TGIF. Had a helluva week this week. Yesterday and today we had citywide school observations and presentations to thousands of visitors, mostly teachers from other prefectures and from within the local board of education. It was quite a monumental affair, as they'd been planning for this event all year long. I had a couple of observed English classes which went pretty well. I think there was more pressure on the kids than on myself as they had to do most of the work in class. They did a good job though, which made myself, my co-teachers and my school look good, at least as far as English education goes anyway.
The most grueling part of the two day event was the lecture and panel discussion series all teachers had to sit through. Between both days, I had to sit through a whopping 7 hours of lectures in unheated gymnasiums. Absolutely senseless. We were freezing our butts off, and most of the audience was asleep at least through half of the lectures. At least the first big presentation I sat through yesterday involved a panel discussion about English education, which was of some relevance and interest, and although it was entirely in Japanese. I stayed awake and tried to follow as much as I could. But today, i had to attend another school's big presentation about math education. It made no sense why I had to be there, and I didn't understand a damn thing they were talking about, so I made an effort to sleep as much of the boring, freezing 3.5 hours away as I could. Even Yamada-sensei, who was sitting next to me, nodded off a good 2 hours worth. Afterwards he asked me was he snoring.
Not to mention my elementary and junior high schools had a joint drinking party last night. Schoolteachers getting drunk on the Thursday night when they have to be up early for work the next day doesn't make much sense, but hey, it's a Japanese thing--you wouldn't understand. And I still don't. Anyway, I went only because it was a special occasion, and it was the first time my 2 schools had a joint party--which was roughly 50 people. I already knew going in I wasn't going to get the 5,000 yen's (about $50 US) worth of food or drink which I had to pay to attend the 2.5 hour affair, but I didn't want to disappoint the elementary folks, plus, I kinda wanted to show off to the JHS teachers how well I got along with the elementary teachers.
As I expected, the food fare was meager, small servings of sushi and assorted delicacies--oh, everybody was served ONE crab leg. But outside of the beer, the sumtotal of all the food didn't put a dent in my appetite. Speaking of beer, there were plenty red-faced teachers that night. The designated drivers drank tall glasses of bland iced oolong tea, while everyone else cut loose on the beer. People kept refilling my glass, but I don't think I even got a good buzz. The principal of my JHS came over to my table all rowdy, slapping me on the back trying to challenge me to beer shots. Dude is like 65 yo. telling me he can down 10 bottles on his own. He filled my glass, we did a "Kanpai," then we knocked one back together, but not before he dribbled beer on his expensive suit. He had me cracking up. And not breaking the tradition of Japanese punctuality, that party ended precisely at 9pm.
Alas, it's Friday and I can finally relax. One more month til vacation!
Nov 19, 2004
Nov 11, 2004
U.S. CIVICS 101
I was at JHS half of this week, and I did a U.S./Japan culture trivia quiz with the 9th graders. I asked questions that pointed out some differences between the two that Japanese kids might not know like driving on opposite sides of the road, and other assorted pop trivia. At the end of the class, we talked about the U.S. presidential election and I asked their opinions.
I also asked who they would've voted for if they were able. Almost unanimously, the kids said Kerry was the better pick. Reasons cited were the desire for "world peace" and because "Bush loves war." In one class, I was surprised by the opionated response of one girl who said she supports Bush. I asked why, and she said something to the effect that "war in Iraq was good, because terrorists killed a Japanese person." She was referring to Shosei Koda, the young Japanese man who was held hostage and beheaded by Islamic militants in Iraq last month. She was like "It's good that Bush made war in Iraq...for the sake of revenge." I didn't bother trying to counter her flawed, misinformed young point of view due to time and language constraints. I told them that I'd voted in the election as an absentee, then someone asked me who I'd voted for. I told them Kerry. My young co-teacher, Sayako, said she was surprised and impressed that I'd voted in the U.S. election from overseas. I don't know why.
I proceeded to attempt to explain the U.S. electoral system. Sayako graciously supported my lecture with Japanese translation. We had a super-sized image of a U.S. electoral map I'd dug up off the net as a visual aid. The students seemed quite interested and listened attentively. Even the kids who usually chatterbox and zone out paid close attention to my lecture. I basically tried to make a point that the system was imbalanced and that a great deal of Americans felt they'd been cheated by the electoral college system. I didn't go into divulging the dirty antics of race-based voter intimidation, shady electronic voting machines and the like. For junior high schoolers, just trying to digest a complex voting system of foreign country was more than enough education for a day. Perhaps we'll save neo-fascism and corporate hegemony for another day.
And who said I was just an English teacher?
I also asked who they would've voted for if they were able. Almost unanimously, the kids said Kerry was the better pick. Reasons cited were the desire for "world peace" and because "Bush loves war." In one class, I was surprised by the opionated response of one girl who said she supports Bush. I asked why, and she said something to the effect that "war in Iraq was good, because terrorists killed a Japanese person." She was referring to Shosei Koda, the young Japanese man who was held hostage and beheaded by Islamic militants in Iraq last month. She was like "It's good that Bush made war in Iraq...for the sake of revenge." I didn't bother trying to counter her flawed, misinformed young point of view due to time and language constraints. I told them that I'd voted in the election as an absentee, then someone asked me who I'd voted for. I told them Kerry. My young co-teacher, Sayako, said she was surprised and impressed that I'd voted in the U.S. election from overseas. I don't know why.
I proceeded to attempt to explain the U.S. electoral system. Sayako graciously supported my lecture with Japanese translation. We had a super-sized image of a U.S. electoral map I'd dug up off the net as a visual aid. The students seemed quite interested and listened attentively. Even the kids who usually chatterbox and zone out paid close attention to my lecture. I basically tried to make a point that the system was imbalanced and that a great deal of Americans felt they'd been cheated by the electoral college system. I didn't go into divulging the dirty antics of race-based voter intimidation, shady electronic voting machines and the like. For junior high schoolers, just trying to digest a complex voting system of foreign country was more than enough education for a day. Perhaps we'll save neo-fascism and corporate hegemony for another day.
And who said I was just an English teacher?
Nov 3, 2004
"SHOCKED" AND "AWED"
"America, you are an ASS." --comic/commentator Marc Maron, Air America Radio
In a nutshell.
To the 55 million who voted against Bush, props. But thanks to the disproportionate inbred population of the Bible-thumping Cracker Belt, we have gift-wrapped our country and tossed it to the sharks. From here on out, any fundamental Islamic zealots who slam airliners and whatever other incendiary devices into our offices, schools and homes will be vindicated, and the rest of the world won’t give a gerbil’s turd. America’s name is not John Q. Public, it’s I. Hate Fear. The “I.” standing for Ignorance.
The pieces are set, and the Empire has been assembled. America, kiss your sweet civil freedoms goodbye, cuz there’s no turning back now. Supreme Court balance—Peace out. Social Security—Kick rocks. A fair economy where most Americans don’t have to “scratch and survive” like Florida and JJ Evans—as we say over this way, Sayonara.
And all this time I’d been giving my fellow countrymen the benefit of the doubt, defending them even when criticized by my international counterparts.
Non-American friend: “What the $&%@ is wrong with Americans? Americans are some #%$ed up, crazy #%#%#s!”
Me: “Au contraire, mon frere/ma soeur. All Americans aren’t so bad. Hey, we DID NOT elect the Bushies in 2000—they stole the election. STOLE it. Besides, most of us are decent, hard-working, peace-loving, common sense-having individuals just like you and yours. C’mon, Bush is an idiot... Americans don’t think like him!”
What can I say now? There’s no defense. Now, I don’t doubt for a second that the Red party, by myriad means, lied, cheated, and stole their way back into Washington, but the bottom line is that, any way you flip it, America is a divided state, and the country is still about as split apart as it was during the Civil War. Social progress? Ha! We might be headed back towards the 60’s, except next time it won’t just be Black folk getting hosed down, clubbed, bitten and shot in the streets. It’ll be the entire “broke” class, including whites.
I’ve been hearing talk about people fleeing the States, becoming expats—I guess people like me would be the objects of envy in that respect. But I’m not ready to give up my citizenship just yet.
Sigh. If this is Star Wars, then Bush might be Darth Sidius, Cheney might be Vader. I might be Lando Calrissian, and Japan might be my Cloud City.
Meanwhile, I’ll be chilling…waiting for Luke…and the Rebel Alliance to make their move.
In a nutshell.
To the 55 million who voted against Bush, props. But thanks to the disproportionate inbred population of the Bible-thumping Cracker Belt, we have gift-wrapped our country and tossed it to the sharks. From here on out, any fundamental Islamic zealots who slam airliners and whatever other incendiary devices into our offices, schools and homes will be vindicated, and the rest of the world won’t give a gerbil’s turd. America’s name is not John Q. Public, it’s I. Hate Fear. The “I.” standing for Ignorance.
The pieces are set, and the Empire has been assembled. America, kiss your sweet civil freedoms goodbye, cuz there’s no turning back now. Supreme Court balance—Peace out. Social Security—Kick rocks. A fair economy where most Americans don’t have to “scratch and survive” like Florida and JJ Evans—as we say over this way, Sayonara.
And all this time I’d been giving my fellow countrymen the benefit of the doubt, defending them even when criticized by my international counterparts.
Non-American friend: “What the $&%@ is wrong with Americans? Americans are some #%$ed up, crazy #%#%#s!”
Me: “Au contraire, mon frere/ma soeur. All Americans aren’t so bad. Hey, we DID NOT elect the Bushies in 2000—they stole the election. STOLE it. Besides, most of us are decent, hard-working, peace-loving, common sense-having individuals just like you and yours. C’mon, Bush is an idiot... Americans don’t think like him!”
What can I say now? There’s no defense. Now, I don’t doubt for a second that the Red party, by myriad means, lied, cheated, and stole their way back into Washington, but the bottom line is that, any way you flip it, America is a divided state, and the country is still about as split apart as it was during the Civil War. Social progress? Ha! We might be headed back towards the 60’s, except next time it won’t just be Black folk getting hosed down, clubbed, bitten and shot in the streets. It’ll be the entire “broke” class, including whites.
I’ve been hearing talk about people fleeing the States, becoming expats—I guess people like me would be the objects of envy in that respect. But I’m not ready to give up my citizenship just yet.
Sigh. If this is Star Wars, then Bush might be Darth Sidius, Cheney might be Vader. I might be Lando Calrissian, and Japan might be my Cloud City.
Meanwhile, I’ll be chilling…waiting for Luke…and the Rebel Alliance to make their move.
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