My high school sophomore son returns from Okinawa schooling

My eldest son, who had been away for schooling in Okinawa, has returned.
It seems he had a good time!

Because a typhoon was approaching Okinawa, the schooling ended up finishing two days earlier than planned.

I had to scramble to book the earliest possible flight home, change my work schedule, and rush to the airport to pick him up.

My son came out of the arrival gate.
I waved at him.

"Welcome back!"
As I called out to my son, I noticed there was a girl next to him.

I had expected my son to come back alone, but it seems he happened to be on the same flight as a senior girl from the same support school.

The girl saw me and gave a polite bow.

"Thank you for traveling back with him. It must have been tough with the schedule changing so suddenly."
I said to the girl.

After that, we waved goodbye to the girl and parted ways at the airport.

She was a very cute and polite girl.

"How was the schooling?"
I asked my son in the car on the way home.

"It was hell," my son replied.

Me: "Huh? Why was it hell?"

Son: "Maybe because it's summer, but it was full of extroverts."

Hearing that it was worse than last year's schooling made me a little sad.

Below are my son's impressions.

"For P.E., they gave me and one other person a special menu, and I dominated in that game."

It seems that the P.E. class, which my son was most worried about, was enjoyable this time thanks to the school's consideration.
My son seemed very satisfied.

"The food, like the hamburger steak, ginger pork, and curry, was delicious. Breakfast, with things like rice balls, was also tasty."

"I met a kid who was in the same room for the first time, and we became really good friends. They live in another prefecture. We even exchanged LINE contact info. They waved really big at me when I was leaving."

I always went out to eat with friends from the same support school, and in our room, the three of us, including a friend I got close to, would talk.

I felt like I got along with a senior I sat with on the flight home, and we were able to talk. I hope we can be good friends from now on.

This time, I was able to ask my homeroom teacher and other teachers various things.

In the cooking class, I made Okinawan food with a person (a student) who was about 40 years old. They were a kind person.

We did sewing in home economics, and I was actually pretty good at it.

As I listened to my eldest son's stories, a question arose in my mind.

Wait, doesn't that mean you had fun?
I asked.

My eldest son sounded a bit hesitant, saying things like 'hmm,' but in the end, he said, 'It was fun!'

I see, that's good.
I felt truly relieved.

Eldest son: 'I think I've grown.'

Although this schooling was shorter, it clearly seemed to have boosted my son's confidence.

Eldest son: 'Come to think of it, my circle of acquaintances is expanding at the support school too. Plus, I've gone from not talking at all to talking and laughing, and I'm sure the teachers are happy about that too.'

Correspondence high school is actually quite good, isn't it?

The school here in Okinawa is very flexible, from how they handle typhoons to how they handle physical education.

Their affection for the students is also visible in many places.

The private combined junior and senior high school my son used to attend probably wouldn't have this kind of kindness or attentiveness.

I thought it was good that he chose this correspondence high school.
You don't often get such valuable experiences.

My son seems to have become knowledgeable about Okinawa and feels pride and affection for it.

I felt sure that there would be no worries about next year's schooling.