Every Thursday is my crazy day of the week. The moment Katya and Alex walk in the door from school they have to grab a snack and change into their swimsuits—we have to leave for swimming by 2:50 pm. This summer, when it was hot and humid with nothing much to do, we have decided to commit to a year of swimming lessons off base. It did require a lot of thought….In fact, I had known about these lessons for over a year, but the sign up fee and the cost of lessons was always in my way. See, Japanese love sign up fees. They also love fees for uniforms to make them all look the same—it’s a culture that doesn’t really praise “originality”:). After realizing that spots for lessons on base are extremely limited (6 kids in each level at a certain time) and that I would have to stay at the pool for an hour twice a week while first Katya and then Alex had lessons (30 min each), I figured that fee would become a sunk cost pretty soon anyway.
It has been five months since the kids started and I do not regret at all taking them off base. So here are several quick facts for you.
1. Although kids’ lesson starts at 3:30, they are supposed to show up at 3:10, go change and “shower” then come sit down by the pool to wait for the rest of the group to do some stretching.
2. Boys have to wear speedos.
3. All kids wear hats with their names in the front. Each color of the hat corresponds with different swimming level.
4. Teachers don’t really speak English. Kids learnt to understand their simple Japanese instructions and mostly hand gestures.
5. Once in a while, there would be 12-18 kids in one class with one teacher! We transferred out of our Wednesday class because there were 18 kids signed up for that class. Now Alex has about 9, Katya has 7.
5. Sometimes, if there is time, kids are allowed to play in the water with their teachers by asking them to give them piggy back rides or just “hanging” on them.
6. When we come in, everyone takes off shoes. Kids just walk over to the changing room wearing their socks, but parents who are staying to watch their kids wear “blue rubber slippers”….I swear they are not made to differentiate between left and right feet, and most of them seem too small for me.
7. One of the best parts is that their lessons last ONE HOUR plus stretching/changing. So technically, I can drop the kids off at 3:10 and just come back to pick them up at 4:40 pm. Most of the time I end up going to a park with Mark for half an hour when it’s warm and then go back to the pool and watch the kids. Today, since it was freezing, we just spent the whole time at the pool entertaining Mark with cars/books and fruits.
All right, but for real what is the best part of swimming lessons?? The kids are actually learning how to properly swim! I mean their teachers are paying attention to every detail, so kids have to perfect each “challenge” before they can move on to the next levels. They are tested every two months, and the next test is coming up at the end December.
I never finished explaining why Thursdays are our crazy days, did I? So, after swimming, we arrive home at 5 pm, eat dinner fast (hopefully already cooked) and send Katya out to our neighbor’s house for a piano lesson at 6 pm, while one of us drives Alex to Mokuteki on main base for a piano lesson with Mr. Masayuki at 6:30. Then finally everyone reunites for bedtime shortly after 7, happy we managed to survive another Thursday. Actually, it’s not so bad knowing that it’s only one day a week. We are still in control here in Misawa by keeping life for kids simple (lack of options for extra curricular activities helps as well in this case-haha).
It’s late and this crazy Thursday is over! Yay for crazy Friday and all next week since Robert will be working nights again.
Good night!
It has been five months since the kids started and I do not regret at all taking them off base. So here are several quick facts for you.
1. Although kids’ lesson starts at 3:30, they are supposed to show up at 3:10, go change and “shower” then come sit down by the pool to wait for the rest of the group to do some stretching.
2. Boys have to wear speedos.
3. All kids wear hats with their names in the front. Each color of the hat corresponds with different swimming level.
5. Once in a while, there would be 12-18 kids in one class with one teacher! We transferred out of our Wednesday class because there were 18 kids signed up for that class. Now Alex has about 9, Katya has 7.
5. Sometimes, if there is time, kids are allowed to play in the water with their teachers by asking them to give them piggy back rides or just “hanging” on them.
This is what the entrance looks like. And that’s my new car….
NOT (I am still driving my 96 Honda Odyssey –which should tell you those are fantastic cars if they are lasting that long!). 
All right, but for real what is the best part of swimming lessons?? The kids are actually learning how to properly swim! I mean their teachers are paying attention to every detail, so kids have to perfect each “challenge” before they can move on to the next levels. They are tested every two months, and the next test is coming up at the end December.
I never finished explaining why Thursdays are our crazy days, did I? So, after swimming, we arrive home at 5 pm, eat dinner fast (hopefully already cooked) and send Katya out to our neighbor’s house for a piano lesson at 6 pm, while one of us drives Alex to Mokuteki on main base for a piano lesson with Mr. Masayuki at 6:30. Then finally everyone reunites for bedtime shortly after 7, happy we managed to survive another Thursday. Actually, it’s not so bad knowing that it’s only one day a week. We are still in control here in Misawa by keeping life for kids simple (lack of options for extra curricular activities helps as well in this case-haha).
It’s late and this crazy Thursday is over! Yay for crazy Friday and all next week since Robert will be working nights again.
Good night!
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