No turkey this year

Yesterday was the Japanese national holiday Labor/Thanksgiving Day. Apparently they stole two American holidays to make one super-holiday. The Japanese are best at "borrowing" ideas from other countries and then improving on them.

So on this super-holiday, I went to a festival at Harima Agricultural High School in Kasai city. While I will openly describe much criticism for the Japanese education system, the agricultural school is one outstanding aspect. It has always been my understanding that the children of farmers in the United States usually go to a regular high school and learn most of what they know about farming from their parents. Throughout Japan there are various agricultural high schools where the students learn about farming, cows, etc., alongside all the normal subjects. Upon graduation they have all the necessary skills to be professional farmers. For some reason they are forced to learn English that they will probably never use. At the festival we were able to see Kabuki, a traditional form of theater in Japan, cows and plants, and buy plants, flowers and food. All in all, it was a good time.

Next week the students have final exams from Wednesday through Friday. That mean I only have two classes during those three days, and I will try to do a major blog update with pictures. For the rest of the month, until winter break starts on the Dec. 23, it's my understanding that the students have half-days and irregular classes. Hopefully it will mean more time for blogging.