So this has been a very strange week for me. Usually, I have an average of 2 or 3 classes each day, and on Thursday it jumps up all the way to 5 a day.
However, at tSFF they’ve been practicing very hard for the Choir Festival this weekend, so many of my classes got switched around-and at tSRL, Thursday and Friday were midterms, so the most classes I’ve had in a day has been 2. At tSRL, I’ve only had 1 all week!
Today, I unfortunately had only 1 class-which was a huge bummer, since today is Halloween, and I had a couple of fun Halloween activities planned (okay, only one. The teachers here are always very anxious about time constraints, so I can’t do anything that will take too long or be too involved.) Since my Halloween plans were a little scrappy, I also planned an activity for free period, an “English Hour” that I plan for every Friday. Of course, it’s actually only about 20 minutes long, and since almost all this month students have been practicing for the festival during that time, I’ve only gotten 1 or 2 interested students.
Today I decided to hold a very brief, mock election, in honor of the actual elections on Nov. 4th. With the Choir Festival only 2 days away, I was actually very surprised that about a dozen or so students came and voted. Here are the anticipated results!
l Obama: 10 out of 14 (70%)
l McCain: 4 out of 14 (30%)
So if American voters are anything like Japanese junior high school students who have no real grasp of American politics (With my limited Japanese and their limited English, I had to really water the system down, and explain that McCain likes guns and Obama likes gay people), then Obama will win in a landslide!
Yesterday, because the tSRL was in midterms, I actually got to visit the town’s kindergarten, which is in fact made up of youngsters ages 3 to 5 years old. They had me wander out into the playground for about 20 minutes, and though the kids were a tiny bit shy at first, they quickly warmed up-and their English was great! When I ask my 7th graders “What is your name?” usually the response is petrified silence. Here I was asking 3 year olds, and the response was “My name is _________. Nice to meet you.” It was crazy! And also unbelievably adorable, especially when I tried to teach them tag, but they all simultaneously decided that chasing me was far preferable to chasing each other. I got to participate in a class with the 3 year olds, and I loved it. It was just kind of wonderful to work with a bunch of students who hadn’t yet built up this wall of anxiety between themselves and a foreign language. Of course, I got some of the treatment in reverse-tiny Japanese children chattering at me as if I understand every word.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Pumpkin Carving Debacle
I get it. I do. It’s just deeply frustrating.
At one of my schools, nearly every activity I’ve planned goes great. The kids are into it, they listen more or less attentively (or just babble excitedly in my direction) and because I am there infrequently, the teachers and I have little time to talk, but the activity clicks anyway. In the last two months, I can only think of one or two activities that were a little shaky.
But at my other school…it’s as if every activity I have is a disaster. The kids either stare me blankly (it’s incredible, they bounce off the walls and down the hallways until you sit them down in a desk, and automatically, their eyes glaze over before you’ve even started talking) or they turn in their desks to talk to their friends behind them. I’ve tried using the same activities-but maybe the kids at my 2nd school are just not as flexible in English, so I try switching out activities. I even try throwing in some Japanese-and nothing.
It doesn’t help that one or two bad students in my 2nd school can somehow control the entire class. At my 1st school (designated from here on out as the School of the Rotten Lunches, tSRL) there are a few bad apples, usually in the way of class clowns. They chatter, the kids laugh at them, but they participate and are generally enthusiastic.
My 2nd school (designated from here on out as the School of Fifty Fity, tSFF) is either well behaved, but silent as a tomb, or totally undisciplined and in the iron fist of control by two to three bad students.
Any JETs who happen upon this blog are already aware of this, but for the rest of you, here’s a little background about the education situation in Japan. It is against the law to force a student to leave class. There is no such thing as detention, and I still haven’t gathered what sort of punishment the students do receive, beyond a harsh talking to. I’ve accepted “bad” students who sleep in class, for whatever reason-I’ve come to the conclusion that while I wish I could get them excited about English, it may just not be their cup of tea, and as long as they’re sleeping, they are not being rude or disruptive. And heck, maybe they were up all night studying for their math exam, which they need a good score on to get into high school. Maybe even talented and otherwise dedicated students can fall asleep in class.
But other bad students, well….
At tSFF today, I tried to teach a Halloween lesson to one of the grade’s selection classes. Unfortunately, this class contains two of the worst students, in regards to English; the Bad President, and Above-It Boy. They literally turned their backs on me during the, what, 8 minute Powerpoint presentation… Refused to participate… Shot me dirty looks any time I came near them. The JTE and I had planned to carve pumpkins and do a mummy wrap game, but the students just refused to do anything. Even the reward of candy wasn’t enough to motivate Above-It Boy. (After discovering she could get something to eat, which seems to be her sole goal when investing any time in English, the Bad President participated without further harassment.)
I know, two months in, it’s not the enlightened and teacher-y thing to do, to say I give up on some of the bad students. But I only have so much attention and motivation. Should I push all of it into “connecting” with bad students, even if that means neglecting the students who are actually trying? Should I spend my time being ignored and spat at by Above-It Boy, or should I give my attention to Tall Mouse, whom while not an exceptional student and with obvious struggles in English, stills says "Good morning" the loudest, always raises her hand, and really makes a titanic effort?
In my opinion…I’ll concentrate my efforts, and my rewards, on students who are trying. For instance, another student, who I call Shortman, had previously been one of the students that irked me the most. During last week’s class, however, I made sure to give stickers to him when he displayed any kind of participation, and I shot him thumbs up whenever I saw he was taking notes. To my surprise, by the end of the class Shortman was actually semi-paying attention and, while granted my Japanese is miserably poor, I think he may have even told off the Bad President for talking loudly to her friends instead of studying (or he could have been saying it in a sarcastic way… hard to tell.)
I’ve heard it suggested that the reasons students aren’t listening to me is because they don’t respect me… which is all well and good, I suppose, if I could find the hidden lever somewhere in the school with each teacher’s name on it, and switch it from “rude” to “respected.” But we all know that’s not how it works. Who in the world can tell why students respect me? Maybe it’s because I’m a woman, and from my modest observations, female teachers have a much tougher time gaining respect and admiration from students than male teachers. (It seems as if, just by virtue of being male, you are cool in the books of most students.) Maybe it’s because I don’t fit the image of a gaijin… tall, blonde, foreign-seeming. Maybe it’s because I didn’t dress in a bear costume on the first day of class. Who knows? I can make up hypothesis that are impossible to check until the end of time.
For right now, I guess all I can do is keep encouraging those students who are trying.
At one of my schools, nearly every activity I’ve planned goes great. The kids are into it, they listen more or less attentively (or just babble excitedly in my direction) and because I am there infrequently, the teachers and I have little time to talk, but the activity clicks anyway. In the last two months, I can only think of one or two activities that were a little shaky.
But at my other school…it’s as if every activity I have is a disaster. The kids either stare me blankly (it’s incredible, they bounce off the walls and down the hallways until you sit them down in a desk, and automatically, their eyes glaze over before you’ve even started talking) or they turn in their desks to talk to their friends behind them. I’ve tried using the same activities-but maybe the kids at my 2nd school are just not as flexible in English, so I try switching out activities. I even try throwing in some Japanese-and nothing.
It doesn’t help that one or two bad students in my 2nd school can somehow control the entire class. At my 1st school (designated from here on out as the School of the Rotten Lunches, tSRL) there are a few bad apples, usually in the way of class clowns. They chatter, the kids laugh at them, but they participate and are generally enthusiastic.
My 2nd school (designated from here on out as the School of Fifty Fity, tSFF) is either well behaved, but silent as a tomb, or totally undisciplined and in the iron fist of control by two to three bad students.
Any JETs who happen upon this blog are already aware of this, but for the rest of you, here’s a little background about the education situation in Japan. It is against the law to force a student to leave class. There is no such thing as detention, and I still haven’t gathered what sort of punishment the students do receive, beyond a harsh talking to. I’ve accepted “bad” students who sleep in class, for whatever reason-I’ve come to the conclusion that while I wish I could get them excited about English, it may just not be their cup of tea, and as long as they’re sleeping, they are not being rude or disruptive. And heck, maybe they were up all night studying for their math exam, which they need a good score on to get into high school. Maybe even talented and otherwise dedicated students can fall asleep in class.
But other bad students, well….
At tSFF today, I tried to teach a Halloween lesson to one of the grade’s selection classes. Unfortunately, this class contains two of the worst students, in regards to English; the Bad President, and Above-It Boy. They literally turned their backs on me during the, what, 8 minute Powerpoint presentation… Refused to participate… Shot me dirty looks any time I came near them. The JTE and I had planned to carve pumpkins and do a mummy wrap game, but the students just refused to do anything. Even the reward of candy wasn’t enough to motivate Above-It Boy. (After discovering she could get something to eat, which seems to be her sole goal when investing any time in English, the Bad President participated without further harassment.)
I know, two months in, it’s not the enlightened and teacher-y thing to do, to say I give up on some of the bad students. But I only have so much attention and motivation. Should I push all of it into “connecting” with bad students, even if that means neglecting the students who are actually trying? Should I spend my time being ignored and spat at by Above-It Boy, or should I give my attention to Tall Mouse, whom while not an exceptional student and with obvious struggles in English, stills says "Good morning" the loudest, always raises her hand, and really makes a titanic effort?
In my opinion…I’ll concentrate my efforts, and my rewards, on students who are trying. For instance, another student, who I call Shortman, had previously been one of the students that irked me the most. During last week’s class, however, I made sure to give stickers to him when he displayed any kind of participation, and I shot him thumbs up whenever I saw he was taking notes. To my surprise, by the end of the class Shortman was actually semi-paying attention and, while granted my Japanese is miserably poor, I think he may have even told off the Bad President for talking loudly to her friends instead of studying (or he could have been saying it in a sarcastic way… hard to tell.)
I’ve heard it suggested that the reasons students aren’t listening to me is because they don’t respect me… which is all well and good, I suppose, if I could find the hidden lever somewhere in the school with each teacher’s name on it, and switch it from “rude” to “respected.” But we all know that’s not how it works. Who in the world can tell why students respect me? Maybe it’s because I’m a woman, and from my modest observations, female teachers have a much tougher time gaining respect and admiration from students than male teachers. (It seems as if, just by virtue of being male, you are cool in the books of most students.) Maybe it’s because I don’t fit the image of a gaijin… tall, blonde, foreign-seeming. Maybe it’s because I didn’t dress in a bear costume on the first day of class. Who knows? I can make up hypothesis that are impossible to check until the end of time.
For right now, I guess all I can do is keep encouraging those students who are trying.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
For Good
Below is a song from "Wicked," a song that's come crashing back into my consciousness.
Rest in peace.
"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn, and we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them, and we help them in return. Well I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know I'm who I am today because I knew you. Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun, like a stream that meets a bolder halfway through the wood, who can say if I've been changed for the better? Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.
It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime, so let me say before we part so much of me is made of what I learned from you. You'll be with me, like a hand print on my heart. And that whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.
Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea, like a seed dropped by a sky bird in a distant world, who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good.
And just to clear the air, I ask forgiveness for the things I've done you blame me for. But then I guess we know there's blame to share, and none of it seems to matter anymore.
Like a comet from orbit as it passes a sun, like a stream that meets a bolder halfway through the wood, who can say if I've been changed for the better?... I do believe I have been changed for the better.... And because I knew you, because I knew you, because I knew you, I have been changed for good."
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Flashing Green Button Miracles
To quote Bridget Jones, at times like this, eating the entire contents of one's fridge seems inevitable. Due to money and woe-begotten forgetfulness by me, most of my plans for the weekend fell through, which could be quite depressing, since it's once again a holiday weekend-a perfect excuse to ditch the previously mentioned RS like a blind date who expects you to split the check 50/50 even though they OBVIOUSLY had twice the amount of food you did.
I was recently inspired, however, by a thoughtful Tao of Pooh post, and decided I would try to focus on tiny miracles. And make a list!
1) I have managed to be on time for the train and bus every time for the last month and a half. I think.
2) I have labeled trash cans, AND a nifty calendar so the neighbors never again have to call my city's school board to complain that I put the unburnables out on the wrong day across the street, instead of in front of the vending machine like is the obvious, if not at all labeled, place for it.
3) We're making pizza in the ninensai's English selection class on Tuesday.
4) I now have an adorable green sweater.
5) And purple boots! Yes; purple... boots.
6) Last of all... you ready for this one?
I HAVE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Wha?....
So today my kids discovered “American” rock-paper-scissors.
In my Japanese class at university, we played the “Japanese” rock, paper, scissors…”Junkenbon.” But we did it with the gestures we’d learned as kids, hitting our closed fits against our open palms (and having arguments about whether you showed your hand on “three,” or “shoot.”) I was a little surprised to find that my students play by doing this sort of shaker motion with their fists-it’s hard to describe, but a lot more suspenseful than the American way. Who knew you had to be multicultural to enjoy a game of rock-paper-scissors?
Anyway, in the course of teaching today, I joined in, and did it my typical American way. Both the students and the teacher were amazed and amused at what I was doing-wait, you… you hit your hand?! You hold your palm flat, instead of vertical? What are you doing, you crazy American??!
Just to experiment, I tried it in my following classes, all with the same result. Well, maybe, I thought, it was because they were ichinensai and ninensai. I decided I’d try it one more time on the sannensai, my lunch group.
I’ve been meaning forever to write about school lunches, but I just haven’t had the strength, so I’ll preface this by saying I’ve only scratched the surface. Anyway, they always give us/me way too much food. I’ve had a very hard time even giving my extra food away, which was what the other JETs suggested; even in the boys in my class didn’t want it. Today I tried out the advice of a particular JET, who plays Junkenbon with his students over the food… except doesn’t mention beforehand who gets it, so if they win, here you go, you won!, and if they lose, here you go, you lost! Classic win-win/lose-lose situation. I challenged a boy for the cucumber-white-shavings-that-might-be-fish-product salad, and just like predicted, the boy took the food when he lost without any protest. Works like a charm.
And my students were vastly entertained by the palm-hitting.
So, win-win day for me.
(Note: I was a little confounded when a student bumped into me, and cried,” Oh… my… God! Samimasin!* I am sorry!” I could have sworn she was making fun of me… so, okay, 95% win-win day for me!)
*A slaughtered version of “sumimasen.”
*Today's Random English: From a sannensai, in the middle of a lesson and totally off topic, "Guard rails help protect cars from going off the road."
In my Japanese class at university, we played the “Japanese” rock, paper, scissors…”Junkenbon.” But we did it with the gestures we’d learned as kids, hitting our closed fits against our open palms (and having arguments about whether you showed your hand on “three,” or “shoot.”) I was a little surprised to find that my students play by doing this sort of shaker motion with their fists-it’s hard to describe, but a lot more suspenseful than the American way. Who knew you had to be multicultural to enjoy a game of rock-paper-scissors?
Anyway, in the course of teaching today, I joined in, and did it my typical American way. Both the students and the teacher were amazed and amused at what I was doing-wait, you… you hit your hand?! You hold your palm flat, instead of vertical? What are you doing, you crazy American??!
Just to experiment, I tried it in my following classes, all with the same result. Well, maybe, I thought, it was because they were ichinensai and ninensai. I decided I’d try it one more time on the sannensai, my lunch group.
I’ve been meaning forever to write about school lunches, but I just haven’t had the strength, so I’ll preface this by saying I’ve only scratched the surface. Anyway, they always give us/me way too much food. I’ve had a very hard time even giving my extra food away, which was what the other JETs suggested; even in the boys in my class didn’t want it. Today I tried out the advice of a particular JET, who plays Junkenbon with his students over the food… except doesn’t mention beforehand who gets it, so if they win, here you go, you won!, and if they lose, here you go, you lost! Classic win-win/lose-lose situation. I challenged a boy for the cucumber-white-shavings-that-might-be-fish-product salad, and just like predicted, the boy took the food when he lost without any protest. Works like a charm.
And my students were vastly entertained by the palm-hitting.
So, win-win day for me.
(Note: I was a little confounded when a student bumped into me, and cried,” Oh… my… God! Samimasin!* I am sorry!” I could have sworn she was making fun of me… so, okay, 95% win-win day for me!)
*A slaughtered version of “sumimasen.”
*Today's Random English: From a sannensai, in the middle of a lesson and totally off topic, "Guard rails help protect cars from going off the road."
Monday, October 6, 2008
Missing Cheese Curds and Conversation
Half the harm that is done in this world
Is due to people who want to feel important.
They don't mean to do harm — but the harm does not interest them.
Or they do not see it, or they justify it
Because they are absorbed in the endless struggle
To think well of themselves.
-T.S. Elliot
I’ve never been a big drinker. This has always caused some small amount of friction in the past. It’s easy to be friends with people who might prefer basketball while you like tennis, but it’s always been a challenge to be friends with people whose main leisurely activity is drinking. After turning 21, I fell into a very comfortable routine of hanging out in a bar to chat, having philosophical conversations or sharing life experiences, sipping my one or two favorite drinks (I have been craving cheese curbs and a Bloody Mary like you would not believe.)
Well I’ve hit a dead wall in Japan. I find myself suffering from what I will refer to as Responsibility Syndrome. RS, as it’s casually called, is usually a dormant disease, but has been known to cause large amounts of guilt and regret in sufferers. A few weeks ago, there was a large prefecture JET party that unsurprisingly featured alcohol on a Saturday night. It just so happened to fall on the weekend of one of my school’s Sports Days. Friday was my city’s speech contest… Saturday was treated like a regular school day… and Sunday promised to go from sunup to sundown, with set up and take down and all that. I could have stayed out all night. I could have drank enough to be more than buzzed. I could have taken the last train home. Instead, I had one drink, and was snuggled into bed at the very reasonable hour of midnight.
Most weekends I go somewhere. While relaxing, it’s just too darn depressing to stay locked up in my apartment all weekend. But when I go somewhere well within striking distance, I am always home at reasonable hours, and I get the suggested 8 hours of sleep. I rarely drink, because I am exhausted enough from the school week without the possibility of a hangover, well, hanging over my head. I’m amazed… and confounded… at how often other people can get away, and how often they can party.
Drinking in Japan is one of those urban legends that perpetuates through the Gaijin mythos. If you can hold your alcohol-and more notably, can’t hold your alcohol and don’t mind-Japan is an amazing place. All you can drink specials for $30! Karoke bars, beer gardens! It’s a schmoregusboard of drunken possibilities. But for the light weight, it just doesn’t make economic sense. Being placed specifically where I am, and suffering from RS, it doesn’t make practical sense either. I have yet to find someone who enjoys my preferred drinking habits-one or two drinks and lively, but personal, conversation.
Honestly, I’m having a rough time making friends. Or, I should say, a large amount of friends. I’ve never been a popular person. When I go somewhere, 9 times out of 10, I go alone. I am not destitute, not yet. But I am, at times, incredibly frustrated. I want to cry. I want to scream. I want to demand, why, why are we left out?
I mean, it’s hard not to feel lonely. If I had a penny for every time I heard “Oh my kids just love me!” or “Oh I’m so popular at school” or “My other teachers never want to stop talking to me, isn’t that SO annoying!” I can barely get my kids to wave hi to me. They certainly don’t cluster outside the teacher’s door waiting for my glowing, charismatic self. I just feel so alienated-not from Japanese people, but from other JETs! Where are the JETs like me, who go to work, who do their job, but aren’t loved, aren’t worshipped? Where are the JETs who are lonely, where are the JETs who don’t have their cell phones always ringing with invitations? I can’t be the only one.
....Can I?
Is due to people who want to feel important.
They don't mean to do harm — but the harm does not interest them.
Or they do not see it, or they justify it
Because they are absorbed in the endless struggle
To think well of themselves.
-T.S. Elliot
I’ve never been a big drinker. This has always caused some small amount of friction in the past. It’s easy to be friends with people who might prefer basketball while you like tennis, but it’s always been a challenge to be friends with people whose main leisurely activity is drinking. After turning 21, I fell into a very comfortable routine of hanging out in a bar to chat, having philosophical conversations or sharing life experiences, sipping my one or two favorite drinks (I have been craving cheese curbs and a Bloody Mary like you would not believe.)
Well I’ve hit a dead wall in Japan. I find myself suffering from what I will refer to as Responsibility Syndrome. RS, as it’s casually called, is usually a dormant disease, but has been known to cause large amounts of guilt and regret in sufferers. A few weeks ago, there was a large prefecture JET party that unsurprisingly featured alcohol on a Saturday night. It just so happened to fall on the weekend of one of my school’s Sports Days. Friday was my city’s speech contest… Saturday was treated like a regular school day… and Sunday promised to go from sunup to sundown, with set up and take down and all that. I could have stayed out all night. I could have drank enough to be more than buzzed. I could have taken the last train home. Instead, I had one drink, and was snuggled into bed at the very reasonable hour of midnight.
Most weekends I go somewhere. While relaxing, it’s just too darn depressing to stay locked up in my apartment all weekend. But when I go somewhere well within striking distance, I am always home at reasonable hours, and I get the suggested 8 hours of sleep. I rarely drink, because I am exhausted enough from the school week without the possibility of a hangover, well, hanging over my head. I’m amazed… and confounded… at how often other people can get away, and how often they can party.
Drinking in Japan is one of those urban legends that perpetuates through the Gaijin mythos. If you can hold your alcohol-and more notably, can’t hold your alcohol and don’t mind-Japan is an amazing place. All you can drink specials for $30! Karoke bars, beer gardens! It’s a schmoregusboard of drunken possibilities. But for the light weight, it just doesn’t make economic sense. Being placed specifically where I am, and suffering from RS, it doesn’t make practical sense either. I have yet to find someone who enjoys my preferred drinking habits-one or two drinks and lively, but personal, conversation.
Honestly, I’m having a rough time making friends. Or, I should say, a large amount of friends. I’ve never been a popular person. When I go somewhere, 9 times out of 10, I go alone. I am not destitute, not yet. But I am, at times, incredibly frustrated. I want to cry. I want to scream. I want to demand, why, why are we left out?
I mean, it’s hard not to feel lonely. If I had a penny for every time I heard “Oh my kids just love me!” or “Oh I’m so popular at school” or “My other teachers never want to stop talking to me, isn’t that SO annoying!” I can barely get my kids to wave hi to me. They certainly don’t cluster outside the teacher’s door waiting for my glowing, charismatic self. I just feel so alienated-not from Japanese people, but from other JETs! Where are the JETs like me, who go to work, who do their job, but aren’t loved, aren’t worshipped? Where are the JETs who are lonely, where are the JETs who don’t have their cell phones always ringing with invitations? I can’t be the only one.
....Can I?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Large or Small? For Here or To Go? Bailout or Recession?
I consider myself pretty Renaissance-lots of interests, more than one “intelligence.” But economics has always escaped me. I actually fell asleep in my economics class in high school, which was a feat for me-I think it’s the only class I slept through. I mean, I at least made an attempt with math, and with sizeable effort, I managed to get a little through my head. But economics? Nothing. It doesn’t help that any article-even the journalistic ones-write as if you already know what the hell “” is. I mean, economics isn’t just confusing to me-it’s downright impenetrable. It’s as if you already need to know and understand economics to understand anything in economics!
It also doesn’t help that, since my debt-ridden parents have always steered me very, very clear of a credit card or anything similar, and the fact that I just graduated college and have not started a career and thus have no retirement plan, I haven’t the least idea about mortgages or equity loans or… what have you. It’s a whole big total mess to me. The media is already doing a fantastic job of fear-mongering (“Recession! The sky is falling! Recession!”) but my own ignorance is taking a toll too. I’m really not used to just “taking somebody’s word on something,” whether that be a politician’s, a journalist’s, or my next door neighbor’s. (Professors are the exception-they actually grade you on how well you take them at their word.) I investigate for myself, and I draw my own conclusion.
But this, what would you call it, Wall Street vs. Main Street Fallout, is perplexing, and I can’t make heads or tails of it. Wait… $700 billion to buy back bad… what? Bad securities? What securities? And… where will these bad securities go? Will they just disappear? How did this happen again, besides the obvious answers of “greed” and “capitalism?” Is the bailout a good thing-the World seems to hate us for failing to pass the bailout? But wait, why does the world hate us (more than usual, anyway?) Didn’t they play a part in it too? I mean, if the world’s economies are coming tumbling down because of the fall of mortgage and insurance giants (how are the two fields related again??) doesn’t that mean the other countries’ own Wall Streets played a part, as well?
When it comes to money and all that, I really am quite simple. I work this amount-you give me this amount. I use that said amount and that said amount only to buy goods and services. If I don’t have said amount, I don’t buy said goods or services.
However, I might also be kind of lucky. If I read the newspapers correctly, hellfire is raining down onto America even as we speak, and homeless, jobless zombies roam the street in search of low-interest loans. Meanwhile, in Japan, the newspapers in English seem by and large uninterested, except to note there are a few lessons for their own balancing economies. (Though here I show my ignorance again-aren’t economies always balancing? Are they ever stable? It seems every time I stumbled onto the Economics page, it was perpetually tipping one way or the other.) I continue to work, they continue to pay me, and an article about the out-of-work NOVA teachers finding jobs as onsen translators dominates the front page.
In other news, the teachers at my one school like to start English class off with an English song, which we listen to all month. Great! I think it’s a fantastic idea. Except my English teachers seem to have a knack for picking songs that make me grind my teeth in irritation… today we started off October with “We Are The World,” that corny, ridiculous anthem to self-important celebrities that just so perfectly sums up the mid 80’s. To be fair, the darn song is actually in the textbook as an example of “English songs”-and glancing through the list, it’s one of the better selections.
Though, my students continue to surprise me. While getting ready for Sports Day on Saturday (an entry that is coming, I promise,) I weeded the parade ground with a bunch of ichinensei girls, who very sweetly tried to speak English with me by pulling out phrases from their textbook (“Large or small?” “For here, or to go?”) The biggest shock, however, was when one 7th grader girl asked “Obama or McCain?” When I just sort of stared at her in stunned silence, she said,” Obama!”
Indeed.
It also doesn’t help that, since my debt-ridden parents have always steered me very, very clear of a credit card or anything similar, and the fact that I just graduated college and have not started a career and thus have no retirement plan, I haven’t the least idea about mortgages or equity loans or… what have you. It’s a whole big total mess to me. The media is already doing a fantastic job of fear-mongering (“Recession! The sky is falling! Recession!”) but my own ignorance is taking a toll too. I’m really not used to just “taking somebody’s word on something,” whether that be a politician’s, a journalist’s, or my next door neighbor’s. (Professors are the exception-they actually grade you on how well you take them at their word.) I investigate for myself, and I draw my own conclusion.
But this, what would you call it, Wall Street vs. Main Street Fallout, is perplexing, and I can’t make heads or tails of it. Wait… $700 billion to buy back bad… what? Bad securities? What securities? And… where will these bad securities go? Will they just disappear? How did this happen again, besides the obvious answers of “greed” and “capitalism?” Is the bailout a good thing-the World seems to hate us for failing to pass the bailout? But wait, why does the world hate us (more than usual, anyway?) Didn’t they play a part in it too? I mean, if the world’s economies are coming tumbling down because of the fall of mortgage and insurance giants (how are the two fields related again??) doesn’t that mean the other countries’ own Wall Streets played a part, as well?
When it comes to money and all that, I really am quite simple. I work this amount-you give me this amount. I use that said amount and that said amount only to buy goods and services. If I don’t have said amount, I don’t buy said goods or services.
However, I might also be kind of lucky. If I read the newspapers correctly, hellfire is raining down onto America even as we speak, and homeless, jobless zombies roam the street in search of low-interest loans. Meanwhile, in Japan, the newspapers in English seem by and large uninterested, except to note there are a few lessons for their own balancing economies. (Though here I show my ignorance again-aren’t economies always balancing? Are they ever stable? It seems every time I stumbled onto the Economics page, it was perpetually tipping one way or the other.) I continue to work, they continue to pay me, and an article about the out-of-work NOVA teachers finding jobs as onsen translators dominates the front page.
In other news, the teachers at my one school like to start English class off with an English song, which we listen to all month. Great! I think it’s a fantastic idea. Except my English teachers seem to have a knack for picking songs that make me grind my teeth in irritation… today we started off October with “We Are The World,” that corny, ridiculous anthem to self-important celebrities that just so perfectly sums up the mid 80’s. To be fair, the darn song is actually in the textbook as an example of “English songs”-and glancing through the list, it’s one of the better selections.
Though, my students continue to surprise me. While getting ready for Sports Day on Saturday (an entry that is coming, I promise,) I weeded the parade ground with a bunch of ichinensei girls, who very sweetly tried to speak English with me by pulling out phrases from their textbook (“Large or small?” “For here, or to go?”) The biggest shock, however, was when one 7th grader girl asked “Obama or McCain?” When I just sort of stared at her in stunned silence, she said,” Obama!”
Indeed.
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