Fond memories

I nostalgically recall last Spring, a week before finals. I was just finishing up classes and trying to cope with the idea of being possibly done with college forever. I was half excited, half petrified, half disappointed that I would no longer receive amazing lessons from the venerable Kaya-sensei.

Kaya-sensei is a woman who changed my life. Every one of her classes was laugh-out-loud funny. She had a knack for patience, interesting teaching techniques, a great sense of humor and most of all a brutal honesty about her. She wanted to enjoy the class just as much as we did, and I think that made her a great teacher. She didn't want to grimace or watch us squirm in pain as we tried to recall vocabulary, she just wanted us to learn and have fun at the same time. This kind of learning is naturally the most effective, in my humble opinion.

I got on well in those classes, and for the first time in my life I was genuinely dedicated to learning a foreign language. I had apathetically weaseled my way through four years of Spanish in Junior High and High School, and I must have been determined not to retain anything, because I don't. This time things were gonna be different is what I told myself right from the start. I had doubts at the beginning of course, like "can I even learn a new language? Will it be too much work on top of all this reading?" I eventually came to find out that learning something concrete like core language and grammar is the perfect yin to the yang of abstract literary studies.

I will never forget the very first day of class. "I don't know why Japanese is so popular all of a sudden," she said meekly in front of the class. A wry smile twisted on her lip as she said forcefully: "I tell students to take Chinese instead!" This ability to transform from mild-mannered into a force to be reckoned with is also quite the notable trait. Don't think that a 5'5" middle-aged Japanese woman could intimidate you? She has a look that will bring you to instant attention, an amazing aspect if you really think about.

Without getting grossly bogged down with details, I really liked the class. We wrote 4 page speeches in Japanese the last semester, and I did mine on a real bit of personal history. I told the class about how I had epilepsy for 11 years, and was in the hospital as a candidate for brain surgery when they finally remissed, lucky me. Most people were sort of taken aback or didn't know whether to pity me or be impressed as I understood there reactions. I was satisfied with myself, that's all that mattered; I had the ability to express so much in a language that was not English, it was amazing to see how far I had come.

Back to the aforementioned week before finals. I bought Kaya-sensei a chocolate cake with her name written on it - She though it was "really cute" - and most of the class ate it with her as we talked about our respective futures. I think she was really proud of us, as she should be, having taught us so much in 2 years. When I had first told her that I got a job in Japan she was ecstatic, like a kid on Christmas morning. I guess seeing the the fruits of your labor so clearly as to see a student employed in another conutry is enough to make anyone ridiculously happy. I was glad too, not only because of the beginners level Japanese I had attained, but also because I thought if I could ever conduct a class half as well as Kaya could, if I could make my students laugh and learn at the same time, I might make a good teacher.

--

On an unrelated note, I found this video on Japan Probe because it features the now-famous Tama the Station Master, a stray cat who saved a near-bankrupt community. As it turned out, the video also references my hometown of Rensselaer, NY:



I hope someone lost their job over perpetuating such a stupid parallel. What's in a name? Apparently everything. -_-

The end is nigh

"Bush is a war criminal, we are in the midst of a coup and the state is shifting toward fascism."

These are the claims of Naomi Wolf, feminist critic and author of a book I felt I needed to order after watching the following video: "Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries." Whatever your opinions on the upcoming elections or politics in general, if you don't support police states, marshall law and dictatorships, you will agree with me that this is important viewing:



My political fervor has grown in recent years, but especially as of late. It would seem that separating myself physically from America while retaining my citizenship has almost paradoxically emphasized the importance of understanding where I'm from...If not for me, then for my family and loved ones.

Again, regardless of your beliefs, parallels to Mussolini- and Hitler-era dictatorships should not be ignored by the public. George Bush now has access to his own private army that answers only to him, and Congress, the House nor the Senate has no authority over them.

I seriously fear for the future of my country.


"The great Americans defined America as a chance for us not to flatter but rather to confront ourselves. They did not define patriotism as a smug legacy of entitlement, but as a universal challenge that always included the demand for self- correction. But we are so used to being raised on a rhetoric of artificial patriotism--the kind that you get to tune in to in a feel- good way just because you were lucky enough to have been born here and then can pretty much forget about--that this definition seems positively foreign today." - Naomi Wolf on "Fake Patriotism."

A man with plans, man.

Tomorrow, going to Yoyogi park with some friends. There are always live musicians and other various acts who play for free on Sundays. Monday, going to see an X-league game at Tokyo Dome. X-league is Japan's NFL, and the T-Dome is ridiculously huge. I should have pics from both up some time soon.

On a side note, anyone following the U.S. elections will have heard the term "gaffe" in relation to both Biden and Palin. I for one was totally unfamiliar with it, and you may be too, so here's some info:

gaffe |gaf| noun

an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder : an unforgivable social gaffe.

ORIGIN early 20th cent.: from French, literally 'boat hook,' used colloquially to mean ‘blunder.’


This term was originally being used to sling mud at the Obama campaign, but all it takes is a few brief news highlights to show that Palin is not worth her salt. She has already messed up exponentially more than Biden ever has, in his much longer and more accomplished political career.


"Your lies are too obvious, propaganda monotonous" - Immortal Technique

I survived my first kids class and all I got was this lousy entry

Today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My kids in the class were really well behaved, and even though I seriously botched parts of the lesson they seemed to like it (and me) so that worked out well. 3 kids and an hour isn't too hard to kill, by the end I just had them running around madly in a circle in a frantic, never-ending game of musical chairs (I supplied my own DUNUNUNUNUNUNU music).

I also had a class of 10 junior high school kids. They were somewhat rowdy and probably bored after being in school since 8am, when it was almost 9pm. When I was asking for names one boy said "Yuuki" and I asked "Miyuki?" Which is a girl's name. It's useful and I'll keep this on the backburner if he's ever loudmouthing too much. That one was a pretty riled up class, but only 25 minutes long, so not too difficult.

After the class, I was sitting at a small extension of desk in the main lobby (there is no private "Teachers' Room" at this school) and the staff member asked in Japanese "how was your new teacher?" I looked up and smiled at them, and she added: "He can understand Japanese!" (Mi)yuki followed up with "noo he can't!" He was in sheer disbelief. I like the idea of them knowing I can understand them though, it might put the fear of BEN into their hearts. :)

Mostly, I just have to work harder in preparing for my lessons. With kids, you can't take a minute to review the book during class, you just have to keep things happening constantly. Otherwise, they get bored. A few weeks in and a set routine are all that I need.

One train wasn't running this morning which extended my trip by 20 minutes - then on the way home I managed to make a few mistakes which led to me take about an extra hour. These mistakes included taking an express line that went past my stop, and getting off when the train really just didn't have any correct maps inside the car.

Also, one of the trains I rode splits after my stop (Tachikawa) onto 2 separate tracks, depending on what traincar you're in - if that's not confusing, I don't know what is.

Some funny pronunciations I heard my adult students making today: "get pushy" sounded like "get pussy" and "what for" sounded like "what whore." I know there's more that I'm forgetting. I also got to explain sarcasm and dry humor, which was fun.

I watched the Vice Presidential debates and am further convinced that Palin is a stupid twat, but her dumb charm will rub off on the generally dullard American public. Dammit. I'm still with George Carlin when it comes to voting, though:



"And when you're on the street, depending on the street, I can tell that you are definitely in the top 3 most good-lookin' girls on the street...Yea you're so beautiful, you could be an air-hostess in the 60's." - Flight of the Conchords

"Everybody knows this is nowhere" - Neil Youg and Crazy Horse.

Why I don't talk much about Politics

The situation in America right now is, to put it lightly, a complete and utter clusterfuck. People are scrambling to get some kind of footing on their economical future, and even my own parents wonder about the validity of Social Security and retirement. Just because I currently live in another country, have I completely forgotten my homeland and their woes?

No. In actuality, just like I have done for the last few years, I keep up with politics both local and foreign. I like to have some vague understanding of what is going on in the world, even if it doesn't appear to directly effect me. I think Bush and his party are war criminals, more unpatriotic than those they point their fingers at, but I don't feel the need to point this out on a regular basis, or shout with the masses. In fact, I don't believe in the validity of our current democratic system. I'm not casting an absentee ballot, but I can guarantee you that New York will be a blue state just like the last major election without my assistance. For further understanding of this vantage point of voting apathy, please watch hours of George Carlin on youtube.

So, to get to the point, I don't talk about politics much because I don't think anyone cares enough about my particular opinion to bother with it; My voice isn't changing anything, at least not directly. If I can maybe share my life experiences then that's great; However, that is in a realm completely outside of politics, regardless of the fact that these words indirectly reliant on politically influenced factors, such as life stability. Translation: If there were bombs dropping and riots in the streets, I wouldn't be writing this right now, I'd be ducking for shelter. I don't have any words of wisdom that will save humanity, and I'm just fine with that. Better yet, I'd rather keep it a personal interest, wanting to be knowledgable in world events and all that, than have it arbitrarily stain a blog which I think has been pretty successful in achieving what I have wanted it to thus far.

...but since this all begs the question, I'll lay it down simply: I think that Obama will win the election, but whether or not his rhetoric will be anything like his actions in office remains to be seen. I hope for the sake of my loved ones and my country that he can improve things. I also believe that we can look to history as a model for the future, so much as the Roman Empire expanded until it was unable to sustain itself, so shall the U.S. in time. I believe this will be a gradual process of losing power and getting into the unfamiliar territory of playing second fiddle to China, India, Russia and other major powers. I say it's long overdue, let 'em have the world spotlight. Hell, we'll still have Hollywood and our illustrious, never-ending supply of permiscuous celebrities to brag about.

The bottom line here is that I care about the issues, but no one else cares whether or not I care.

Language is the liquid that we're all dissolved in

At my training yesterday, I noticed that I was starting a class on 9/11, and I said to the trainer (who was from Canada):

"9/11, never forget bro."

"Forget what?"

"..."

So maybe it's just my cultural ignorance showing here, but I thought 9/11 was a big deal to everyone, not just to Americans, right? Somehow it makes sense though, since we've had these numbers shoved down our throats and upon them a foundation of lies and propaghanda has been built, so the tower of lies is in much more recent memory to the world as a whole than its initial base. Fair enough but still, to think that people don't make the same association with 9/11 as I do is a bit unnerving. I mean, I lived only 180 miles from NYC when it happened, and my Mother was only about 80 miles away from there when a giant plane smashed into a huge building, both full of people. Shit is bananas.

But I digress.

So last night, I went out to a shindig to which I was invited to by some of my co-workers. I left around 7:30 only to find out that it had begun torrentially downpouring a few minutes before. By the time I got to the station, despite having my umbrella out, I was pretty soaked. I actually took off my shoes, took of my sucks and rung them like washcloths. Must have been a good cup of water in there! Using my quick wit and McGuyver-like skills, I wrapped the socks in my handkercheif which I put in a small plastic bag as to keep them from getting my shorts any wetter.

So after about an hour of travel I made it to said party, which was in Shimokitazawa, a hip spot in Tokyo where I saw Melt Banana two weeks back. However, I would have rather gone to a show. The bar was packed, hot, and just reminded me how much I generally don't like bars. The music was unnecessarily loud and not very good, the beers were minimum $8 a pint, and as much as I like Guiness, that is just absurd. So after saying hi to everyone I knew there, me and a few of my friends split, went to McDonalds for the very unhealthy but satisfying Greasefest 2008™, and went our separate ways. Kind of a lame night, so I thought I'd share it with you! :)

Daily J-Fact to the Rescue! Bread here is an inch thick per slice, I kid you not. They sell loaves of 8 slices, and it's got a strange texture to it. Wheat products are also really hard to find.

In other news, according to Japan Probe, the Japanese are incredibly interested in Sarah Palin, McCain's new running mate. This interest is a mirror of their fascination with Hillary Clinton though, and has nothing to do with issues of health care or pork-barrel politics in the States, so much as the fact that they are women running for the oval office. Huh. I guess since Japan does tend to maintain that "women should be barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen" motiff quite strongly in contrast to feminism-liberated America, it would be interesting to them. Still comes off as a bit odd to me.

But what isn't odd here, really. I heard at weddings they use dry ice machines. ?

I'm going to clean my place up today, and possibly explore town a bit with my friend Dayn. That's all for today, going to see a crazy show next weekend so hopefully I'll get some good stories for ya.

Me and some other trainees, fulfulling Gaijin stereotypes such as being loud and boisterous.

"I've been affected by your lies and I've let that hold me back, I wasn't thinking for myself, I wasn't living for myself! I will not be a victim, I'll choose my own!" -Hatebreed