Doshisha High School and Middle School

Doshisha High School and Middle School are on the edge of town and are on the same property. All new buildings have been constructed in the past few years and now it is all finished. We have had the opportunity to watch the progression over the 3 years we have come to Kyoto. This week the Principal showed us all around. It includes a new chapel. The students will share facilities for Science, athletics, shop, arts (including practical arts like home-ec), but are separated into H.S. and Middle School for Homeroom and other classes. The Elementary School is nearby. The whole campus is on about 20 acres of land.
The Science building has an observatory. Because the school is on the edge of town the night sky is more visible that in Kyoto proper.
The students begin the school year April 1 and get August off and March off and some days around the New Year plus a few other short holidays.

Most students attend school 6 days a week.

Mr. Kimura is now the Principal for both the Middle School and High School and it was fun to watch him interact with both staff and students. He writes a special birthday postcard to each student on their birthday and delivers it himself while the student is in class. Click on photos for larger view.

Pictures from Doshisha Class

It turns out that one of the students in the Practical Theology class last Wednesday took a few pictures. Mary says I have to post them.

If you missed that post, you can read it by clicking here.

There are a couple more pictures after the jump.

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Teaching

Doshisha University is a large Christian University in Kyoto founded in 1864 (twenty years before the Methodist University of Puget Sound began in Tacoma). I've been building relationships with a couple members of the graduate theological faculty there.

After arriving here, I proposed an informal seminar for students to practice their English discussing topics from their studies and their research. It's a need. These graduate students have been studying English since the first year of junior high school (3 years Jr. Hi. + 3 years Sr. Hi. + 4 years college + grad. school = 10+ years). But they get no opportunity to practice oral English.

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Reading at Doshisha

The cafeteria at Doshisha University is an amazing place to be at lunch time. It is a very inexpensive place to grab a bite and the variety to choose from is overwhelming. I decided to tag along with David today so we ate there before his meeting with a professor.

A view of the school of theology building from "my bench". (We are working on getting rid of the red shadow)

After lunch I sat outside on my favorite bench and watched students and teachers hurry by in all directions to and from classes. I also started reading a book recommended to me by Karen and Gail Jiles. "The Tea House Fire" by Avery Ellis is a great book to read about Kyoto while in Kyoto.

When we left the University we walked across the street and along the walls of the old Imperial Palace. The Palace is in the center of Kyoto and the grounds are about 1/2 mile wide and nearly a mile long. It is a forested, gardened, park like area and feels as though you have stepped out of the city and into the mountains. When festivals are held on the grounds it is extremely crowded - otherwise there are very few people and except for birdsong, very quiet.