girl in bag

Bad weather holidays were the greatest reason for not going to school. Sometimes, though, the severe weather isn’t quite enough to force a closure. The wind isn’t quite strong enough or the rain or snow isn’t dangerous enough. So, if the school says classes are on, you do what you can to get there. A city in Vietnam has “schooled” everyone with the incredible lengths they will go to get students to their classroom.

In 2013, a teacher recorded the fascinating way her students traveled to school during a particularly bad flood that destroyed the bridge used to get there. With the river being too high and the current too fast, the students couldn’t cross by themselves. Some very brave men thought of a different way. Armed with their swimwear and a plastic bag, these men tied each child into the bag and swam across the river.  Not only did the children make it safely to the other side, but there wasn’t a drop of water on them. Parents always tell you not to play with plastic bags because you can suffocate, but these Vietnamese parents are telling their kids “get in the bag, you are going to learn something today!”

starting across the river

girl coming back

girl getting out of bag

The Japanese netizens are duly impressed:

“When it snows even a little in the place I live, we close school.”
“Not only are there a lot of very nice Vietnamese people, but also they are very smart.”
“Their determination is admirable.”
“Clever. The air in the bag makes them more buoyant. It’s easier than carrying them on your back.”

Would you get in the bag to go to school? Or be the dads helping the kids get there?

Source: Majikichi Sokuho
Images: Live Leak
Video: Live Leak