I wore a shiny, self-fashioned crown. Together, we did a countdown from 10, then I threw confetti at an unsuspecting student and played Auld Lang Syne on melodica. Ridiculousness is riveting.
"What did you do for New Year?" I asked my classes. Then came to find that Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu) is like Christmas in the U.S., and New Year in the U.S. is like Japanese Christmas.
Sure, 5 tons of twinkle lights and an army of robotic, dancing Santa Clauses occupy Shizuoka each December, but that's what the holiday means here. You look for a date if you don't have one, and you go out to a Christmas Party. 
Japanese New Year, however, is a time for staying home with family, eating traditional holiday foods, sending cards to loved ones, giving presents (of money) to the children, and visiting a temple or shrine."We went to shrine to pray for good exams," said most of the 9th graders.
Here, education is compulsory only through junior high school. Nevertheless, most of the 9th graders at my schools are hoping to attend high school (nationwide, over 90% do go on to high school), so these 14- and 15-year-olds are currently cramming for entrance exams; all sports and club activities have been suspended for the 9th graders so they can devote themselves entirely to studying. 
They leaf through the glossy pamphlets for various high schools in the area—some trying to decide whether to aim for somewhere near home or swing an hour-long commute, whether to hope to attend a school with a strong sports team or a school that is geared for a particular field of study. For others, there is nothing much to decide—they’ll just go wherever they get in.
The 9th grade teachers seem frazzled, counseling all their homeroom students through this next step, but most of the students, even though they're clearly sleep-deprived, seem to be doing all right with the process.
Makes me wonder how I would have done with such a decision as a 9th grader. Thinking back to those worthless career inventories we took (via Apple IIe, perhaps) in early high school, when asked, "How many years of college would you like to attend?" I would select "2 years or less"...and I think no matter how many of those tests I took, the result would always be Paralegal. 
To the students who I find hunched over their homework during recess, I can only say ganbatte (good luck). I hope these students aren't being put on specific tracks too early, but it is difficult to say, and there's a good chance my American mind is making a bigger deal of this than it is. I just want Ryo, who is not applying to high schools, but is going to learn how to grow tea from his grandfather, to be happy and find his passion. And I hope that Soichiro doesn’t burn himself out over the next three years at his selective high school for science performance, and figures out for himself whether he wants to go on to the University of Tokyo, not just because his teacher thinks he should.
The 9th grade teachers seem frazzled, counseling all their homeroom students through this next step, but most of the students, even though they're clearly sleep-deprived, seem to be doing all right with the process.
Makes me wonder how I would have done with such a decision as a 9th grader. Thinking back to those worthless career inventories we took (via Apple IIe, perhaps) in early high school, when asked, "How many years of college would you like to attend?" I would select "2 years or less"...and I think no matter how many of those tests I took, the result would always be Paralegal. To the students who I find hunched over their homework during recess, I can only say ganbatte (good luck). I hope these students aren't being put on specific tracks too early, but it is difficult to say, and there's a good chance my American mind is making a bigger deal of this than it is. I just want Ryo, who is not applying to high schools, but is going to learn how to grow tea from his grandfather, to be happy and find his passion. And I hope that Soichiro doesn’t burn himself out over the next three years at his selective high school for science performance, and figures out for himself whether he wants to go on to the University of Tokyo, not just because his teacher thinks he should. 
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