Friday, May 23, 2003

*... terebi ...*
If I'm in the mood for it, Japanese television can be great entertainment. For one thing, there are the soap operas with the actors that make even the WORST American actors look Emmy-worthy. One of my personal favorites is called "Hotman" (although the man is not as hot as the lead actor of "Good Luck!" which is strictly about airline pilots, stewardesses, and mechanics of ANA airlines. Riiight.) Although I don't understand exactly what they're saying, I get the general idea; the acting is so OVERdone, you'd have to be blind and deaf not to understand what was going on. Then there's the "bilingual" shows. This is one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had: they dub the Japanese over the English, so the understandable part is barely a whisper in the backround. But they also dub over all gasps, hiccups, sniffle, and any other sound you can think of. Why, I ask, WHY? Usually the voices don't match the characters at all, it's a very strange thing to sort out in your head. Last but not least, there are the crazy game shows. There's the janken show (think People's Court settled by paper-rock-scissors), and a whole bunch of shows involving food where the winning team gets to eat while the other team watches with their mouths watering. And on the Japanese version of "the Weakest Link", the floor drops out from underneath the booted-off contestants. Don't even get me started on the shows based solely on walking down the street and finding the prettiest girls, ones who need to lose weight, or the cat fights instigated by celebrity hosts. Weird. Scary weird.
4:54 PM

Thursday, May 22, 2003

*... learning not to argue ...*
those of you who know me (ie most of you) know that I'm not one who compromises my principles easily. Nor do I give up until I find the logic in a situation. And there's little that can deter me from that path except maybe a really good bribe usually involving cherry pie or something... So, in addition to having to sit back and keep my mouth shut about slightly maniacal students, today i found a new arena where I have to try and close my eyes, abandon logic, and think like a Japanese person, or, to be more specific, a Japanese Government Official and/or a Japanese teacher of English. One of my teachers was out sick today (coughcoughSARS!cough) and I decided to help her out and grade the standardized tests that the students had to take. In one section the students had to rearrange the words given to make a comprehensive sentence, in another section the students had to translate the Japanese into English. On the answer key I had, one question's "correct response" in the first section was "Were you reading a book in the library?" I asked Hamanaka-sensei (head English teacher, and really annoying) if it would be considered correct if the student had written "Were you in the library reading a book?" since the same words were used... (i was about to assume it would be OK, as that would make sense, but as Kristina and Sarah would say: "If it made sense, it wouldn't be here.") Hamanaka-sensei, of course, said that it would be incorrect. I explained to her that the same words were used, and the same meaning was conveyed, and she still said no. Then I asked her if, in the Japanese to English section, a sentence was translated into "My father gave a pen to me." would be considered as correct as "My father gave me a pen." She said yes, that would be okay. WHY?? Well, since she can read the Japanese sentence, and technically it doesn't translate directly word-for-word, some discretion can be used. So I used that to argue that since she was a native Japanese speaker and could use discretion since both sentences meant the same thing, then I, as a native English speaker, should be able to use discretion as well, and deem both versions of sentences worthy. NO. WHY?? Because that's not the sentence pattern they learned. So students get punished for right answers? Yes. They get marked down for showing some sort of cognitive skills? Yes. Because it's not what's in the book that has been issued by some government official who probably doesn't know English anyway? (not catching the sarcasm) That's right. So this is really only a test to see if the student can memorize 5 sentences from the book? Memorization, yes, that's important. So memorizing words, without actual knowledge of meaning, is more important than actually thinking? Poor kids, I feel sorry for them that they have you guys in charge....
(I actually said that, I actually meant it, and because this woman is a fool and it's the Japanese way, she just laughed. AUGH! Whatever!)
4:45 PM

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

*... guess what i did today? ...*
Afterschool i sold my left arm and right leg (must have balance, brittan-san) and booked my tour de' Vietnam and Cambodia. SARS, SchmARS.

Even more daring, can you believe I shelled out over $80 to feed 3 people b/c I decided to cook some Mexican food for 2 friends? sheesh, it's tough to be from a place where $8 worth of Mexican food would feed you and a family of 6, plus chicle!
5:32 PM

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

*... experience is the best teacher ...*
If you happen to go out to a tapas bar with your Japanese friends and find yourself teaching Spanish to the entire staff (as well as the proper usage of the phrase "ghetto booty") and then later attempt to go to a disco-karaoke-hole-in-the-wall but find that the last bus home leaves in less than five minutes and the closest bus stop is 8 blocks and 4 flights of stairs away and you have to run through the worst (and totally unforecasted) thunderstorm you've ever seen with lightning like papparazzi and rain that makes Niagara Falls look like a trickle... well, may I humbly suggest you go easy on the sangria....
4:42 PM

Monday, May 19, 2003

*... a lesson in patience ...*
we all know I lack both patience and discipline. Nothing new there. Lots of people keep asking me if I'm ready to go home, and most of the time I give them a solid "Yes." because of a couple of strong factors: 1) the job. I hate being the "book on tape" and just reading out of the book. I would like a little challenge, and it's hard to also know that the student's aren't learning anything (they have no chance to use cognitive skills!) and thus i feel a bit like i'm failing in my job. Plus, apparently we have a seriously disturbed bunch of ichi-nen-seis over here; at their last school they caused 2 teachers to quit and one to go into the hospital with a nervous breakdown... they remind me a lot of American middle-schoolers (at least from my perspective)... Since there is no such thing as discipline in or out of the classroom, I have to let them run amuck and not lose my head at them or the teachers for not stepping in (like the student who deliberately shouts in the middle of class, refuses to do anything, and whose favorite pasttime is to break anything that could be considered mine. Great kid, love 'em). 2) the weekends. I have nothing to do, and although that was a common lament in SD, at least I could usually find someone to bug or veg out on the couch watching re-runs of Iron Chef on Friday nights. 3) I miss my family, because how can you not want to run to the only person in the world who would actually argue with you when you tell them NOT to send you anything for your birthday since you don't want to slug it home with you... and FYI, that person wasn't my mom, who said "oh, good, I was thinking the same thing..." (though of course I want to run to her, too. Especially if she bakes me something... hehehe)
5:09 PM