I don't know why the Principal of Kusumi Chugakko (Junior High School) bothers preparing such long motivational speeches for opening ceremony since neither the students or the sensei actually listen, myself included (mainly because I don't understand hardly any of it).

So there all us sensei are, chatting away at the edges of the gym, stomping our feet to counteract the bitter cold, eyeing the 3rd year boys at the back in case they start smoking or throwing stuff around, watching the girls freezing to death because they still have to wear skirts in the dead of winter (which they still insist on hiking up to their knickers, more fool them). Throughout, the Koucho Sensei is power-grabbing the air and rolling his R's and saying, I'm sure, all sorts of marvellous stuff but really, no one gives a flying fuck. Because it's cold. Really stupidly cold. And the 3rd year only have to get through this semester to be finally free of chugakko, and the 2nd year only have this term to endure before they can sit around being punks in 3rd year, and the 1st year don't speak or do anything much at all because they're 1st year. And the sensei have heard all this before, and me - I don't really have a clue what's going on apart from when I'm jostled in the elbow and a teacher I'm particularly fond of says, in English 'Hey, let's drink'.

So I'm back in Japan, back at school, and back in the faintly surreal swing of things. And it's really pretty good.