The meeting of all grades

I forgot to mention another new experience for me yesterday.

A Japanese high school consists of 3 year levels, and are split up that way too (e.g. 1A-H, 2A-H and 3A-H). So, in American terms, the 3rd Grade students are the seniors and the 1st Grade students are the "Freshmen".

At the start of each year, the 2nd and 3rd grade students formally welcome the 1st graders into the high school. It is called the 対面式 たいめんしき taimen shiki, a "confrontation ceremony" when directly translated. The event was held in the school gymnasium and completely organised and run by the students. The 2nd/3rd grade students clapped the 1st grade students into the gym and then a representative from each grade stood said a few words. Basically, they mentioned that there will be times that you are scared, stressed, lost etc. and "you should never hesitate to approach any of us". They then clapped the 1st graders out of the gym, as they had to receive their formal orientation of the school.

Pretty cool. Another interesting experience to add to the pretty long list already.