So the other day, I had one of my classes go to my high school website and told them to search around and see what kind of things were different from their high school lives, here in Japan.
Some of the most obvious things were:
1. no uniforms
2. students can drive
3. different types of after school activities
4. different languages spoken or learned in school
5. school dances
6. football
7. school bus
Things I had to explain to them.
1. No eyebrow inspections
2. multicultural/ethnicities (we're not all white people in America)
3. no bowing/ greetings at the beginning and end of classes
4. auto shop class
5. ESL class
6. ear piercings, hair coloring, mohawks are okay in school
So, if you actually read this, your probably wondering what the heck an eyebrow inspection is. Yea.. I did. And then you see it. Students line up and the teachers check to see if they've over tweesed, colored their hair, have the correct length bangs, not clipped their fingernails and are appropriately wearing their uniform.
I'm grateful to not be a Japanese high school students, because the I would have failed the tweesing and ear peircing one, every month! And I probably have been scolded for my hair being messy. Some of my students looked so miserable for being repremanded for having holes in their ears or over tweezed eyebrows. (dont ask me what an over tweezed eyebrow looks like.. because I couldnt tell)
I suppose its a good thing, to try to emphasize to the students that they should take care of themselves well and not try to show off in school but I have to wonder if this actually works. At my other high school, despite inspections, I see girls roll up their skirts to the point were I wonder if its even worth wearing a skirt.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
I went to see the grass on the other side and I believe the sun does shine brighter there.
Before coming to Japan, my life wasn't terribly different from what it is now. Except of course, my friends and family were closer and when I went to the store to buy household cleaner, it didn't take me 30 minutes to translate the kanji to figure out if I am buying actual cleaner or house perfume. Oh and I cant forget how much simpler things were when I had a dryer to fluff and un-wrinkle the clothes I left lying on the floor for a few days too long.
No, for the most part, my life is pretty much the same even when its not.
So, why is it that I don't feel half the stress I did when I was back home and things were 'simpler'?
I have faced some pretty nerve wrecking things in my first few months. There was the 3 visits to various doctors to have gunk vacuumed out of ears, the continuing gunk that built up afterward until I discovered the translation for peroxide in Japanese and was able to continually bubble out the weird stuff, along with my own infection remedy to reduce the swelling. It worked amazingly. Trust me, I am as surprised as you. Not to say Japanese doctors are incompetent or less qualified than the ones back home, I just became increasingly uncomfortable with the loud noise associated with vacuuming my ear canal.
I also lost all my photos when my computer crashed and thought I had backed up my data, only to find out that the backup also failed. Its nothing dramatic, just that I was really attached and proud of some of the work I did in creating some of those photos. Its a tragedy to lose the original pixels. And now, my computer is acting up again...
So what is greener?
I laugh. I feel free to laugh at my mistakes or my students mistakes. Mistakes don't rule my life like they do in America. I don't when I realized this but its weird. All those things would have bothered me in before, dont keep me up at night. My exhaustion at the end of the day, is just shear exhaustion from navigating in a world where I dont speak the language. And if people are talking about me... I dont know and I dont care. Well mostly, I dont care...
Hahahaha... For example. I have no clue about the conversation happening behind me but I keep hearing the teachers say, "Hasta la vista." And I am wondering what Arnold or Terminator has to do with their convo. I know that they dont teach Spanish in this school.
How can you not laugh at the oddity of only knowing 25% of the conversations around you? And reading even less?!?! In all my life I have struggled with school, work, judo, everything! Never being more than average at best. And here, here by all standards of language, literacy and dare I say it, fashion. I am a complete failure!!! And yet I still walk around with a smile on my face and a skip in my step. I hope that when I return home, I can keep this sense of self with me, more than any material thing I bring back. I want to walk through the rest of my life feeling that I'm walking on the greener side of life.
Sorry, I suppose this is really meant for my own personal journal but.. I havent had the time to write much lately. I took on extra classes... for fun. Can you believe that!
No, for the most part, my life is pretty much the same even when its not.
So, why is it that I don't feel half the stress I did when I was back home and things were 'simpler'?
I have faced some pretty nerve wrecking things in my first few months. There was the 3 visits to various doctors to have gunk vacuumed out of ears, the continuing gunk that built up afterward until I discovered the translation for peroxide in Japanese and was able to continually bubble out the weird stuff, along with my own infection remedy to reduce the swelling. It worked amazingly. Trust me, I am as surprised as you. Not to say Japanese doctors are incompetent or less qualified than the ones back home, I just became increasingly uncomfortable with the loud noise associated with vacuuming my ear canal.
I also lost all my photos when my computer crashed and thought I had backed up my data, only to find out that the backup also failed. Its nothing dramatic, just that I was really attached and proud of some of the work I did in creating some of those photos. Its a tragedy to lose the original pixels. And now, my computer is acting up again...
So what is greener?
I laugh. I feel free to laugh at my mistakes or my students mistakes. Mistakes don't rule my life like they do in America. I don't when I realized this but its weird. All those things would have bothered me in before, dont keep me up at night. My exhaustion at the end of the day, is just shear exhaustion from navigating in a world where I dont speak the language. And if people are talking about me... I dont know and I dont care. Well mostly, I dont care...
Hahahaha... For example. I have no clue about the conversation happening behind me but I keep hearing the teachers say, "Hasta la vista." And I am wondering what Arnold or Terminator has to do with their convo. I know that they dont teach Spanish in this school.
How can you not laugh at the oddity of only knowing 25% of the conversations around you? And reading even less?!?! In all my life I have struggled with school, work, judo, everything! Never being more than average at best. And here, here by all standards of language, literacy and dare I say it, fashion. I am a complete failure!!! And yet I still walk around with a smile on my face and a skip in my step. I hope that when I return home, I can keep this sense of self with me, more than any material thing I bring back. I want to walk through the rest of my life feeling that I'm walking on the greener side of life.
Sorry, I suppose this is really meant for my own personal journal but.. I havent had the time to write much lately. I took on extra classes... for fun. Can you believe that!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
I will not be defeated Ajinomoto man!
I have a slight "aruugi" (aka allergy) to MSG. Lovingly called Ajinomoto (more tasty) here in Japan. It means that I cant eat at most restaurants without some sort of reaction because they sneak it into everything. Don't get me started on ramen. Forget about it. Went out with a few of the apartment mates for ramen one night and left feeling slightly swollen and incredibly sleepy. Later that night, I passed out upon returning home, I found it painful to close my fingers into a fist. gah.. no fun.
So... needless to say, I seldom eat out and am usually stuck cooking most of my meals. Which is fine. I love cooking. And here is the meat of my post! I made Japanese curry (カリー) from scratch! BOO YEA!
Ok, so maybe your not as excited as I am. I grew up on curry rice but I always had a slight reaction to the MSG and while living in Japan, curry is every where but I cant eat it! they add MSG ontop of the MSG! Its even in their pickles! Frrrrrrruuuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!!!
So last night, in a fit to get things cooked in my fridge, I went to work scraping together most of the ingredients found in curry and making the roux with spices I have picked up here and there. It wasnt perfect but it was delicious and far less greasy than the roux blocks you get at the store or the dishes they serve in the restaurants. I'll probably give the recipe a quick touch up before I post and this time, I wont be so hungry as to eat it all before taking a pic.
So keep a heads up for a recipe post.
Oh.... and maybe a fig picking post! and then... a fig jam post.... oh the possiblities....
So... needless to say, I seldom eat out and am usually stuck cooking most of my meals. Which is fine. I love cooking. And here is the meat of my post! I made Japanese curry (カリー) from scratch! BOO YEA!
Ok, so maybe your not as excited as I am. I grew up on curry rice but I always had a slight reaction to the MSG and while living in Japan, curry is every where but I cant eat it! they add MSG ontop of the MSG! Its even in their pickles! Frrrrrrruuuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!!!
So last night, in a fit to get things cooked in my fridge, I went to work scraping together most of the ingredients found in curry and making the roux with spices I have picked up here and there. It wasnt perfect but it was delicious and far less greasy than the roux blocks you get at the store or the dishes they serve in the restaurants. I'll probably give the recipe a quick touch up before I post and this time, I wont be so hungry as to eat it all before taking a pic.
So keep a heads up for a recipe post.
Oh.... and maybe a fig picking post! and then... a fig jam post.... oh the possiblities....
Monday, October 3, 2011
Persimmon Ice Cream any one?
Fall! You came out of no where!
I feel like I woke up one morning and there you were freezing me out of my bed! There was no warning, the leaves haven't started changing colours. The cicadas still sing, the mosquitoes still bite. What the heck?
And where are all the pumpkins? I want those large orange bulbous masses to erupt from the ground!
Alas, Japan... you tease me. pumpkins are green, here. Only maple leaves change colours and they aren't ready to do that yet... BUT man oh, MAN is it cold in the morning and to top it off... I have to bike to the train station... frick n' frack. burr!
There is this whole weird thing Japan does, too. All the vending machines dispense hot cans of coffee. No joke. Went to the grocery store the other night and was waiting in line and typically where the cooler to buy a bottle of Coke is, there was hot cans of coffee! heat was emanating out of the "cooler" and at the train station... out of curiosity sake I bought a can of coffee late and it was hot!
Would that work in the States? Probably not. Some idiot would try to sue the vending company for their coffee can being too hot. Which isnt the case here.. its pleasantly warm even when you are taken aback by the concept of a warmed can in your hand.
Back home, friends are picking apples and canning delicious recipes... I am sooo jealous! BUT guess what I can pick in Japan? Persimmons! Figs! Kiwi! Oranges! So... maybe I can't have apple cider... which sucks big time, but I can make persimmon ice cream... and fig jam and... and stuff my face full of oranges and kiwi! So.. I will report on how all that goes but in the mean time, I had better get back to work.
Ciao!
I feel like I woke up one morning and there you were freezing me out of my bed! There was no warning, the leaves haven't started changing colours. The cicadas still sing, the mosquitoes still bite. What the heck?
And where are all the pumpkins? I want those large orange bulbous masses to erupt from the ground!
Alas, Japan... you tease me. pumpkins are green, here. Only maple leaves change colours and they aren't ready to do that yet... BUT man oh, MAN is it cold in the morning and to top it off... I have to bike to the train station... frick n' frack. burr!
There is this whole weird thing Japan does, too. All the vending machines dispense hot cans of coffee. No joke. Went to the grocery store the other night and was waiting in line and typically where the cooler to buy a bottle of Coke is, there was hot cans of coffee! heat was emanating out of the "cooler" and at the train station... out of curiosity sake I bought a can of coffee late and it was hot!
Would that work in the States? Probably not. Some idiot would try to sue the vending company for their coffee can being too hot. Which isnt the case here.. its pleasantly warm even when you are taken aback by the concept of a warmed can in your hand.
Back home, friends are picking apples and canning delicious recipes... I am sooo jealous! BUT guess what I can pick in Japan? Persimmons! Figs! Kiwi! Oranges! So... maybe I can't have apple cider... which sucks big time, but I can make persimmon ice cream... and fig jam and... and stuff my face full of oranges and kiwi! So.. I will report on how all that goes but in the mean time, I had better get back to work.
Ciao!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Funny things my students say....
Exercise was ~ in order to () so that I can/could ()
I walk around my house everyday so that I can look for handsome men.
I decided to become Superman so that I could fly the sky
I decided to propose to my girlfriend so that I could eat the miso soup she made every day. (This student made it a point to introduce himself to me once he heard how smitten I was by his statement. I wonder if his gf knows he's a flirt...)
In self-introduction questionaire:
How many boy friend do you have?
(my reply; Many, many.)
I make my mistakes too, some of the teachers help me study Japanese and I think often times, the homework I hand them to look at sends them into fits of laughter. My misspelling of words or adding extra vowels were they need not be is a regular occurrence. I will try to up date this list as funny things are passed my way to grade.
Sorry for the short note but I am just kinda tired today.
I walk around my house everyday so that I can look for handsome men.
I decided to become Superman so that I could fly the sky
I decided to propose to my girlfriend so that I could eat the miso soup she made every day. (This student made it a point to introduce himself to me once he heard how smitten I was by his statement. I wonder if his gf knows he's a flirt...)
In self-introduction questionaire:
How many boy friend do you have?
(my reply; Many, many.)
I make my mistakes too, some of the teachers help me study Japanese and I think often times, the homework I hand them to look at sends them into fits of laughter. My misspelling of words or adding extra vowels were they need not be is a regular occurrence. I will try to up date this list as funny things are passed my way to grade.
Sorry for the short note but I am just kinda tired today.
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