Ceremony Photos

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get these pictures posted.

The main picture is the shot Aaron took of all the moms posing at the opening day/entrance ceremony for the pre-school kids. I think the photographer is really patient to be able to keep his cool with all these squirmy kids.

This is Holt accepting his “welcome to school” present. It turned out to be a big box of mochi.
Holt

Here he is standing to sing a song with everyone else.
Holt singing

This is a picture of Ridge’s desk, covered with his new school supplies.
Desk

This is a sixth-grade student named Takanobu pining Ridge’s little rosette on him.
Takanobu

In the front of the class, the black board was decorated beautifully by the new teacher, Yaso-sensei (Mrs. Yaso). The Japanese reads, “Nyuugaku Omedeto”. Nyuugaku refers to new, entering students, and Omedeto means “congratulations”.
Chalkboard

Here you can see Ridge seated at his desk, awaiting the beginning of the ceremony.
Waiting

The stage in the gym was also decorated. Cherry blossoms are a popular beginning-of-school theme. The flags in the shot, from left to right are: The flag of Hokkaido, the Japanese national flag, and the flag of Nishiokoppe. The kanji above the flags refers to new students.
Stage


Here, the students enter the gym…
Entrance

…and are seated up front.
Sitting down

After the speeches, they stood on the stage, bowed, and said their names.
Bowing

Next, the teachers stand and are introduced.
Meet the teachers

At the end, the kids are led out of the gym by their new teacher.
Exit