Education Reflection

Today, we visited another junior high school to help with the city's speech contest. We are helping the contestants with grammar and pronunciation. In some cases, because of the entry limit, we have to decide on the best speeches from that school and eliminate some students (this is tough for me to do, because I don't want anyone to be so discouraged that they stop studying or speaking English).
So far, I have enjoyed both the students and staff from the schools that we have visited. They are a very energetic bunch.
As we were getting our bikes from the school today, there were a couple of teachers with their students outside practicing English. I assumed it was a club because there are no formal classes until next month. One of the boys began speaking to us in clear, unaccented English. I was impressed. He was very talkative and was especially interested in the two of us who were from America (sorry England and Australia). I noticed that he had difficulty responding to Japanese though (he is native Japanese). Also, another boy talked a little to us. He was shy and looked very tired. His English was also perfect. The other students didn't really talk to us other than a "hello", "nice to meet you", or "bye-bye".
After we left, our veteran ALT informed us that this was the special needs class. I was completely shocked! I was shocked for several reasons. The first being that the two boys had flawless English (the first boy was probably autistic). The second, was that they were meeting during the summer. But the third reason, was that, as I reflected on our education system and Japan's education system, I wondered if America would even bother trying to teach its students another language that may or may not be helpful to the individual later in life. Or for that matter, taking the time and patience to teach a useful skill.
I was humbled in those few moments. Today I encountered a student who thinks that everything American is great, yet I wondered if his view would be completely different if he were a student in the US.
If we can't change our education system all at once, we should definitely try to make a difference in our communities. It is important to reach out and take care of those around us.
In Asia, everything is group oriented. It is something they are taught from birth. Everything is about bringing harmony to the group and doing what is best for the group. Basically, they take care of each other and put others first. This is so different from what is ingrained in Americans. We are taught to be superstars, over-achievers, etc...
I realize that I came to Japan to teach, but I have a feeling I will learn far more from Japan than I can ever give back.