Pep Assembly…Minus the Pep

Today we had a “pep assembly” after school. However, it was the most boring, un-peppy assembly I’ve ever seen! How do Japanese people start pep assemblies? By having the kids put their heads down in silence! FUN! After that, all of the kids who are in bukatsu wore their uniforms and walked in to “applause”…i.e. the teachers clapping half-assed while everyone else slowly died from the heat of the gym (it was literally 40 degrees or more in there). After going through the usual necessities (bow, “we’d like to start this assembly, please,” bow, sing the school song, bow), the captain of each team said something along the lines of, “We’ll be sure to win. Thank you for your support.” Then we “clapped” them out and that was it. WOOOOOOOOOO, I need some medicine ‘cause I have SCHOOL SPIRIT FEVER from that assembly!