It seems regular enough for pre-teens and teens to hate learning, or at least not thoroughly enjoy it. A mass of Whyvillians go to school five days a week, Monday through Friday, and their school days range from 8 o'clock in the morning till 4 o'clock in the afternoon. We can all admit looking at the clock to wait for the time for the last bell to ring, I'm sure.

These days to us seem long, but what if you were in a country where you had to go six days a week and after school attend something called Juko? This would be regular for you if you were living in Japan.

You would have to wear a uniform consisting of a pure white, undecorated, collared shirt with a navy blue skirt and blazer -- all the time. In Japan, teachers are required to visit their students' houses at least once a year each. It is not irregular to have 40 to 50 students in each homeroom.

Students stay in the homeroom the whole day and the teachers rotate. You do not ask questions when the teachers are talking. If you have a question, you write it down and then talk to the teacher after class. Instead of having janitors, you pick up after yourself at the end of the day. You go to class for 240 days a year -- that's 60 more days than most people in my area attend.

When you get to junior high it's worse. You have to take an exam much like the exams that most of us take, except one thing: these exams put you into your high school. To get into a good high school means you have a much better chance of getting into a good college.

So, to do well on your exams, you will take juku. Juku should last two to three hours long. And oh yeah, it's not unusual for you to have 5 hours of homework every night. I guess you're going to have to pull an all-nighter this time!

If I lived in Japan, I wouldn't get home until about 4:30, so I wouldn't be done with schoolwork until about 12:30. Dating is strongly discouraged in Japan, so most kids do not date until after high school. By the time Japanese students are done with high school, they will have gone four more years in college before they graduate.

So if you were the dean of admissions at a college, who are you going to take in to your college? A Japanese student who has worked this hard, or someone from the USA or Canada? Think about that one.

Whether or not this is a good thing I will let you decide. But next time you complain about going to school, just be glad you don't go 240 days 'round.

Editor's Note: Hm... should you be glad? Depends on what makes you happy... what you have right now, or what you'll have when you've grown up. What kind of salary do you want then? ;-)