Do you know the muffin man?

America vs. The WORLD: U.S. Measures Chart

2012-02-07T00:52:00.000-08:00

I found this picture online and had to laugh. Having lived in Japan for six years, I have become accustomed to the Metric system... which is sooo easy! When I went back over to the States for Christmas my family kept asking for conversions, because I kept using the metric system. Needless to say I had more than a little bit of trouble trying to get back into the weird U.S. systems--which make little sense once you go metric.

Grandmother of the Forest

2012-02-03T00:08:00.000-08:00

Digital Photo by the Polish artist Katherine.

Helping my students translate their own renditions of the Little Red Riding Hood fable compelled me to write my own version. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

Grandmother of the Forest

by Tristan Vick

One day, Little Red Riding Hood, who wasn't so little but rather on the plump side, was picking herbs in the forest. As she gathered special herbs needed to make tea and medicine, she noticed a very handsome man coming out of the woods. He was tall, had dark hair, and soft brown eyes which betrayed a certain innocence about him. His fashion was impeccable, and he wore the latest fashion of eighteenth century England, with a charcoal gray suit coat with an inside waistcoat. The waistcoat was of a slightly lighter gray, which helped to enhance the contrast of his fancy layers. Pulling out a gold pocket watch, he checked the time.

As Little Red Riding Hood gazed upon his beautiful face, her cheeks blushed and her heart rushed. With a rosy complexion she made her way toward where he paused to check his pocket watch.

To Red’s dismay, however, the young man startled at the sight of such a large mass lumbering toward him through the wood. Before she could reach him, he clapped shut his pocket watch and abruptly turned around and fled back the way he had come. Red was heartbroken. None of the boys ever wanted to talk to her. She broke down in the woods sobbing. Admonishing herself, she said, “Nobody will ever want to be your friend, you’re too fat and ugly.”

After collecting herself, Red promptly headed to her grandmother's house. Grandma would know what to do, she thought.

Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother was a very beautiful sorceress, who looked far more youthful than her true age. This was due to the art of black magic, and a powerful spell that her grandmother knew of which kept her perpetually young. If she had such magic, thought Red, perhaps she will have something that will make me beautiful and desirable.

Having told her grandmother the story of how nobody would be friends with her and the young man in the woods who would rather tuck tail and flee the scene than speak even two words to her, with a warm smile her grandma consoled her, saying, “There there now little one, I shall fix everything.”

Standing up, Red’s grandma, with her elegant waist, slender arms, and dainty hands, began gathering powders, jars filled with dried roots of the extremely potent variety, and bottles of elixir, and threw them all into a black cauldron cooking upon the fire.

Looking at the basket Red held in her arms, her grandmother asked for a few of the special herbs. Red gladly handed them over, and asked, “Are you making a love potion?”

Stirring the pot, her grandmother crumpled up the dry leaves and tossed them into the pot. “Something like that, my dear. This is a magic soup! It will cheer you right up.”

“Will it make me beautiful?” inquired Red.

“It will make your deepest desires into reality!” her grandmother replied with a great big grin. Then handing Red a bowl full of magic soup, she said, “Now drink this and think of the think you most want in the world!”

Since Red was feeling hungry from her long day in the woods, she greedily gulped down the soup.

Poof! Suddenly Red vanished in a cloud of smoke. To the grandmother’s surprise, Red had turned into a large black wolf.

“I didn’t expect that,” grandma said with a curious sort of admiration. Bending down she rubbed the wolf’s mane and scratched behind its ears, then opening the door to the cottage, she said, “Off you go!”

Feeling free as the bird, Red, who was now a wolf, dashed through the forest with great speed. The exercise invigorated her and the fresh air felt great! She found a pack of wolves to play with and they gladly accepted her into the group. All day long they ran up and down the hills and through the trees, until they all fell asleep curled up in one large pile. As she dozed off, Little Red felt happy, she was no longer a lone wolf.

The next day a handsome man was walking through the woods. As he walked into the darker area which was heavily shaded by thick trees, he began to feel like he was being followed. Spinning around he shouted, “Who goes there?!”

Although he waited for a reply, there was none. So he turned back around to hurry on his way. But just in front of him, from behind a tree stepped a large black wolf. The man froze in his tracks, as the wolf slowly walked toward him, as if it he were somehow familiar to it.

“D-don’t come any closer!” the man said, raising his hand in a show of caution. Strangely enough, it seemed to work. The wolf responded and then sat in front of the man as if it were as tame as a friendly beagle sitting by its master’s side.

Getting close the man crouched down and put out his hand toward the wolf. It smelled his hand and then, in a show of submission, gently licked the man’s hand. “Well, I’ll be!” exclaimed the man. “You aren’t so bad.”

Rubbing the wolf’s mane, and scratching behind its ears, the man said, “Maybe I’ll keep you and take you home with me.”

Just then the wolf spoke in human tongue, “You smell good.”

Alarmed, the man had leapt back a considerable distance. Pointing at the wolf with a shaking finger, he asked, “Did you just speak?”

Casually, the wolf got up and started circling the man. “I feel awfully hungry. Do you have any food?”

“I beg your pardon, but I do not,” replied the man timidly. He began to fear for his life as the wolf continued encircling him, edging closer and closer.

“Are you sure you don’t have anything to eat?”

Pulling out his pockets, as a friendly gesture to show he hadn’t a single thing in them, the man said, “See, nothing at all. I do apologize.”

"You're sorry?" the wolf said gruffly.

"Yes," said the man. "I am terribly sorry."

“Sorry, indeed!” snarled the wolf. The man stumbled back in fear.

“Ah, um… I think I had better get going,” said the man. Slowly stepping back, away from the wolf, the man made hasty retreat. The wolf merely seemed to be grinning at him.

“You know,” said the wolf, “It’s not safe in these woods.”

With that, the man turned and dashed away. His fancy suit jacket snagged on a nearby branch and tore. But he didn’t stop to look back. All he wanted was to escape that wolf and get out of the woods.

Thanks to his youth the man was able to run several kilometers without tiring. But even his young lungs couldn’t keep up the pace, so he decided to rest against a large tree. As he sat there, he looked up to see a beautiful woman pass between some trees a few yards ahead of him. She was dressed in black, but had a bright red shawl draped over her head and shoulders.

“Hello there!” he shouted out. “Don’t be afraid!”

Stepping out from behind a large tree came a beautiful raven haired woman. He noticed her hair, for her red shawl gently slipped off her head and came down around her shoulders. She not only was beautiful, with her midnight black silky flowing hair, but had an elegant waistline, slender arms, and small gentle hands too. Her dark eyes were smoldering, and seemed to hide a special kind of wisdom and maturity which only comes with age. The man instantly fell in love with her.

“What is such an elegant woman like you doing in the woods alone?” he asked.

“Oh,” she said, blushing slightly. “I am looking for my pet.”

Taking her hand, the man bowed slightly and kissed the white of her skin with soft lips. “Come, now,” he said. “Fear not, for I shall help you find your stray. What kind of animal is it?”

“I’m afraid you might not like me if I told you.”

“What could you possibly say to me that would turn my opinion against such an angelic complexion and the sweetest face I have ever laid eyes upon?”

“Still, I must warn you, no man has ever been able to subdue my spirit.”

“Don’t be so silly,” the man said authoritatively. “How could anyone not love someone as beautiful and fair as you?”

“You see,” the woman said stepping close to the man, and putting her lips near his, “It is no ordinary animal. She is very special to me, and I cannot bear to imagine her getting hurt in these immense woods all alone.”

“Well, come out with it,” the man said, trying not to sound overly agitated. Women were fickle, he thought, but he didn’t want to arouse her suspicions that he was short on temper, or anything less than a gentleman, so he gathered himself and asked with a pleasant voice, “What manner of beast is it? Is it a cat or dog?”

“I'm afraid it is something far less tame,” replied the woman. Pressing her body against his in a manner quite sensual for a stranger, she ran her fingers through his hair and caressed his soft face. Without warning she suddenly leaned in and kissed his lips. Looking into his eyes with her piercing gaze, she asked, “Won’t you help me with my precious darling?”

Feeling light headed from the kiss, and having never met such a woman before in his life, he replied without a moments hesitation, “Sure! I’ll help you find it.”

“No,” said the woman, a sinister smile forming upon her luscious lips. “I am afraid you have misunderstood me. I don’t need you to help find my wolf--I need you to help me feed it!”

“Wolf?!” cried out the man, flying back with fright. Just then the black wolf, whom he had met earlier, appeared from a nearby thicket of trees, and growled at him menacingly. Alarmed, he scurried backward until his back was pinned against a large tree.

“What’s going on here?!” the man demanded to know. But the mysterious woman simply caressed her wolf exactly like she had been caressing his hair moments earlier, then she looked up at him with her dark smoldering eyes and smiled a chilling smile.

Feeling a terror overcome him, he felt like running away, but for some odd reason his legs had stiffened to the consistency of lead. Something about her kept him entranced--frozen to his patch of mossy forest. Slowly the woman put her red shawl over her head, and without breaking eye contact disappeared into the woods. As she vanished into the shadows before his very eyes, her voice called out, “You know, it’s not safe in the woods.”

High above the forest a rustling below upset the birds and sent them flying into the air. From below came the snarling of a beast and the screams of a man—a man being torn to shreds as he was made the wolf’s dinner.

The End

The Japanese Education System and the Infamous Kenshukai

2012-02-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, who has diligently taught English in Japan for three years, emailed me a confession detailing her immense frustration with the Japanese education system.

As someone who has taught ESL (English as a Second Language) for over half a decade in Japan, I greatly sympathized with her frustrations. The following is my reply to her initial letter.

***

The demonstration classes you are referring to, if I understand your meaning, fall into the category of happyokai (発表会) which is an extension of kenshukai (研修会) of the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Science (文部省), also called MEXT.

As far as I can tell, the only difference between the happyokai demonstration class and the kenshukai is that the kenshukai demo is usually presented before the Prefectural Board of Education, whereas the hayppokai is usually presented before the PTA or the local city/town boards of education.

I only point this difference out, because like you, the demonstration classes bother me to no end. I used to make little distinction between the happyokai (HPK) or the kenshukai (KNS). Although both are pretty much useless, when it comes to learning new teaching methodologies or as a means to improve pedagogy, I still feel I can benefit, although perhaps indirectly, from a good HPK demonstration.

The way I see it, the HPK has the pretense of showing how much the students have learned, but as we both know, in actuality this amounts to little more than sheer wishful thinking. A rehearsed class is a recitation of memorized facts, not a demonstration of accrued knowledge. But why the emphasis, I ask myself, on memorized facts?

Testing. The fact of the matter is, Japan judges its success on whether or not its students can pass tests. Not on whether or not they have a general grasp of the information, but whether or not they know what information will be the focus of their testing. So the aim, it seems to me, becomes restrictively narrow to cover only the information they know will be on the tests. And of course the Ministry of Education knows what will be on the tests, since they are the ones who design and issue the tests. Literally all of Japan's education curriculum is predetermined by the government and the educators have no say in the matter. Anything which strays from the parameters of the mandate is not meeting the testing standards of the Ministry of Education, which usually spells trouble for the school. Therefore the school boards are keen to make sure all their schools within their districts are following the official guidelines. God forbid somebody teaching something different--something novel--something original even. If it doesn't fit within the narrow parameters which have been set, then it simply isn't allowed.

I find this hinders the education system in Japan in more ways than I care to count.

Another aspect of the education system which bothers me is, as you mentioned, the rehearsed classes. It seems to me, over the six years I have spent teaching in Japan, the HPK is of utmost importance for teachers who wish to keep their contracts and stay at the same school. They have to *impress the PTA, since one complaint could technically get them fired (i.e., transferred to a new school). But maybe worse than irrelevant classes are ineffective teachers (I should specify I am thinking mainly about English teachers in the context of the Japanese classroom).

Unfortunately, as we both know, no teacher, no matter how insufficient or poorly educated, will likely maintain their position indefinitely; as per custom here. No matter how horrendous, how unskilled they are, their ineptitude is usually overlooked and they are passed on to other schools only to become somebody else's problem. Personally, I have always felt the embarrassment of being out of one's depth and being completely ineffectual as an educator would cause some of these "educators" to re-evaluate their carrier choices, but apparently not. I don't know, but it just seems common sense that one who is not properly educated may only be pretending to be an educator, since we know that all good educators first require a good education themselves. Yet if good teachers are as hard to come by as they are in the U.S., I could imagine Japan having more than their fair share of lackluster teachers. The problem is, as you probably have observed, is the lackluster teachers almost always seem to be English teachers. All the other teachers are usually pretty decent. Why should this be?

Because English learning in Japan isn't about learning a language--like I eluded to above--it's about passing tests! The teachers, unfortunately, come out of the same broken system. But their poor English skills aren't the only thing interfering with their English education. In my estimation, their strict adherence to the MEXT mandates is another challenge. No teacher is willing to be a radical and start a rebellion of English learning. Indeed, with the issuing of Eigo Noto, the horrible textbooks meant for elementary fifth and sixth graders, the freedom of English education has been restricted even further. While teaching in Hiroshima I was using the wonderful English materials by the MPI (i.e., the Matsuka Phonics Institute). Regrettably, that all went away when Eigo Noto was pushed on us--and the English education has suffered horribly for it. Other places had not English education for elementary level learners, so Eigo Noto in many places is viewed in a positive light--but I wish to dispel this myth. Eigo Noto is horrendous and would be better suited as kindling to keep the fire going during the frigid Japanese winter.

Now we have teachers with almost no English education required to teach English from a textbook which looks like a team of illiterate monkeys typed it up. All this has become a total nightmare! The Japanese teachers are wondering how the hell they can teach something they don't know anything about, and all the native ESL instructors, such as myself, are wondering how the hell we are supposed to teach from something so horribly devised that it is actually working against our goal of improving student English ability!

Over the years, whenever I have tried to introduce new material to a class, even having given notice weeks (sometimes months) in advance, on the day I am usually told we do not have time for my lesson plan. Indeed, the teachers are under the stress of having to get through the mandated material. Usually I am reminded that they have their semester tests, their mid year tests, their finals, or their high school entrance exams to prepare for. With trying to meet so many testing requirements, which focus on mainly on grammar and vocabulary skills and never on language ability, it is no wonder they can't seem learn any English!

Additionally, the teachers have the additional burden of trying to keep their jobs--and this requires them to show off how amazing their classes are and how much the students have learned and how proficient they ~~are~~ appear!

Yet this sort of pin points the frustration we have, as Western educators. We place emphasis on actual results, that is, real proficiency and real ability. Not the mere appearance of it. We practice things like teaching methodologies and study ways to improve pedagogy. We want the students to learn, but what’s more we wish them to comprehend!

This involves teaching students to think independently. That is, individual problem solving comes with it the prerequisite of thinking on ones toes. Language, being something spontaneous and organic all at the same time, often requires one to make split decisions. Since individual problem solving isn't cultivated in Japan, language becomes doubly hard for Japanese. Their tendency is to group together to solve problems, as two minds are always better than one. But this works for solving word problems in a test book or for planning for meeting or in forming think tanks to solve social issues. It is not suited for acquiring language or having to deal with the spontaneous obstacles of everyday life.

If they can't think for themselves when it comes to trying to understand something, then gaining any sort of comprehension seems all but hopeless.

Comprehension of a subject is NOT a part of the Japanese education system. It simply isn't designed with comprehension in mind. Especially when the system is all top down. It simply isn’t designed with the students’ needs in mind, rather, it is designed with the need to pass tests.

I (strongly) feel that this is the wrong way to go about educating our children.

After decades of slipping test scores, however, The Ministry of Education eventually noticed that while their school systems appeared to be doing great, and while their students were oh so excellent at reciting memorized knowledge, that when actually called upon to show proficiency rather than mere performance they found disaster lurking.

Over the last several years statistics have shown that Japan is being out performed by nearly all the other Asian countries with regard to English learning. A huge embarrassment, for sure. But instead of correcting it with new programs and new teaching methodologies, they issue more and more kenshukais, as if this would be enough to make them fluent in English.

My guess is that kenshukai was initially started as a way to keep track of the Japan's overall progress with regard to standardized testing, probably as a means to better gauge which Japanese schools were classified as academic or not and then rank them accordingly. But it seems that it has now become a way to rank itself among other nations as well. Not only this, but because of the slipping test scored and the poor English ability, Japan keeps issuing English based kenshukais. I have personally been to over a dozen in less than five years.

But the issue is being looked at the wrong way around. Instead of asking what methods they can adopt to improve overall education, they are focusing on the areas needed to improve test scores. If Japanese students score bad on vocabulary nation wide, then the government starts issuing new textbooks with better written vocabulary, more vocabulary, and so on and so forth. Yet this only bogs down the already heavy saturation of grammar and vocabulary they already are required to learn. It simply ignores the real problems. Imagine trying to stop the Titanic from sinking by patching each individual compartment without ever addressing the large gaping tear in the main haul?!

That seems to be exactly what The Ministry of Education is doing with regard to English learning as a second language. Instead of fixing the large obvious problems, they are patching irrelevant, unimportant, problems--meanwhile English education in the country continues to sink to new lows.

Perhaps this is the Japanese Ministry of Educations greatest mistake--micro managing English education. It has led to useless hours upon hours of pretend demo classes, all rehearsed performances which completely fail to gauge proficiency.

Two things. If you don't know the students actual ability before the class you can't gauge their improvement. So what's the point? Second, if the class is a scripted performance, then you really can't know for sure whether or not they have comprehensively learned the material. They may simply all be good at memorizing the script on the day. So the question becomes, what are we adjudicating them on exactly?

In the numerous kenshukai post meetings, I inevitably always get asked to add to the discussion and comment on the class *performance. They want to hear it from a native speaker how wonderful they all did! Although I can pour compliments onto my students, and boost their confidence, I have nothing good to say about these post kenshukai meetings. But what can one even say? The class either appeared to go well or it didn't. The students either appeared to know what they were doing or they didn't. But in the end, nobody at all (apart from maybe the homeroom teacher) can tell how much the students actually improved (or didn't improve). So, again, what's the point?

One who is new to the Japanese education system might remark, in their naivete, that the kenshukai could be used as a way to share teaching methodologies. You and I, however, know better than this. No teaching methodologies can even get off the ground without the Ministry of Education's approval, and only then only if the plan goes all the way up the bureaucratic chain, and only after it meets all the mandates. It's impossible to share teaching methods, because they simply aren't allowed. Even if they are brought up in casual discussion, teachers simply lack the authority to implement them.

Sadly, every semester they are disappointed in the lack of proficiency gained and the total lack of English comprehension. Thus another kenshukai is scheduled, and the vicious cycle of futility repeats itself.

Honestly, the only thing I have found kenshukais to be good for is for catching up with other ALTs and flirting with cute, young JTEs.Actually, correct that last remark. It may have come off as overly sexist. In truth, they don't have to be young JTEs, just cute. ;)

All this is just to say, I share your frustrations.

Sincerely,

Tristan Vick, Professional ESL Educator

A Collection of Little Red Stories

2012-01-30T19:49:00.000-08:00

Every year, in my English class, I have the students re-write the Little Red Riding Hood fable (called あかずの扉 in Japanese, or simply Akazukin for short). I usually begin by showing a short two minute animated video of the Little Red Riding Hood story done by the British Council (the United Kingdoms organization for cultural relations and English learning). The video is very cute and, I find, is perfectly suited for Japanese elementary school students.

The great thing is, most of the students are already familiar with the story. The one in the video also uses British English which is a good change of pace (since I speak in the bland American accent). I ask them if they can catch the words. Inevitably their eyes grow big as they strain to listen to the words. I show them the video a second time to give them a fighting chance.

Next, I give them the basic plot points of the Little Red Riding Hood storie, which I have simplified for their ESL level, narrowing the key plot points to six.

1. Little Red goes to her grandma's house.
2. Little Red meets a big scary wolf.
3. Little Red arrives at grandmothers.
4. Wolf pretends to be grandma.
5. Wolf eats Little Red and Grandma.
6. Hunter saves Little Red and her grandma.

After this I usually give them a template I made with six boxes for them to fill in. The challenge is that they have to rewrite the story. I tell them they can change the whole thing or just one box--it is mainly up to them.

After a bit of excitement the class calms down, and they get busy writing (I allow them to write in Japanese to begin with--they are only elementary school kids, after all. I later translate them--another reason I try to keep the structure of the plot simple. Also, by making it five or six points, as shown above, the students can follow the pattern and create their own version much more easily than if I were to simply ask them to rewrite the story without highlighting the plot points first).

Usually the brainstorming and writing takes up the rest of the class time. Before the bell, I collect the papers and translate for them.

In next weeks lesson I will have them rewrite the English neatly, draw pictures to accompany their stories, color them, and then present them before the class. The H1 (Homeroom Teacher 1) and I always try to work together to help them read and pronounce the words correctly. Often times they get into their parts and do the voices and gestures of the characters. It is always a blast!

Here is one example of a student's take on Little Red Riding Hood. (Of course I helped translate and get the grammar just so.)

One day, Little Red was picking rare fruits for her mother. Suddenly, she met a big scary Wolf. Unfortunately, her gun wouldn't work. The Wolf snatched up Little Red in his teeth and gobbled her up! Putting on her clothes, the Wolf pretended to be Little Red. Then he went to Little Red's grandmother's house. Fooling the grandma, he ate her too. The End.

I absolutely love it! Another story went like this:

One day, Little Red's mother wanted her to take some mackerel fish to grandmas. While walking to grandma's house Little Red met a wolf. But he was a nice wolf. The wolf had an idea.

"Let's eat this fish together!" he said.

"Okay," said Little Red Riding Hood.

So the two of them sat down and ate all of the fish! After their stomachs were full and all the fish were gone, they worried about what to do.

"I know," said Red. "We can go fishing and catch more fish!"

So they went fishing and were happy when their very first catch was a giant tuna fish! It was one of the largest tunas they had ever seen. They carried the heavy fish all the way up the mountain to grandma's house. Finally, they reached grandma's house but they were exhausted and hungry from the long walk and having carried such a heavy prize.

Grandma cooked the giant tuna and made dinner and together they ate it all up! It was a happy time.

The End.

Many of the stories crack me up. In the past, one girl's morbidly erotic version had Little Red fall in love with the Wolf. When the woodsman/hunter arrives to slay the Wolf and save the grandma, Little Red intervenes, explaining that the Wolf was only hungry. Besides, grandma was old anyway. At least that was the gist. The hunter notices Red is showing (i.e., she is pregnant) and asks Red what the meaning of all this is. Rubbing her belly with a maternal love, Red explains that she is carrying the Wolf's baby. The story ends with a wedding. Naturally.

My students always tell the best Little Red Riding Hood stories. Which is probably why I have so much fun making them do it. They seem to enjoy it too.

[Note 1: As an ESL instructor in Japan, I am required by the Japanese government to teach from the Eigo Noto (Eigo Note) textbook. However, some of the lessons are too insufficient, pathetic, or horrible to teach effective English, and so I supplement them with my own lesson plan. I use this lesson instead of the Giant Turnip section of lesson 8 in book two.]

[Note 2: This accomplishes the objective of the English Note lesson 8. Strangely enough, the origianl lesson plan does not accomplish the objective set forth by the book. In other words, chapter 8 of book two fails to teach the kids how to create their own fable and then write it in English. If you are familiar with the Eigo Note textbook, you will likely be familiar with the horrible Giant Radish story--and the three days of repeating the same stupid chant only to find on the last day they students are expected to meet the impossible task of writing a full fable in a different language. Yeah, pretty impossible, since we haven't covered how to write a fable let alone how to form coherent English sentences. If you are an ESL instructor, or English teacher, please feel free to use this lesson plan. You can adapt it to your own classroom setting and alter it for your own purposes and needs. Good luck!]

Superstitious Japan: Yakudoshi

2012-01-21T19:55:00.001-08:00

Even as Japan is mainly a secular society which prides itself on its "freethinking," a term most Japanese throw around loosely, over the years I have found that Japan is infested with age old superstitions and ritualized customs which have seeped into mainstream life.

Partly this is due to the fact that the contemporary culture of Japan is fused with a 3,000 year old history. When you have had certain customs or traditions ingraned into society for so long, they aren't thought of as "superstitions" so much as they are traditional Japanese practices which reflect their ancient heritage.

One such tradition is called Yakudoshi.

Yakudoshi refers to the belief that there are certain ages in one's life where their bad luck increases and there good luck diminishes (as if good luck and bad luck were forces that were intertwined--like the yin and yang). Thinking about yakudoshi in terms of the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang makes sense considering that, in Japan, yakudoshi is part of the official religious practice of the Ommyodo school of philosophy. Ommyodo literally translates to "The Way of Yin and Yang."

One of the best online Encyclodpedias about Japan is the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. On there page about Japanese traditions they state that

Bad luck ages are referred to as yakudoshi, with yaku meaning “calamity” or “calamitous” and doshi signifying “year(s).” These years are considered critical or dangerous because they are believed to bring bad luck or disaster.... For men, the ages 24 and 41 (or 25 and 42 in Japan) are deemed critical years, with 41 being especially critical. It is customary in these unlucky years to visit temples and shrines to provide divine protection from harm.... The equivalent yakudoshi ages for women are 18 and 32 (19 and 33 in Japan), with 32 thought to be a particularly hard, terrible or disastrous year.

My Japanese wife recently asked here friends what they thought about this tradition, and one of her friends, an American woman married to a Japanese man, had this to say about the yakudoshi ritual:

It was my Yakudoshi last year, and my mother in law and I had many disagreements about its customs. I refused to go to go to a shrine and be cleansed, because it's just creepy and unnecessary to my western mindset.

Another friend of my wife's informed that her mother-in-law waited until after her yakudoshi to buy a car. Supposedly because she didn't want to buy a new car and then have the bad luck of wrecking it.

There is even an iTunes calendar app to help you keep track of your yakudoshi! After all, you wouldn't want those unlucky years sneaking up on you!

This superstition of good-luck/bad-luck periods in one's life, however, is not so different from other long held Japanese superstitions and traditions, such as blood type determining a person's personality type, or the fertility rituals in which a giant penis is paraded around the local rural communities. Most of them are odd, even downright absurd, if not plainly bordering on the ridiculous. Many Japanese citizens--the same Japanese people who pride themselves on their status as "freethinkers"--will often blindly accept, with unquestioning ease, these age old superstitions and rituals.

Mainly, I think, they accept it without protest because they view these age old customs and rituals as an inbuilt part of the Japanese cultural identity. Strangely enough, many people seem to not only practice them out of tradition but also seem to believe in them. Those that don't believe often still practice them anyway, and when questioned on why they continue to practice useless and erroneous traditions you'll often hear the rejoined, "But it's part of Japanese life, it's part of our cultural identity, it's what we've always done."

Whether or not that excuse is good enough to pardon oneself in the practice of silly and erroneous things which, quite frankly, make a person look absurd--I don't know. For a country often concerned about saving "face" and maintaining a certain decorum, and priding itself on its strong economy, modern lifestyle, health, longevity, and a slew of technological achievements, it sometimes seems that many of Japan's ancient customs and traditions are out of place in today's world. But that's Japan for you--a hybrid of the ancient and the modern, the old blended in with the new. It's one of the things which makes Japan truly fascinating for me.

Finding Work in Japan After JET

2012-01-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

Some people have been wondering about my life post JET Programme and how I came to find stable work in Japan. Here I try to explain a little about my current situation and how it came to be while offering advice to those who may soon be in the same boat (so to speak).

My job now is basically the same as JET but I get to do more. I work for a city government, privately. The pay is less (way less), but since we moved in with my wife's parents I haven't noticed it too much.

I lucked out finding the job early though. Roughly *two weeks after I quite the JET Programme and I had absolutely nothing lined up.

However, let me state that I did apply with the job services here in Japan--called Hello Work. There is a ton of paper work to go through... so you will need your significant other, or a close native speaker of Japanese, to assist you--but you should definitely apply.

Here's why.

You get paid for looking for work in Japan! They go by your previous earnings. Every week you make a percentage, which is taken out of your unemployment tax which you've been paying the whole time you've been working and living in Japan. I would have made 9 man a month (roughly $1,000 American)... however, because I found a job within 2 weeks of signing up they gave me the 9 man plus a 20 man early find bonus! I literally made 30 man (approx. $3,000) in less than 3 weeks.

Here's the thing though... Hello Work SUCKS for finding jobs--and you have to go to one of their seminars and listen for two hours to a Japanese person drone on and on about finding work in order to get the money back. As a foreigner, absolutely NOTHING they say in the seminar will apply to you. Nothing.

I went the the "International" section of the Hello Work agency and tried to find someone who spoke relatively good English. The person does not exist! At least not in my area. Hiroshima City ought to have one.

I left Hiroshima and came down to Kumamoto, and they had no English section, but looking online I found that the Fukuyama branch in Hiroshima has an English speaker. If you're in the Hiroshima area here's their address and phone number of their Hello Work English contact information.

3-12 Higashi Sakura-cho Fukuyama-shi

0849(23)8609

So anyway, Hello Work pretty much sucks for finding work when you a non-native. That said, I still recommend applying to them to get the extra money--because you won't know how long it will be until you find work--it may come in handy. If you get lucky like I did, it's a pretty nice bonus. Kind of makes up for the five years on JET I worked without ever getting a single bonus.

I found my current job on a local city listing online. But the best place to look for work in Japan (at least for foreigners) is on GaijinPot.com

http://www.gaijinpot.com/

Make sure you sign up to their job listing section. Your name will be posted for companies to contact you as well as allowing you to see all the job listings.

I received tons of job listings for English speakers with moderate Japanese. Everything from bar tending to the same old ESL grind. There are translation jobs, as well as personal tutoring jobs, among many other jobs to select from.

Well, that's the low down on what I know. Like I said, I found work right away so I didn't struggle too much. I wish you the best of luck and hope this info helps.

Sincerely,

Bikkuri Vick

The Girl I Didn't Know Who Knew Me

2011-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was getting on the train. A young Japanese girl, who was no more than twenty, came up to me and started talking to me as if we were old friends. I had never seen her before... but apparently she knew me. She knew my name and that I lived in the city.

How could she know me?

This attractive girl, who was leaning in rather close to get under the rims of my glasses and take a peek at my blue eyes, who was she really?

We sat down together on the train and she pulled out a brand new iPhone. Having a little trouble with opening her apps I asked if I could help her. She said sure. I showed her how to do it, and she smiled, then opened up a file with some family photos.

Instantly I recognized her little brother. He is one of my junior high school students. Then she opened up another pic--her little sister--who is one of my elementary school students!

Ah, so this is how she knew me.

I got her name and we chatted for twenty minutes. She then got off at her destination and cheerfully walked a way. Her step had a bounce to it.

Laughing to myself, I realized, I used to be young like that. Now I am teaching the kids of my students who are in college already. Have I been in Japan that long?

Yes.

Today is my last day of classes. Tomorrow Sayaka, Solara, and I will get on the plane and head back to the U.S. for Christmas. It will be the first time home in over six years. I am greatly looking forward to it.

See you all soon!

Jesus Clause & Santa Christ

2011-12-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Student: Did the baby Jesus grow up to be Santa Claus?

Me: Yeah, sounds about right.

True conversation I had yesterday with my second graders at Elementary school. They have no idea who Jesus is. And this was after a class where I explained who he was! I explained that Christians believe Jesus died and became God. One girl asked: What's a Christian? Yup. I love Japan!

The Art of Staring and Getting Caught Graceiously

2011-12-06T05:38:00.001-08:00

My wife scolded me yesterday for being a pervert. Although this is largely true, I try not to make a public show of my perviness (pervy-ness?). Although, her best girlfriend finds my risque sense of humor downright hysterical, and so I sometimes tease her, using innuendo and double entendres (some of them fairly inventive--I think you'll find--considering I am making bi-lingual puns and the like).

Yet having spent over half a decade living in Japan, I have found that I have to vent my sexual energies somehow. Since we have had a child, there is no time at home for, well, naughty videos. Even "fun time" with the wife has been severely restricted--almost non-existent. That's married life with kids, I suppose.

So joking is one way to enjoy the risque and still be socially acceptable. However, Japan being the way it is, I constantly find myself facing what I (personally) find to be the most attractive women on the planet.

Of course my wife is the most beautiful woman I know, although I am sure my daughter will someday surpass even her mother's beauty, but in terms of general preference, I have a weak spot for beautiful Asian women. I mean, who doesn't?

Unlike many American women (and Western women in general), however, Japanese women are usually very slender, many of them petite, but hardly any of them obese. Even the plump girls are "fit" by American standards--and very rarely do you see anyone bloated up to whale size. In a city crowd of thousands of holiday shoppers, you can go an entire day without spotting a single obese person. Japan is one of the slimmest nations in the world--mainly due to a strict diet which consists mostly of fish, miso soup, and white rice. Genetics also plays a large part.

So I usually like to take the time to admire the myriad of types of faces--and shapes--of all the beautiful women with their alluring almond eyes and slender curves. Smiles with crooked teeth I tend to find adorable. Black hair, brown hair, or dark brown hair. Sometimes bleached and died. The differences are subtle. All of them have dark brown eyes--but the exact shade varies. I find women beautiful, so I watch them with interest. I am interested in their beauty. I don't think that's a crime. Just simple adoration. As my wife always reminds me, it's okay to look but not touch.

The train ride is perhaps the best way to sample the variety of feminine beauty. It ranges from mothers with small children to business women to high school girls maturing into women. It's all a gradient. There are different scales of beauty, different types, different classifications. None of them better or worse than the next, just different. Staring at women is like taking a long hard long appreciative look at art (of course this analogy isn't perfect. Certainly I am not implying that women are merely objects to be desired or objectified. I don't think that).

Perhaps the reason I am so drawn to feminine beauty is that nature made women so desirable. For the obvious set of reasons--I shouldn't need to spell it out--I hope. Acknowledging the fact that women have a power over the man's imagination, indeed a power over all of us--to acknowledge this feminine enchantment over our imaginations is a sign of maturity. To ignore it would be to naive. To attack it is lame. To distort it into something to be owned or possessed is sinister. Feminine beauty is like a glorious sunset--nobody can own it--be on possession of it--it's just a force of nature. It's out there--staring back out you--whether or not you take the time to truly appreciate it. Women, for me, are truly inspiring. They are the very embodiment of beauty, in my opinion. I'd rather look at a beautiful woman than a sunset, but then again, I'd rather look at her with the soft light of a sunset washing over her and enhancing her lush beauty with a thousand tints and hues as it amplifies every vivid detail of her appealing mystique.

Staring can put many people off. My rule of thumb is, if they appear like they don't appreciate the stare--I stop. I don't intend to make anyone uncomfortable. There is a difference between molesting someone with your eyes and mutual flirtatious glances. I try to respect a person's comfort zone--which also varies from person to person. The trick, I have found, is to make staring fun--not icky. Gauging your timing and paying attention to the behavior and temperament of the woman is key. Watch for markers, changes in body behavior, is she nervous, put off, engaged, even interested?

Having the only blue eyes homing in on a woman in a flood of brown eyes, I find, makes me the target of their stares as well. Partly because they are curious--a set of blue eyes is a rarity--to see it once after having grown up without ever having seen it can be quite an experience, I'd imagine. It is sometimes hard not to get locked into a gaze with a beautiful stranger--hypnotized by the exotic blue eyes staring back at her.

How one responds will determine whether or not the other person, a complete stranger, reacts to the act of staring. I usually hold the gaze, then right when I feel she will break away I smile, and this usually prompts a smile in return. She maintains the gaze longer than she would have if not for the pleasant smile disarming her fears. I have it down to an art. I can get nearly anyone to smile back at me. Some call it charisma. Perhaps it's simpler still. Either way, warmth from the smile is a sign of friendliness. It's the first step to showing that you're not a perverted stalker or serial killer. Also, it helps to have a nice smile. The smile is important. It washes away the fears and builds that instant rapport that is needed to make the stare mutual and not one sided.

Nobody likes to be stared at--but people often love to stare into each others eyes. But you have to know how to read people--and even then you can find someone on a particularly bad day who isn't in the mood for playing such games. Leave them alone--there are other fish in the sea.

Speaking of which.

Last month I got "Sharon Stoned" on the three thirty train ride home. I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone about it at the time, because I had no idea how to say in all seriousness that some pretty lady I don't even know pulled a Basic Instinct and flashed her furry kitty at me.

Suddenly you're wondering what the situation was.

Like everyday, I was just getting on the train after school, before the high school rush hits. I sat down across from a OL (office lady)--she's a regular commuter. I see her everyday. We dailies all have our preferred cars and seating arrangements. Predictable, I know. But it helps us keep the rhythm of our daily routines. We have often shared some glances with each other--but usually she wears a mask as not to catch anyone's cold (it's a Japanese thing) and I can only see her eyes. Although she wasn't wearing a mask this day, I noticed.

She was wearing her usual business attire, a short skirt-suit, with a white blouse top, and an open collar. Typical, sexy, Japanese business woman. She is a woman I have watched get on and off the train for several months, fairly attractive, but not glamorous. Young, probably in her mid to late twenties. She sometimes glances at me and catches me staring at her longer than I probably should be. Then I turn away. Sometimes I catch a smile on her face before I break eye contact.

Well, several weeks ago she came onto the train and sat down across from me. It was the early afternoon train so there was hardly anybody in the car. She looks up, sees me, we exchange smiles--acknowledging that we recognize each other. Next she pulls out her mobile and begins texting someone. She crosses her legs to block the view going up her skirt (her awfully short and revealing skirt).

Without warning a large smile breaks out on her face, as if she just read something funny. Perfect teeth. Wasn't expecting that. Her neck runs down into the white triangle opening of her collar, then trails down into a crevice of cleavage cut off far too abruptly, the rest is left up to the imagination. Suddenly I am staring at her legs. I can't help but think they are dark--even for a Japanese woman. But they're naturally tan, not artificial. Dark skin is exotic. Alluring. As is the rest of her skin. Nobody else seems to be on the train, except for a couple of people in the far back, and here is this gorgeous lady I've seen a thousand times before sitting in front of me like any other day. She flashes a look to check if I am still watching her. Yup, caught.

I glance away but eventually my eyes wonder back up her legs. Her legs are smooth. She looks fit. Her fitness is part of what makes her so attractive, I think to myself. All the curves bending and flowing over her feminine form. All right where they ought to be. She laughs again at the email. Then looks up. I'm caught--again. This time I don't try to look away. She holds my gaze. Luckily, she doesn't seem bothered by the prolonged exchange.

Shifting in her seat she she arches her back and pushes out her chest, then uncrosses her legs, opens wide, and then crosses them again.

I blink hard.

My eyes become frozen, locked onto the slender line of her feminine legs running together up into the dark shade of her skirt. For a brief instant that shade lit up with light streaming down through the train window. My brain is still a little slow processing what it has just seen.

For a second I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. No, I tell myself, it couldn't be what I thought it was. She looks up at me. No smile, just checking to gauge my reaction. I was still frozen--in a daze--speechless. Without so much as a response she goes back to texting. Was it a conscious act, I wonder? Did she assume I just hadn't noticed? Needless to say, I had a little trouble figuring out what had just happened-- more importantly why it had happened.

Either she didn't care that I saw or she wanted me to see. But I saw it all--and it was beautiful.

A minute later we are at the next train stop. Her friends get on and sit down on either side of her. She is telling them something. They all laugh, and with flushed cheeks they all glance at me. Damn, caught again. I look away. Was I part of some kind of inside joke? I didn't know. I decide to stare out the window, even though it makes me slightly dizzy, for the remainder of the trip.

When they get off they look back at me and all three giggle, cheeks glowing bright pink, and then they're gone.

Two stops later I got off the train, and thought to myself, what the hell?

It's the third time I have been flashed like this during my time in Japan (I'm not joking). The prior two instances are nothing to write home about. Simply a case of high school girls gone wild--at least as wild as can be expected from Japanese school girls locked into rigid forms of social behavior. Just panty shots--use to provoke. Entice. Mess with the foreigner and get a rise out of him--see what his reaction will be. If I were fat or ugly they probably would ignore me altogether, but they're just playing.

This was the first time a real woman had flashed me. Still, I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not. She seems to like the attention my eyes give her. She sometimes glances at me to see if I am watching her when I'm gazing elsewhere. I catch her in the corner of my peripheral vision--only to then glance at her--baited, caught, and reeled in like a fish on a hook.

But what is a guy to do with all this pent up sexual frustration?

I will tell you what I do. I listen to my wife's advice. Look but don't touch.

It's sound advice, I think you'll agree.

Currently Reading

2011-11-07T17:25:00.001-08:00

Just a heads up, this post is more about my personal life and less about anything religious in nature. If this is not your cup of tea, feel free to skip it.

Usually I like to keep people posted on what I am reading, however, the past couple of months have been hectic as I have moved to a new city, had to find a new job, found one, then had to get accustomed to it. Luckily, the people that I work with at my new school are much more personable than at my last couple of schools. Also, I have access to the Internet unlike my old schools--which prohibited use of the Internet--because it was somehow "evil."

Well, they didn't just come out and say it. But many of the teachers were abusing it for, well, checking email, Facebook, and blogging. Even if it was related to school activities.

I once tried to convince my school to move the school newspaper to an online blog--where the students would have control of the publication and content. That didn't fly well--because then they'd need a teacher to teach them how to do all that stuff--you know--like posting articles online. I tried to explain that it was simple, sort of like writing an email, but then the idea fizzled out--because the Principle didn't want kids spending valuable class time writing emails. *Sigh.

But what can you do when people just don't get it, moreover, refuse to get it even when it is drawn in easy to read crayon for them? Pretty colors and all. It's like trying to explain the benefits of the invention of the wheel to a dinosaur. They just won't care about your silly little donut-whole of a contraption--they're living in a different era on the space time continuum. But I was taking for granted that I am in Japan, surrounded by technology, and the fact that it's the 21st century. Living amongst the tech doesn't mean people are necessarily computer literate. Computers are a specialized form of tech. But oh well, like I said, not much I can do about it now.

I am just glad the faculty at my new school is a bit younger--a lot of twenty and thirty year olds fresh out of college teaching their first, second, or third year. Most of them are with the times--and I finally have people my own age to talk to! It's great.

But I digress. Enough about work. I enjoy my new school, my new location, and living in the city is great. For those that don't know--I live in Kumamoto, Japan.

As for books, it has been slow reading as I have had to meet deadlines as I try to finish editing my short novella series called The Scarecrow and Lady Kingston.

I am currently finishing the fifth short story, prepping the third and forth ones for publication, and plotting the finale. Meanwhile, I began my first foray in the genera of horror, thriller, survival type stories. Yeah, it may sound cliche, but I thought I would take a stab at writing my first zombie story. It's still in the first stages, but I can tell you this much--it will be called Bitten: A Resurrection Thriller.

When I do get time to read, that is when I am not writing a book or a blog, I have been working my way through the lectures and interviews of Robert G. Ingersoll, which I am almost done with. One might find it hard to match such a great mind as Ingersoll's, and they would be right, so it was sort of difficult to select my next read.

Happily, however, I discovered a decent Kindle edition of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, also known as the Emperor Philosopher of Rome, and I am already making my way into his philosophical mindset. He was of the Stoic school, a non-superstitious, non-believer, and his humanistic insights into the world are quite moving and inspirational.

To balance the philosophy side of things I downloaded Lisa Randall's new book Knocking on Heaven's Door, which is a comprehensive overview of the most up to date physics, theories, and concepts in science. It also is a discussion on how science, and scientific thinking, benefits us in our daily life--and I highly recommend this book.

Useful ESL Resources

2011-10-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the Kenshukai (Education Research seminar) later this year, I have collected together a few of the beneficial ESL websites I frequently utilize.

Nearly all of these websites focus on ESL learning and together form a useful database for English materials, such as flash cards, word puzzles, worksheets, and English based activities and games ready made for your convenience.

The reason I am posting this information on this blog, is because I may need to reference these sites at a later date, and I thought it would be nice to be able to do it from my smart phone in real time instead of having to save files onto a SD card and try and transfer them manually, which can be a pain. Also, I can direct others to this post which may help them build their own data base of English teaching materials.

1. Eigo Note Blog (www.eigonoteblog.com)

2. Eigo Noto (www.eigo-noto.com)

3. Boggles World ESL (www.bogglesworldesl.com)

4. A4 ESL (http://a4esl.org/)

5. ESL HQ (www.eslHQ.com)

6. Eigo Batake (http://eigobatake.x0.com/)

7. MES English (www.mes-english.com/games.php)

8. Genki English (http://genkienglish.net/)

9. Matsuka Phonics (http://www.mpi-j.co.jp/)

10. Dave's ESL Cafe (www.eslcafe.com)

11. My Vocabulary.com (www.myvocabulary.com)

12. Livewire Puzzles (www.puzzles.ca/)

The Scarecrow & Lady Kignston: Escort Escapades

2011-10-21T18:23:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I love to write, and as such, I write, write, and write some more. Some might even call me a writer.

The second installment of The Scarecrow & Lady Kingston, Escort Escapades, is now available for Kindle and Kindle Fire on Amazon.com!

Here is the summary of the plot, which continues after the events of part one.

A strange assassin prowls the streets of L.A. A well known adult entertainment actress becomes collateral damage in a corrupted Senator's night life, and once again Julie finds herself involuntarily connected to the bizarre events. The FBI butts into Detective Julie Kingston's affairs causing her to be more ill tempered than ever. Meanwhile, her vulpine rival, the starlet Kateland Ramese Beckensale, gets tangled up in the whole mess when she becomes the assassin’s next target. To make matters worse, Julie gets stuck in the middle of having to dismantle a bomb set to detonate in downtown L.A.

Scarecrow, with time running out, tirelessly works to piece together the puzzle of seemingly unrelated events—and save his partner—but will he solve the mystery before it's too late?

The Scarecrow & Lady Kingston: Escort Escapades is approximately 15,000 words long. Warning: contains sexual references, action based violence, and some offensive language. Recommended for mature audiences.

This novella makes for a great gift for oneself--especially if you like action/adventure, mystery, suspense, comedy. Be sure and check it out!

P.S.
The wycked cover art was provided by my long time friend Sedat Oezgen.

Kumamoto: Solara: October Updates!

2011-10-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

A gorgeous setting Japanese sun. I took this shot on me cell out in the Amakusa bay.

A gorgeous little girl picking "cosmos" flowers.

Sunset over the JR line. Taken at Kumamoto station on my cell phone.

Another angle at the station. My late night commute.

Dad and his lovely little princess. We went to Moenosato park near Mt. Aso. We spent all day there. It was so much fun.

Pearl in the Sky (Amakusa)

2011-10-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Earthquake (Level 5!) Kumamoto

2011-10-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

On Thursday this past week (Oct. 6) at 11:33 in the evening Kumamoto was rocked by a level 5 earthquake. The good news is that TKU and RKK news networks have reported that nobody was seriously injured.

It was the first level 5-upper JMA seismic intensity level earthquake to ever hit Kumamoto.

Other than my wife getting spooked and bundling up the baby in a big soft blanket and pacing the hallway waiting for aftershocks, which luckily never came, everyone at the house is fine.

Phonics Mother Frackers! Phonics!

2011-10-06T03:18:00.000-07:00

Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) usually get flustered if you, the eager assistant language teacher (ALT), exuberant to extol supreme English knowledge to your non-native speakers of English as a second language (ESL) students does something insane... like... teach them a new word... in English.

Immediately protests are mounted. The teacher complains, "But it's too difficult!"

"What the frack?" thinks the ALT. "All I did was teach them the word *moon*. What's the big deal?"

"That word isn't in their vocabulary list," informs the JTE. "They won't learn it until next year."

English learning suddenly comes to a halt.

You would be surprised at how often this form of protest is levied against the poor ALT who can't understand what their job is supposed to be. After all, here is the ALT thinking they were hired to help assist English learning--by using their native English speaking powers--like a master Language Jedi--to transform their students into masterful English users.

Instead, the ALT is lectured to, usually in front of the class, that English is "just too hard" for the students. It makes one wonder how well this bit of reverse psychology motivates the students to learn English? The students probably only hear, "You all suck at English! Don't even bother."

The average Japanese person, stuck on a small island, where everyone looks the same, it taught to think and behave in the same manner, and where they are constantly told that English is just too difficult for them--they grow up thinking, "Heck, this English is just too hard. It's not for me."

Not exactly a great way to excite Japanese students and ignite their passion for English.

My goal over the past five years has been to explain to Japanese educators why limiting their students to what the textbook contains, i.e. a mere 500 vocabulary words on average and a handful of grammar points, is likely to be one of the reasons their students' English skills suck. It also explains why anything extra is so often considered just too damn "difficult."

Sure, maybe their next textbook will contain the word *moon*, but then again, maybe not. See, here is the problem. The word moon isn't exactly advanced level English, but if it isn't in the book, well, then it might as well not exist.

Attempting to add it onto a pre-existing set of vocabulary words wouldn't seem like such a big deal... except... well... you see, the Japanese don't exactly teach phonics. Which is the likely reason why the teacher is complaining. The students don't know how to read the world--let alone sound it out--so they can't recognize it. Consequently, the JTE (having come out of the same education system which neglects to teach phonics) may not recognize it either, which is why they aren't confident in letting it be taught--they may not know if it's relevant to the lesson. Even if it turns out they can read it, and their English is top notch, they may still feel that it strays from the mandated material they are obligated to teach. In which case, the easiest way to get back on track is to shut down the ALT--with the go to phrase--"It's too difficult."

But if they'd learn phonics--it wouldn't be. In fact, it wouldn't even be an issue. But any word the Japanese student learns must be memorized. To make matters worse, they typically aren't memorizing words in context. They rarely even read the skits in the books, except when the teacher translates it all into Japanese so they can see the function of the grammar--and even then--they don't usually make time for reinforcing the grammar with a writing exercise. Usually, as it so often is the case, the bell rings before they can consider any examples and they slam their books shut then immediately proceed to forget everything they learned. After all, most of the class was taught in Japanese, the grammar was all written in Japanese, and the ALT was told, in not so many words, to politely shut up.

One of my Japanese Principals once asked me what I thought the problem was with the way the school taught English. He was worried because other schools were out performing his when it came to the scores on standardized tests--like Eiken and entrance exams. What, he wondered, was the problem?

I informed that it was the system at fault. Teaching vocabularies which match the preselected vocabulary sets on entrance exams only teaches students words within the range of what the test dictates. Consequently, the students learn only a select amount of grammar points and words which usually correspond to the national mandate of what will be on the entrance exams and nothing more. This only limits them even further.

To exasperate this problem, because Japanese students typically don't learn phonics, they are at a disadvantage right out of the gate. Trying to have a Japanese student read a word they have never come across before, you quickly find they often get stuck. Their eyes glaze over, and they look at you with a pained expression on their face, as if your English lesson had suddenly become physically unbearable. For example, I threw up a word the other day, "Extraordinary."

Two things happened.

1) The teacher protested. It's too difficult! 2) The students' eyes glazed over.

Frustrated, I pointed out to the teacher that she needed to stop dictating what the students are capable of learning. Shut up and just teach! Well, that was the general message, although I said it much nicer, of course. I also pointed out that they already know the word "extra." Subsequently, "ordinary" was contained in their new vocabulary list for this week's chapter. If she would stop telling them that every other English word was too difficult, and just give them a chance to think about the meaning of the words they already know, they might be able to make a guess.

But the victory was bittersweet. It felt like a big woopty doo. So what, the student learned a word which they'll likely forget the next day. They still can't read any other words--lacking a phonics base--and so the JTE will always have an incentive to state the obvious--"It's too difficult."

So in answering the Principal's question, I told him that phonics was the key. If Japanese learned phonics, they would be capable of reading every English word they would ever come across. Basically their vocabularies would have the potential of being unlimited!

Additionally, I pointed out the problem with teachers hindering the students by limiting what they can learn--by preemptively deciding that it was too difficult for their set level--and thereby limiting to English so basic that even if they memorized the entire textbook--they still wouldn't have enough English to actually use the language to any degree of proficiency.

My Principal nodded, took a mental note, and thanked me for my advice.

Sadly, even if he writes a report detailing the vital importance of starting Japanese ESL students on phonics based programs, nobody will heed the advice. The Government officials are still obsessed with test performance--and so all of Japan's educational goals are focused on the ever short term goal of passing exams.

It's all about test performance--language proficiency never even enters the equation. Which is why the Japanese struggle to learn English--and will continue to do so.

Unless, that is, we somehow convince the Japanese teachers, the boards of education, and the powers that be that the only way to begin to learn English is to learn it the way native speakers do--through phonics.

Riding the JR Line

2011-10-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

My new job is an hour and a half train ride out of town. By car that's roughly a two hour drive with the traffic. Now you know why I've entered the world of train culture. Trains are much faster and many times safer than driving.

Japan is infamous for timely trains. Two minutes late and everyone on the platform starts checking their watches and smart phones. Four minutes late and the control room is sending out apologies then announcements stating that the train shall arrive shortly. And you know what? It always does!

I've never seen a late train in the sense that it didn't arrive on schedule. Personally, the latest I've seen was around five minutes late. Only in the case of random freak accidents does a Japanese train not make it to it's destination on time. Usually suicide jumpers flinging themselves in front of a speeding locomotive. But if it wasn't for suicidal folks completely inconsiderate of the time schedule, the trains in Japan would probably never be all that terribly late. All in all, I must say, that it is pretty darn impressive.

So here is a breakdown of my daily commute.

5:00 AM ... Wake up.
6:10 AM ... Ride bike to tram line.
6:45 AM ... Switch from tram to JR line.
7:00 AM ... Switch trains at main station. Buy breakfast.
7:24 AM ... Ride train to destination.
7:50 AM ... Arrival.

My breakfast usually consists of a coffee with a freshly baked panini. Now, I am a little behind on the times, because this was the first time I have discover the wonderfulness that is panini. The way the bakery at Kumamoto station makes paninis is splendid. They slice a small cut into a thin loaf, then put on all the toppings, seal back up the loaf, and throw the whole thing into the large oven. The oven looks like a pizza ovens. Then after a minute, they pull it out, and presto--a panini!

I prefer the bacon, lettuce, tomato with cheese panini. The cheese melts inside, and it is truly scrumptious!

After that I head to school. Actually, I work at three schools. Two elementary schools and one junior high school. The transition from my old job, where I had taught at three different junior high schools and ten elementary schools, was fairly smooth.

The new faculty and staff, teachers and students, all gave me a warm welcome. Usually, when starting at a new school, it takes a few weeks for everyone to warm up to you. Especially the students. But this time, for some reason, it was completely different. The students keep asking what day I will come, and one of my junior high school 3rd graders (equivalent of a freshman in American high school) stated, "What days do you come to school? We always have more fun when you're here."

I'm glad they are having so much fun. Although, all I have really had time to do is chat with them in the hallways between classes. During class, Bikkuri Vick takes over, the crazy wild teacher--and goes wild teaching English. Gets the children motivated. My philosophy is, you have to raise you energy level to theirs, or at least the excitement of learning, if you want them to absorb what you're teaching. Also, when teaching ESL I have found that it really helps to be animated--the larger the gesture or expression is, the more likely they will be to make the correlations between the vocabulary and the action.

After a hard day of work, Bikkuri Vick often likes to stop for a drink. Of course, the preferred beverage is Bikkle. Why Bikkle? Because Bikkuri Vick likes to drink Bikkle.

Actually, you wouldn't know it by reading the English, but this is an inside joke with my students. In Japanese, there is no sound for the letter "V" so inevitably it becomes the letter "B." As such, the sentence, said in Katakana sounding English, becomes an extra humorous rhyme in Japanese.

"Bikkuri Bikku laikusu tsu dorinku Bikkeru."

Yes, I do. I do like to drink Bikkle.

After a nice refreshing drink, to cool off and regain my sugar levels, I walk ten minutes back to the station, and repeat my train hopping all the way home. I usually get home around 6:30 PM. Well, that's my daily routine involving riding the JR line! Busy, busy, busy.

P.S. This is the bike which gets me around. Notice the Bikkle along with the bento in the back of the bike.

Updates: More Japan Coming Soon!

2011-09-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

More updates coming soon. I've been busy taking photos of my new town, job, and schools. It will take a few more days before I can blog about everything happening as of recent. Until then, as you can see, I picked up a little something something.

Peace!

The Image of Youth: Japan’s Age Old Obsession

2011-08-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Image of Youth: Japan’s Age Old Obsession

[Disclaimer: I am currently researching this issue to better understand a common tendency I have noticed while living in Japan for older men to have a strange sexual fascination, if not borderline obsession, with adolescent pop idols and young girls in general.]

Are Girl Bands and Gravure Idols an Extension of Pedophila?

In Japan, music groups like AKB48 are hugely popular. These girl bands often contain anywhere from three to two dozen members, all of them teenage girls, usually around fourteen to fifteen years old. In the case of AKB48 there are a total of 60 members (AKB48 currently holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest pop group).[i][ii] This makes girl groups like AKB48, or Idoling, Girls Generation, Kara, etc. extremely popular with the younger crowds (especially my junior high school students). But here in Japan, such groups usually have a large following of older males as well. The men are typically in their mid thirties and early forties. In fact, AKB48 has done several concerts catering entirely to this unique demographic. It is a strange thing to turn on the television and see an entire crowd of middle-aged men holding up their cell phones and taking pictures of underage girls wearing short mini-skirts. However, such a practice is common place in Japan. The gravure idol industry specializes and excels at exploiting the sexual attractiveness of these young women and many more like them.[iii]

You will often hear stories of teachers marrying students in Japan. For a long time I thought this was just a theme found in Japanese animation, called anime, but having spent half a decade in Japan I have heard of two such cases. When I first came to Japan, the first school I worked at was going through a difficult time, as the school counselor (a man) had just been fired for getting caught taking pictures up the skirts of junior high school girls with a secret camera in his shoe. A year later an elementary school teacher I worked with had to be shamed when her husband, who worked in the school district over, was caught with child pornography in his school work locker.

Having spent so much time in Japan, I have formulated various reasons which help explain such tendencies for men to prefer younger women. Japanese culture is just generally obsessed with youth. The entertainment industry is obsessed with the image of youth. Needless to say, the two obsessions feed each other. In fact, the obsession seems to be so ingrained into the society as a whole that hiring practices for jobs often reflect a tendency to hire young beautiful Japanese girls over higher educated men and women.[iv]

Even so, the Japanese obsession with adolescent youth is so prevalent, that you can’t help but notice it. In fact, it is nowhere more prevalent than in the manga industry (i.e., Japanese comic books). Manga aimed at adult audiences frequently depicts extreme hardcore sex with girls which are drawn to look adolescent, or often times, are adolescents in the stories. In fact, the depiction of young girls in sexual graphic manga was so prevalent that Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara passed Bill 156 which seeks to regulate manga that “unreasonably praises or exaggerates” the extreme sexual depictions of minors.[v]

Even so, the idol industry and publishing industry are only banking on that which is profitable to market—sex—or the idea of sex anyway. A friend of mine at university was obsessed with finding out why Japans idol fascination was so strong, his conclusion made sense. After several years of research, he concluded that modern day idols are filling an entertainment void left open after the decline of working Geisha. Many geisha begin their apprenticeship as underage girls, called hangyoku and many of these girls would start as young as nine years old, before child labor laws were passed prohibiting the work of minors. In her final stage of geisha training a young girl becomes a maiko, and works as an apprentice until she acquires all the skills of a professional geisha.

In Japan, the biggest industry has always been entertainment. According to Wikipedia:

“The biggest industry in Japan is not shipbuilding, producing cultured pearls, or manufacturing transistor radios or cameras. It is entertainment.”^[38] The term geisha literally translates to mean “entertainer.” Some prostitutes refer to themselves as “geisha,” but they are not. A geisha's sex and love life is usually distinct from her professional life. A successful geisha can entrance her male customers with music, dance, and conversation. “Geishas are not submissive and subservient, but in fact they are some of the most financially and emotionally successful and strongest women in Japan, and traditionally have been so.”^[26]

My friend’s theory was that with the decline of young female entertainers during the war era and Japan’s reconstruction, the need for such entertainment returned with a boom during the baby boom era, of young Japanese professionals more hungry for entertainment than ever. Thus Japanese idol culture was born.

Now that is the simple version of what I think is a much more complicated cultural phenomenon, but what is interesting to me is the continued obsession with youth. The question I would want to ask is, is it merely cultural? Or is something else at play? Why is it considered alright to idolize scantily clad teenage adolescents beyond just their entertainment value? In other words, I am interested in whether or not girl bands and gravure idols (and perhaps AV idols as well) are merely cultural, or perhaps, can be explained as an extension of paraphilia, such as pedophilia and the sexual preference for adolescent girls.

It would make sense to me, that in a non-Christian influenced country, such as Japan, that pedophilia would not be so well hidden from sight. Maybe what we are seeing is the general tendency for a natural occurring pedophilia in Japanese culture, where it is considered normal to have such preferences. Maybe such transparency in a culture is healthier than trying to cover it up, as which seems to be the case within many religious organizations. All these are questions which, I feel, deserve further investigation and consideration.

Yet as I thought about it, I realized I really didn’t know or understand what pedophilia is, other than the pejorative term for a child rapist. As such, I couldn’t really say whether or not what I see going on in Japan is related to pedophilia or is something else entirely. So I decided to investigate.

What is Pedophilia?

Even as the notion of pedophilia is controversial in most every civilized society, we cannot just write it off as a mental illness. It seems to me that pedophilia may prove to be more than just sick perverts getting off to images of child porn and molesting small children.

Don’t misunderstand me, I still believe pedophilia is morally reprehensible. In fact, I agree with pedophilia being classified as a mental disorder. According to the International Classification of Disease, pedophilia is a “disorder of adult personality and behavior” in which there is a sexual preference for prepubescent children, or of pubertal aged children.[vi] The problem, however, it is might not actually be a mental disorder, which would cause us to seriously rethink how we classify and address pedophilia in modern society.

Likewise, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies pedophilia as a paraphilia in which a person has intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children and on which feelings they have either acted on or which cause distress or interpersonal difficulty.[vii]

Paraphilia simply means unusual sexual interests. American Journal of Psychiatry describes paraphilia as "recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors" generally involving:

Non-human objects
The suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner
Children
Non-consenting persons

Homosexuality was included on the list until 1973.

Needless to say the view of paraphilias as disorders is not universal. For example, while pedophilia is considered a mental disorder, the closely related hebephilia (sexual preference for adolescents typically 11-14 years of age) and ephebophilia (sexual preference for later adolescents typically 15-19 years of age) are not. Obviously, with the latter one, ephebophilia, in many countries and cultures where girls are considered legal consenting adults from 16 to 19 years of age there is no ethical dilemma. Of course the exact age varies from culture to culture, and the dilemma only arises depending on what age we designate as a legal consenting adult, but it is important to realize that in most cases the defining line is drawn at puberty.

Some professionals, such as Charles Allen Moser, have suggested that paraphilia should be eliminated from diagnostic manuals as strange sexual preferences are not always bad or illegal. Nonetheless, the psychiatrist Glen Gabbard has noted that “the term paraphilia remains a pejorative in most circumstances.”[viii]

This is certainly true when we equate pedophiles with corrupt, insane, child rapists. Yet medical professionals still seek to understand the reasons for strange sexual urges. Many assume that pedophilia may have a genetic basis, as does homosexuality, which causes a person to automatically have a sexual preference for adolescent age groups. Although any direct biological associations are still being investigated. However, according to a recent study (2008) it seems that with pedophilia, and other paraphilias, the study suggests these may be “a dysfunction at the cognitive stage of sexual arousal processing.”[ix]

What this means is pedophilia may not be a psychological disorder but a brain disorder.

Additionally, if this proves to be true, then pedophiles are the victims of a life crippling disability. However, more research needs to be done before we start defending pedophiles, but if it turns out there is a genetic and biological relationship to the cause of such paraphilias, then pedophilia would no longer be classified as a mental disease or psychiatric disorder but would be something similar to sexual orientation, in this case, sexual preference for adolescents.

I suppose we must be careful not to equate homosexuality, which is a sexual orientation, with sexual preference, as the two are not entirely mutual. If pedophilia turns out to have a genetic or biological cause, then it would be just as valid, if not more accurate, to equate pedophilia with genetic obesity. Homosexuality in itself, is not unhealthy or dangerous. Obesity, on the other hand, is extremely dangerous for an individual’s health. If pedophilia has a biological explanation, then I would see it equating more along the lines of something like genetic obesity, something which is adversely affecting the individual, and which may have social and cultural implications.

However, pedophilia, unlike obesity, becomes a legal issue because there is the concern of protecting the well-being and rights of adolescent children. As most pedophiles prey on children, who are not mentally mature enough to deal with complex social relationships let alone sex, it becomes and imperative to protect the children from the acts of pedophile predators.

Needless to say, I think we must continue investigating the cause for pedophilia and the sexual preference for prepubescent teens. The sooner we can understand it, the sooner we can take action in learning how to deal with it, and hopefully learn to better safeguard our children—regardless of which country or culture we live.

Conclusion

Pedophilia proves to be more complicated an issue than I initially thought. This makes pronouncing any set conclusion rather difficult. All I can give you is my opinion on what I think may be happening, based on personal experience and research, but I can’t say whether or not an obsession with girl bands, gravure idols, and the image of youth in general is related to pedophilia or not. Much more research needs to be done first.

In the end, however, I suppose it comes down to figuring out whether or not the cultural tendencies for our sexual preference denote a biological predisposition or a cultural one, or perhaps a little of both, and then determining where we draw the line. For example, with regard to Japanese girl bands and gravure idols, we might ask, although it is illegal to have sex with those who are still minors (under 16 years of age in Japan), does this make the sexual desire to want to have sex with them abnormal, or would this merely reflect a naturally occurring sexual preference? We might ask whether or not there are cultural biases and other external factors we haven’t accounted for, such as stigma against such behavior or the sponsoring of it. When I see a girl band consisting mostly of adolescent girls, dressed down into nothing but their underwear and posing provocatively, is this ad supposed to elicit a sexual response? Am I supposed to be attracted to these teenagers? Or is the media’s sexploitation so out of control that it is sending the wrong messages? Additionally, we must consider whether or not is it designed to exploit an inherent sexual preference in us for prepubescent teen girls, and if so, what are the moral implications of such advertising? All these questions (and more) need to be addressed, but I am afraid further research must be done first. As it is, I wouldn’t rule out Japan’s obsession with girl bands, gravure idols, and the like as an extension of pedophilia. It seems a real possibility, but I don’t want to jump to any conclusions.

[i] "Guinness Worlds Records - Largest pop group". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2011-6-29.

[ii] "AKB48 is officially the world's biggest group". 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2011-06-29.

[iii] Just check out this website Idolex, an online gravure idol index, to see what I mean about the sexploitation of young women so prevalent in the entertainment industry. (Warning: some nude and semi-nude images—viewer disgression is adviced). http://www.idolex.com/

[iv] “Are People hired based on their looks?”Available online: http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/2011/06/17/are-people-hired-based-on-their-looks/

[v] “Ishihara ordinance adamant on Manga Censorship.” Available online: http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/2011/06/21/ishihara-adamant-on-manga-censorship-ordinance/

[vi] World Health Organization,International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems: ICD-10 Section F65.4: Paedophilia (online access via ICD-10 site map table of contents)

[vii] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders DSM-IV TR (Text revision) . Arlington, VA, USA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. .. 2000-06. p. 943. doi :10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349 . ISBN 978-0890420249 .

[viii] Gabbard GO (2007). Gabbard's Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders. American Psychiatric Press. ISBN 9781585622160

[ix] Schiffer B, Paul T, Gizewski E, et al. (May 2008). "Functional brain correlates of heterosexual paedophilia". Neuroimage 41(1): 80–91.doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.02.008.PMID 18358744

Sayonara Sera!

2011-08-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

July 31st was officially my last day working and living in Sera, Hiroshima, Japan. After five years teaching in Sera Town with the Sera Town Board of Education at three junior high schools and ten elementary schools, including a city sponsored adult language class every Tuesday night, I made many good friends. Among my closest friends were some of my ex-students, who I continued to stay in contact with after they had graduated JHS.

Imagine my surprise, when on the very last day, I was taking a load of trash out to the garbage bin area when two of my favorite past students, now finishing their second year of high school, came strolling up to me at 7:30 am in the morning. They quickly informed me that another one of my favorite past students would be joining them shortly.

A few minutes later the final girl showed up, and I gave them all some tea. They chatted with me for almost two full hours, and let me know how much they appreciated me as their Sensei. They informed me that I was the best English teacher they ever had, and that by helping them with speech contests, eiken tests, and club activities over the years, that they felt close to me, as if I was their big brother.

I felt extremely overjoyed by their surprise visit, and tears were welling up in all of our eyes as they left on the long walk to high school. From my old apartment it takes about 45 minutes by foot to get to the high school.

I will miss each and every one of my students dearly, but these three (including a fourth who was unable to make it) I will miss most of all. I watched them grow from elementary students to young ladies, and it was an honor and a pleasure getting to know them.

Another set of lovely and wonderful ladies we will dearly miss are the mothers of Sayaka and Solara's Mama-Tomo group. Mama-Tomo is short for Mama Tomodachi group. They were not only extremely supportive, and caring, but since all of their children were roughly Solara's age, she had many good play friends.

Often times the Mama-Tomo group met up on weekends and we would have fun adventures going fruit picking, including strawberries, plums, and nashi (Japanese pears). They all partook in the local events, and we all went to see the famous children's show Inai-Inai-Ba! live when it came through town and the beloved character Wan-Wan the green dancing dog! Wan-Wan jumped off the stage, ran up to me, the one foreigner in the front row, and shook my hand and said to me, "Taihen desu ne, Pappa!"

On our last official day in Sera, the Mama-Tomo group showed up, unexpectedly, and took Solara with them and babysat her for the full day allowing Sayaka, myself, and our dear friend Tani-san to have time to thoroughly clean the apartment. Nagamori-san even came down from upstairs to help us, even though she had just had her second baby a couple months earlier, she was working just as hard as any of us. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for all the help we received.

We'll never forget any of you!

Over the years living in Japan, I became close friends with the local high school ALT, Arend Sijnja (aka the Sardine Ninja). Of all the foreigners on JET Programme, he was the only one I related to on a person to person level. I'm sure there are other fine JETs on the programme that I would have liked to get to know better than I just didn't have time to (Dan, Ryan, and Luc come to mind), but Arend and I hit it off. Not right away of course. I don't think we even talked the full first year in Sera, but gradually, via bus rides and hanging out in Hiroshima City during orientations and mid-year conferences, we got to know each other. Our friendship blossomed, and we began hanging out in Sera more often, spending time watching movies, talking about Japanese culture, and sharing our experiences, feelings, and hopes and dreams with each other. More than this, however, we could be ourselves. We didn't need to "act Japanese" but we could just be who we are--and that was liberating--just to have someone who you could open up to and share with, who would understand you, and give you feedback.

Arend is definitely one of the closest friends I have, and I will make a valiant effort to keep in touch with him, as he has returned to New Zealand.

Many of my funnest memories are with the adult students from my Eikawa (English conversation) class. Kumiko Inuoe (top left) was like a host mother to me, and threw some amazing Christmas and Halloween parties. Fujimoto-san helped me a lot before I left Sera, as did Ishibashi-san and others at the Board of Education. They're care and guidance will be missed. None will be missed more than Yasuo Izzuka, my first supervisors, and one of the nicest, dedicated, and most hard working man I have ever met. Izzuka helped me with everything from setting up bank accounts, to getting Internet installed, to helping me buy my first car in Japan. His hard work and dedication are only matched by the bigness of his heart.

Oda-san, a salesman at Honda who, along with Izzuka, helped me get my car, will be missed as well. He was like my host father, so to speak, and always made us welcome in his home. We spent many a fun barbeque over at his place shooting the breeze and relaxing. Likewise, Mr. Utsumi, the bona fide master chef at Kaizumi, will be missed. Every dish he makes, every morsel of food he touches with his magic hands, turns out heavenly. His hospitality and his going out of the way to make us the best atmosphere in any restaurant ever--made us enjoy eating at Kaizumi more than any other restaurant in Japan. Not only that, but his food is unbelievably good--I'm talking $150 plate delectable. The only reason we could even afford to eat his cooking, is because of his passion for it, and his desire to share how amazing food can truly be with everyone--no matter their budget.

Although I will miss teaching at my schools, and miss the teachers and students alike, I will especially miss the students and faculty of Sera Nishi Junior High School. Due to the schools small size, everyone you see in the above picture is it, we became close knit--and students and teachers no longer seems like pupils and co-workers, but rather, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters.

After an amazing send off, I kept my nerve the whole day, accepting gifts along with intimate hugs and goodbyes. One of my English teachers broke down in tears, saying she'd miss me horribly, and I didn't even know I had made that big of an impact. I stayed cheerful, even as there were so many eyes brimming with tears, but I kept it together--that is until I packed up the final box of my things into the car and started driving away. Sobs and tears unexpectedly broke out, as I broke down in the car. Five years is a long time, especially when you feel so close to such a tight community of parents, teachers, and their children--it felt like I was being torn away from my family.

I will hold dear the memories of the people I met at Sera Nishi, the times we shared running marathons in the blizzard in the middle of winter, whether it was arm wrestling in class, or answering the often personal questions by my curious students, or just handing out with the students on a hot summer day--lounging around on the high jump pads, and watching Japanese anime on my laptop with the students. Everyone at Sera Nishi Junior High School impacted my life, and I hope, that maybe, I impacted theirs too.

So with fond memories, and a heavy heart, know that I love you all--and will miss you more than mere words can reflect.

Sayonara Sera!

Beautiful Solara (My Precious Daughter)

2011-08-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Solara is 1 year 8 months old in these photos. These were taken on my digital camera, a Canon Power Shot IXY 55. I increased the contrast and adjusted for brightness, and made black and white copies, but other than that, these photos are relatively untouched.

My daughter is so gorgeous, breathtaking even, and she gets comments as such wherever she goes. Just to think, she's not even two years old yet and she's turning heads. So precious!

Balloon Girl Akiyo!

2011-06-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

A new Seven Eleven opened up the street from us. Today they were having bubbles and balloon fun in the parking lot around noon, for all the children, as a promotional gimmick. There must have been like 30 kids playing with bubbles and getting animal balloons made. But that wasn't the most impressive part. The most impressive thing was the balloon girl, named Akiyo, 20 years old. Other than the fact that she was dressed like every man's fantasy girl, and admittedly she was damn fine, but the real amazing thing was how talented with the rubber balloons she was. She could make a lion, a poodle, a bear, a giraffe, a snake, and she was fast. She could make about five balloon animals per minute. I just watched her for a long time and when the line had a pause, she came over and asked if I wanted a picture with her. (Secretly I did, of course, but instead I gave her Solara to hold and took a pic of them together. Nobody wants to be the old pervert hitting on the Japanese girl dressed like a baby doll. Well, okay, I take that back. If I was single, I would have definitely hit on her--after all, she came up to me).

Anyway, I was impressed by her height. She's wearing heals, of course, but without them she has to be at least my height (a mere 5'9"). With the heals she towered over me by two or three inches. That and she was in AMAZING shape. Her legs and arms had so much muscle tone... that I now regret asking what she did (because obviously making balloon animals doesn't get you in that good of shape). My wife thinks I'm funny for being so in love with the balloon girl. But what can I say? She really made my day.

My Dynamic Daugther Gets Dizzy!

2011-05-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

Baby Doppler Effect: Puttikammm!

2011-05-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

My precious little girl! Making cute noises and mimicking the Doppler effect.

American Accent

2011-03-22T15:16:00.001-07:00

Fellow JET Dan Moeller's blog American Accent has a very informative article on the Tohoku earthquake x tsunami and a piece on the nuclear reactor meltdown. Check it out HERE after the jump.