overworked

**tired staff costing japan $30bn**
a survey suggests tired workers are now costing the japanese economy $30bn a year in lost productivity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/business/5063670.stm

having worked in japan for a year, this article is not at all surprising. . . although i have to disagree with the guy who said it’s a “global problem”. . . i know that work hours have become ridiculous in many parts of the world, but i swear it’s not the same as japan. . . especially at a young age. . .

most recently, my junior high students have been falling asleep in class. . . not just drowsy, daydream sleeps but really deep sleeps. . . it’s really frustrating. . . when i first came to japan, i would get kind of angry. . . after working so hard to make these materials or plan this lesson, the students are just going to ignore us? and why don’t the teachers do something about it? . . . but after a year, you begin to see just what is expected of the students . . .and begin to feel sorry for them instead. . .

many of my students start their day around 5:30 or 6:00a.m. . . . some ride their bikes over 10km from their houses in the mountains to school. . . others take public transportation transferring from bus to train to bicycle. . . others are lucky enough to live in town . . . and a few (very few) are lucky enough to have parents who drive them to school. . . (this one rather chubby boy in the junior high school always conveniently ‘forgets’ his bicycle. . . don’t know how anyone can forget a bicycle, but that’s how it was described to me. . . so he calls his dad to pick him up every day. . .pretty funny kid). . .

anyway, at certain times of the year (late spring through fall), the sports clubs meet for practice at 7:00a.m. . . .classes start at 8:25 and run until 3:00 or 4:00. . . classes are sometimes followed by committee meetings (e.g. library, student council). . . or they may be followed by practice for extra-curricular activities outside of club (e.g. swim team, track and field, undokai/ sports day, kanji or english proficiency tests). . . finally, following all of this, the students attend their real clubs (english, art, soccer, volleyball, kendo, etc.). . . at the latest, i believe the students are supposed to leave school around 7:00or 7:30. . .

while that concludes the daily life of a junior high school student at school, their days are far from over . . . what do they do after school? some of my students take piano lessons. . . everyone has their school homework. . . and finally, most of them attend juku (cram schools). . . some begin attending in elementary school, and almost all students attend by their third year of junior high because they have to prepare for their high school entrance exams . . . at juku they study all of their main subjects (again) in smaller groups or private lessons (with teachers outside of the school system). . . correct me if i’m wrong since i’ve never actually attended a juku class. . .when i was asking about my students' plans for christmas day last year, one girl replied, ‘i have to go to juku. . . all day’. . . granted christmas is not a widely celebrated holiday in japan. . . but it was even on a weekend last year. . .

which reminds me, the students also have to attend club activities on saturday and sunday (every weekend, all year). . . as well as all through the summer. . .

so. . .what would you do in a classroom with a schedule like that (not to mention the whole no air conditioner issue with temperatures around 30degrees celsius). . . i would most definitely sleep. . . or drink tons of caffeine (which is not permitted at school anyway). . .

on top of all that, there are perfectionists or overachievers. . . one day at sports day practice i noticed a huge red, cross shaped scab down one girl’s forearm. . . when i asked her what happened, she seemed surprised and said, ‘you’ve never seen it before? we do it when we have stress’. . . she had scratched it into her own arm. . . i am no longer surprised to see junior high students developing grey hair. . . or hear stories about high school students whose hair is falling out. . . it’s so sad. . .

finally, here is a poem one of my english club girls wrote the other day. . .

study
let's start
sleep, sleep, sleep
it's already morning
cry

by kanako


to end on a happy note, here is a poem by another girl . . .

cows
clear eyes
catching, roasting, eating
how poor they are
delicious

by natsumi