5.3
The White Room children aren’t taught many of the rules required to survive in this world.
However, there were a few strict regulations.
This didn’t change even in the latter half of our fifth year.
7:00 AM.
“It’s time to get up.”
The timer rang without a second's delay, accompanied by an uncaring voice announcing the time, and the children in the small room began to wake up.
Before we rose from our beds, a staff member would come into the room and remove the electrodes attached to our bodies.
Then he’d get up and immediately check our health.
The busy, mundane daily routine unfolded in front of us.
After checking for any changes in height, weight, etc., we would go to the bathroom to urinate.
Urine samples were taken once a month, and a small amount of blood would be drawn at the same time.
After the examination, the staff members leave the building without exchanging greetings.
We were then rehydrated and warmed up with 30 minutes of basic training.
After keeping daily physical records such as grip strength measurements, everyone would step into the training room at the same time and complete the quota assigned to each gender. There was no option as to what would happen if the quota wasn’t achieved.
The quotas were to be met by everyone because it was a given that everyone would meet their quotas.
Those who fail to do so won’t be allowed to set foot in this room from tomorrow onwards.
By the time these steps were fulfilled, it would be 8:00 AM.
At the time, breakfast was more nutritionally oriented and more efficient than it was in my earlier childhood, with supplements and blocked nutrition.
To eat well or not to eat well.
Whether I liked it or not.
It was as irrelevant as ever.
Eat the food in the order in which it was served.
That was all there was to it.
After the meal, the day's curriculum would begin.
The fields of study were diverse, ranging from Japanese and mathematics to economics and political science. The day's curriculum was repeated until noon, with small breaks in between.
Lunch was the same as breakfast, and the curriculum resumed in the afternoon.
After sitting at our desks studying until 5:00 PM, the physical training began.
It all ended at 7:00 PM.
During this time, we don’t speak a single word of our own accord.
After dinner, bathing, and physical examinations, it would be 9:00 PM.
This would be the first time we held what’s called a “meeting,” a time for conversing to review the day.
The children were alone in a small space with no teachers present.
But they weren’t free to talk about any topic.
How did you feel and how did you cope with today's studies?
This was a time for the students to organize and examine their feelings and responses to the day's studies.
Adults didn’t get involved unless they recognized that it was an unnecessary private conversation.
Even silence was allowed, regardless of profit or loss, as long as the rules were followed.
The set time was only 30 minutes, but I always merely listened to what was being said and had never felt like actively talking. Even though children were allowed to talk among themselves, their conversations were overheard by the adults.
Even this dialogue was part of the curriculum.
However, no special quota was given.
At the same time, it may be a measure to draw out the children’s true feelings.
If we set a quota, it would naturally turn into a dialogue for that purpose.
At 9:30 p.m., we would all be sent back to our rooms.
We were required to go to the bathroom and lie down in bed by 10:00 p.m.
Electrodes were attached and the lights would go out.
Medical checkups were always required.
Every day, 365 days a year, there was always time to check on the day's progress.
This was the end of the day.
From waking up to going to bed, this was the educational policy.
Our schedule was set down to the minute.
A day in the White Room.
A world that never changes each year.
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