Beach Day!

Once a year in June, Ginowan High has Beach Day. This is a day when all 650+ of our students (plus insufficient adult supervision) head out to nearby beaches from 9-3pm. I chose to go with the first year students, as they are the least likely to hit on my/ask me inappropriate questions about life and love. So I show up at Mihama beach at 9am with a latte in my hand and my shades, ready for action. Yes action. Don't think that beach day is a day for lolling about doing nothing in the sun! Is that what you think beaches are for? The regimen was tightly planned! There would be an introduction ceremony, where children were forced to sit in rows in the burning sun and give speeches. Next, there was to be a dodge ball tournament. I narrowly escaped being forced to play in this by my new found 1-5 (English Camp) buddies. Instead I became a cheerleader for their team on the sidelines. After several hours of dodge ball, it was BBQ time. In Japan, the students are responsible for all prep work as well as cleaning when anything happens. So I got to lounge about with the other teachers while 200 hundred kids bustled to and fro with bags of cabbage, large chunks of meat, bottles of gas and very heavy looking grills. Yay food!

In case it has occurred to you to wonder what my students are supposed to wear to Beach Day, if they are required to wear uniforms at school that would be inappropriate beach garb, the answer is: their gym uniforms. They were all wearing their gym uniforms. The only bit of room they had in which to shuffle was in footwear. as you know, the Japanese love different kinds of shoes for different kinds of activities. Beaches fall into one of those categories where its appropriate to wear outdoor slippers. Here are some photos of 1-5 kids' slippers.

After lunch, it was volleyball time. No time to waste digesting, we've got beach activities to complete before 3 rolls around! And then BAM, the day was over and it was clean up/closing ceremony time.

You may have noticed that there was no actual "beach" time scheduled into the day. Like, swimming or playing in the sand or sunbathing. That's because Okinawans don't do those things. They like to keep their distance from the actual water, and hang out on the concrete instead. It is a bit hard for me to be happy sitting on the concrete staring at white sands and clear turquoise waters a mere 20 feet out of my reach, but hey that's how the cookie crumbles. In fact, upon inquiry I was informed that students were not ALLOWED to get in the water on Beach Day. So none of them could drown on school time. Even though the official "beach" water in Okinawa is always roped off out to where you can still easily stand and there is a lifeguard. But about ½ my kids can't swim.