Rumors swirl after girls mysteriously collapse at Fukuoka school
The first thing I thought of was good ol' Arthur Miller and his play The Crucible. This is an interesting way to get a couple of days off around test time, nothing more.
Showing posts with label Japanese schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese schools. Show all posts
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Influenza wiped out one of our classes...
It's influenza season, and there's one thing I've learned since I've been in Japan about illnesses: people love to talk about them. I hate to talk about illness, but whether it's norovirus or the bird flu or the New Flu, the news broadcasts cover the topic in-depth and so do people in casual conversations. And because I work in a school, it's a topic that we have to have conversations about because influenza impacts everyone here, from the students to the hardworking cafeteria staff to the office people to the teachers. Even one of our interview tests yesterday featured various forms of influenza as its topic. There's no escaping. Especially since one entire class here has been completely destroyed by the flu. Cancelled for the rest of the week.
This doesn't affect my schedule, since I'm through teaching them until next week. It's certainly strange going into a half-empty classroom, though. The kids seem to be in a different headspace entirely. They're not as attentive, they're more easily distracted. There's almost a holiday mood among the survivors, or the feeling of a Saturday class even though it's Monday or Tuesday. It throws me off the rhythmic method the JTE and I have developed. I feel an impending sense of doom, of some apocalypse in our near future.
Then it's back to the teachers' room to listen to more phone conversations about influenza, and to receive handouts about it. Masks on, hands washed, teachers joking about the situation in that way all people do when circumstances grow beyond their control and they become flotsam on the tide of an ever-flowing, ever-changing situation. You have to wisecrack. It's human nature.
This is the first time since I started working here we've lost an entire class. Last year, we came close during the height of flu season. On the whiteboard the school nurse toted up the names and numbers of our absentee kids, the ones with high fevers underlined in black, the confirmed flu cases in blue. This year that single class hit their sickness limit, and like a weary platoon where casualties have destroyed its combat effectiveness in wartime, the rest were pulled off the front lines to recuperate and wait for replacements. Maybe they'll be folded into the other classes. Maybe they'll all be sent home until the crisis passes.
This doesn't affect my schedule, since I'm through teaching them until next week. It's certainly strange going into a half-empty classroom, though. The kids seem to be in a different headspace entirely. They're not as attentive, they're more easily distracted. There's almost a holiday mood among the survivors, or the feeling of a Saturday class even though it's Monday or Tuesday. It throws me off the rhythmic method the JTE and I have developed. I feel an impending sense of doom, of some apocalypse in our near future.
Then it's back to the teachers' room to listen to more phone conversations about influenza, and to receive handouts about it. Masks on, hands washed, teachers joking about the situation in that way all people do when circumstances grow beyond their control and they become flotsam on the tide of an ever-flowing, ever-changing situation. You have to wisecrack. It's human nature.
This is the first time since I started working here we've lost an entire class. Last year, we came close during the height of flu season. On the whiteboard the school nurse toted up the names and numbers of our absentee kids, the ones with high fevers underlined in black, the confirmed flu cases in blue. This year that single class hit their sickness limit, and like a weary platoon where casualties have destroyed its combat effectiveness in wartime, the rest were pulled off the front lines to recuperate and wait for replacements. Maybe they'll be folded into the other classes. Maybe they'll all be sent home until the crisis passes.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The flu season is hitting Hamamatsu
Okay, I really don't know how bad it is. Consider this anecdotal. Our school has 12 kids out of 224 out right now, with three of them confirmed influenza cases. We keep track of them on a large marker board. Regular illnesses/personal issue absences in black, flu absences in blue. I expect the blue numbers to climb, and if they reach a certain level we may get a few days off.
Kids have been warned not to come to school if they're sick, but you know how it is. You feel a little in the dumps but aren't sure it's influenza until more symptoms hit. By that time you've gone about your daily business and acted as a vector all over the place.
In preparation for flu season, I had a vaccination back in December. From the news stories I've read coming out of the US, this gives me about a 65% immunity factor. That is, if the vaccine I took is roughly the same formula as this year's batch in the States. I understand that one is an extremely good match for the flu strains going around this year. Let's hope that holds true for all of us teachers here in Japan who went and got ourselves stuck.
Hey, let me take a moment to tell you this. If you ever have to have blood drawn or a vaccination here in Japan, don't sweat it. I've done both and both were surprisingly painless. Just a pinch. I'm used to getting stabbed half to death. I'll never forget having blood taken when I had my tonsils out years ago. I felt as if I'd spent the evening in Whitechapel with Saucy Jack. Probably only lost slightly more blood than he would have taken, Boss.
Kids have been warned not to come to school if they're sick, but you know how it is. You feel a little in the dumps but aren't sure it's influenza until more symptoms hit. By that time you've gone about your daily business and acted as a vector all over the place.
In preparation for flu season, I had a vaccination back in December. From the news stories I've read coming out of the US, this gives me about a 65% immunity factor. That is, if the vaccine I took is roughly the same formula as this year's batch in the States. I understand that one is an extremely good match for the flu strains going around this year. Let's hope that holds true for all of us teachers here in Japan who went and got ourselves stuck.
Hey, let me take a moment to tell you this. If you ever have to have blood drawn or a vaccination here in Japan, don't sweat it. I've done both and both were surprisingly painless. Just a pinch. I'm used to getting stabbed half to death. I'll never forget having blood taken when I had my tonsils out years ago. I felt as if I'd spent the evening in Whitechapel with Saucy Jack. Probably only lost slightly more blood than he would have taken, Boss.
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