Day 9: School Board

We met with the Ogi school board this morning. The 5 main objectives of the board are as follows: Promotion of school learning, provision of solid family support and pre-school education, promotion of enriching lifelong learning and sports, passing on of traditional Japanese culture and promotion of local heritage, maintenance and improvement of educational environments.

The meeting was very informative and I will just write a few things that I found interesting. Classes here are large, with the cap being at 40. Students are required to participate in after school club activities. There are a huge number of clubs to choose from, including table-tennis, baseball, orchestra, art, and martial arts. Because of club activities students don’t leave school until 5:00. Teachers are usually there until 7:00.

In Ogi, 21% of the local budget is allocated for education. The meeting made us all eager for the coming school observations we will participate in.

Before heading back to Saga we were treated to a Japanese lunch of lots of seafood, both raw and cooked. We then stopped at the local sake (sah – kay) brewery. Sake is wine made from fermented rice. We also saw the Yokan museum (that’s the sweet bean and seaweed gelatin candy). There was plenty to sample, some of which was not very good, and some of which wasn’t too bad.

Back in Saga, two other people in my group and I met up with Aya. We met Aya at Saga University, where she is a graduate student. She speaks excellent English and is a lot of fun. In classic Japanese fashion, Aya came bearing gifts, including some pottery that her dad made. We drove into the hills behind Ogi until we found a little town with a lot of hot springs, called onsen. Japanese onsen are a must try for any visitor. After our visit to the onsen, we were invited by the owner to go see fireflies at the river. This was my first time seeing fireflies and I was quite impressed. There were a couple of local children there and they would come up to me and tug on my leg to get my attention. Then they would hand me the fireflies they had caught in their little hands.