The school year in Japan runs from April to March. One of my students explained that plum blossoms bloom around the time of graduation (early March) or the ending ceremony (late March) and the cherry blossoms start to bloom just after the new school year begins (early April). Granted, this is the Tokyo Standard Symbolism, so since our region's winters are a little longer, the blossoms are about a week late.
Spring break for the students is the two weeks after the old school year and before the new one. High school graduates have about a month total from when they find out they got into college to when they have to be in their first college class. Needless to say, the sales at IKEA-esque home shops are fantastic in the spring. A month may sound shocking to those of us used to a three month summer break before college, but that month is positively luxurious compared to the time period teachers have.
Every few years, teachers in Japan get transfered. The standard is three to five years at a given school, but if it's a good fit, the Board of Education might let you stay for as long as twelve. New teachers especially get transfered often, as they (probably) don't have families that would be uprooted. Transfers can be across the prefecture. In the case of my prefecture, someone working in a city in the far south could be transferred to a very isolated rural town on the tip of a peninsula a five hour drive away. They would know on--for example--March 23rd and be expected to be settled in and ready to work on April 2nd.
For Japanese teachers, the world flat out ends the last week of March and restarts the first week of April. There is no bridge between them, even at the same school. Need a computer fixed? Wait until the world is reborn next week. Who will you be teaching with? No idea. When will the welcome party be? No one knows. Who's your supervisor now? Get back to us on April 2nd and don't get into trouble.
During this time, all events and meetings and schedule changes happen on incredibly short notice, often while ALTs are on vacation. When we all meet up again to see the cherry blossoms, everyone talks about what their new teachers are like and shares stories of how their schools seem to have burst into flames and been reborn into amnesia-stricken phoenixes. It's weird, feeling like the only holdover...at least until July, when new ALTs land.
Very few of the people I teach with got transferred this year, but we have a new principal and vice principals. We'll see how this next year goes. In the meantime, it's off to Hakodate for me.
