Today is kids' very first day of school here in Torrance, CA. I was so glad that kids (and I) were able to wake up all right this morning. We first headed to the middle school, which starts at 8:10.
早く出発したつもりが、車を停めるのに手間取ったり、編入生のための手続きに要領を得ず、そのうえ渡された時間割表の第一時間目のサイエンスの教室（ルームナンバー#39）が見つけられずウロウロ。授業はもう開始してしまい、廊下には誰もいなくなっちゃった。。。前からの顔写真を撮ろうと試みましたが、了承が得られませんでした（予想どおり）。。We made sure we left home early enough, but it took more time than we expected to find a place to park our car, to get the new student's packet, and also to find the science room, Room #39, where he was supposed to be for Period 1. Period 1 has already started by now, and we didn't see any other students on the campus. Where on earth is Room #39?? I tried to get a shot of him from the front, but you know ... he is too cool to be taken a picture.
結局、何人かの人に聞いて、行き着いたところはキャンパスの果てでした。前方真ん中がルームナンバー#39のサイエンスの教室。以前より違和感があるのだけれど、このあたりの学校は校舎がない。掘っ立て小屋（プレハブというかなんといいますか。。。こちらの人はこの小屋のことを”ポータブルズ”と呼びます）みたいなのがたくさん建っていて、廊下はすべて野外。バージニアの学校は普通 大きな校舎があって、内部に廊下があり廊下の両脇に教室という造り。気候が温暖で雨が少ないからこういう造りなのでしょうが、どうもこの小屋が教室というのが抵抗あるわあ。。。After we asked several people for Room #39, we found it finally at the far end of the campus. You see it in the center of the picture. See, around there, they do not have a school building. There are lots of shacks or huts instead. People here call them "portables." Although it does not look like you can carry them around, they surely look like prefabs. I guess, I need some time to get used to those shacks. In charlottesville, every school had a nice big school building, and everything, classrooms to cafeteria, was inside the building connected by the internal isles. Here, everything is "outside." You just walk outside to move from a hut to a hut.
こちらは、8時50分開始の小学校。家は小学校のすぐ裏にあるので、学校の裏門から入り、この通路を通って教室に向かいます。こちらも小屋式。前方左が娘の小屋、じゃない教室です。ルームナンバー#23。This is the elementary school, which starts at 8:50. Our house is located sort of behind the school, so we go through the back gate to enter the school yard, and walk to her hut, oops, her classroom on this little path. The white structure ahead of her is her classroom, Room #23.
これがルームナンバー#23の小屋。今からみんなで中に入るところ。This is Room #23. They lined up outside and were entering the room.
教室の内部。やさしそうな先生でした。オウムとモルモットがいるんだよ。日本人のお友達も3人ほどいるみたい。This is inside the classroom. Her teacher seemed very nice. They have a parrot and a guinea pig as class pets. There were couple Japanese students in her class.
中学校は2時57分に、小学校は3時3分に終了し、無事ふたりとも家にもどってきました。同じ公立校でもところ変わればいろいろ変わり、例えばシャーロッツビルではバックパックの底に滑車がついてコロコロと転がして運べるものが流行っていたけど、こちらでは誰も持っていなかった。うちの息子だけ。みんな、歩きや自転車通学（たまにスケートボードもいる）が多いので、転がすものではなく背負うものが圧倒的に人気。それから、シャーロッツビルではスクール・サプライといって文房具やノートなどの必要なリストを、かなり早い時期（6月とか7月）に渡され、新学年が始まる前に揃えて持っていっていたけれど、こちらではなんと本日、初日にリストを渡され、学校から帰った後忙しく買い物にでかけました。しかしながら、文房具の値段の高さには閉口します。だって、シャーロッツビルなら2冊で１ドルで売っていたコンポジション・ブック（つまるところ、ただのノートのこと）が1冊２ドル99セント（Staplesで）！そもそもこのあたりにWalmartがないというのが、大きな敗因。２ドル99セントのコンポジション・ブックを何度も手に取ったけど、どうしても買う気になれず、もしや昨年の残りが家にあるかもと淡い期待を抱いて帰ってきたけれど、やっぱりなかったので、明日買いに行きます。トホホ。。。子どもたちは、新しい文房具や持ち物を整理しながら、明日に期待を膨らませてベットに入りました。
The middle school finished at 2:57, and the elementary school at 3:03. They came home in one piece. It's same American public schools but is different in many ways. Back in Charlottesville, backpacks with rollers on the bottom were quite popular, but around here you never see those. Our son was virtually one and only person with that type of backpack. Many of the kids come and go on foot or on a bike or sometimes on a skateboard, so they just carry a bag on their back. Another thing is the school supply list. Back in Charlottesville, we got the list pretty early like in June or July, did the shopping and brought them before the school started in fall. Here kids came home with the list today. We had to go supply shopping after school on the first day of school. It just does not feel right... Anyway, those school supplies are VERY expensive here, I found. For example, composition books. I used to get two of them for a dollar at Walmart in Charlotesville. Here Staples sell them for $2.99 a piece. We have every conceivable retail business around here, but NOT Walmart. I miss my Walmart! I took the $2.99 composition book in my hand several times but a part of me just refused to pay that much, so came home hoping that I still have some leftover from last year somewhere in storage. I did not. So I have to go back to Staples to pay $2.99, TWO dollars and NINETY-NINE cents, for a composition book!
