Holidays? Who are you kiddin'?

hol-i-day (hl-d) n.
1. A day free from work that one may spend at leisure, especially a day on which custom or the law dictates a halting of general business activity to commemorate or celebrate a particular event.

So holidays are supposed to be relaxed. While this is true in Australia, France, Germany and assumingly in most other countries, the Japanese seem to have come up with their own meaning of holidays. Most students are in 'clubs' - predominantly in Sport clubs at that - and have practice nearly all day, everyday in the holidays, including the week-end. Nao is one of the minority and does not belonging to a club (he quit Rugby after he came back from Australia). So he, a year 10 student, dedicates his day not to relaxation, hanging out with friends but.. Studying!

They are just so diciplined! I can't imagine any of my classmates back in Australia studying over the holidays, well except Frank (note that names have been changed to traditional German ones in order to obscure the identity of individuals that might not want to be mentioned on this Blog) and a few others. Anyway, getting back on track, it is really amazing to see the Japanese mentality at work. Close up at that.

Japanese don't really have holidays as such. They spend most their time playing baseball or whatever club they are in and if they aren't club-ing they are studying.

Technorati Tags: Holidays, Clubs, Japanese Culture, Living in Japan, school exchange, Japan