And at my desk in the teachers' room. Most of the teachers are gone because it's lunch break. But one of the two vice principals is there in the background.
This is the view from the music room to the hills that surround Shimizu. Aren't they gorgeous? And they look great after a rain because the clouds just seem to cling to them... something like what I dream the "Misty Mountains" from Lord of the Rings would look like.
And the school has 3 main buildings. This is the courtyard between the first and second buildings.
During my second week, I took the time to visit a lot of clubs. I found kyudo (Japanese archery) to be very interesting and intricate. The boy in the photo below is one of my students, Wataru. I think he's a junior.
And from observation, Wataru is one of the sempai (upperclassmen leaders) in kyudo club. The boys line up and then bow together. Then they slide forward on their socks, right foot first and get into position as seen in the photo below.
They have four arrows in all but place two at their feet and keep two in their hands.
Kyudo seems to be full of beautiful, fluid motions of how the arrow is set, how the bow is held and rises straight up and then brought down in a smooth arc to have the feather rest quiveringly and the archer's cheek.
This is my vice principal, Shimizu sensei. Yes, very confusing... I live in the city of Shimizu but Shimizu is also a family name. It means "Pure Water". He was very happy to have me visit, plus, it's a good way to see how my students interact when they are not in my class.
And the chorus club. I was tickled by their exercises. It kinda reminded me of "Jazz Therapy" in music theory classes, but this looks like it hurts more.
They are a very competitive bunch. On Saturday, they went to Shizuoka City ("capitol" of the prefecture/state) for a prefecture-wide competition. And they sang in Hungarian! Whoa! Mrs. Fujiwara (not photographed), the chorus club teacher, and I have been getting along very well. Her desk is just behind mine in the teachers' workroom and we have already eaten lunch together. Her English is pretty good and she is so happy to have a former music major at the school.
Those are the pictures of my school for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment