field trip

I showed up at school one day last week to discover that my students didn't have any classes because it was a "work experience day." They were all spending the day at different local businesses to learn what it is like to work in the real world. Since this meant I had nothing to do all day, one of my teachers said I should go with her as she supervised one of the groups. I asked her where she was going and she said the water facility. I was a little confused, so she pulled out her translator and typed a few things in and then showed me the display ... sewage treatment plant. Yep. I spent the day touring and listening to lectures about the operations at the plant -- of course, everything was in Japanese so I had no idea what they were saying or what was going on. I do know that it smelled.