Today, I give you the second part of my set of lists on what the American and Japanese school systems can learn from each other. This time, it’s the Americans’ turn to show off as I present the top three things that the Japanese can learn from us. Just a warning, a lot of this is going to read as me pointing out the systems faults rather than suggesting ways to improve it. This is because I hold the American education system in rather low esteem. Therefore, I’m holding the ideals of the American system up rather than the practices.
1. Question Everything! I have been teaching here for over a year and I have never had a student ask a question in class. Not because they didn’t have questions, but because it is not considered appropriate to ask questions in class. This fits into the Japanese philosophy of the group being more important than the individual. A student should not inconvenience the rest of the group or the teacher by asking questions and thus disrupting class.
This clashes with the American system significantly. I was always taught that it is impossible to learn if you do not ask questions. Besides, if one kid has the guts to ask for clarification on a problem, it is almost certain that 7 to 10 other children in that classroom will have the same problem. Also, students that question stand as an eternal challenge to the teacher, and not in a disrespectful way, because the teacher must truly know their subject so they can answer any question a student might as. This improves the quality of the learning and the teaching at the same time.
What I believe the Japanese system should do is to encourage the students to ask more questions in class. This one change does not put the group philosophy at risk because there are a thousand other things that reinforce it such as aiming for a 30 student class when the school has the room and manpower to have 25 or less. The best summary of the Japanese system I’ve ever heard is, “School is where we first learn that we are a fraction.” This generally good philosophy isn’t going away anytime soon.
2. Make Them Work For It: Remember spelling tests? Those horrible wastes of time from elementary school? Now imagine an entire curriculum based around them. That is a Japanese middle school. It is a regular practice to hand out a worksheet to students a week before an exam. The exam will then consist of the same material virtually word for word. Even better, the students are given class time to do the worksheet and (once that time has expired) they are given the ANSWER SHEET! The idea is that the student will do the worksheet and then self correct. Repeat until the child can do it in their sleep. . .
. . . and now for reality. The students don’t bother trying to do the worksheet on their own because they know the teacher will do it for them by giving them the answers. As a result, they only fill in the form when they know it’s going to be graded and spent the extra time they’ve “earned” doodling, texting on their cell phones, or sleeping (more on that later). The end result is a disturbingly large number of students fail tests to which they have literally been handed the answers.
Possible solution? Again, the answer is a mixture of the two systems. I like the idea of the students having the right answers in front of them when they study because you know they aren’t memorizing the wrong information. However, the students also need the chance to apply what they have learned. In most cases, this is done by puzzling out problems. If the students are just copying the answers to the worksheet, they are not engaged and won’t store that information in their long term memories. Besides, if more is done to keep the students engaged (and please note the difference between “keep them engaged” and “school must be fun”) their performance should improve.
3. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the thing that took me the longest to get used to, students sleeping in class and getting away with it. In America, falling asleep in class is seen as a serious sign of disrespect to the teacher and is not tolerated. Here, I see it every day and while it isn’t encouraged, it is tolerated far too much. Physical presence in the room is not the same thing as learning. If the students are napping, they are getting exactly zilch out of the class. (I would also like to take this moment to congratulate myself on using the word “zilch” in conversation)
This isn’t the fault of the students or the teachers. In fact, it is the same problem that has been plaguing the US system as of late. Students are overworked and under rested. Students arrive at school before 8am. Since almost all students walk or bike to school, they have to be awake much earlier. Many students don’t get out of school until 6 or 7pm. Many then go to Juku (cram school) for another couple of hours and don7t get home before 10pm. Then they start their homework. According to my student’s responses during a “What time did you _______ last night?” English lesson, going to bed after 1am is the norm. That means they are working on 5 hours sleep at the most.
Again, this fits the Japanese workaholic philosophy. In a country where giving 80 hours a week to your company is standard and taking a vacation day is virtually a crime, it makes sense that the school system would prepare the students for that kind of lifestyle. That doesn’t mean it’s healthy. I see the lifelessness in these kids’ eyes and it scares me. I don’t know what the best way to combat this is, but the best I can think of is the cut out the Juku.
It is becoming a mainstream school of thought that all the actual academic learning happens at Juku and the real school is all about social skills, discipline, and club activities. If the system can find a way to eliminate the Juku and put more emphasis on the main schooling, then that would cut several hours a week out of the students’ schedules and give them more time to rest. It. Will. Never. Happen. The Juku industry makes way too much money and the idea that “if my kid doesn’t go to Juku then they will be at a disadvantage!” will never get out of the parents heads. There are similar attitudes in the states and it always comes down to the wrong perspective. The parents worry about what they want (MY child) rather than what is best for the child (HIS/HER education and future). Not to say that these things are mutually exclusive, but it is better to focus on the later than the former.
I could go on for pages about the Juku system, and I might in another post. In summation, the there biggest things the Japanese can learn from the ideal American school system are:
1. Let them ask questions.
2. Don’t just give them the answers.
3. Wake the kids up.
Is I did last time; here is the list of changes that didn’t make the cut because they had absolutely no chance of success: sex ed, effort or improvement based grades in PE, and train the kids to be creative. As you can see, it’s a much shorter list that the one I had last time. The Japanese system has fewer flaws in my mind, but those it does have are huge and serious. I’m also weary of writing this in the first place because of the risk that I will try to impose my cultural values on another country. I’ve been trained and raised better than that, but the chance to do it is still there.
It’s a thin line to walk . . . the path of the wanderer.
(That was an awesome line)
Hit Count (not the number of people I have been paid to kill)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Lessons to be learned
I realize that this blog was supposed to be about my experiences in Japan and most of what I’ve written about has been political. It’s time to get this thing on track. The next two posts will be a partial list of things that I thing the American and Japanese systems can learn from each other. Today, what the Americans can learn from the Japanese.
1. Seisou: Pronounced say so, this is a set period of the day, (usually after lunch or the last thing of the day) where the students clean the school. The students are split into groups and assigned an area of the school to clean, supervised by a teacher. The students are armed with dust mops (essentially over sized swiffers), brooms, dustpans, and damp hand towels. Other groups also clean the bathrooms and the first floor windows. Due to the danger involved, adult janitors clean the windows on the second floor and higher. The duty roster is rotated weekly so that students get a verity of experiences . . . and only have to clean the toilets once every few months. Seisou typically lasts about 10-20 minutes.
I believe American schools should implement a similar program immediately. The start up costs might worry some districts because the schools would have to buy the cleaning supplies. But in the long term this will actually save the school money because A) they might be able to cut a janitor and B) the school will be less likely to have to clean up after major messes once the students are conditioned to think “If I make a mess, I have to clean it up.” Or “If I make a mess, my classmates have to clean it up and then they will be pissed at me over it.” The schools will also have to rework their schedules to allow 10 to 20 minutes a day for this, but that shouldn’t be too hard.
I can hear the American parents complaining already. “That’s the janitor’s job!” “It’s not fun.” “You are NOT teaching my child to be a janitor!!” No, we’re teaching your child to clean up after themselves, work within a group, and to respect public property by not making a mess in the first place. Got a problem with that?
Of course, the biggest obstacle would be the students, who would flat out refuse to do this. Since there is no real system of punishment in American schools (another issue entirely) the teachers have no way to force the students to do anything.
2. School Lunch: American school lunches are a disgrace! Burgers, fries, coke, pizza, and “food” that is so full of chemicals that you can’t even tell what it’s supposed to be. (What part of the chicken is a “nugget” anyway?) No wonder we are known around the world for our legendary waistlines. The Japanese have this crazy concept that since children have this one meal a day that the school provides, it should be as healthy as humanly possible.
The typical Japanese school lunch consists of a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup or stew, a salad, a protein item, and a box of milk. About 65% of the time the rice is plain but will occasionally be served with other foods or flavorings mixed in. The soup is usually a vegetable soup or a mix of vegetables and meat. The salad is usually a cold salad with little or no dressing. The protein is usually grilled, baked, or fried fish but will occasionally be a meat item instead. Roughly once a week, a desert is served. Every so often they mix up the menu and will have ramen day, bread & cream soup day, sushi day, etc. The average calorie count is 725kcal at the middle school level and 675kcal at elementary school.
These lunches are prepared at the district’s Lunch Center, a HUGE professional kitchen with a staff of 15 to 20 depending on the size of the district. From there, the fresh food is trucked to the schools daily. A great deal of time, money, and research is put into making the school lunch as nutritional as possible.
School lunch is compulsory and is free to elementary school students while the middle school and older must pay $30 a month. Many schools have alternate programs to deal with families who can’t pay.
Again, this is something we need to start doing and something the parents and schools will never stand for. The main reason: Yes, it’s expensive. However, it actually costs more to the students under today’s system. When I was in high school, the hot lunch cost between $2 and $2.50 a day. With a $30 fee for a month, that’s a dollar a day at most. The thing I see most parents complaining about is making school lunch mandatory. “You’re stealing our children’s freedom of choice!” No, we are trying to teach them healthy eating habits and save you time and money in the process. Got a problem with that?
3. Break Homework: Yeah, this is never going to happen. Japanese students have a packet of home work that they have to do over all of the major school breaks. Typically, it’s a packet of worksheets that review material from the previous semester and prepares them for the next. Since it is all but assumed that students will put this off until the last minute, this gives them a chance to refresh their memories right before they are dropped back into a full school schedule. Considering that American school take the “treatment is better that prevention” method and spend the first month or two of every school year re teaching what came the year before, this is probably the best idea of the bunch.
Other ideas that didn’t make this list because I know they would never fly in an American public school: School uniforms, 220 day school year, physical discipline, and home visits by teachers.
Stay tuned for the opposite side of the scale, things that the Americans can learn from the Japanese.
1. Seisou: Pronounced say so, this is a set period of the day, (usually after lunch or the last thing of the day) where the students clean the school. The students are split into groups and assigned an area of the school to clean, supervised by a teacher. The students are armed with dust mops (essentially over sized swiffers), brooms, dustpans, and damp hand towels. Other groups also clean the bathrooms and the first floor windows. Due to the danger involved, adult janitors clean the windows on the second floor and higher. The duty roster is rotated weekly so that students get a verity of experiences . . . and only have to clean the toilets once every few months. Seisou typically lasts about 10-20 minutes.
I believe American schools should implement a similar program immediately. The start up costs might worry some districts because the schools would have to buy the cleaning supplies. But in the long term this will actually save the school money because A) they might be able to cut a janitor and B) the school will be less likely to have to clean up after major messes once the students are conditioned to think “If I make a mess, I have to clean it up.” Or “If I make a mess, my classmates have to clean it up and then they will be pissed at me over it.” The schools will also have to rework their schedules to allow 10 to 20 minutes a day for this, but that shouldn’t be too hard.
I can hear the American parents complaining already. “That’s the janitor’s job!” “It’s not fun.” “You are NOT teaching my child to be a janitor!!” No, we’re teaching your child to clean up after themselves, work within a group, and to respect public property by not making a mess in the first place. Got a problem with that?
Of course, the biggest obstacle would be the students, who would flat out refuse to do this. Since there is no real system of punishment in American schools (another issue entirely) the teachers have no way to force the students to do anything.
2. School Lunch: American school lunches are a disgrace! Burgers, fries, coke, pizza, and “food” that is so full of chemicals that you can’t even tell what it’s supposed to be. (What part of the chicken is a “nugget” anyway?) No wonder we are known around the world for our legendary waistlines. The Japanese have this crazy concept that since children have this one meal a day that the school provides, it should be as healthy as humanly possible.
The typical Japanese school lunch consists of a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup or stew, a salad, a protein item, and a box of milk. About 65% of the time the rice is plain but will occasionally be served with other foods or flavorings mixed in. The soup is usually a vegetable soup or a mix of vegetables and meat. The salad is usually a cold salad with little or no dressing. The protein is usually grilled, baked, or fried fish but will occasionally be a meat item instead. Roughly once a week, a desert is served. Every so often they mix up the menu and will have ramen day, bread & cream soup day, sushi day, etc. The average calorie count is 725kcal at the middle school level and 675kcal at elementary school.
These lunches are prepared at the district’s Lunch Center, a HUGE professional kitchen with a staff of 15 to 20 depending on the size of the district. From there, the fresh food is trucked to the schools daily. A great deal of time, money, and research is put into making the school lunch as nutritional as possible.
School lunch is compulsory and is free to elementary school students while the middle school and older must pay $30 a month. Many schools have alternate programs to deal with families who can’t pay.
Again, this is something we need to start doing and something the parents and schools will never stand for. The main reason: Yes, it’s expensive. However, it actually costs more to the students under today’s system. When I was in high school, the hot lunch cost between $2 and $2.50 a day. With a $30 fee for a month, that’s a dollar a day at most. The thing I see most parents complaining about is making school lunch mandatory. “You’re stealing our children’s freedom of choice!” No, we are trying to teach them healthy eating habits and save you time and money in the process. Got a problem with that?
3. Break Homework: Yeah, this is never going to happen. Japanese students have a packet of home work that they have to do over all of the major school breaks. Typically, it’s a packet of worksheets that review material from the previous semester and prepares them for the next. Since it is all but assumed that students will put this off until the last minute, this gives them a chance to refresh their memories right before they are dropped back into a full school schedule. Considering that American school take the “treatment is better that prevention” method and spend the first month or two of every school year re teaching what came the year before, this is probably the best idea of the bunch.
Other ideas that didn’t make this list because I know they would never fly in an American public school: School uniforms, 220 day school year, physical discipline, and home visits by teachers.
Stay tuned for the opposite side of the scale, things that the Americans can learn from the Japanese.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Soiling my childhood.
Before I begin, I should remind the reader that I am a proud Military Brat. I grew up on international Air Force bases. I love the American military because I understand it at a level that people who have never been associated with the armed forces, whether in uniform or not, can't understand. That said, I can no longer remain silent.
Fredrick Douglass once said, "A patriot is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse it's sins." It is in that definition of patriotism that I read with a heavy heart yet another example of crimes committed by American servicemen against Japanese citizens. These are not minor crimes either, I'm talking about theft, rape, gang rape, and murder. Not a month goes by that another of these stories doesn't hit the news cycle. It's always the same. An enlisted man gets drunk and then does something so mind buggeringly stupid that it damages a 60 year old political and military alliance. It's been going on for years but the most recent dust up started about 11 months ago when a marine allegedly raped a 14 year old girl. Although the case was later dropped, reportedly because the parents didn't want to put their daughter through the ordeal of a trial, accusation is the same as conviction in the court of public opinion (and too frequently in the Japanese legal system) and so the damage was done. Today's story was about a naval petty officer who allegedly stabbed a 61-year old Japanese taxi driver to death.
I understand that this has received little or no coverage in the US news media. Considering the current political climate, that is understandable if not excusable. I can provide links to sources for these stories if it is requested in the comment section.
That's it for the reporting, now for the commentary:
What the hell happened to the military I grew up in? More specifically, what the hell happened to the discipline and training that made us the envy of the world? The people who have allegedly committed these crimes, guilty or not, have brought shame and dishonor down upon a worldwide organization. When you put on that uniform, you become a part of something bigger than yourself and your successes and failures, professional or personal, reflect on that group.
I preface this next statement with the following: I have never gone through basic training for any branch, nor do I intend to and it has been over a decade since I was a part of military life. Last I checked, the group connection that I spoke of in the previous paragraph was the first thing taught to the recruits. That's also why Conduct Unbecoming a (insert name of branch here) has been an offense meriting discharge since time immemorial. Regardless of whether or not the military justice system throws the book to them, the men involved in these crimes clearly didn't get the message and the armed forces will be better without them.
I believe that this is a symptom of a larger problem. Specifically, the current state of recruitment practices. Understandably enough, war time is when recruitment rates in an all volunteer army falls like a stone. Considering that our forces are being stretched way too thin at the moment, we need all the men and women we can get. Therefore, all branches have been forced to drastically drop recruitment requirements in order to meet quotas. This includes a lower passing bar on intelligence and psychological testing and a willingness to permit those with criminal backgrounds to train with firearms. If this sounds like anything but a bad idea then you need reading lessons.
When you take dumb, psychologically unsound, former criminals, put them in uniform, arm them, and force them to face the fact that death is a real possibility for the immediate future, you are asking for trouble. Add to that the fact that many of the younger enlisted men and officers see military service as the world's greatest frat house (an image the USMC seems to actively encourage) and you have a recipe for disaster. The people who fight for our country, who we trust billions of dollars of equipment to, need to be the best and brightest and not the lowest common denominator.
After all this, I still hate to say anything against the military. But when a culture that you
love (and that's what the military is, a culture all its own) is under siege, then you have to say something. I started this post with a quote, so I'll end with one.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." --Mark Twain
Fredrick Douglass once said, "A patriot is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse it's sins." It is in that definition of patriotism that I read with a heavy heart yet another example of crimes committed by American servicemen against Japanese citizens. These are not minor crimes either, I'm talking about theft, rape, gang rape, and murder. Not a month goes by that another of these stories doesn't hit the news cycle. It's always the same. An enlisted man gets drunk and then does something so mind buggeringly stupid that it damages a 60 year old political and military alliance. It's been going on for years but the most recent dust up started about 11 months ago when a marine allegedly raped a 14 year old girl. Although the case was later dropped, reportedly because the parents didn't want to put their daughter through the ordeal of a trial, accusation is the same as conviction in the court of public opinion (and too frequently in the Japanese legal system) and so the damage was done. Today's story was about a naval petty officer who allegedly stabbed a 61-year old Japanese taxi driver to death.
I understand that this has received little or no coverage in the US news media. Considering the current political climate, that is understandable if not excusable. I can provide links to sources for these stories if it is requested in the comment section.
That's it for the reporting, now for the commentary:
What the hell happened to the military I grew up in? More specifically, what the hell happened to the discipline and training that made us the envy of the world? The people who have allegedly committed these crimes, guilty or not, have brought shame and dishonor down upon a worldwide organization. When you put on that uniform, you become a part of something bigger than yourself and your successes and failures, professional or personal, reflect on that group.
I preface this next statement with the following: I have never gone through basic training for any branch, nor do I intend to and it has been over a decade since I was a part of military life. Last I checked, the group connection that I spoke of in the previous paragraph was the first thing taught to the recruits. That's also why Conduct Unbecoming a (insert name of branch here) has been an offense meriting discharge since time immemorial. Regardless of whether or not the military justice system throws the book to them, the men involved in these crimes clearly didn't get the message and the armed forces will be better without them.
I believe that this is a symptom of a larger problem. Specifically, the current state of recruitment practices. Understandably enough, war time is when recruitment rates in an all volunteer army falls like a stone. Considering that our forces are being stretched way too thin at the moment, we need all the men and women we can get. Therefore, all branches have been forced to drastically drop recruitment requirements in order to meet quotas. This includes a lower passing bar on intelligence and psychological testing and a willingness to permit those with criminal backgrounds to train with firearms. If this sounds like anything but a bad idea then you need reading lessons.
When you take dumb, psychologically unsound, former criminals, put them in uniform, arm them, and force them to face the fact that death is a real possibility for the immediate future, you are asking for trouble. Add to that the fact that many of the younger enlisted men and officers see military service as the world's greatest frat house (an image the USMC seems to actively encourage) and you have a recipe for disaster. The people who fight for our country, who we trust billions of dollars of equipment to, need to be the best and brightest and not the lowest common denominator.
After all this, I still hate to say anything against the military. But when a culture that you
love (and that's what the military is, a culture all its own) is under siege, then you have to say something. I started this post with a quote, so I'll end with one.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." --Mark Twain
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Obama speech reaction
I'm back after yet another long absence and this time I am not making any delusions of regular updates. You get what you get and that's all that you get (cha cha cha). This time it is my reaction to the Philadelphia speech of Barack Obama. This is my immediate reaction upon seeing the speech on YouTube. This was originally a letter to my parents presented with only minor edits for anonymity. If it sounds like I am stealing material from Countdown with Keith Olbermann, that's because I am.
I just watched the the latest Obama speech and wow! I just wanted to give voice to my immediate reactions. Incidentally, I am writing this before I see the reaction on Countdown so I am not copying from anyone, this is all me.
I've come to the conclusion that if Barack Obama is not elected to the office of President of the United States, I will never return to that country save to visit family. If the American people don't elect this man then there is no reason to ever return long term. He has said absolutely everything correctly and the country will be severely, if not irreparably, damaged if he is not elected.
Some of the views that he expressed in his speech, specifically the ideas that racial tension is connected to deeper problems that can and should be easily addressed are the similar (although far more elegantly spoken) to the ones that nearly got me run out of several college classes before I learned to shut the heck up. Furthermore, I have been nearly and actually beaten in the past for daring to suggest that the United States is not yet a perfect country and that there are more steps to be taken. To hear a presidential candidate express those same views and making the excellent point that the entire system is in place to make those very much needed steps possible is inspiring. "This union may never be perfect . . . but it can always be perfected."
It is Obama's use of quotations that impresses me almost as much as anything else. I have been criticized in the past for using the Constitution to back up my political opinions and for proclaiming that the values of the Christian faith (and the Catholics more specifically) are based on acceptance, forgiveness, and love rather than "There is only one correct answer, my way or the highway." Obama did both in this speech and it truly inspired me in a way that no public figure of my lifetime has. Admittedly, the speakings (a more apt description than speeches) of the current president have invoked equally strong reactions from me, those mostly involve amusingly shaped dents in the wall and the consumption of aspirin.
All of this is not to say that the speech was devoid of political strategic moves. His use of bible quotes and his religion, aside from being an obvious topic for the speech, did have the effect of flashing a large neon sign over the back of the Senator's head that said "I am Christian!" That said, he worked it into the speech so well that is didn't feel like being hit on the head with a cross shaped mallet. It reminded me of a public speaking course that I was required to take at WSU (easiest A of my life by the way). The textbook held up Former President Clinton as an example of what to do when giving a speech. It is inevitable that future editions of such texts will hold Obama in that place.
Toward the end of his speech, I experienced what can only be described as an "Edu-gasm" after the comments that every school and every student is everyone's problem. If Stephen Cobert wants to use the word edu-gasm on his show, then he had better be ready to pay for it.
In conclusion, there can no longer be any doubt about which of the current field of candidates is best suited to hold the office of President of the United States. I know there are many, even within my own family, who may disagree with me. To them I say: I'm sorry, but you are wrong. Others will say that I am over reacting by saying that I don't want to come back to the US with out President Obama in office. To them I say: You're probably right. However, at this specific point in time, Sen. Obama appears to be the best and possibly last chance to fix my country. In the past, it has been said during poor administrations that America will always survive. If we don't make some serious changes to our nation, government, and way of thinking, then will the spirit of America survive? "Not this time."
Thank you for your patience during this rant. Please remember that this was written fairly late at night, but I stand by every word of it. If it makes you feel better, imagine me throwing my script at the camera and breaking the screen.
This has been Ryu Sensei on this, the 365th day since my arrival in Japan. Good morning, and good God I need to go to bed.
I just watched the the latest Obama speech and wow! I just wanted to give voice to my immediate reactions. Incidentally, I am writing this before I see the reaction on Countdown so I am not copying from anyone, this is all me.
I've come to the conclusion that if Barack Obama is not elected to the office of President of the United States, I will never return to that country save to visit family. If the American people don't elect this man then there is no reason to ever return long term. He has said absolutely everything correctly and the country will be severely, if not irreparably, damaged if he is not elected.
Some of the views that he expressed in his speech, specifically the ideas that racial tension is connected to deeper problems that can and should be easily addressed are the similar (although far more elegantly spoken) to the ones that nearly got me run out of several college classes before I learned to shut the heck up. Furthermore, I have been nearly and actually beaten in the past for daring to suggest that the United States is not yet a perfect country and that there are more steps to be taken. To hear a presidential candidate express those same views and making the excellent point that the entire system is in place to make those very much needed steps possible is inspiring. "This union may never be perfect . . . but it can always be perfected."
It is Obama's use of quotations that impresses me almost as much as anything else. I have been criticized in the past for using the Constitution to back up my political opinions and for proclaiming that the values of the Christian faith (and the Catholics more specifically) are based on acceptance, forgiveness, and love rather than "There is only one correct answer, my way or the highway." Obama did both in this speech and it truly inspired me in a way that no public figure of my lifetime has. Admittedly, the speakings (a more apt description than speeches) of the current president have invoked equally strong reactions from me, those mostly involve amusingly shaped dents in the wall and the consumption of aspirin.
All of this is not to say that the speech was devoid of political strategic moves. His use of bible quotes and his religion, aside from being an obvious topic for the speech, did have the effect of flashing a large neon sign over the back of the Senator's head that said "I am Christian!" That said, he worked it into the speech so well that is didn't feel like being hit on the head with a cross shaped mallet. It reminded me of a public speaking course that I was required to take at WSU (easiest A of my life by the way). The textbook held up Former President Clinton as an example of what to do when giving a speech. It is inevitable that future editions of such texts will hold Obama in that place.
Toward the end of his speech, I experienced what can only be described as an "Edu-gasm" after the comments that every school and every student is everyone's problem. If Stephen Cobert wants to use the word edu-gasm on his show, then he had better be ready to pay for it.
In conclusion, there can no longer be any doubt about which of the current field of candidates is best suited to hold the office of President of the United States. I know there are many, even within my own family, who may disagree with me. To them I say: I'm sorry, but you are wrong. Others will say that I am over reacting by saying that I don't want to come back to the US with out President Obama in office. To them I say: You're probably right. However, at this specific point in time, Sen. Obama appears to be the best and possibly last chance to fix my country. In the past, it has been said during poor administrations that America will always survive. If we don't make some serious changes to our nation, government, and way of thinking, then will the spirit of America survive? "Not this time."
Thank you for your patience during this rant. Please remember that this was written fairly late at night, but I stand by every word of it. If it makes you feel better, imagine me throwing my script at the camera and breaking the screen.
This has been Ryu Sensei on this, the 365th day since my arrival in Japan. Good morning, and good God I need to go to bed.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Tanabata, the Star Festival
This past Saturday (7/7) Japan celebrated Tanabata, the Star Festival. It’s a summer festival that revolves around the myth of Orihime and Hikiboshi. The story is as follows. Please note that this is not a cut and paste, but my own telling.
In the time of the Gods, there lived a beautiful maiden named Orihime whose name means Weaving Princess. She was the daughter of Tenkou, the Sky King, and spent her days weaving the most eloquent cloth by the banks of the Amanaogawa, the River of Heaven. Her only sorrow was that her work took so much of her time, that she had no chance to meet and fall in love with anyone.
Her father, Tenkou, was concerned for his daughter and arranged for Orihime to meet a shepherd named Hikiboshi, the Cow Herding Star, who worked on the other side of the Amanaogawa. It was love at first sight, and the couple was shortly married. All the stars of heaven danced at their wedding.
Sadly, their happiness was short lived. While the couple spent all of their time together, they neglected their duties. Orihime no longer wove her fabulous cloth and Hikiboshi let his cattle run wild. Enraged at such sloth from his children, Tenkou banished them to opposite sides of the Amanaogawa and destroyed the only bridge over the mighty rapids. Thus it appeared that the lovers would be separated for all eternity.
Orihime fell into deep despair and was prepared to hurl herself into the river when a flock of enormous birds surrounded Orihime and begged to know what the matter was. After hearing the sad tale, the birds agreed to form a living bridge across the river so that the lovers may meet. The plan was successful and Orihime and Hikiboshi rejoiced.
Naturally, it was not long before Tenkou caught wind of this. Furious that his orders had been disobeyed, Tenkou was about to exterminate the entire flock of birds when Orihime threw herself at her father’s feet and begged his mercy and forgiveness. Her words touched Tenkou and he spared the birds, but he could not stand to lose face by fully recanting his previous punishment. The sky king decreed that the birds may return one day a year to create the bridge and permit the lovers to meet.
This one day is the seventh day of the seventh month of the year, July 7th, the Tanabata festival. However, if it rains, the birds will be too wet to fly and form the bridge, so the people pray for good weather. This year, for example, the weather was perfect! So the star crossed (literally, the river is the Milky Way) were able to meet.
That’s the story. The other major tradition is for people to write wishes on slips of paper and tie them to a bamboo tree. This has no connection whatsoever to the previous story. The only link is the fact that the word “Hoshi” can mean “star” or “wish” depending on which kanji you use.
My school had a tree set up for the students to use. As you might imagine, the wishes were an even split between wanting a Nintendo Wii and a sh904i cell phone (the thing the iPhone wants to be when it grows up) and wishing to be the best at a particular sport.
Anywhere you go, kids are kids. I'll leave you with that thought.
So, happy belated Tanabata everyone.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Way Back Track 3: To HQ
Temporal Coordinates set for the last week of March 2007. Nicely done Sherman, good boy.
Today, we’re taking a look back at RyuSensei’s move from the training grounds of Narita to his full time base of operations in Niigata Prefecture. The first problem came when I woke up and realized that I would have to haul all of my earthly possession (in two VERY large bags, plus backpack, plus laptop) on to a tiny bus, through several train stations, and Lord knows what else.
The good news was that when I arrived at the hotel lobby, we were all told that we could mail some of our stuff ahead and that it would be at our apartments the following day. That’s the glory of a federally regulated and funded post office. It would have been nice to know this before having a mild panic attack over how I was going to get all my stuff from point A to point B, but that’s life. Interesting side note, one of the ALT’s that I trained with is from Canada and he refused to mail either his snowboard or his hockey sticks claiming that to do so would tarnish his sense of national pride.
Anyway, after cramming the whole gang into a bus that was clearly designed for far fewer people with far less stuff and who are preferably several inches smaller, add the “there's always room for one more” philosophy that permeates Japanese public transportation, and you have a rather unpleasant beginning to an unpleasant trip. But we were underway none the less.
The next phase of the adventure involved all 30 of us on the train from Narita to Tokyo Central Station, from which we would split up and depart for our assignments. That got a few stares from the locals, but not as many as you might imagine. This was still Tokyo and a gaggle of gaijin is not an uncommon sight, especially near the airport. The minor miracle was that no one was separated from the group during the trip. Japanese trains are very precise machines and the doors stay open for only a few seconds at any given station. If you aren't paying attention, the doors will close on you before you even realize that you are at your station.
Those of us destined for Niigata boarded the Shinkansen, the bullet train, for the next leg of our journey. This is where it gets fun! Please note the sarcasm in my keystrokes. You see, my company had bought us the tickets, but had failed to mention that the train was over booked and our bottom ranked tickets got us in the door, but did not guarantee seats. So we had to stand, but not in such a way that blocked the aisle. What is the solution to this you may ask? That's right, the toilet. A two hour, cross country, $115, train ride . . . standing in the open area of the bathroom car holding our luggage and periodically playing twister so that people could actually use the facilities. We managed to keep ourselves entertained by commandeering a sink and setting up someones laptop to play DVDs and by switching off access to the one porthole style window (as opposed to the huge window in the normal cars). Let me repeat: 2 HOURS!!!
Once we actually arrived at Niigata station, we me our coordinators. These are company employees that are supposed to help us find our way around town, act as translator for important meetings, and generally help us get settled. Now we are all tired and stiff from the uncomfortable trip, not to mention hot as the toilet car is not air conditioned, and each lugging bags that had up to 1-3 times our bodyweight (depending on the person). In other words, we looked like a bunch of refugees from a union meeting of the hitchhikers local 407. Not the best first impression. Thankfully, my coordinator was understanding and we hit it off fairly well.
By this point, I was on my own as all the remaining members of my group had left for their own assignments. What followed for me was a whirlwind of meetings I didn't understand, names I won't remember, and buildings I'll never see again. The end result is that I have an apartment and it is FANTASTIC! It's a 50,000 yen/month apartment that I'm getting for 38,000 because the view consists of 6 inches of dirty concrete and then the back end of the next building over. It also happens to be a two room, two story apartment with full kitchen and bath! Not to mention my own assigned parking space (considered a serious luxury). It will take/took me a few months to get everything set up and livable, but that's all part of the game.
The rest of the adventure of the day involved a lot of shopping for things like a futon, curtains, and other such things. Rather dull, but I will say this, I love one coin shops (100 yen shops).
The next, and final, edition of Way Back Track, will detail the entrance ceremony at my main school, and explain an average day in my life working at a Japanese middle school.
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