Aka School

This week I am on Aka Island. I aim to leave my house by 7:35am, but usually get out around 7:39am for the 4-minute walk to the port. The speedboat leaves Zamami at 7:45am and arrives at Aka about 12 minutes later. There are two other women on the boat almost every day - one who works for the Aka fishing cooperative and another who is a nurse. There are usually some other miscellaneous passengers, including occasional tourists in the summer.

I arrive at Aka and then walk five minutes to the school, just a couple minutes before the morning cleaning session ends. Then there is a 45-minute(?) break before first period begins. Elementary class periods last 45 minutes with a 15-minute break and junior high class periods last 50 minutes with a 10-minute break. The first four periods end before lunch with the last two periods coming afterwards.



Aka has 13 junior high students, 25 elementary students, and eight pre-schoolers. For an unknown reason, I teach first and second grades separately (three and six students). I teach 3/4 together as well as 5/6. My JTE (Japanese Teacher of English), Jay, stacks the junior high classes heavy during the week I am at Aka, so I usually have 14-16 total classes in a week.

All of the ninth grade students are interviewing in Naha this week for next year's high school. Unlike the U.S, high school isn't technically required here. Also, many of the high schools offer specialties. So there's a school that excels at sports, one specifically good for badminton, one for English, another for international culture (whatever that means?), and others that rank as simply 'the best' or 'second best'. It's kinda like college.