Since the first time I came here for the first time five years ago,there have been quite a few things that have surprised me about Japan. This includes the sheer amount of people, the mayonnaise on everything, and the fact that the trains run on time. Working as an ALT, however, I`ve found the freedom and responsibility that the students seem to have here to be pretty impressive.
In most American public schools there are no uniforms and the idea of cleaning up the school every day would be considered a bit odd. However, from what I`ve seen it does seem that the students here have a lot more freedom to be children than middle schoolers in the States.

私は５年前日本に初めてきてから、私を驚かせた出来事が少しあります。人口も多いし、何にでもマヨネーズをかけるし、電車やバスが時間通りであることにもびっくりしましたが、ALTとして働いていて、橋本の中学校の生徒が持っている自由と責任も印象的です。
アメリカにある公立学校の大部分の生徒が制服を着ていなくて、日本の生徒が毎日する学校の掃除ももちろんしません。しかし、自分が体験したこちらの学生のほうが子供であり、より自由であるように感じられます。