Most homes don't have ovens (aside from small toaster ovens) so I don't think baking is that big of a deal. How extensive were your cooking classes? I had maybe two weeks of "cooking" lessons in middle school, but I didn't really learn how to properly cook or plan a meal.

Yeah, the forced socialization is both great and problematic. Great because it gives kids vital skills for dealing with people, even people they'd rather not associate with. Everyone is responsible for the behavior of their group mates, so one troublesome kid can bring everyone down. But the group will self-moderate behavior so those kids will usually bow to social pressure eventually. But bullying is a much bigger problem when the power of "the group" is stronger. I think Japanese schools probably suffer more from bullying than US schools, although it's a universal problem.