Another Disaster Drill

My school, like other schools in Japan does regular drills to practice for natural disasters. This time it was for a tsunami.  I was warned about the event in advance but only because I asked about other schedule changes after it was assumed that I would dress up like Santa earlier in the week (that is another issue for another time.) So Friday came and things were a little strange, the schedules were all 15 minutes early so we could fit in the drill, but the kids didn't understand what was happening.  

Getting them to eat early and nap early was a bit of a struggle. As the event approached I asked what my role was supposed to be. Having finished my lesson early to accommodate the drill, I was not in charge of children at the time, and didn't know where I would be helpful. Everyone was as clueless as me. We got the alarms on our phones which was a melodic charm that you could hear from bags and pockets across the office. I headed downstairs where I knew there were about to be a bunch of unhappy children being woken form naps and rushed to the highest point in the school. 

I decided I would be most helpful carrying immobile babies. I thought this way I could follow others and still be somewhat useful. I watched as children were rustled from sleep and told to put “disaster hoods” on. They lined up and walked up the two flights of stairs to the highest part of the building. There we all sat. Roll was called and everyone was accounted for. We did a staff count and I surprised everyone by saying the correct number in Japanese as it was my turn. “Oh, Heza-sensei, good Japanese”. Overall the drill was successful the children were warned they would die if they didn't follow the rules. I even managed to keep the baby I was holding from crying. 

Obviously this is not what Japanese children look like but to keep their privacy I have added appropriate faces.