Markers and labels

I packed my bag last night in order to be ready for Yochien Stationary Day today. I remembered my indoor slippers but forgot my name tag. The Seika Yochien name tag has my name written in Japanese and who I am, Rowen's mommy, and what class Rowen is in. I ALWAYS forget my name tag! And then when I got to Seika, I had to sign in as a guest and wear a sticker with my name on it, that never sticks to my shirt. Sigh.

Also, in my bag was white out, a permanent (pAH-mah-nent as pronounced by Japanese) marker, scissors, transparent tape, and...labels that I made for Rowen with his name and class on them, in Japanese. If you missed my previous post on how I learned to write Rowen's name in Japanese, click here.


I was all ready for stationary day. And what a day it was!

It started at 1pm and I arrived at Seika at 12:30pm. I checked in and was given a ticket with #24 on it.

Yes. I was given a ticket number for Rowen's school stationary day.

Are you surprised? Don't they have stationary day at your child's school in the states??

HA!! I'm sure they probably don't...and I don't have any pictures to show you b/c in addition to forgetting my name tag, I also forgot my camera.

Okay. So I wasn't as prepared as I should have been :)

I wish you could have seen what went on at stationary day, though.

Here's a recap:

• I received ticket #24 and proceeded to the school gym and wait for stationary day to begin. During this time, I got organized by getting my white out and other stationary items out of my bag...and showing off my labels, heehee :) I also mingled with some other moms, talking about school, etc.
• There was a speech from the principal, Encho Sensei Kawabata. There is ALWAYS a speech from her at a Seika event. She is the sweetest women and so great with the kids!
• Teachers passed out treats, lollipops and other goodies to the kids who came with their parents that afternoon.
• Finally, they started calling numbers off, in increments of 10. Hmmm...I still had a few minutes to wait.
• After they called #20-30, I walked with the other #20-30 mothers into a classroom where they were taking payment for the new school year supplies.
  
• After paying, I walked over to another table to pick up Rowen's new items. His new items included new books, a school bag, and painting supplies. Rowen will be painting now that he has been promoted to the next class.
• After receiving his new school items, I went back into the gym and sat down at my table to begin labeling EVERYTHING in site. And I mean everything. A marker, for example, will have his name on the top and bottom cap and on the marker itself. It seems tedious, but they really want to make sure that everyone's school belongings stay with that student and don't get mixed up.
• I was finished labeling after about an hour. Some mothers were labeling for more than one child that attended the yochien. So, they were there for a while!
• After I was finished, I packed up all of Rowen's things and gave it to his teacher to put in his classroom. These items do not go home. They always stay at the school.

My last task was to call the base and send a 'off-base' taxi to come and get me. There is no parking around the school (as I have mentioned before...) so it's either by bus or taxi that I usually get to Seika.

I hope you got an idea of stationary day was like at a Japanese Yochien!