My life, My journey: School life

Japanese Senior High School~

When I returned to Malaysia, lots of people asked me whether I enrolled in Japanese University or any form of tertiary education. As much as I wanted to, we were not given the privilege to do so. In Japan, the education system is somewhat different. Westernized is one way to describe it.. but still, not entirely. In my country, high school students graduate at the age of 17. Howbeit for Japan, it is 18. I was placed in class 2-A of 2nd year. The experience for me was unlike others. The host family selected was first based on the area of the school, but as my case was a sudden one, traveling to school everyday was rather difficult.

My days starts at 5.30am in the morning. Struggling hard not to express my drowsiness when having breakfast with dear Aa-chan. After a very much satisfactory breakfast, I take my shower got ready for school and off I was to the train station. Unlike the other exchange students who could ride bicycles to their host school, mine was rather far to reach. My everyday routine would be a 15 minute walk to the train station, followed by a 40 minute train ride to the city my school is located at ( Inazawa city ) then a private school bus awaits me at the front of the train station. A 20 minute ride later, and there I was at school with ample time to sleep till the class bell rang.

Japanese high school depicted by manga authors is a place where lots of romance and funny occurrence happen. That would be true for most public schools but not for mine. Founded in 1953, my new school Aichi Keisei Senior High (愛知啓成高校) is a private institution for privileged students who find money not a problem to specialize in specific sectors of their choice. To top that, it's a Buddhist school which means that every student are required to gather in the hall every Wednesday 8am for prayers. The weekly gathering is conducted by the founder of the school himself ( he was 96 when I was in Japan ) for about an hour in the Seiza position. Your legs kinda go numb after 15 minutes.. sometimes, it can even go on for 2 hours. Anyway, classes are conducted in fully air-conditioned rooms. There's a heater when winter comes and air-cond for those burning summer days.

So what about the students in high school? How do they behave? Are they like characters from mangas? How about the attires? Well, if you find yourself hosted in a public Japanese school, then it would be appropriate to say: Yes, they are like characters from mangas. They are allowed to bring cellphones ( keitai ) to school, they can put some make up and style their hair. Girls have to wear skirts that are 27-33cm long, no longer than that. Each school has their own blazer and it ain't cheap.You have to wear slippers as long as you're in school grounds. Girls tend to be much more bold than the boys. Students have curriculum everyday and by the time they reach home, it would be around 8pm.

So yeah, Japanese schools are filled with activities and many funny scenarios each day. That is, if you're in the right school. I was in a Buddhist school, which means students need to wear appropriate uniform. Girls have their skirts covering their knees. relationships are pretty much forbidden. Students prioritize education before anything else especially 3rd year students. What's more, students that disobey any rule or regulation will be severely punished. It may sound pretty bad from the way I put it, but after awhile, it turns into something normal. The students, despite the pressure from homework and stuff, can be pretty friendly ( especially if you're a foreign student ) and helpful. The school is ranked as one of the most prestigious school in the area. The facilities that they provide is considered one of the best. They have their very own baseball, football stadium, golf practice range, tennis courts, swimming center and so on. I enjoyed most of my days with classmates and occasional school events like sports day, school festival, ball day, concert day and that unforgettable annual school trip to Nagashima Spaland. The students have their own overseas school trip which during that year, it was to Canada for 2 weeks. I was left out since my organisation was against me going out of the country,

Summary~

Japanese high school life is one of the few things you should put on your "to experience" list. Not only is there lots of drama, activities and social networking, there's also the feeling you won't get elsewhere in the world. It's like going through the stage of a youth again even though you might be much older. Not to mention the cute girls and the famous Japanese expressions ( henkao 「変顔」). It is a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget.

Note: for more info on the school I've been to, here's the link. Maybe you may still be able to find that small tiny article I wrote for the school magazine =P

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