On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 17:34:28 +0900, Scott Reynolds <sar@gol.com>
wrote:

>On 11/25/2003 9:55 AM, Raj Feridun wrote:
>
>> My wife is the one that really wants to go back to the USA at the
>> moment. We do both agree that the educational system there is alot
>> better for the children. I'm not the biggest fan of the Japanese
>> school system for whom I often work. 
>
>It's interesting you should say that. My wife and I have been quite 
>pleasantly surprised with the schools our son has attended here in 
>Tokyo. In particular, elementary school turned out to be a lot more 
>relaxed than I had expected. Of course now our son is now in the third 
>year of jr. high and going through the whole juken (or preparation for 
>juken) thing, and I'll admit that it seems to be no fun at all -- kind 
>of like the stereotypes we've all read about. But elementary school was 
>a joy. Interestingly enough, our son was under more pressure to conform 
>at the expensive private school he attended from age 3 through 8 in 
>Chicago than he has been since we moved back to Tokyo. And there were 
>discipline issues as well. In Chicago we were constantly being called in 
>to talk to the counselor or his teachers about something or other. But 
>since we moved back here we've had nothing but glowing reports from the 
>teachers.

I guess it's just the whole STUDY STUDY STUDY attitude of the whole
society I don't much care for. I had a U.S. public school education
and in comparison to what my kids are experiencing it was one big long
summer vacation. Still, my kids are in a good school here and THEY
seem to enjoy it.

>So you might say that I've gone from being rather doubtful about the 
>public school system in Japan to being a firm believer. We'll have to 
>see what high school is like, though.

Yeah, that and junior high school are my primaries as well. I'm happy
to hear that your son is having such a good junior high school
experience. 

>My wife likes the US well enough. She had lived there about 3 years 
>before we got married and we were in Chicago another 6 years or so. 
>Still, she doesn't seem very hot on the idea of a permanent move. That 
>plus my job situation plus our son's education are likely to keep us 
>here for the foreseeable future. But I'm not complaining, really. After 
>all, we can always visit the US, and going there on vacation means we 
>can enjoy ourselves the whole time we are there.

This is certainly true. I'm embarassed to say that I have not been
back to the states since March, 2000. I just hate the long trip back
to the east coast. If not for that I'd go twice a year (if I could
afford it).