Back to School Night

Last night was back to school night at Justin's school. He is in the seventh grade. Here, that is the second of four years in middle school.

The evening is predictable; two hours of each of the teachers coming into the classroom, explaining their program, how the class is doing, etc.

Also predictable was the opening parental outcry against heavy backpacks. Apparently, on Tuesday, one student's backpack weighed 18.2 kilos. Forty pounds. The kids don't have lockers because there's no room for them, and there are no shelves in the classroom to store books on. This discussion lasted a while.

A few general observations:

1. These teachers are passionate about their subject matter and how they teach it.

2. The kids are getting a solid education using up-to-date technology. They probably are doing less on the computer than American kids; essays are still written, not typed. But the teachers are using  interactive white boards and doing cool things like dissecting fish heads from the market. I can't say that at twelve I would have enjoyed this, but I still think it's a good thing.

3. The chairs are really hard and uncomfortable, and there is absolutely nothing on the classroom walls. I guess this is because the kids are not changing classrooms; the teachers are coming to them.  But it does feel stark.

4. The physical education program is way better than what I had in junior high. As I mentioned in a previous post, the kids are sailing now, and will be moving on to ping pong, badminton, swimming, circus skills, and finish with rugby. Circus skills? It's because they have to do something cultural, and the options were circus or dance. They'll be learning to juggle; hopefully no trapeze or lion taming...In any case, way better than the weekly dodge ball games that I was subjected to throughout junior high and high school.

As we were leaving, a few parents were discussing rugby. This is a photo of an insurance ad in today's paper featuring a rugby player after a match (in case that wasn't immediately clear). I can understand the hesitation here. Rugby doesn't come across as a very safe sport for twelve year olds.

Justin's best friend is sporty, but tiny. His mom is hoping that maybe he'll be allowed just to be a goal post or something (are there goal posts in rugby?).