The Sky, the Sea, and Cowbells. [Island School #17] / Remote Island Elementary School Edition 17

The morning of the field trip began with boarding a boat, and on the weekend, I ended up reading 'The Goblet of Fire' bought on the mainland while enduring the rocking of the boat.
Once back on the island, the preparations for the music recital and art exhibition came rushing in.
Before I knew it, I was being chased by autumn events between the sky and the sea.

Previous story👇

This is a struggle log of a teacher who ended up working on a remote island.
This story takes place around October 2002 (Heisei 14), over 20 years ago.

Note: Some place names and proper nouns in the text have been fictionalized.

The island I was assigned to is like this.👇👇

【Table of Contents Insert】

1. A field trip that begins at 5:30 and a boat

On a dark morning in October, my alarm went off at 5:30.
I thought it was typical for a remote island school that the meeting time for the field trip was 'to make it in time for the boat'.
The air at the port was chilly, but anticipation outweighed sleepiness on the children's faces.
First, we cross to the mainland by ferry. The field trip had already begun the moment we boarded the boat.

A bus was waiting at the mainland port where we arrived, and the course to the prefectural capital was a classic social studies tour: 'Prefectural Police -> Prefectural Office -> NHK -> Science Center'.
At the Prefectural Police Headquarters, we received an explanation about the flow of 110 emergency calls and the mechanism of the traffic information system.
The children and I listened intently to the question, 'If we call 110 from the island, how long does it take for you to arrive?'

For a major incident, about 15 minutes by helicopter.

But for minor cases...

'We come by ferry'

was the answer.

I am sure I was not the only one who felt a faint shared sense in our hearts that 'by that time, the criminal would have escaped by boat...'

At the following Traffic Information Center, they enthusiastically explained the control system for traffic lights on the mainland, but...
There are no traffic lights here at all.
The content ended up being a bit like fantasy for the children at our school.

2. Prefectural office tour and the camera's gaze

At the prefectural office, we were guided through the assembly hall and the governor's office.
Although the explanation was polite, the guide was reading from a script in a monotone voice, and there were strange pauses.
Moreover, she had no name tag.
'Even at the city hall, name tags are mandatory...' a question mark remained in the island teacher's head.
(This is just a story from back then. But if they were already taking measures against customer harassment back then, that would be amazing. lol)

The following NHK tour included introductions to studios and program production mechanisms, as well as technical equipment.
However, there was one cameraman who kept filming our tour, which made me a little uneasy.
On the bus ride home, the children and I were a bit restless, wondering, 'Will it be broadcast?' or 'What if we are on TV?'

3. A surprising daytime starry sky experience

After having lunch at a park, while walking through the arcade in the center of the prefecture,'scenery not found on the island'was burned into our memories.
And then, the children's eyes sparkled again at the science center in the afternoon.

In the science show using liquid nitrogen,the experiment of hammering a nail with a bananacaused a stir.
Furthermore, when they heard that they couldobserve a starfrom the Summer Triangle in the daytime with an astronomical telescope, the children, who were half-doubting, gasped as they looked through the lens.
'It's visible...' This surprise was a realization that could not be obtained in classroom science.

We returned to the port in time for the return boat, and everyone slumped their exhausted bodies onto the benches.

4. The boat where the sky and sea approach alternately

During the precious time I had when I returned to the mainland on the weekend, I went around to bookstores in search of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'.
The chain store I usually frequent was sold out.
In the end, I had to go as far as the Kinokuniya in front of the station.
It was a hassle to park the car.
While I regretted a little that I hadn't made a reservation, I thought, 'If I miss this week, it won't be possible later,' so I bought it without hesitation.

Although I started reading 'The Goblet of Fire' on the boat back to the island, the winter pressure pattern made the waves high, and it felt like the letters were running away from before my eyes.
Every time the boat tilted, the view beyond the window switched rhythmically between 'sky → sea → sky → sea'.
Before long, I realized I had started guessing the angle of the tilt for some reason, and I gave up on reading entirely at that point.
In my head, Miyuki Nakajima's 'Between the Sky and You' was playing on a loop, and I was thinking things like, 'Between the sky and the sea, another painful bout of seasickness is coming today.'

5. City Music Festival, Teachers on Stage Too

Just when I thought the reflection on the research lesson was over, the 'City Music Festival next week' was waiting right around the corner. (*Note: In the Comprehensive Studies chapter, the research lesson is not yet over.)
About 20 schools participated.
The music director teacher said as if it were a matter of course,
'Teachers, please perform as well.'
Since it's a small school, it seems all the teachers have to get on stage.

The songs were 'Shimauta' and 'Kaze ni Naritai'.
In the second half, there was a performance where all the teachers, including the principal, joined in halfway through 'Shimauta'.
What I was handed was a cowbell.
The sound has a strong presence, and the fear that 'if I mess up, everyone will look at me' haunted me.

Furthermore, the costume was a yellow bandana and a red T-shirt.
Thinking, 'I feel like the children are calmer than us,' my hand, which was ringing the bell during the lunch break rehearsal, was naturally cautious.

6. Autumn, Chased by the Waves of Events

At the same time, submissions for the city/town art exhibition were also approaching.
The theme for the sketching was fishing boats at the harbor.
The backs of the children holding brushes and paints lined up while feeling the sound of the waves in the distance.
Brush and pen calligraphy works were also needed, and the race against the deadline continued.

At my previous post, it was an in-school exhibition, so I'm still not used to the current scale.
Watching the finished works, I thought many times, 'Even within the same prefecture, the form of events is so different.'

In October on the island, there are still remnants of summer in the sunlight.
Even so, the classroom was definitely filling with the atmosphere of 'autumn of the arts'.
The sound of the cowbell and the sound of brushes running across paper.
In both, there was the seriousness of the children and a feeling of being pushed forward as a teacher.

▶ Continued to Remote Island Elementary School Chapter 18