Explanation:
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I should refrain from mentioning the name of the high school that I went to, for I would be honest about my descriptions.
My high school was new. When I was enrolled in the school, there were no seniors. There were only second-year students above us, which made me happy.
In Japan, you are supposed to use carefully chosen words when you talk to older people. This is true when the age difference is even one. You cannot say, "Do you want water?" You are supposed to say, "Would this water suit your taste?" This is stipulated in Japanese grammar, which I found objectionable. Why did I have to talk to people of your age as if they are better than you?
There were 200 first-year students. I was the 11th top among them according to the performance in the entrance examinations. The high school ranked all 200 of them in four classes: the top 50 in Class A, the next 50 into Class B, the next 50 into Class C, and the bottom 50 into Class D. I was in Class A.
The goal of the principal was obviously to establish the reputation of an academically outstanding high school. In the second year, the school classified all students by their academic performance. I was in Class D, which meant I was among the bottom 50 students. Many students did not like the idea of being laid down from top to bottom. The high school had never established a high academic reputation.
