L'éducation japonaise: toyu et natto

Bonjour,

Today I will discuss toyu and natto. Toyu is kerosene. Natto is food. Toyu is used in portable heaters to heat most buildings (it seems). When it is burned it creates carbon monoxide and thus a window should be kept open in order for the gas not to harm the people in the room. This, however, does not seem to be part of the Japanese education because no one in my school knows it. That is not entirely true. The kindergarten has moved almost entirely past the use of the machines in exchange for ground-floor heating which is really nice. They only use the toyu heaters in the huge rooms where there'll always be plenty of air. But in elementary and middle schools here the toyu heaters burn all day and no windows are opened, except maybe the doors to the hallways for ten minutes of every hour (possibly but not probably) when teachers are in transition between classrooms. It gets pretty hot in those rooms despite the poor insulation. So maybe it's all good and fine.

Natto is the opposite of toyu in most ways, although it can also keep you warm by giving you energy. It is a certain kind of carefully fermented soy beans (they are fermented using a special enzyme that is kinda like acidophilus, I think it may be called nattocilus). They taste like a delicate, yet sophisticated mixture of cheese and coffee (I don't know why the French have not pounced on eet yet (or the English?), for they would looove it after first getting used to it). It is a bit sticky and slimy and is good for digesting, brain functions, preventing obesity, and it's a really good source of protein. Basically, if this stuff was all humans ate then they'd be superhumans. It's good. Really good.

This was your Japanese education for today

p.s. today I was honored by the Ubuyama kindergarten by being asked to pose with every single class of students in the school. I was the only teacher with this fantastic honor and I do not believe that I will ever accomplish a greater feat. Thus I would like to induct myself into my own hall of fame where I will stand indefinately. Peculiarly all of the very young students had very formal uniforms for this picture day and the oldest grade even had graduation scrolls. It was a very serious version of kindergarten education. Usually it's just a bunch of kids throwing things around, sticking their fingers in places they shouldn't be, having snot running down their nostrils, eating, asking to be picked up, and running around bumping heads and knocking each other over. It was a peculiar and proud site. Even the one-year-olds were capable of standing still, in place, for the photographer.