The First Day

Yesterday was my first day at my new school; Narita Nishi Chugakkou. So far, I think that I will be very happy here. It certainly hasn't been as stressful as my first few days at my last school.

First thing that I noticed was that the school is very new. The school was extensively remodelled in the 1990's and everything is new. The most astonishing thing I noticed was that the playing field actually has grass. This is a rarity in Japan and it is the first school I have seen in five years like that.

Once I got in, I was ushered to the Principle's office, to meet him and the other new teachers, before we were shepherded into the staff-room to introduce ourselves to the other staff. I gave a short speech in my broken Japanese and it seemed to go down well.

Everybody here seems really friendly, without any of the back-stabbing that goes on in other schools that I might mention. In fact, the atmosphere here is very friendly. Already I have been able to speak to most of the staff and have got along well with them. They certainly are a lot more patient with my poor Japanese skills that at my last school; while I was there, I had such a hard time talking to anybody, that most of the time I just kept to myself unless it was unavoidable.

Here, I think I shall have a much easier time - I hope my Japanese improves as a result.