School Stuff (1)

I remember when I was only one meter tall and dragged a 4-kg bag with books and notebooks to school. It was the "prehistorical era before the electronics." I used to walk to school for 10 min, alone. Starting from First Grade. But few kids are lucky to live close to school now and fewer parents believe it's safe to let them walk alone to school, anyway. Later on, in Secondary School, kids go in groups to their school, so they even take the train or tram for long distances, something I haven't seen in the US. But imagine all these primary school kids lined up in their proper uniforms to enter classrooms every day. They will study what all kids around the world, or most of them anyway, do. Besides those basic subjects, here in Melbourne they will most likely learn Japanese or Chinese. Yes, this is Australasia! They will learn and practice sports such as cricket, netball, and also boot ball, Danish rounders, bat tennis, and lacrosse. Yes, I haven't heard even the name of some of these sports before, but again, this is Australia, and the links to British culture and sports are obvious. From the very existence of all-girls and all-boys schools to the Commonwealth sports. They will also learn to play the recorder, which looks like a flute to me. I like very much how early exposure to these music instruments, sports and foreign languages shape the minds of little kids. From kindergarten, to prep, Year 1, and so on to Year 6, last one of the primary school.