I am composing this column on the last day of March but, as with my previous contributions, my first thoughts involve snow.
Two days ago, I could smell spring and saw some things resembling rock flowers in bloom. This morning, I shovelled, with Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again” playing in my head.
With the students on spring vacation, the teachers, administrators and school board employees are busy planning for the new school year.
My days are spent at the school board office, studying Japanese, organizing my binder of lesson plans, and standing to nod and bow periodically as people who are transferring or retiring come by to say their farewells. Next week, I expect similar visitors to arrive to say their hellos.
Each school experiences about a 20 per cent turnover in staff every year, as teachers and administrators are moved around the Tokachi region.
Because of the practice of transferring approximately every four years, most teachers and principals live in “teacher housing” (as do I) and many commute home to their families on weekends.
In Tokachi, the practical solution seems to be having the family home in centrally located Obihiro, the prefecture’s largest city.
This means that, wherever a teacher may be posted, the commute home on the weekend has a 2 hour maximum.
Some Toyokoro teachers live in Obihiro or its suburbs full-time, and do the 45 minute commute daily, but the administrators are required to live in the town where they work.
I am reminded of my parents’ descriptions of 50 years ago, when senior district personnel were employed by (and reported directly to) the Ministry of Education rather than local school boards.
New teachers here are hired by the Hokkaido Board of Education, and assigned to a prefecture such as Tokachi.
Once assigned, they are transferred within that prefecture to any number of local school districts.
Teachers have some input as to where they might be assigned, and at a certain point in their careers it seems they might have the choice to stay put, but usually they move regularly.
This arrangement requires a different way of looking at the work/family balance than what I am accustomed to.
However, the Japanese culture does seem to prioritize work above all.
Fortunately, the Japanese also value celebrations, so this transition time is a time of farewell parties and welcome parties.
The junior high staff gathered at a near-by “onsen,” a hot springs resort, for a fabulous multi-course dinner and after party.
Many stayed overnight to enjoy the hot springs and the buffet breakfast.
Tokachigawa Onsen is famous for its skin-moisturizing and smoothing waters, and the hotel offers multiple saunas and geothermally heated pools, both indoors and outdoors.
Japanese-style public bathing is separated according to gender and bathers are clothed only by nature.
There is a strict routine of pre-bathing and towel storage etc., so it is wise to go with locals the first time to learn the system.
I especially appreciated the hot springs after an evening of sitting on the floor and coiling my long, middle-aged limbs under low Japanese tables.
After today’s snow shoveling, I would like to return.
Janet Jory is in Summerland’s sister city of Toyokoro, Japan as the assistant English teacher.
