soybeans are fun!

Yesterday was the entrance ceremony for my elementary school. The cute new 1st graders entered the school in their sunday best, little suits for the boys with shorts and knee socks and matching plaid skirt and top sets for the girls. I was led to believe from pictures from previous years that the new 6th graders would be leading around the babies by hand in sempai/kohai pairs, however this, sadly, did not happen. It was refreshing to see the new students so boisterous during the ceremony, as compared to my robotic junior high students. They had no problem crying out, climbing on furniture, and cuddling during the ceremony, nor were they reprimanded for such activities (that I saw anyway). A particularly cute moment occurred when it was time for the school song to be sung and the upperclassmen, who have clearly been taught the method "if you can't sing well, sing loudly" started belting out the tune at a deafening level. The new 1st graders collectively turned around in shock and horror, amazed by their fellow students' thunderous singing voices. They continued staring back at them for the duration of the song, though some of them celebrated their new school pride by dancing.

In other news, good news for Japanese women in the workplace and an edamame simulator so you can experience the pleasure of popping soybeans out of the pod, without the hassle of having to eat them afterwards.