Summer

Thank God for the air-conditioning. Summer nearly does me in every year. You can feel it. Chocolate melts in your bag before reaching your mouth. The shirt simply sticks to your skin with sweat, and the temperature is unforgiving.

It's no accident that schools break at the summer time. This idea of summer break is not new, but certainly not to be taken for granted. For those of you interested in the history of education, children in the old days attended school year-round, with as many as 48 weeks of study a year. It wasn't until the 1840s (when educational reformers decided that overstimulating young minds could lead to nervous breakdown or insanity) did summer vacation come into existence.

This is just the beginning of the story, not the end. Everything changes. These days, we want our kids to rest less, not more. If you don't believe me, read those bitter laments about short school calendar in the United States (with an average of 180 days) when compared with 243 days a year in Japan. Go and ask the kids here how packed their summer class timetables are. Mind you, it's hot, and don't faint when you hear their answers.