Update: Doh!

So, it appears the situation regarding some public high schools and boards of education not teaching their senior high school students basic World History/Japanese History is finally starting to show some progress. The results of the preliminary inquiry were revealed today in the Lower House and measures to ensure that affected students would be able to graduate in March were being considered. Also, a principal in Ibaraki Prefecture, in typical Japanese-style, has committed suicide because of this scandal. You can read the article HERE.

Funny Quote

I was reading a 'Wired' news feature today and came upon this quote that I found absolutely hilarious: "Atheism is like telling somebody, 'The very thing you hinge your life on, I totally dismiss.'" You can read, if you're interested in that sort of thing, the article HERE.

Happy Halloween!

Doh!

So, it seems like some of the top high schools in Japan have deprived their graduating students basic knowledge about the world around them. And I quote: "Most of the schools are the top academic performers in their regions and have told their boards of education that they focused on the subjects required for university entrance examinations, omitting those they felt were unnecessary." The "unnecessary" subject(s) being World History and/or Japanese History.

LOL. As a (former) History student, obviously I find this latest development hilarious. I'm glad the Ministry has stepped in and is seeking an explanation from the local boards as to how and why something like this could occur. I'm also hoping some sort of punishment will be handed out -- but, alas, I won't bet on it.

As always, it is the students that will suffer in the end because nobody feels the need to do anything about anything until it's too late (is this a reoccurring theme or what?). You can read the full article HERE.

In other news, newly-minted Prime Minster Abe has declared that one of the major goals during his tenure as PM is to overhaul the education system in Japan. I think this could be a good thing. His intentions are clearly right-wing but I don't necessarily consider "patriotism" or "love for the nation" harmful in of themselves.

Let's face it, Japan is not a multicultural country. 99% of the people living in Japan are Japanese so, why -shouldn't- the education system reflect the values and beliefs of its overwhelmingly homogeneous inhabitants? While I think "nationalism" can, and is often used, as a tool to manipulate citizens, it also has the potential to cultivate a genuine respect for the home country. While I think there are a lot of problems/issues that need to be examined carefully (e.g., textbook reform), I'm just glad that PM Abe is doing -something-. You can read the full article HERE.

Oh yea, my favourite part of the article: "..the current education system is responsible for everything from flagging academic and physical skills to eroding morals and even violent crime, not to mention classroom chaos." Well, at least they didn't blame us foreigners! I'm referring mostly to the violent crime part although, I admit, we do tend to cause a lot of classroom chaos! :)

In the News.

I just finished chatting with a former-JET friend over IM and she told me that one of her students recently committed suicide because he was being bullied at school. School bullying in Japan is a very common phenomenon and Japan has the highest student-suicide rate in the industrialized world. The problem is so prevalent that even children, from as young as elementary school, have committed suicide.

However, this situation is a little bit different from a typical school bullying because the main perpetrator was not another student, but his homeroom teacher. How twisted is that? I want to say that this is an unusual situation but, from what I've witnessed at school, I can't say for certain that it is. Heck, even I've been "picked" on at school occasionally by other teachers (I find it amusing when teachers talk about me, right in front of me, and assume I have no idea what's going on). But I just figured it was because I was part of the "out-group" and that's what some Japanese people do (not all, just some).

Now, imagine -being- Japanese and being cast into this same "out-group"; for a student, it must be like being labelled the ALT or local town jester (those two terms seem to be interchangeable in many cases).

Anyways, this story really hit close to home because of the situation and persons involved. My friend used to work in Chikuzen-machi and the school the student attended was Miwa Junior High School. A really tragic story. You can read the full story HERE and the editorial HERE.

Geek-worthy

Let's face it, I'm a techno-geek. I apologize in advance if this post bores most of you but, I finally -- after many months of bugging the clerks at Yodobashi Camera -- got my Nintendo DS Lite! Naturally I'm using it as a "study" tool (*coughs*) and the occasional game. :) The games are fairly cheap in Japan and it can also play older, Nintendo Advance games. Needless to say, I'm quite pleased with the purchase.

In other techno-news, I just read that the PS3 will not only support region-free movies but also, region-free -GAMES-. Well, that pretty much settles it for me. I'll probably pick one up on my way out of Japan since they are/will be cheaper here.

Anyways, that's it for now! I'll try to refrain from posting anymore geek-related news for awhile.. :)

Fire for the Soul

I had the good fortune this weekend to go to a live-music concert featuring none other than a local high school Japanese English Teacher (JTE for those in the know..). It was unfortunate I was unable to get any good shots (I blame the camera and the cameraman!) of the show but I've uploaded a clip for your enjoyment. It's pretty amazing some of the hidden talents and hobbies people, especially Japanese teachers', have. I say "especially Japanese teachers'" because I rarely see them outside of work and therefore, I don't normally associate them with anything besides teaching. It was a pleasant surprise.


While I was heading home that evening, I ran into an amateur comedy troupe in the middle of the train station. I -think- they were hired by 'Lotte Burgers' and were doing an advertising campaign for the new store in Tenjin but, after they had finished the advert, they started doing their own act. I didn't understand 90% of the jokes they were telling but, judging from the response of the crowd, it was -- apparently -- very funny.


Enjoy the show!

Try this at home.

What, you don't do this at home?

Autumn BBQ

One of the best things about living in Fukuoka is that it doesn't really get -that- cold here. Well, maybe it's because I'm used to a lot worse but even now, in the middle of October, it's still a balmy 25 degrees during the day. Granted, during the "winter" months our apartments are rather chilly (I blame that on the lack of central-air and cement exterior than the actual outside temperature) but, it's nothing compared to the -20 degree days I've experience back in Toronto.


We ate beef, steak, fish-things, veggies, hash browns, chicken and, as you can see from above, squid!


I was trying to impress my friend with my stone-skipping ability when this kid came out from nowhere and basically embarrassed me. *sigh*


This is my friend Kaori who will be going to Toronto with her boyfriend for a one-year working holiday visa at the end of October. I couldn't believe it when she told me. I hope you have a great time in Toronto and we'll meet up at xmas! :)


My favourite photo that weekend. I call it: Water-chair. Haha.

2 Months!

I got an email from Jamie on my keitai this morning that said, "two months!" Indeed, in exactly 2 months I'll be on an airplane back to Canada for a nice 3-week vacation. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody again and I can't wait to eat some real Western and Chinese food again.

Anyways, that's it for now. Enjoy the weekend!

P.S. I think I figured out how to embed video onto my blog (it was actually a lot easier than I thought .. I just have to copy and paste! haha). The video is from the Fukuoka Dance Festival I ran into last week.

Fukukoi Asia Dance Carnival / ふくこいアジア祭り

I was walking around in Hakata on Sunday, not expecting there to be anything going on when, to my surprise, a ran right into a festival! The festival was basically a dance competition where participants, from all over Japan and Asia, come to Fukuoka to "Bring it on!" (I hope I'm not infringing on any copyright there.. haha!)


It was a pretty kool festival and I'm just glad I remembered to bring my camera with me that day.


This group had an especially interesting costume and dance routine. I took a video of their dance and will try to upload it in my next post. I'm currently trying to learn how to embed video on my blog (e.g., the Jay Chou video) but it's taking some time. Gimme a week!


Even these obaasan's got into the action. It was awesome.


At the end of the competition after they had announced this year's winner, a giant group-dance, involving all the participants, proceeded to occur. It was a mix of traditional/modern music and, this part intrigued me the most, everybody seemed to know exactly what to do! Sometimes I think Japanese people are truly psychic -- at least amongst each other.

New Layout.

I finally got the "go-ahead" option from Google to migrate my blog to the New Blogger. I like the new template modification option (drag-and-drop heaven!) and the layout seems a bit cleaner. Any suggestions or comments are welcome!

In other news, today was the Itoshima-area English Speech Contest for junior high school students. I have been working with my students since the summer vacation preparing for this day. The last 2 weeks had been especially hectic and I often found myself staying well past 5:30 pm helping the students with their speeches.

It paid off. My students ended up winning 2 first-place awards in the compulsory category and 1 special award. The last award was a complete surprise to all of us. Personally, I felt another student from another school deserved the special award but I'm sure the judges had their reasons. Congratulations to the student -- all my students -- nonetheless. They worked very hard and I'm just glad I was able to help out.

It's stuff like -THIS- that makes me glad to be working where I am, doing what I'm doing.

みな、お疲れさまでした！

Food, food and more food!

This is Part II of my original Okinawa post. Believe it or not, one of the best parts of the trip was the sheer amount and variety of food we ate. It was great!

Okinawa is the only place in Japan with A&W Restaurants. While I don't normally go to fast-food places, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to taste a little bit of A-me-ri-ka.


The first night out we found a kool Teppanyaki Restaurant. It had been well over a year since I tasted lobster so, the lobster and steak dinner seemed like a fine choice! Delicious!


The next day for lunch we decided to try out Okinawa's famous Soba Noodles. The Lonely Planet guidebook suggested a neat little restaurant close to Naha City. The Soba Noodles weren't bad but they tasted (and looked) a lot like regular Chinese Egg Noodles.


For dinner we (well, some of us) ordered a traditional Okinawa set-meal. Japanese set-courses tend to come out in many little dishes. I cleared that tray with little difficulty.


For our last night in Okinawa, we decided to check out a seafood restaurant recommended by the Japanese guidebook. After messing with the Navigation system trying to find it, we decided to just rely on good 'ol looking-out-the-window. They gave us a mallet and a whacking-board -- it was by far the most entertaining meal we had on Okinawa.


After every meal we were reminded to gargle. In fact, the Japanese have built special water-fountains, like the one pictured above, just for that!