Swine flu touches our lives

H1N1 (as Swine flu is being called here) is making its presence felt here in Western Tokyo. With two cases diagnosed yesterday, there is serious concern that an outbreak will cause schools in our area to be forced shut by the government in the next week or two. Not because the flu is severe, but because it seems to be easily caught and therefore easily can turn into an epidemic. It has touched home for us, because the school, where my husband teaches and our eldest son attends, is shutting early. They've decided to take things into their own hands as they are at the important end of the school year. With only two weeks left at school (for the students), many important events are planned, including having good closure and final celebrations. So they're doing a 'controlled' finish. Selecting the most important and leaving the lesser. Hopefully allowing everyone to finish well and not dangling. Suddenly the students have only three days left at school. A bit of a shock. I'll have all three children home for more days...We're unsure yet, but surely this will lessen the load for my husband in these last days before we go back to Australia. Potentially a good thing as we're about to be very busy and go through a stressful transition. Our son was initially sad because he'll miss having his birthday at school next Friday. Perhaps we'll be able to lessen that loss by inviting some friends over. He did eventually come to the conclusion that having a holiday for his birthday might not be a bad thing after all. It hasn't escaped our attention that a very good way for the flu to spread will be via crowded trains. I say, shut down the trains, not the schools!!