I haven't posted in a while...
So most of my exams are next week. A few papers, a couple of presentations and exams, and I am done with my first semester here.
This week has been amazing. In particular, the last few days.
Wednesday, I used Pokemon to teach English. That was probably the most amazing thing for me, because it is something me and my students have in common. Granted, I don't know all 500, but I know up to the Silver and Gold games. It's kind of like teaching kids with something you loved growing up.
Thursday, I got to spend time with my best friend here in Japan. We ended up drinking a bit, and stayed up all night together. It reminded me of how me and Jon use to stay up a lot (we were/are both insomniacs), but...replace Jon with a Chinese girl, and replace Waffle House with 7/11 and Booze.
Then today, despite my lack of sleep, I am studying and whatnot.
The only real issues I have had are the same issues I have been having all year: The school is sorta lame, students are hard to meet and talk to, and Japanese people are really obsessed with studying. And while I really want to study, practice my Japanese, and learn more about the culture, it seems like it is easier to learn Chinese than Japanese here in Japan. Ironic, isn't it?
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Finals & Racism
So summer in Japan starts in about a month, and finals are coming up at the end of July.
I am mostly worried because it feels like I am not doing much work in the classes. For example, I never do anything in the English class I am taking. The teacher doesn't even ask me questions. Instead, he asks the Russian. It is a bit confusing and upsetting, since I am a native English speaker, from America, and many questions are about American english.
Another is Psycholinguistics, where I also do nothing. At the end of the semester, however, papers are due, so at least I know there is something that will be graded.
Aside from those two though, I am not too worried. I have recently encountered a lot of racism, and not even in the "trying to be helpful" way. For example, I was buying items from the Lawson store on Campus, and the clerk said, in Japanese, "stupid foreigner" instead of "thank you very much." When I told the school about this, they ignored it. In addition, most Japanese women around the area that I live are very similar to American men - which is a bad thing.
As a result, I spend more time with the Chinese population on campus, or Japanese who are not from this area - who also agree that this area is very different from every other part of Japan.
Japan has a lot of wonderful things about it, such as the nature, food, and (in most areas), very very polite people. However, just as in America, not everyone is this way. I am surprised that my Japanese teacher recommended that I live in this area.
I am mostly worried because it feels like I am not doing much work in the classes. For example, I never do anything in the English class I am taking. The teacher doesn't even ask me questions. Instead, he asks the Russian. It is a bit confusing and upsetting, since I am a native English speaker, from America, and many questions are about American english.
Another is Psycholinguistics, where I also do nothing. At the end of the semester, however, papers are due, so at least I know there is something that will be graded.
Aside from those two though, I am not too worried. I have recently encountered a lot of racism, and not even in the "trying to be helpful" way. For example, I was buying items from the Lawson store on Campus, and the clerk said, in Japanese, "stupid foreigner" instead of "thank you very much." When I told the school about this, they ignored it. In addition, most Japanese women around the area that I live are very similar to American men - which is a bad thing.
As a result, I spend more time with the Chinese population on campus, or Japanese who are not from this area - who also agree that this area is very different from every other part of Japan.
Japan has a lot of wonderful things about it, such as the nature, food, and (in most areas), very very polite people. However, just as in America, not everyone is this way. I am surprised that my Japanese teacher recommended that I live in this area.
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