Do they have fire drills in Japanese schools?

Why, yes, yes they do! Let me tell you about it!

First, an alarm sounds, similar to the fire alarms in the US, but it does not sound during the entire evacuation. After the alarm sounds, the Vice Principal goes on the loud speaker and announces something about the drill (in Japanese, so, clearly, I could not understand)

Next, the kyoto-sensei comes into the teachers' room and says, "Come on, Elissa-sensei!" Then he runs (yes, runs) outside to the field with the asthmatic ALT running behind him. BUT WAIT, it gets better. In the school, to properly simulate a fire, they had firemen there blowing fake smoke into the hallways for students to run through. So, the asthmatic ALT runs behind the kyoto-sensei, chokes on the fake smoke, and finally makes it outside, coughing all the way.

NEXT, all the students come pouring out of the building and run across the field. Their homeroom teachers quickly go through and count and then go to the kyoto-sensei and report attendance. I should mention that when they report attendance, they shout to the kyoto-sensei, even though they are standing right in front of him, and then he shouts back an acknowledgement.

NEXT, the firemen come and set up a little demonstration. They have the student leaders (6 students) and 3 teachers come forward and use fire extinguishers. The extinguishers were filled with water, though, and the demonstration was to put out the oh-so-terrifying traffic cone that was the pretend fire. It was interesting, however, because I have never actually used a fire extinguisher. I just assume that if the time came, I would know how.

Finally, the kocho-sensei gave a speech about the importance of the fire drill. Sometimes there are earthquakes and they cause fires, so it is important to pay attention and know what to do, just in case an earthquake hits.

So that was how my day ended today.

One other thing I wanted to share: for lunch, we had pregnant tempura fish. Yes, they took whole fish that were pregnant and deep fried them. Silly me, I looked and thought it was shrimp tempura, so I bite right into it, and then these things that look like eggs are inside, and as I am chewing, I realized that it was not, in fact, shrimp. The JTE I was eating with saw my face, and said, "Oh you just ate the head! It's a pregnant fish! You do not have to eat it!" I dutifully swallowed what I had in my mouth, but I did not eat more. Normally I would have forced myself to eat it, but this was too much. So lesson learned: Always ask what it is before eating, not after taking the first bite!