New School Year, New School!

So, the new school year has started again in Japan, and with that comes the daunting task of adjusting the school's curriculum, preparing all of the materials and making or buying whatever we still don't have. However, in addition to all of that, the school I work at has gone through another big change- we are moving to a larger, brand new premises that is built to order. I have been teaching at the new location for two days now, and I have to say, I am absolutely in love with it, even if I have been frighteningly busy in trying to pack, unpack and organize everything from the old school with the Town Mouse, Sensei, his wife and his brother-in-law. Another one of our teachers also assisted in the move the other day. It's been a busy, busy last five days.

One of the most amazing things about the whole process has been how quickly the new school was built. They didn't break ground until mid-January, and the construction was completed last week. That's just three months! To go from this:

 

Then this:

Then completed building! I don't have a picture of the front of the building right now.... somehow it completely skipped my mind to take a picture of outside of the building, haha. One of the nicest things about the whole process was that our boss gave the Town Mouse and I a lot of say into how the school would look. We were able to suggest a much smaller kitchen space, a downstairs office and our boss let us choose ALL of the colors for the interior! We poured over the internet for colors that help calm children and boost energy for learning and completely avoided red. We're no where near finished unpacking (we'll have at least one more week of crazy shifting and moving and then afterward I'll do a walking tour), but for now, here's how it looks!


The Blue Room

 The Yellow Room:

 The Purple Room:

 

 The Green Room:

 

 The Pink Room:

The Office:

  
Hand Washing Station (1F):

 

Sensei also let us order all new furniture from a catalog! I have some beautiful white shelves in the Blue Room now and we're getting some color coded shelves as well for upstairs. One of the things I've really noticed in this move is how many materials the school has now, compared to when the Town Mouse and I started. It's kind of amazing.... but all of the carpets, the posters, the toys, the flashcards.... all of them were acquired in the last year and about 60% of it was all out-of-pocket from us. And I was wondering where all of my money went last year ^^; However, the school really needed a lot of the materials, and now Sensei is offering to reimburse us for future purchases, so this year should be a lot less draining, both energetically and on funds, haha. What do you think!?