Every year there is a special event at our boys' school called the Festa, a Saturday morning set aside for games, stalls, food and fun. The day started with Calum and Alistair going off to school as normal as the second period of the morning was a chance for parents to go and observe the class. These times happen quite regularly at Japanese primary schools and it is always interesting to see how the class works and the way the teacher and children interact with one another. The Festa is organised by the PTA so many mothers had been busy for many weeks making things, setting up and getting everything ready. Before the Festa itself started, the children came into the sports hall to be entertained by the wind band from the high school next door. The standard is always amazing - almost professional. David spoke to the teacher who is the conductor and he said the band practises every day (sometimes early morning) and at weekends too. As PTA Chairman, David had to make various mini-speeches and announcements during the morning. The Vice Chairmen (or rather Chairwomen - everyone else on the PTA is a mother!) had helpfully written out a script of what to say when so David just had to pop up from time to time and say his piece. As well as all the other stalls and food on offer, there is a Dad's Corner where three dads helped out with a basketball shoot - a popular place. It was a great way to be involved again in the local school and in a small way give back something for the many benefits we receive in being able to send our boys to Japanese primary school. Of course it also means we are increasingly well-known in the school and community. As we look forward to our Family Christmas event in early December, we hope that many of the local children (and parents) will once again come along. More news on that nearer the time. Monday, October 31, 2011
School Festa
Every year there is a special event at our boys' school called the Festa, a Saturday morning set aside for games, stalls, food and fun. The day started with Calum and Alistair going off to school as normal as the second period of the morning was a chance for parents to go and observe the class. These times happen quite regularly at Japanese primary schools and it is always interesting to see how the class works and the way the teacher and children interact with one another. The Festa is organised by the PTA so many mothers had been busy for many weeks making things, setting up and getting everything ready. Before the Festa itself started, the children came into the sports hall to be entertained by the wind band from the high school next door. The standard is always amazing - almost professional. David spoke to the teacher who is the conductor and he said the band practises every day (sometimes early morning) and at weekends too. As PTA Chairman, David had to make various mini-speeches and announcements during the morning. The Vice Chairmen (or rather Chairwomen - everyone else on the PTA is a mother!) had helpfully written out a script of what to say when so David just had to pop up from time to time and say his piece. As well as all the other stalls and food on offer, there is a Dad's Corner where three dads helped out with a basketball shoot - a popular place. It was a great way to be involved again in the local school and in a small way give back something for the many benefits we receive in being able to send our boys to Japanese primary school. Of course it also means we are increasingly well-known in the school and community. As we look forward to our Family Christmas event in early December, we hope that many of the local children (and parents) will once again come along. More news on that nearer the time. 
Friday, October 21, 2011
Where have we been?
You might be forgiven for thinking we have fallen off the planet. No blog entries since the end of August! We are still here - it's just time has run away over these past weeks. Actually the last entry explains a lot of the busyness as we have juggled the two roles, one leading the church plant at Hiragishi and the other leading the Hokkaido Region of OMF. This month David has been away from Sapporo, first at OMF meetings, then at an OMF Directors' Retreat and now in India for half-term at Hebron. Our lifestyle is certainly unorthodox! It's been great to be here as always. The first few days at school were helpful to catch up with some teachers and staff but the highlight of October half-term is Drama Week. Every year certain year groups put on plays of excellent quality. This year it was the turn of Daniel and Matthew's years to take the stage. Daniel had a smaller role in his play (a superb production of the Hunchback of Notre Dame) while Matthew had a more main part in Murder in the Cathedral, a difficult play set to spoken verse in older style English. His class did very well and Matthew ended up getting an award for Best Actor Runner Up. He is interested in politics and what we saw on stage showed some of the right qualities for that - at the end he was one to give the convincing speeches to the audience. This week we have been at the beach on the south-west corner of India. Kovalam is a gem of a place - warm sea, beach, many little restaurants and cheap hotels. The pace of life is very relaxed which gives great time for reading, pondering and reflecting, as well as enjoying leisurely breakfasts, bowls of tropical fruit, lime sodas and many other culinary delights - and that all very cheap for someone used to living in Japan! Matthew has taken many photos of the ocean and sunset - one is attached as the photo for this blog. Tonight the long journey back to Ooty begins for a final day of buying the all-important tuck for next term and a final meal at our favourite place for Sunday lunch before David begins the even longer journey back to Sapporo. A busy month awaits but hopefully we can be a bit more disciplined in keeping up with this blog to share the journey we are on with the church plant in Hiragishi as well as more widely in Hokkaido and indeed Japan.
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