The Story of How Four Years of Elementary School Changed My Life - Part 3

A day with four hours of P.E.

In this day and age, this would probably be considered completely unacceptable.

That day, the atmosphere felt different from the morning.
As soon as Mr. Abe entered the classroom, he wrote this in large letters on the blackboard:

"Today, we are moving our bodies for everything."
The classroom buzzed with excitement.

Looking at the schedule, there were indeed a lot of P.E. classes.

But what did he mean by "everything"?

Someone asked timidly,
"Um, what about math?"
"What about Japanese?"

The teacher replied nonchalantly,

"We aren't doing them."
For a moment, my mind couldn't keep up.



"Instead, today we are going to do 'getting tired'."


I didn't understand what he meant, but I felt a little excited.

At first, it was on the school grounds.Running.
Just running.There was no reason for it.

"Don't stop!"
"Don't worry about being passed!"


There were no winners or losers, and no timing.

My breath grew short, my legs felt heavy, but I kept running.
After a while, no one was talking anymore.
The complaints and the playful shouting faded away, and we were just focused on the "now."

Next was the gymnasium.
It wasn't basketball or dodgeball.

"Think for yourselves and play."

That's all he said, and he just handed us a ball.
At first, we were confused.
But before long, roles emerged naturally.

The one who throws. The one who picks it up. The one who makes the rules.
The teacher just stood in the corner, arms crossed, watching.

He didn't interfere.
By the time we returned to the classroom before noon, everyone was exhausted.


Sweat-drenched, we slumped over our desks.

That's when the teacher said,

"What's going on in your heads right now?"

Someone answered,
"I'm not thinking about anything."

"I'm just zoning out."

The teacher nodded with satisfaction.
"That's good."

The afternoon was also P.E.
This time, it was the mountain.
It was off-campus.

Nowadays, this would definitely be a problem.
Climbing. Slipping. Falling.

Our hands and clothes were covered in mud.


Someone was about to cry, but then someone else laughed, and before we knew it, we were all laughing.
The teacher said,


"When people get tired, they become honest."


I didn't really understand the meaning of those words at the time.

When I got home, my body was worn out.

But strangely, my heart felt light.

I didn't watch TV, I barely did my homework, and I just fell asleep right there.
The next day, no one said, "Wasn't yesterday's class weird?"

If anything, we felt a bit proud.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"


That one sentence was enough to understand each other.

I realized it later.
What we were doing that day wasn't P.E.



"Regaining your own senses."

That was the lesson.

Move your body before you overthink.

Try feeling before you look for the right answer.
It was the day I was taught that order for the first time.
Next Episode Preview (Part 4)

The teacher rarely gave tests.

Yet, for some reason, the feeling of "learning" remained."Time spent not being evaluated helps people grow."
The story of how I came to realize that.