Say チーズ!

So today was school picture day. I found out when I got to school and noticed everyone wearing suits. Surprise! My new supervisor hurried over to tell me about it as soon as I sat down at my desk. Very helpful. She assured me that I looked fine, perfect in fact. I didn’t believe her but there wasn’t much to be done about it since the staff photo was scheduled for 8:30am. It’s not that I looked unprofessional or anything, (I was wearing my brown pants, green sweater, tan corduroy blazer combo that I’m sure many of you have seen a million times) it’s just that everyone else was much dressier than I was. If I had known, I would have worn a suit, too. I was pretty upset about it, especially as I had asked if there was anything going on today that I needed to be aware of. My supervisor had shown me the schedule yesterday and said there wasn’t anything that affected me. The staff photo wasn’t listed so maybe it had been communicated at the teachers’ meeting they had in the afternoon. They were still in the meeting when I left for the day, but it’s not like they don’t have my phone number. I stick out enough here already; I don’t need to be seen as the foreigner who doesn’t know how to dress appropriately for a formal group photo.

I felt a bit better when we got to the gym and I noticed a PE teacher still in his athletic wear and the woman in charge of school lunch wearing her apron. I wanted to hover off to the side to try and be less noticeable but somehow got pushed right smack dab in the middle of the photo, directly behind Kocho-sensei and Kyoto-sensei, who were seated in the first row. Oh well, maybe the photo will be black and white and it will kind of look like I’m wearing a suit.

At least I’ll look better than the last time I had an official photo taken in a middle school, although my bangs were pretty cool thanks to my cousin, Heather!