Japanese Schooling - Adelaide-Style

Now it will come as no surprise to anyone that has read my blog (or even the blurb about the blog) that my wife is Japanese, and we've spent much time going over to Japan... and that we've now got two children. Well, our son (L-kun) turned 5 recently, a momentous occasion, filled with many exciting things... not least changes to schooling. Indeed, one of the things that happened this year was that he started his formal Japanese schooling here in Adelaide.

Now in Japan, school terms begin in April, and that's exactly when the Adelaide Japanese School begins too (so L-kun's been there a whole term already). I'll write a little more about the Japanese schooling system here in a later post, as there's a lot to discuss... right now, I'll recap on L-kun's first day at Japanese School... 

The first thing to say is that Japanese definitely have a thing for ceremony - and for enjoying the occasion. For example, the child's first day at school is always a hugely momentous time, with much expectation and many tears of joy (and perhaps of sadness at their children growing up). The first day is also when they hold the Entrance Ceremony, or nyūgakushiki (入学式). It generally is attended by the parents - and grandparents even - with children dressing up (it's not uncommon for suits/dresses to be worn, or even kimono). In a way it's like a mini coming-of-age ceremony for kindy and first-graders... their having entered a new phase of life. A new beginning.

So nyūgakushiki is a time of some seriousness, as well as a time to celebrate a good time with children. Of course, Japanese also like speeches, and the children (and the parents) couldn't escape it now either. Though as you might guess, things were not quite as formal as they would be in a school in Japan.

Part of the ceremony in Japan is typically associated with the introduction of the children into the school, normally a big moment when the children are welcomed into the hall with the parents. Things weren't quite as dramatic here... but as L-kun was joining the kindergarten grade (which is for 4 and 5 year olds), all the new-starters were going to be called to the front for a special introduction. We had rehearsed this a bit beforehand... when they say your name, give a good strong hai!

We arrived at the school and found that the parents were seated separately from the children, who must have all been wondering what was going on. After the formal introduction, the children were called one-by-one to the front stage. We waited, as L-kun's name was read out and he replied with a nice loud hai, and stood up to walk to the front of the auditorium, a slightly nervous smile upon his face... Daddy was too busy trying to take photos AND video to notice what mummy was doing, but I'm sure she was getting emotional. It was a long ceremony, and I have to admit that L-kun's attention waxed and waned throughout, but he was in a good mood... after all, it's not always that easy to tell how your child will react to a new experience (especially school). And the good thing is that he's got friends there already... 

Now the first day saw the families invited into the join in with the student's first lesson. Nothing too stressful, although to be honest, my wife and I were more focussed on our then 2 month old baby, C-chan. L-kun found his seat with his friends and listened (or at least sat quietly). Remember, this is really the first "formal" school environment outside kindergarten that L-kun had experienced... so he did really well for the first day.

It was a strange feeling standing there... though the one thing you realise very quickly is that this IS a Japanese school. The school is based very strongly on the normal Japanese curriculum... though obviously there's concessions made for the fact that it's only one half day a week. Now whilst my wife speaks to our son in Japanese at home, he's still more comfortable in English, so we were kinda curious how things would go... but the first day is very much about learning the ropes. 

And the favourite part of the day? Well, of course there's always playing with friends in the playground. That's a universal highlight of any school experience at that age.

All up, L-kun's first day went amazingly well... and whilst the day lacked some of the pomp and ceremony that would have accompanied the occasion in Japan, my wife was very happy that L-kun could experience something of the special time in a Japanese school-life. A shared experience.

We have yet to decide how much Japanese schooling L-kun will have here in Adelaide... and much of that will be up to L-kun, and how he enjoys the experience.

So far, so good.

G+ Anniversary Adelaide Photowalk #4

The final leg of our photowalk last week... a trip to the National Wine Centre of Australia... note, that's their name. Personally I think it's a bit strange... which country's national wine centre did they think we'd have in Adelaide? Anyhow, that's a small point. Actually the history of the Wine Centre has been something of an interesting story... but first off, I guess I should tell you a bit about the place.

The building sits just outside the CBD, and was the brainchild of the then Liberal government in South Australia. Wine, after all, is one of South Australia's chief produces. Like many good ideas in Adelaide however, things have a tendency to go awry.

The centre opened in 2001, but amidst complaints from the opposition, the media, and competition from a private "centre" the Centre closed down, and was re-opened as a campus of the Adelaide University in 2003.

Despite all the controversy however, the building is quite distinctive in it's own right, fashioned as it  is on the wine barrel design... making for an unconventional look in an otherwise conventional Adelaide.

The centre itself is open to the public to stroll through, and during the Photowalk that's exactly what we were all doing. So I think I'll just post a few more photos from around the buildings...

Inside is quite a pleasant environment... mixing quintessential corrugated iron with glass, timber and ochre stucco. There's plenty of information (including a whiff sampler where you can smell the different ingredients to the different wines).

The internal sails/windows really add to the ambience. It may not be Sydney Opera House, but there's a nice elegance to it.

And of course, there's the wine.... and there's lots of it. You can buy it, taste it, and be educated about it. And, as the Wine Centre is now part of the University of Adelaide, it means that drinking wine can be about getting smarter (not just drunk).

 

And the Wine Centre has not been without it's excitement too, with the former Premier of the State, Honorable(?) Mike Rann being attacked unceremoniously by a disgruntled ex-husband (it's a long story) with a rolled up magazine. Grassy knoll it was not, but it actually left quite a bit of damage (something to remember when you yell abuse at the newspaper-delivery kid next). The incident (and the story behind it) didn't bring down the government, but it was one of the events that left long-time Premier leaving office with a less than glorious note. I wonder if he's been back since leaving politics... I do note that he did get a position with the competing Flinders University. Coincidence?

So leaving the National Wine Centre (of Australia)... I headed across the road to Rymill Park for the final meet up.

Time for just a couple more shots of the park...

And just because I can, I'll throw in two completely unrelated photos from the park...

Overall... photowalks, I've found are not necessarily the most social events (and especially as I'm such a shy lad)... but they are fantastic events for getting out and about, enjoying the great outdoors and especially, most especially, giving you a great reason to grab your camera and start looking through the viewfinder for different perspectives of the world around you.

So thank you Google, thank you Paul Clarke for organising this walk, and also a big thank you to everyone on G+ for helpful comments since getting back on-line. And also, finally a HUGE thank you to you (the reader) for allowing me this self-indulgence. Well, at least you have if you've read right down to the bottom of this post. Well done, by the way... I always wonder how many people actually read my blog posts.

G+ Anniversary Adelaide Photowalk #3

Well, I'm sort of cheating on this post, the 3rd in the series of the G+ Anniversary Photowalk in Adelaide (from the 30th June)... in that I actually went to the Botanic Gardens twice, once on the way to the National Wine Centre, and the second time on the way back from the BBQ (on the way to a birthday party)... So I've sort of thrown them altogether... so apologies if you think something strange has happened...

Now given that's it's very late, and I'd like to get to bed, I've decided that I won't write much today (yeah, I hear you say... or at least you would if you were reading this)... Actually I've written about the Botanic Gardens before (here in October and then again here  in Nov 2010). It's acutally interesting to look back and compare photos from back then...

In the afternoon, I was blessed with some rather wonderful clouds ... the thunderstorms that had been forecast for earlier in the day never materialised, but they did produce some fantastic skyscapes for photography.

And the Adelaide Centennial Conservatory did the rest... it's a natural photogenic structure... so when in Rome, buy a pizza.

I have to say that I've not been too careful on my processing, and I might come back to these photos to bring out a little more oomph to them. But for the moment, I'm pretty happy with minimum effort (I believe I mentioned before about how lazy I am...).

The glass water sculpture to the south of the Conservatory is also quite an interesting subject matter too....so many different things going on, it's hard to know what to focus on when taking photos here.

And now with just a hint of colour...

But it wasn't all glass and steel... the Botanic Gardens has lots to see. Unfortunately both times I was there, I didn't really get an opportunity to spend much time. So these photos are a little rushed.

One of the problems with a Photowalk is that if you're with someone (I was walking with +David Fielding in the morning, first time through) it's always difficult to talk, walk AND look for taking photos. Especially if people like taking different sorts of photos. Still, we made our way through the gardens at the time of morning when there was still some beautiful light..

And just enough time to take time to smell the mushrooms.

And on the other scale of plants, there's quite a good cactii garden here too....

And sculpture is very much a part of the Botanic Gardens too.

Ok... I couldn't resist at least one more gratuitous architectural photo.

Did I say one photo? I meant one lot of photos. Actually the Water-lily House is one of the really interesting structures here...

And it's great for exploring glass, reflections, and lines.

It is also normally very good for taking some lovely photos of water lilies as well, but unfortunately the cold, moist air when mixed with the heat from the glass house was instantly covering every glass surface (read: my camera lens) with a sea of condensation. Score one for the power of water.

And speaking of water, and reflections, it's good to find interesting versions of these things... in the strangest of places...

Like the hollowed remnants of an old fallen tree...

Where even death, brings the promise of new life... 

But where life itself can take on the strangled frenzy of death and corruption. Actually this photo reminds me of the mangrove swamps down at St Kilda.... 

And then there's the glorious trees along Plane Tree Drive that runs along the northern boundary of the gardens... the point of all of this... if ever you're in the city on a fine day (or even a not so fine day), check out the Botanic Gardens. There's something interesting here all the time, even in the middle of winter.

G+ Anniversary Adelaide Photowalk #2

Well, I did mention in the previous post that I had taken a lot of photos... and true to my word, here's the 2nd instalment of my great photographic adventure. Right at the outset, I should remind everyone that I'm most certainly not a photographer. Not a real one at any rate. I like to dabble, and I don't take my photography seriously enough to even be a hobby. Though it's a good pretense of one.

Now I haven't really got that many photos to show what Adelaide is really like, so perhaps as a photowalk session I sort of failed. Adelaide's often been described as a Big Country Town... with a population of over a million people, it's a very BIG town at that. Unlike Melbourne however, we don't really have the characteristic alleyways - so Adelaide never really comes across as having a secret-face. Rather, our secrets are all about the people that live here....

Adelaide established  an Arts culture since the 60's at least, and was known (perhaps still is, but with a slight twist of irony) as belonging to the Festival State.

Now everywhere in Australia has it's festivals, so we've largely lost the self-image of a bastion of the richer cultural heart of Australia. I suspect Melbourne and Sydney might have suggested we never had it in the first place...

North Terrace is the homeland of the Arts, with the Library, the Museum and of course the Art Gallery all lined up along a beautiful Boulevard... 

Alongside that the two university campuses of the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia (Flinders University has a small satellite campus nearby as well)

And of course seats of learning are almost always sat on by Men of Learning.... how 'old fashioned'... but it goes with Adelaide's intrinsically conservative mind-set. It's also far from the modern day reality with girls consistently out-performing boys in school. But then still finding that they earn less. Life, apparently, wasn't meant to be easy - or fair.

And one of the bulwarks of the old establishment in Adelaide is the Freemason's Lodge on North Terrace... which was first erected in 1884, and then rebuilt (in it's current form) in 1924. The truly remarkable aspect to the whole thing however was that the organisation of the Freemasons in South Australia was first established in 1834... the State was proclaimed in 1836! The State and the city of Adelaide is intimately linked with the Freemasonry movement... one of the city's many sort-of-secrets.

One might say that Adelaide was built on the foundations of Freemasonry.... then again, as an aside, 10 out of the first 20 Prime Minister's of Australia were Freemasons.... The Adelaide streets bear witness to the role of Freemasonry in Adelaide with Wakefield, Morphett, Gilbert, Gouger, O'Connell, King William, Flinders, Tynte all based on powerful Masons at the start of the South Australian colony.

So whilst the city was founded on the designs and plans of Col. William Light, it's way of life can perhaps be symbolised by this mysterious society of well-to-do gentlemen.

Enough of the Freemasons... there is photographing to do... and not everything has to have deep historical significance.

And yet... the history, is often reflected in even the most ordinary of things from today...

Autumn's last leaves float gentle on the turbulent waters.

Anyone for a jump in a puddle?... If only my son were there....

Frome Road - from a different point of view (and I wasn't even drunk, officer)...

Adelaide has it's fair share of sculpture, if you look for it... 

And who can go past the quaintly beautiful (if somewhat artificial) Torrens River cum Lake....  and isn't that weather looking up for us all. G+ Power!

Stay tuned for my next instalment soon....