Is not like in England.
Parents dont just pop into school for half an hour after work, to recieve a 'yeah, they're doing fine but they need to work harder/listen more/do their homework/etc'.
Parents day is A WHOLE FRIKIN DAY.
Schools just open their doors up, and parents trundle in and out, stressing out the teachers and leaving their wailing kids behind when they realise they've had enough.
Although maybe its more stressful for the parents (lol). They've had to take time off work, in a country where every minute not in the office is basically purgatory. Furthermore, they have to spend that time with their children... at school. Why bother sending them there if you want to see them? The whole point of an expensive international kindergarten is to hide your children, between 8am and 5pm, whilst nurturing in them a bi-cultural dysmorphia.
But Japanese schools forget the wishes of the parents, and invite them for a day to re-learn their abc's.
The look of bemused false-enjoment on the parents faces during a game of fruit basket will stay with me. Mummys who lunch, my heart goes out to you, it really does.
But spare a moment for the staff. Parents day is obviously going to run a little differently. Maybe lunchtime will be later. Maybe rooms will change. Maybe you will invent a whole new lesson to prevent anarchy from 5yearolds who cannot contain their excitement that mummy and daddy are here. And maybe this whole new lesson will be something amazing and interactive, with a TON of prep, meaning everyone has to stay late the night before to get eerything 100% ready. (Not that my school was too bad with this, but ive heard tales of a classroom being turned into a fairground/underwater paradise/importing live dragons from New Zeland).
But im just guessing that it could be stressfull.
Plus, an entire day of scrutiny isn't in any way relaxing.
To top off any language teachers stress levels, youre probably not a trained teacher, and are waiting the whole day for someone to yell FAKE!!!
Taking this whole ordeal to a new level of pain is the fact that the only ice cream left in my freezer is strawberry flavour, when i want cookies and cream flavour.
Plus, the parents are coming back again tomorrow. For a very messy arts and crafts.......
