All I can say is , oh my god, Toni, Nate and I visited a local middle school as guests, and after our visit was taken out for dinner. Remember a meal is a one to two hour event, sometimes longer. It was a great meal, there were about 6 select students, ( the best english speakers) the head teacher and her husband, and my family. After dinner, it was time for some games, So they all started some number games in english, if you missed the number, YES, you had to drink a small glass of beer. This appears to be a normal game that they play.

I guess I have almost done it all now, sitting around a table playing drinking games with 14 year olds, ( who seem to down the beer, better than I did)

Here are some of the photos, and some photos of the inside of the class room

Guess I never thought of this as a way to get students to study.

There are about 60 students to a class room, they go to school from about 7:30 in the morning tilll 6 pm at night. They stay in one class room except for Music and Art. ( and PE) all of the books on the desk are there, because the inside is full of other books.

So they have got the child minding thing sorted then

Chuck, I really think that the US and Canada are the only countries that are really strict about alcohol consumption and age. In Germany the legal drinking age is 14 for soft liquor like beer and wine. By the time these kids are old enough to drive they have the teen drinking thing far behind them. You have to be 18 to drive. Heck, you have to be 18 to get into an arcade, but you can go to a bar at 14, unless they changed the laws since the last time I checked. :)