School Cleaning

Well, summer vacation is on its way out now. The cicadas are starting to head to that big bug ranch in the sky, and walking in the park is beginning to get crunchy. It doesn't rain anymore, it just hovers in the mid-90s at 90%+ humidity (although my shirt and head look like I'm raining - "Gross!" my youngest squeals).

And one end-of-summer ritual is the annual school-ground cleaning. Japanese schools don't have janitors or grounds staff. During the school-year, students have to put everything away at the end of the day, and clean their own classrooms weekly. But in summer, say hello to your parent 'volunteer'.










At least one parent of every student comes to school, and we pull weeds, clean out storm drains, repaint horizontal bars and tires. The kids go to their classrooms to drop off homework, then join us for 30 minutes or so. Then they go back to their classrooms while we put in another half hour.










Here's my youngest at work...













Now, if only I could him to do the same thing at home!!