school year, because it was the opening ceremony. The vibes were happy, lively, and I was cheerful as well. It made me really excited for school!
Bye-bye!
