I remember when there were Home Ec based classes. I think we may have been one of the last classes to get a class with a cooking component (mostly baking). Most schools in the northeast have done away with that. As for having students clean up their classrooms and what not, I could imagine that doing wonders for American students. Though, I can see how a cleaning roster might make a certain room dirtier on certain days (when someone being bullied / disliked by the collective was scheduled to clean it). Even so, I think it would help create a sense of responsibility that is lacking in both our schools (especially at lower levels) and in our culture in general. We're starting to create little monsters who believe that they are entitled to everything, that everything is going to be spoon fed to them in the real world because that's how it works in school. There is very little set in place to teach them real life skills, responsibility, what have you. So I agree that, when it comes to instilling certain values and the need to work hard in students, Japanese schools have us beat.

I'm also seconding the need for a crash course on filing taxes.

On a side note, Ferra, what sort of degree do you hold? I had considered doing some teaching abroad but, with just a BA in English, Japan didn't seem like a viable option, unless I went through the JET program (not that that that would be a problem, but I found out about it after the deadline). In general, they seem to have higher standards for foreign teachers than Korea or China, for example (I've noticed that the requirements for teaching in those countries is much less restrictive).