Soji

Soji ("sow-gee") is one of the best things about the Japanese school system. When I go back to the States, I'm going to push for this! At the end of every day, the all the students clean the school - classrooms, staff room, bathrooms, outside sweeping, etc. FABulous! Of course, I get right out there and do it with them sometimes, to give them an opportunity to practice speaking English (and it always seems to delightfully surprise them when I pop up to help them clean - it impresses them almost as much as when I use chopsticks well). On the last day before Winter Break (which why it's a "break" I can't seem to figure out - since the students are all still here this week, too!) the students had an extended soji, and most were dressed in their PE outfits - ichinensei were red, ninensei blue, sannensei green. They just looked so festive and happy about cleaning, I just had to grab a few shots with them...
Of course not ALL the students are cleaning ALL the time - I always have fun going up to students who are lollygaggin and saying, "Are you working HARD, or HARDly working???" Talk about getting lost in a translation...