2nd Term Opening Ceremony

I made it back just in time for the official beginning of the second semester. When I say "official," I do mean official: the new term is marked with an introduction ceremony. All the students and faculty gathered in the gym, and the principal gave a speech. He also introduced the new Korean teacher, Kim-sensei, who had been hired on short notice after the last teacher couldn't take Tsushima and quit.

This was awesome news for the English department, because one of our English teachers also teaches Korean, and after the first Korean teacher quit, she had to drop her English classes to pick up the slack with the Korean students. That meant my normal OC classes, which consist of half of the normal 40 students per group, had to revert to full size. Forty sixteen-year-olds, regardless of academic standing, are pretty hard to get a handle on without turning the class into a lecture. Suffice it to say, I was especially happy to see Kim.

During this, I noticed one of the students was wearing her junior high school sailor uniform. I checked with one of the teachers afterwards, and sure enough, she was starting school a semester late.

After the ceremony, each grade level went to a different gym for uniform inspections. Nobody told me I could leave, and even though I knew I was allowed to bow out, I wanted to stick around. I stuck with the first-years, which is the grade I'm officially assigned to anyway.

The boys and girls split up and formed lines. Teachers inspected each person in line. The girls had to kneel with their bodies straight above their knees, in order to test the length of their skirt; if it didn't touch the floor, they were in trouble. They also had their fingernails checked; long or painted nails are against the dress code. Their hair can't come past their ears (unless it can be pushed behind their ears), can't come down past their neck, and can't cover their eyebrows. Anyone whose hair broke dress code had to cut it; this explains why, right before these inspections, I'll see students standing over sinks furiously clipping their hair.

The boys have to have their shirts buttoned all the way up and tucked fully into their pants. They also must wear a belt, though the style and color doesn't seem to matter. The length of their pants is checked, to combat what seems to be the universal trend of sagging.