Back to school

Today all of boys went back to school, two in India and two in Japan. Daniel begins studies for A Levels; Matthew begins studies for GCSEs; Calum continues in Grade 4 and Alistair in Grade 1 at our local elementary school. While the older two could enjoy an 8 week holiday, the younger two had a Japanese-style holiday of 3 and a half weeks! And even then there was work to be done during the holidays. Each boy came home at the end of term with a sheaf of papers - homework sheets for Japanese and maths; Alistair had to do a couple of drawings of things he did during the holiday with a sentence or two about them; Calum had to interview dad about his school days; there was a chart to be filled in each day saying what they had done. And they also each had to make something to take back to school and show to their classmates at the beginning of term. Some of the creations by some of the kids are really amazing. This year Calum produced a firing cannon made largely of disposable chopsticks; Alistair created a spider and butterfly out of wax doodles (a timely birthday present from the UK). They managed to get everything done (just!) and went back to school today laden with bags of stuff! Alistair also had to look after a morning glory which all of the 1st Grade students had planted earlier in the year. That is now so big it is left for Mum and Dad to take back at some point this week. The kids were eased back in gently this morning - an opening ceremony and a half day. But from now till Christmas Eve there is no break apart from a few public holidays here and there. It will be a long term.

On the road (and in the air)

This week David, Daniel and Matthew have found themselves at Agonda Beach in south Goa on the west coast of India. It's a gem of a place, just a very quiet town with a few guest houses, beach huts and restaurants with a wonderful beach and sea. Local traffic consists of scooters, cows and wild pigs. Week one of the half-term break is always busy but week two gives the chance for the boys to unwind, have fun and enjoy some different food (as well as quite a few treats!) We are staying in a very simple guest home just a minute's walk from the beach run by a Catholic family - there is quite a Catholic heritage in this part of India. For Daniel it is not all play as he has to do some study for GCSE exams which are coming up fast. It's always good to have these days together and this time we are with two other families (one Swedish and one Australian) working respectively in Bangladesh and Calcutta, so we have rich times of fellowship and conversation over the leisurely evening meal. Tomorrow however the journey home begins with an overnight bus journey back to Ooty. After a couple of days there, David has the joy of two consecutive overnight flights to look forward to, with a day in Singapore in between. Our lifestyle is certainly unusual, but never lacking in different experiences.

When is a holiday not a holiday?

In the north of Japan, summer holidays for school children are short - just 3 1/2 weeks. Most of their parents will only be able to take a couple of days of that, maybe to go camping for a night. So what do children do? One of the answers is work! Calum has come home with about 20 sheets each of maths and Japanese, with a note from the teacher explaining that children are expected to do 30 minutes a day revising this term's work. They also had to choose something to study, a sport and some way to help at home, and have a chart which they fill in each day saying whether they managed these things, as well as a note to write of what they did each day. On top of that each child is expected to produce some sort of craft which should take about 3 days to make. Calum's football and swimming also continue pretty much as usual. In churches, Sunday schools will continue through the holidays, with most children being there most of the time. We have the saying 'All work and no play'. So often that can be the reality for people here. And perhaps that is why many Japanese are drawn to Jesus through his own words - 'Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest'.