Day 18

6-30-08

Japanese schools don't have janitors. Instead, they have soji, a ten-minute period at the end of the (already ridiculously long) school day when all the students are supposed to clean their classrooms, the hallways, the bathrooms etc. Today we had an extra ten minutes because it was the end of the month and apparently that is when all the hardcore cleaning happens. There's students doing everything from sweeping to straightening desks to scrubbing the floor with washcloths. I went with my host sister and her friends to clean the tiny excuse for a room that radio club is held. (At least, I assume that's what the club is. Noriko just kept saying "announce club," which, to be honest, I was slightly unsure of the meaning of). We took out the trash. That was it. Twenty minutes of cleaning time and all we did was take out the trash. Most everyone else seemed about as productive as we were, and yet, somehow, the school mysteriously managed to get sparkly clean. The windows were rid of the grime covering them, and the dust was swept out of those forgotten spots that are always missed. (And because of the extra time, all of my classes after lunch were five minutes shorter. Sweet deal).

I found that it's a good system, this whole soji thing. The school doesn't have to pay for janitors, the classrooms stays clean, and the students get ten minutes of glorified social time to chat with their friends. Sorta makes me wish we had it at my school.