Working Hard

One day last week, I walked home in the company of some of my 3-nen-sei. They were on their way to juku—commonly called ‘cram school’ in English. We talked about their schedules for the day and their usual schedule. One girl goes to juku every day (including weekends) from 5 pm till 9 pm. The other only goes six days per week but is there 5 pm-11pm. This is above and beyond the homework that their teachers at school assign.

They asked me about what I do after school. Not wanting to appear horribly lazy, I impressed upon them the exciting tasks of adult life—grocery shopping, cooking dinner, doing laundry… They said it sounded like I was very busy….if only they knew….

I think those kids spend more time on their studies at 15 years old than I did when I was in college. I’m glad I’m not a Japanese junior high schooler. And it doesn't get any easier when they get older.