Waseda High

Went down to Waseda High today for their cultural day. Not too sure if it’s called their cultural day or open house or what, but it was an eye opening experience for me into their education and life studying in Singapore.

Before we could enter the school compound, we had our temperature taken and were given flu masks. An emphasis on health! I haven’t have a chance to look through the book and quote little excepts from it since my copy is still with MavericK.

The first thing you see entering the compound is this huge lovely banner and an oversized origami crane which could possibly transport me even if it could fly. I was using my 50mm prime so I did not get any full sized shots of the crane.

We skipped the first level and headed straight to the second since the first level were makeshift cafes selling food, and as with any food place in Singapore, it was busy and packed with people.

Most of the things where were showcased were in the students’ class rooms. One of the first ones which we entered was a classroom featuring the Tanabata occasion. The first time I heard about it from watching Haruhi and the bamboo plant in the anime is totally different from real life. This one has a slight tinge of pandan smell.

This was the little helper student who would help you tie your wish to the tree.

On the second floor you could get a closer view of the huge poster. It’s made of pieces of torn colored paper and it really is very nice. Would love to do something like this in the near future!

The Japanese people place a lot of emphasis and health and hygiene. There were alcohol hand sanitizers located everywhere. Outside the loo, near every stairs, in the cafe. Maybe their good hygiene is one of their secrets to longevity?

Did not stay on the 2nd level for long since it was packed like a can of sardines as it was the games level. There were all sorts of games and you can see these bunch of people queuing up to enter the “Haunted House”

There were a bunch of game promoters. This lady was promoting their Pokemon game which I have no idea what it was about. They certainly were screaming at the top of their voices though! My eardrums were almost shattered when I walked past them!

Origami is a Japanese art form and they have origami cranes places on all parts of the school. I ever learned how to fold one. Do you?

The cultural room on the 3rd level was one which I was pretty interested in. Showcased were traditional games like 5-stones, Marbles, Top and lots of other stuff which have names that I don’t know.

Mini Drums included.

They had a note area which you could write stuff on little paper like this on what you would like to wish for. Something like the Tanabata but a little different I think. I am not too sure myself. This was what I drew.

The best part was they had a residential kitty which was trying to gain entrance into the cafe area.

Kids love Kitties!

There was definitely more than these few pictures to the whole festival. Due to time constraints and being much shorter than the crowd, coupled with the fact that my kit lens was on this guy’s camera body so my shots were limited, I couldn’t take as much pictures and types of pictures I would have wanted. Either which, looking at the pictures and reports of their school’s events, I realised that the Singapore school system is so different from theirs. I could go all day talking about it, but it makes the local schooling system feel so rigid and stifling.

Thoroughly enjoyed the short time I spent at Waseda. Hope to come back next year and try out the games!