Why oh why does my JET interview have to be during the week of Valentine's Day? Japanese Valentine's Day is almost important enough for me to consider skipping my trip home altogether. Almost.
Japanese Valentine's Day is not American Valentine's Day for two main reasons: 1) Women give to men and not vice versa (sentiments are returned one month later on White Day); 2) "giri-choco," quite possibly the best concept ever. Basically this translates to "obligatory chocolate." Obligatory chocolate is given to bosses, friends, some co-workers, etc. As a teacher, I would ordinarily make out like a bandit. Alas. Thankfully today, my (new most absolutely favoritist) student brought me some giro-choco: box, chocolate.
Anywho, if you didn't already know, I'm coming home for one week and will be busy as all get-out. If you have any requests for stuff to bring back from Japan, better speak up soon... plane leaves Sunday.
PS. The Yomiuri posted several letters to the editor in response to the original one. They were all off topic, infuriatingly ignorant, stupid replies (not to mention that every one, without exception, misspelled the original author's name). I now understand that the editors for this section in this particular paper choose to appeal to those with the intellects of children and other small mammals. My response went over my advanced class students' collective heads as well. Frustrating.
Update: I don't live in Hokkaido -- sorry, can't get chocolate-covered potato chips.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Letter to the Editor (aka "Kickin' Jerks")
The first thing I do every morning at school is read the English version of the Daily Yomiuri newspaper. (Technically, I read the first few pages, then do the crossword, then read the rest.) Unfortunately, this means I am regularly subjected to the sheer idiocy of those English-speakers who try to take advantage of the soap box that is the Letters to the Editor section. Last week, I could barely choke down the reactionary rhetoric posed by one misguided reader (easily google-able), so I felt obliged to respond. So long as I'm living here, I refuse to let a bunch of loose-lipped, know-nothings tarnish the image of foreigners as a whole. That's right, I'm-a kick me some jerks. I'm posting both his letter (without permission) and my response... I imagine that since my readership numbers in the teens no one will raise a fuss. Will let you know if I get published.
Idiot's commentary:
Prejudice inappropriate in English-language paper
When I open my copy of The Daily Yomiuri and read headlines such as “Govt to help local govts burdened by foreigners” (Jan. 9, Page 2) and “Foreigners filling nation’s jails” (Jan. 24, Page 3), I truly wonder what inconvenience and liability members of my community will be accused of next.
Overtaxing immigration and customs officials by requesting passports be stamped and bags checked on arrival and departure? Robbing local citizens of seats on public transport? Depleting natural resources by breathing and washing ourselves?
The fact that the original articles come from your parent publication is worrisome enough, given that such headlines only fuel prejudices among the Japanese readership about their international population. However, reminding the “burdensome” community (temporary or permanent) through the pages of your English-language publication of the problems they are causing is another matter. Try and think of the impact these poorly framed pieces have on those who have been invited and encouraged to come to Japan as resources and not liabilities.
“Yokoso!” indeed. [Fareasticarus editor's note... "Yokoso" means "Welcome" in Japanese]
Anthony Crooks
Sendai
My response:
Call for censorship inappropriate in letter to the editor
This letter is in response Anthony Crook’s February 1, 2007 Letter to the Editor entitled “Prejudice inappropriate in English-language paper,” in which he contended that the Yomiuri unfairly characterizes foreigners living in Japan as onerous to Japanese society.
Though the articles in question may have exhibited foreigners in a bad light, it makes the issues no less newsworthy. Prisons overcrowded with foreigners and government policies concerning non-citizens are not only interesting topics that deserve media attention, but they are also problems faced and discussed by other members of the international community.
It is the responsibility of the free press to print objective, factual news. The decision of what might be deemed newsworthy must depend heavily on the readership, as a newspaper is a business and must cater to its customers. In this situation, I do not think The Daily Yomiuri failed in either regard. Furthermore, though the reader identified two articles that may mar the image of foreigners, there have been many articles to the contrary as well.
That the reader is a seemingly good-willed ambassador is commendable, but it’s important to realize that foreigners were not invited by Japan as a whole. For the most part, each of us was selected by an individual organization for an individual purpose, and not all natives welcome foreigners with open arms.
It’s up to us to try to make a good impression during our tenure in Japan. Requesting that the newspaper sporting the largest circulation in Japan engage in censorship is not only counterproductive, but that also itself sheds us in the worst of lights. It is a testament to the dignity of the Yomiuri that the original letter was printed at all.
[My name here]
Himeji
Idiot's commentary:
Prejudice inappropriate in English-language paper
When I open my copy of The Daily Yomiuri and read headlines such as “Govt to help local govts burdened by foreigners” (Jan. 9, Page 2) and “Foreigners filling nation’s jails” (Jan. 24, Page 3), I truly wonder what inconvenience and liability members of my community will be accused of next.
Overtaxing immigration and customs officials by requesting passports be stamped and bags checked on arrival and departure? Robbing local citizens of seats on public transport? Depleting natural resources by breathing and washing ourselves?
The fact that the original articles come from your parent publication is worrisome enough, given that such headlines only fuel prejudices among the Japanese readership about their international population. However, reminding the “burdensome” community (temporary or permanent) through the pages of your English-language publication of the problems they are causing is another matter. Try and think of the impact these poorly framed pieces have on those who have been invited and encouraged to come to Japan as resources and not liabilities.
“Yokoso!” indeed. [Fareasticarus editor's note... "Yokoso" means "Welcome" in Japanese]
Anthony Crooks
Sendai
My response:
Call for censorship inappropriate in letter to the editor
This letter is in response Anthony Crook’s February 1, 2007 Letter to the Editor entitled “Prejudice inappropriate in English-language paper,” in which he contended that the Yomiuri unfairly characterizes foreigners living in Japan as onerous to Japanese society.
Though the articles in question may have exhibited foreigners in a bad light, it makes the issues no less newsworthy. Prisons overcrowded with foreigners and government policies concerning non-citizens are not only interesting topics that deserve media attention, but they are also problems faced and discussed by other members of the international community.
It is the responsibility of the free press to print objective, factual news. The decision of what might be deemed newsworthy must depend heavily on the readership, as a newspaper is a business and must cater to its customers. In this situation, I do not think The Daily Yomiuri failed in either regard. Furthermore, though the reader identified two articles that may mar the image of foreigners, there have been many articles to the contrary as well.
That the reader is a seemingly good-willed ambassador is commendable, but it’s important to realize that foreigners were not invited by Japan as a whole. For the most part, each of us was selected by an individual organization for an individual purpose, and not all natives welcome foreigners with open arms.
It’s up to us to try to make a good impression during our tenure in Japan. Requesting that the newspaper sporting the largest circulation in Japan engage in censorship is not only counterproductive, but that also itself sheds us in the worst of lights. It is a testament to the dignity of the Yomiuri that the original letter was printed at all.
[My name here]
Himeji
Friday, February 02, 2007
I'm fucking tired, man!!!
Sloth has a slew of problems, some of which are both severe and medicated. She takes no fewer than 24 pills a day to keep her mood in check. She doesn't have a job, she drinks every day, and the managers need to call her an hour before class to make sure she wakes up. (Note: She lives with her parents directly across the street.) As such, I feel terrible identifying her as Sloth, despite her resemblance to her Goonies counterpart, so I will no longer continue to do so.
However, though I feel sorry for Garlic Breath, I've also had to suffer my share of abuses, so she doesn't get a free ride, no way, no how. (One time her breath was so bad that the managers asked her from then on not to eat garlic one day before her lessons -- Garlic Breath threatened to quit and that was the end of that.) At the Christmas party, I played the role of MC and handed out presents for the bingo game. When she won, she, like everyone else, walked up with a big smile and happily accepted her bounty. Unlike everyone else, she grabbed my arm, pulling me off balance, and planted a bubonic kiss on my cheek before I knew what hit me. I immediately stabbed her in the eye with a chopstick. In my mind.
Today we had an observer in her group class. Prospective students often sit in on classes before they commit to paying for a full session. Just before we began, I heard the managers tell Garlic Breath that such an observer would be there, a deterrent that went unheard. First I did some Q&A with the newcomer and learned that she is a pious sort, studying the bible every day, going to church every weekend. A mental "gross mismatch" warning flashed steadily brighter. Then I went around the class asking how people were, what was going on, etc. Finally, biting my lip, I got to Garlic Breath.
"So, Garlic Breath, how are you today?" I asked. Her response was laced with a maniacal enthusiasm that only her bipolar peak could provide.
"I'm fucking good, man!!!"
"Ahhh... you know, we don't really say that."
"I'm fucking good?"
"Yeah, uh... we say 'I'm good.' Or 'I'm good, man' is ok."
"Oh, really. I learned it in a movie!"
"Ok, well... good! I'm glad you're practicing," I said, noticing that she had jotted down a few other notes as well ('radical,' 'tubular,' and 'gnarly' among them). "So... how are you?"
"I'm fucking good, man!!!"
However, though I feel sorry for Garlic Breath, I've also had to suffer my share of abuses, so she doesn't get a free ride, no way, no how. (One time her breath was so bad that the managers asked her from then on not to eat garlic one day before her lessons -- Garlic Breath threatened to quit and that was the end of that.) At the Christmas party, I played the role of MC and handed out presents for the bingo game. When she won, she, like everyone else, walked up with a big smile and happily accepted her bounty. Unlike everyone else, she grabbed my arm, pulling me off balance, and planted a bubonic kiss on my cheek before I knew what hit me. I immediately stabbed her in the eye with a chopstick. In my mind.
Today we had an observer in her group class. Prospective students often sit in on classes before they commit to paying for a full session. Just before we began, I heard the managers tell Garlic Breath that such an observer would be there, a deterrent that went unheard. First I did some Q&A with the newcomer and learned that she is a pious sort, studying the bible every day, going to church every weekend. A mental "gross mismatch" warning flashed steadily brighter. Then I went around the class asking how people were, what was going on, etc. Finally, biting my lip, I got to Garlic Breath.
"So, Garlic Breath, how are you today?" I asked. Her response was laced with a maniacal enthusiasm that only her bipolar peak could provide.
"I'm fucking good, man!!!"
"Ahhh... you know, we don't really say that."
"I'm fucking good?"
"Yeah, uh... we say 'I'm good.' Or 'I'm good, man' is ok."
"Oh, really. I learned it in a movie!"
"Ok, well... good! I'm glad you're practicing," I said, noticing that she had jotted down a few other notes as well ('radical,' 'tubular,' and 'gnarly' among them). "So... how are you?"
"I'm fucking good, man!!!"
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