New Blog

Hey everybody!

You've all been great, but I'm finding blogspot a little too restrictive. I also feel like I need a fresh new start on my Japan blogging... so I'm pullin on up and movin on out (to the East Side?) 

You can find my new blog (complete with pictures and podcast!) here:

http://web.mac.com/reboundstudent/Student_on_the_Rebound/Welcome.html

Hope to see you there. Thanks again for all the comments, and I hope I can catch you at the new site!

This Means (A Bidding) War...?

So I’ve been trying very hard not to use this blog to just bitch, but I’m having a difficult time finding anywhere else to express my disappointment or frustration.
Today’s frustration is about how it seems every time I go above and beyond, it just falls flat.

Here’s the situation: with the end of the year coming up, I wanted to go something fun and rewarding for the students. But I also wanted an activity that students would actually have to work at if they wanted a prize, and the prize would have to be something they were interested in (stickers just ain’t cutting in.) Then it occurred to me-a bidding war!

The activity was arranged like this: students were placed with partners. I gave them a dialogue pretty closely based to the one in the book they’d just learned, with some variations. With their partner, they would recite the dialogue to either I or my JTE. We would give them bidding money based on how well they did their conversation, and if it was memorized. They could redo the recitation as many times as they wanted.

After the recitation period, I pulled out the prizes. Some of them were left-over prizes from earlier in the year (2 pens left from a pack), but others I’d specifically gone out to go to encourage participation; a manga, some American candy, glow sticks, those pens, some hand warmers.

In one of the two classes, the activity worked great, and students seemed to have a lot of fun with it. In the other class, unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could properly bid. Worse yet, I didn’t have another period with that class for the rest of the year… so students just worked hard for nothing.

I felt this was unfair, so I asked the homeroom teacher if I could come in a few minutes during their homeroom meeting and finish up the bidding. He said sure. Unfortunately, I’d have to do it alone-both my JTEs were busy.

So I went in alone, and more than a little nervous about the miscommunication barrier. However, most of the students seemed to understand well enough when I said “take out your paper”… we had told them to save their bidding papers, it was the only way to know how much money they had.

The candy of course went for the high ranging price of 14000 yen. The students who seemed most engaged in the bidding got something (the pen went for 100 yen)… except for *sigh* Above It Boy. Above It Boy kept his hand raised during the entire bidding… kept it raised for almost every single bidding item. I kept asking where his sheet was… his tabletop was totally bare. I’d ask him how much money he had; he’d merely snap “わからない。” (Pretty much the laziest way to say “I don’t understand.”) So I just shrugged, and gave the prizes to the students who had their sheets out, and were actively participating.

At one point I tried engaging him again, just as the bell was ringing, and he just snapped “Goodbye!” And started standing up and cleaning up his desk.

I come back to the teacher’s room to get ready for cleaning time. Above It Boy follows me, and starts bitching something at my JTE; he was complaining that he had had his hand raised, and yet hadn’t gotten anything! I replied he didn’t have his sheet out; I had no way to check whether he had the highest bid, or any money at all. No sheet, no bid. He stalks away, comes back, and slams the sheet on my keyboard. Gee, it didn’t occur to you to get it out DURING the bidding?

In the end, it doesn’t much matter, he got outbid on everything anyway. (His total amount was only 8000 yen.) Still, I was alone in the room, and my main JTE is gone today… I have no one to back up my story, and if I'm half decent at predicting middle school behavior, this is only going to make his harassment even meaner and more abusive. (Things like slamming doors in my face, making rude noises at me as I walk past. I ignore him, but I certainly don’t relish the behavior.)

It just makes me wonder why I ever bother doing fun activities. It’s just so easy, and so tempting, to be the ALT who never does anything, never plans activities, never engages with students (except to teach them a dirty English word), just sits at their desk. I don’t expect all my activities to take off… but I thought I’d found a really good one to finish off the year with. Now I just feel pissed off and disheartened. Why bother? Why bother, if students only ever give you abuse?

Weird Is the New Normal

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/extraordinary-people/?scp=1&sq=weird&st=cse

This article has me frying just a little bit… The writer’s opinion is that she is weird, and that her children are also a little weird. (She doesn’t say weird or eccentric often… she prefers the negative implication of “not normal” to serve her point.)
I think I’m weird. But I’m weird in a totally conventional way. Yes, so I make up my own language when flustered or aggravated, and nearly every minute of every day in society situations feels uncomfortable and bizarre.
But then again, I’d wager that everyone I’ve discussed the subject with describes themselves as weird. Maybe I just happen to surround myself with strange people. But I don’t just describe it with bosom friends… the tiny conversational tidbit of “I think I’m weird” is such a common calling card among Western people that maybe it’d be weirder to be normal.
After all, if we want to describe ourselves as weird, we first have to define normal. So what is normal? Is normal being popular? Even popular people don’t think they’re popular. I guffawed in disbelief in high school at the homecoming queen who described herself as “weird and not that popular.” Maybe she thought she was weird because she was double jointed or could flip her eyelids inside out.
So if we’re all so weird and “different,” who is normal?

Maybe it’s a question of relevance. You can only describe yourself as weirder based on a spectrum of normal… So compared to Harold Fink (can you tell I’m heavy into “Stranger Than Fiction” lately?) you’re weird, because he’s so boring and lame, but compared to Marilyn Manson, you’d fit right in at “Leave It To Beaver.”

Though Harold was weird too, if you think about it. Who counts the number of brushstrokes when they brush their teeth?

So maybe it comes down to quantity over quality; how many quirks or idiosyncrasy you have. The woman with a house loan, a car, a husband, and a white picket fence is normal because her only quirks involve how much she loves to garden (an unsightly amount) and because she loves to dance to songs from “A Chorus Line.” The man who can only have his coffee at a certain temperature, cannot eat after 7 pm because it will affect his bowel movements, and does quantum physics in his spare time is weird, because the number of his quirks out weight or dwarf the number of her quirks.

If that’s true, I think I know very few “weird” people (which would fit a lot better with the whole definition of “weird.”) People with so many quirks or such severe idiosyncrasies only seem to exist in mental hospitals or indie movies.

That’s the real problem with describing yourself or other people with adjectives, though, isn’t it? You have to somehow decide on a standard level whether something is or isn’t something else… If a girl’s hair is 8 inches instead of 10, is it still long, or is it only considered long compared to Girl B’s hair, which is 3 inches?

It’s why I’ve never understood the new age phrase-osphy (it’s commonly called philosophy, but I call anything that can be summed up in a sentence or catchy phrase a phase-osphy) “don’t compare yourself to others.” Well… if you never compare yourself, how can you ever define yourself? You have to compare yourself because the adjectives you are using to describe yourself have a standard… if you call yourself “smart,” there must be a level of knowledge you exceed, below which you would call “stupid,” and these levels are only discovered primarily by observing what OTHER people describe as “smart.” (Ever heard someone describe themselves as “smart” because they can alphabetize their DVD collection?)

With that in mind, I consider myself perfectly average…. Read, normal. I got normal grades in school. I’ve traveled more than some people, but less than others. I enjoy singing the shower more than some people, but less (and done with less skill, I’m sure) than others. I have a knack for writing, but I am not among the best writers. I am, straight across the board, normal.

So, congratulations, I just answered your question. If you’re going to call yourself weird, you need a Normalcy measuring stick first… and here I am. So if you are weirder than me, you have all rights to call yourself strange, weird, and not normal. If you are less weird than I am, then, away to “Leave It to Beaver” and Ohio with you!

Love and Domestic Abuse in Japan

Recently I read an article on a feminist blog about domestic abuse among Christians. The reporter choose to focus in on Rick Warren’s particular philosophy at his church, Saddleback (if you have a strong stomach or enjoy a good laugh, you should also check out the recently coined term voted on by Savage Love listeners for what sex act “saddlebacking” is), specially about how women should submit to their husbands and the will of God, and the refusal of the church to recognize divorce except in cases of abandonment or affairs, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of abuse. (http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/02/03/christian_abuse/index.html)

Not surprisingly, the Posters were all over the religion issue; the Broadsheet is staunchly atheist, and contempt for religion is practically a pre-requisite for posting. One poster, who happened to be Christian, took issue with the narrow focus on the reporting; yes, Biblically, women submit to their husbands, but husbands also submit to their wives, and ultimately everybody submits to the will of God. It’s one of the biggest spiritual struggles in Christianity, throughout history; finding where you end, and God begins, and how you can submit to His will and His plan for you without going absolutely bonkers. But, discussion of submitting to an abusive partner on a feminist blog is waving a red flag in front of a bull, so it’s no surprise there was a great heaping on of “Evil religion! Religion is evil! What you believe is stupid!” regardless of nuance.

What really got to me, however, was a Poster who threw out there that people who were “atheist, pagan, and those of the eastern disciplines” were not nearly as stupid as you stupid Christians, moron.

This stuck in my craw a little bit, the suggestion that not religions, but ONLY Western and modern religions are sexist and moronic. When I took Religion 101 in college, I found it fascinating that Buddhism, that oh-so-hip religion of choice for Western yuppies, up until very recently, simply claimed women could not achieve enlightenment. Sexism exists in all religions… in all societies, too.

Let’s take Japan as an example (mostly cause I’m living here and deeply interested in Japanese anthropology.) There was a big “incident” at a sumo tournament, I think a few months back. Sumo is considered a secular sport, but the rituals surrounding it are steeped in Shinto… the pouring of rice, the purification of the ring. Before the start of the tournament, a woman ran up and touched the ring… just touched it. This was viewed as a contamination, and the entire ring had to be rebuilt. They’re so strict about this ancient tradition, a female governor of Osaka wasn’t allowed to give out the prizes for the sumo bout, and had to acquiesce to a lower male colleague. (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSHAR05789320070920)

It’s pretty easy to dismiss this sexism, however (she can become an elected political official but she comes anywhere near our sacred rice ring…) as sumo is a sport steeped in traditional practices, one that damage males as well (check out the life expectancy on sumo wrestlers sometime.) But it isn’t just a sport focused around big guys in diapers that demonstrates sexism is alive and well in Japan.

In 1998, the Prime Minister conducted a small survey of 4500 women in the Tokyo area. One third of the women reported an experience of domestic violence, and five percent reported they were in fear of imminent death. This was a fairly small sample number and in a very specific location, but it’s an alarming number, especially since the Broadsheets give no numbers at all on how many Christian women are abused under Saddleback policy. That it was even a surprise to Japanese government officials is even more alarming-they finally pulled out a prevention law in 2001. Domestic abuse has been a hot button topic in the States since the 80’s. (I can’t say for earlier, as I was not born, but I definitely remember the public service commercials and talks we’d get in elementary school.) (http://tokyoprogressive.org.uk/gale/articles/dv-in-japan.html)

Another thing that got me thinking about domestic abuse and sexism in Japan was a TV show. Yes, a TV show, which is not very scholarly, but if TV isn’t an insight into a culture’s brain, it’s a darn good candidate. The TV show is based on a manga, 花より男子, published in 1992. The story is of a poor girl who attends a wealthy and prestigious high school, controlled by F4, a gang of uber rich pretty boys who run the school and declare war on the girl after she insults them.

I’m usually a sucker for these kinds of romance stories, love born out of hate, social and class strife, yadda yadda. I enjoy the TV show quite a lot, however… it is markedly more alarming than the manga in how it portrays the relationship between the girl, and her unwilling love interest, the leader of the F4. In the manga, she defies him and he spreads rumors, pretty typical high school drama antics.

In the TV show released in 2005, however, the leader (before he gains any real romantic feelings for her) is so determined to see her drop out from humiliation he comes close to ordering a hit on her. In one particularly shocking scene, minions of his drag her into an abandoned classroom and begin to rip the buttons off her uniform with the intent of gang rape. She’s saved only by the intervention of another F4 member. In another scene, the leader says he will call off the war (in the midst of students beating her and her friend with chalk erasers) if she gets down on her knees and licks his shoe.

Fortunately, that’s the worst of it in Season 1, but my unease with the show lingers. The leader isn’t just an anti-hero kind of romantic interest; he is down and out a villain. She eventually comes around to liking him as well, but the “why ever for” reasons are a bit mysterious-his qualities seem to be his insistence on dating her, and that he punched some guy who called her ugly and hurt her friend’s feelings.

Even more strangely is the portrayal of the main character. She’s not a weak willed or timid little flower. Her first insult to the leader of F4 was punching him in the face. She’s outspoken, holds down her own job, and is concerned for her family. She is very much a girl modern feminists would approve of.

So why is the love relationship so antiquated?

I can’t say whether this is a trend or just this particular TV show. I’ve watched precious few other Japanese dramas. The only other romantic show I’ve watched, のだめカンタービレ is also a love story, though there’s just as strong a love between characters and music as there is among themselves. It’s a bit more cartoony, and the guy is the unwilling participant in the love affair this time around, but the male protagonist is yet again cast as brooding, and while cartoony, violent towards the female love interest. (Scenes include him throwing her across the room when she isn’t focusing on practice hard enough.)

My question is, Japan is a country fairly devoid of the “Christian” morals that influence Western, and especially American, society. How has this changed or altered their view of domestic abuse, and are they better off or hindered for their lack of religious fundamentalism, if religion is indeed the catalyst to domestic abuse (as Broadsheeters claim)? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I think it’s an interesting thing to discuss.

They

Who made up all the rules, we follow them like fools

Believe them to be true, don't care to think them through.

And I'm sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry it's like this.

I'm sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry we do this.

And it's ironic too, cuz what we tend to do

is act on what they say and then it is that way.

Who are they and where are they

and how can they possibly know all this?

Do you see what I see? Why do we live like this?

Is it because it's true that ignorance is bliss?

~Watched "Stranger Than Fiction" last night, and got to wondering. We're all characters in our own little lives, but how accurately do we see our world? If we had a narrator following us around, would we have our own "Little does he know..." moments? Are we the comic relief, the plunky hero, or are we really Harold Crick, Michael Scott? How much do we trust other beings when we have no real way of judging their real intentions? The people who seem to pick up friends like I pick up lint-do they know some secret I don't, are they impervious to distrust, or do they simply not care about emotional osmosis? They erect their walls deep inside, and only the barest of feeling travels from them to others? 

Let's say we all had our own narrator following us around-let's be real literal and call it our conscience. Should we trust them... or are they leading us to our doom? Or even if they are.... if there's a just God, then we must all have a purpose, and maybe our ultimate end doesn't seem grim, but poetic, and brave.  

Crazy English Sentences

It's an unproven fact that kids will learn when they're interested. Below, I've collected a few examples of the times when my students English has been absurdly good. 

• "Yes We Can." 
• The Obama craze hit Japan a little later than in America (as in, during the November election, I'd estimate only 35% of my students knew anything about President Obama beyond his name.) Suddenly, his slogan is popping up everywhere-everywhere! I hear it in the halls, inserted randomly into Japanese sentences. Students love exclaiming it to me across crowded classrooms. Today I even heard it on the train. Don't know where it's coming from, but I'll take what English I can get. 

• "Do you have a boyfriend?"
• Gosh do they love this one. Students who will not speak English to me otherwise will put out this perfectly pronounced and phrased sentence. 

• "Fuzzy Wuzzy"
• Today, my JTE finished class with about 10 unplanned minutes left, so she turned to me and said," All right, what should we do?" After "uhhing" for a minute or so, I pulled out my favorite tongue twister and called the class to a speech contest. Students delighted in "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy was he?" even before my JTE explained the meaning in Japanese. Students willingly spoke in class, even came up after class to try their hand at it.

Just thought I'd share!  

One of Those Rare Days I'm Glad Some Students Don't Get English

The flu, or “influenza” is starting to invade SoFF. Today, a whopping 15% of students were missing, most of them gone due to fever, coughing, etc.

If I haven’t mentioned before, the classrooms in my schools aren’t heated. The teacher’s room is (haHA!) but not the classrooms. The weather doesn’t SEEM to bad... outside, and wearing my jacket, I’d say it was similar to early spring in Wisconsin (the wind even smells like it.) Yet somehow the school itself is bitterly cold.

Anyway, the school nurse’s prescription for avoiding the flu is to wear a face mask, and!-open ALL the windows in between classes. Supposedly it’s to circulate fresh air into the room and get rid of germs, but I’m not sure as to its effectiveness. All I know is that it magically erases all the body heat that had just spent 50 minutes building in the room.

 

Today during cleaning time, the three stooges appeared-Above It Boy, Shortie, and the Side kick. They started impersonating me, pretty normal state of affairs.

It took me a few minutes, but after a while I realized that Sidekick kept asking what “creepy” meant. When I just shrugged and went back to sweeping, he tried a new tactic to find out.

“You are creepy!”

It took a split second before I replied,” Thank you!” cheerfully.

This left the Stooges utterly baffled, since I think they probably understood it to be some sort of insult. But hey, if years from now, they say it to some pretty gaijin they want to actually like them, and the girl throws a drink their face, I will have my sweet, sweet revenge for all of their English class antics.