We have visited two schools in the last two days. A number of things strike me immediately when comparing our two systems.

The Japanese school day for teachers goes from 8:30 to 7:30, although most stay longer. In addition they work Saturdays ‘til 1:30. All sporting teams and clubs come in on a Sunday, and almost every teacher has a sporting them or a club. As a reward they get two weeks holiday in the long break, and 4 days in the two shorter breaks. Like Australian teachers, they work shorter official hours and have more holidays than those working in business. The teacher who was our guide at the government school picks up his daughter from child care at 7:30 drops her home – then goes back to work. Slacker. No wonder the birth rate in Japan has plummeted.

The lessons are all chalk and talk. Nobody dares rearrange desks from the straight rows. The students are not allowed to ask questions, they simply write notes or fall asleep. The English class is small – 35, most classes have around 40 in the state system. They have very few problems with difficult behaviours – everyone’s too tired I guess.

The school we visited today greeted us with a tea ceremony – very special. I may have made just a few tea ceremony faux pas. Although Linda was the guest of honour, I managed to sit in the place she was meant to sit. If I tried to kneel as the Japanese kneel someone in the room would have been hit by an exploding patella, so I was actually doing them a favour by flopping on my bum.. And how was I to know the rule about talking? They were polite enough to nod when I said that I had mistakenly thought it was the ’74 Gatton Tea Ceremony, rather than the 16th Century Kyoto form.

The girls who did the ceremony do this as sport on a Saturday. It is like a ballet, every movement precise and purposeful – designed to make the guest calm. To be truthful it is actually quite dissimilar to the Gatton Tea Ceremony in many ways. Some things just don’t travel, and perhaps tea ceremonies are one.

My love affair with Japanese food is beginning to wane as the desire for a huge piece of rump with mashed potatoes becomes ascendant. Tomorrow is another day of solo wandering for both of us – the fish market for me and perhaps fabric shops for Linda. That statement in itself is a testament to how safe this city feels, how diverse and interesting it is, and how easy it is to get around.  

I might even buy a tea set to start my own tea ceremony when I get back. How are you at kneeling before your Pappa-San and Mumma-San my children?

 Farley of the Sencha Ceremony