The Drummer Boy

Jazz chants (originally developed by Carolyn Graham) are the way I often start conversation classes at the universities where I teach. They’re a great way to get the energy going, especially in morning classes, and it’s also a way to get all the students speaking in English.

Naturally, they also help with (American English) pronunciation, particularly, stress, intonation, and linking. An additional asset is that they develop the students’ listening to spoken English. On class evaluations, students often list jazz chants as one of their favorite class activities.

This morning we were doing the “Banker’s Wife’s Blues,” which has some especially tricky rhythm. Sometimes I have students clap the rhythm, but today I decided to have them use pens or pencils to tap out the rhythm. hoping it wouldn’t seem too childish for college freshmen.

One of the boys pulled a set of actual drumsticks from his bag. It took him a couple tries, but once he got the rhythm down, I had him lead the whole class in our drumming session. All the students really got into it. Of course, when we read the jazz chant after that, they all had the rhythm down perfectly.

It’s the sort of spontaneous moment one can’t plan for but, when it happens, the level of enthusiasm in the class increases remarkably. I only wish I had a drummer in every class where I use jazz chants.

Students Making Inferences

In the TOEFL (Test for English as a Foreign Language) class this morning, we went over the types of questions in the reading section. Some of the vocabulary was new to the students, particularly “inferences.”

Because I try to teach as much as possible without translation, I gave them a personal example to illustrate the skill of making inferences. The other day I saw a group of people going around my neighborhood picking up trash. When they passed by my building, I thanked them and talked with one woman about how I’d like to join them some time. She asked where I lived, and I replied, “Here!”

A couple days later, there was an announcement stuck in my mailbox with a woman’s name and phone number. My reading in Japanese is rather weak, but as I glanced through it, I gathered that it was about a neighborhood meeting. I also figured that the woman was the one I had talked to. I explained to the students that I inferred what the notice was all about, even though I couldn’t read it completely.

During the next class, where we’re studying To Kill a Mockingbird, some of the students finished the work early. I noticed them looking through the questions for the next chapter, but they weren’t writing or using the book. I asked them what they were doing, and they beamed up at me, “We’re making inferences!”

I was delighted. They both received a special sticker.

Fatigue

For the past few months, I've been experiencing serious fatigue. Besides having to endure what has seemed like the longest winter of my life, there are some very real causes that all have very manageable solutions. Here's what I need to do:

(1) Establish a regular sleep routine. Since I have to leave for school early twice a week, it means getting up at 6 a.m. I try but often fail to get to bed by 10 p.m. those evenings. (Too many books to read and movies to watch, which can't wait until I'm retired.) This morning I forced myself to get up for 6:30 a.m. "radio exercises," even though I didn't get to bed until after midnight and to sleep until around 1 a.m. Going to bed at a decent hour is much easier when I have the whole evening free, but that's almost never. Two or three times a week I have rehearsals until 9 p.m. and, well, by the time I get into bed, it's time for lights out when I want to read! It doesn't help that my cats often decide that 10 or 11 p.m. is a perfect time to start playing, including charging around the apartment making sounds that would easily provide competition with that of a couple of elephants.

(2) Stop eating chocolate and other sweets. I cut out caffeine years ago, since a hyperactive person like myself doesn't need that extra boost. In fact, when I drink caffeine, I end up making circles around my friends with both my mouth and everything else. Sugar and caffeine have a similar effect, resulting in my taking on (and sometimes even accomplishing) endless projects. Get me started on a slideshow of my cats or a Keynote (similar to but better than PowerPoint for those who are Apple-challenged) presentation, and I end up working on it half the night. (See point #1.) Then I wake up tired and use cacao as a way to energize myself for getting through classes - well, it becomes a vicious cycle which can only be solved by refraining from sweets altogether. (sob)

(3) Get more exercise. Another vicious cycle I've been caught up in is feeling too tired (or too lazy) to exercise, and then sleeping poorly because I haven't exercised, and then not having the energy to exercise the next day. This gets aggravated by the winters in Sapporo where fear of walking on icy sidewalks keeps me imprisoned in my apartment. Of course, I could always exercise in my apartment - in fact, have a number of yoga and other exercise videotapes. It's much easier, though, now that spring and classes have started because I get a lot of "natural" exercise just going to and from school, including climbing at least 8 flights of stairs (at subway stations and schools) most days. From where I live, in fact, I can walk to a number of places, including my hairdresser's (half an hour each way), downtown (about half an hour, depending on the stoplights), and a couple of friends' houses (about an hour away).

It's when I take a trip somewhere that I get a great deal of exercise because of all the walking that I do. I've walked all over Paris and, when in Singapore last September, my friends and I spent more time walking than riding (in taxis and on the subway) - around the botanical garden, the bird park, Chinatown, Little India, and numerous places every day. The walking I do in Sapporo is more to appointments, meetings, and the like, rather than for "entertainment." Nevertheless, my overall condition, particularly the fatigue, will improve enormously this spring/summer if I make a policy of walking rather than taking public transportation when I have the time.

Meanwhile, I miss my ballroom dance lessons. Since they fall on the same evening as rehearsals for Sapporo Symphony Chorus, I've had to quit since I got into the chorus after auditioning last summer. The rehearsals provide a great workout for my lungs, but the dancing stretched all sorts of muscles. I had wanted to take private lessons in February and March but, in addition to my fear of navigating treacherous sidewalks to get to the studio, I was spending hours getting used to all my new toys (DVD recorder, iPod, iMac - and all the software that comes with it) that are ironically keeping more sedentary.

With a holiday week beginning as of yesterday, I have made a renewed commitment to Spark People - at least for the week. Even though I eat fairly well (not counting the chocolate), I find that when I record my food intake and exercise regularly on the site, which calculates all the calories, etc., for me, I eat much more consciously. The same goes for exercise. It helps to get all those Spark points. My goal: 1000 for the month of May!

Reflections on Presenting

Yesterday (Sunday) a colleague and I gave a presentation at the local JALT (Japan Association for Language Teachers) meeting. Our presentation was, in fact, on how to present, which, in a sense, put more pressure on us because the way in which we presented might be scrutinized more than in the usual presentation.

Basically we were satisfied with how well it went. Our strongest point was sticking to the time limits which we had set for each activity. Also, the pacing was generally good - too slow, according to the feedback of one participant, but we had to take into consideration that nearly half the audience consisted of non-native speakers, including 6 Japanese university students.

My co-presenter, Wilma Luth, and I made the decision that, if we were giving on presentation on effective ways of giving presentations (forgive the redundancy), it wouldn’t do for us to stand in front and simply give our listeners a bunch of tips. We wanted to demonstrate an effective presentation. In other words, the medium was the message.

Unfortunately, even though the presentation itself was well-received, the message was a little too subtle for most of those present. Some wanted more actual tips, and one person commented that it was rather thin.

There are three ways that our presentation could have been more effective, even great. The first is that we broke one of the “rules” of presenting in that we didn’t make it clear the direction we were taking. In fact, the notes I had written beforehand on Presentation Points included, “Give the audience an overview of what's going to be covered.”

The participants were particularly confused when it came to the second part, which started with 20 minutes by a different presenter on the topic of writing abstracts. They didn’t realize that Wilma and I were going to continue with moving from everyone talking about what excited them in their teaching to thinking about how they could turn that into a presentation. We knew, but it would have been nice if we could clued the audience what we were doing!

Another way in which the presentation could have been improved is by giving more examples, either from our own experiences as presenters or from presentations, both effective and ineffective, that we had been to. Our assumption was that examples were something that would come up in group discussion, which they did. What was lacking was sharing those with the audience. Everyone seemed to enjoy hearing the “war stories,” and concrete examples make the points more memorable.

A final way in which the presentation would have been truly effective is to give some questions to the participants at the end about the way in which we had presented. Although they were aware of how we were managing time, since that was what we used as an example to introduce the brainstorming in small groups, there was too much on the subliminal level that escaped the awareness of all but the most experienced presenters. A few of the questions we might have asked include:

o Where did the presenters stand during the presentation? [possible answer: not behind the podium, but generally in front when giving explanations and moving around during group discussion]

o How did the presenters get the participants involved immediate? [possible answer: by taking a poll]

o What did the presenters do with points elicited from the audience? [possible answer: repeated and rephrased them, then put them on a screen for all to see]

o What was the effect of the pacing of the presentation? [possible answer: participants had times for interaction, times when they could sit back and listen, with none of the segments being excessively short or long (taking into consideration the varying language levels of the participants)]

o How was humor used during the presentation? [possible answer: “touch one’s nose” during the initial poll, photos of the cats during the Keynote slideshow, anecdotes]

At any rate, if our presentation stimulated those who were present to think more about what and how they could present, we achieved our goal. Rather than flaunting ourselves as experts in the area, since nearly two-thirds of the participants (we discovered by a show of hands) had presented, we wanted them to reflect on their own experiences and be aware of what they already knew about what makes an effective presentation. As for novices, we hoped they would gain the confidence that they could give presentations and actually begin to think about doing so.

By sharing these reflections on our presentation on the JALT website, we also want to show that a presentation is an on-going process, including planning stages, the actual presenting, and reflection afterwards.

TGIF the 2nd

With the second week of the semester over (as of half an hour ago), I can look back on some amazingly good and some amazingly bad experiences.

To start with the good, students at Sapporo University gave their presentations on the background of To Kill a Mockingbird. Five groups each had to do research in a particular area – geography (of Alabama), history (especially The Civil War), economics (including the Great Depression), law (such as the Jim Crow Laws), and culture (food and clothing of the 1930s).

Having taught the class for 2 years to students of a much lower level at a different school, I didn’t have very high expectations. My experience had been that students spend however much “research” time (generally very little) basically translating a lot of the terms into Japanese. That’s acceptable, since they at least gain some understanding of the location and period of the novel.

The presentations given by the Sapporo University students were remarkable. Many of them had made PowerPoint slideshows, complete with graphics and animation. While some of them need to work on presentation skills, such as speaking to the audience rather than reading everything from their notes and facing the audience rather than the screen, they had obviously done their research.

The students' enthusiasm has made teaching exciting for me, and I now feel that the time spent on preparing the materials – some 4 months (since questions about all 31 chapters, including feedback for both correct and incorrect answers, are on the class website) – was time well spent. In fact, teaching this class is somewhat the pinnacle of my career.

At the other extreme, at the University of Education, where I should be teaching methodology courses for future English teachers, they have me teaching required English conversation classes. The ones for the first year students went well because there were 22 students in each, and since I’ve been using, and improving on, the same materials for years, I can really have fun with the class.

Then came 3rd period. (I’m groaning inside even thinking about it.) Last week there were far too many students. I’m not sure of the exact number, but around 50, until everyone learned that the class was not English composition AND listening comprehension AND English conversation. (I was only told to teach English conversation.) This week, in addition to perhaps 40 students in the classes, there were others at the door asking to join.

I had a kind of break down. I know it was very unprofessional, but I was simply at a loss as to what to do. I walked in ready to teach, only to be accosted with decisions about letting more students into a class that’s already too full. I was at a total loss as to what to do and said so to the students. They said to go to the office, but which office and where. (For anyone who thinks it should be obvious, I can only say that the departments don’t even communicate effectively with one another, much less lowly part-time instructors. The girl [sic] at the place where I check in every week is capable of little more than getting a CD player or envelopes for me.)

Finally, one of the students in my class went to get Professor Sato from the Global Education Department (why Global Education, I’m not sure, since it’s an English class). His solution, which he explained to the students in Japanese, was to have an intensive summer course (which will be a combination of composition, listening AND conversation, so all I can say to the person who teaches it is, “Have fun!”). A few of the students left at that point, willing to take the summer course, and we thanked them.

However, I was still faced with a class that was way too big. My decision was to cut students who hadn’t done any homework, and I was ruthless. In the end, I was left with a workable number of 32 students.

It didn’t end there, though. After class, one of the students who had been late (for a 1:00 class), so hadn’t been allowed into the class, appeared at the door with Professor Sato to interpret for him. His reason for being late was that he had been at the doctor’s and had a long commute from Otaru, a seaside town.

Once more, I felt forced into a decision that might result in adding more students to an already overcrowded class. I hadn’t let another student enter because of being late, and yet another, who was absent because of illness, had text messaged me (which I ask students to do on the first day of class, giving them my email and cell mail addresses as well as examples of messages to write). This student hadn’t text messaged me that he was going to be late, but he said (through the interpreter) that he didn’t understand.

Then I asked to look at his textbook. He had done no homework. Again, he said he didn’t understand. At that point, I became relentless. If he didn’t understand my directions well enough to know that he was supposed to do chapter 1 for homework, he was very unlikely to understand most of what I said in class. Further, he missed my point when I was saying that I had high expectations and thought I was saying that the class was high level. Well, that too.

My biggest concern is not really about all the hassle with which I was faced in that class the first 2 weeks, although it took a small toll on my mental health. It’s that these students are required to take English conversation for their teaching license and end up with only 14 weeks (or a huge total of 21 hours) IF they attend every time. And that’s in a class with over 30 students (I’ve had up to 65, until I begged for the school to provide at least 2 classes), so their chances for talking with me end up being about 10 minutes 4 times a semester. Since they’re in groups of 4, that’s only about 10 minutes of conversation with a native speaker, if they talk at all.

In other words, speak English with a teacher in a class for 10 minutes, and you’ve met the government qualifications for getting a teaching license in Japan. Several comments come to mind, including that it’s the students, and, if they end up teaching, their future students who are getting cheated. My primary reaction, though, is, what a farce!

Nan de?

Japanese students are generally so polite that it can be jarring when one is overtly rude. Of course, there may be the lazy students, the ones who try to get away with doing the minimal amount required. There are also the passive-aggressive ones, who can be spotted immediately by the hostile body language before class has even begun.

In the case of Miss Nan De, neither she nor her friend looked at me while I was introducing myself and the class materials the first day of class last week. In fact, as I recall, she was late, came in through the front door (there are 2 doors to the classroom), and clomped past several others to an empty seat. I thanked her for being able to use her as an example of how NOT to come in late.

The second week, she and her friend were sitting way in the back. I always get my students to sit closer for a number of reasons, including making a more cohesive group. Also, I don’t have to travel as far when I move around the room, which I do frequently, and I can get students’ attention more easily if they’re sitting close to me.

That day, I addressed her as “Miss Pink,” since she was wearing an attractive bright pink sweater, and asked her to sit closer. She moved up one seat. Then I indicated an empty seat near the front of the room and asked her to move there. She replied, loudly, “Nan de?” It can be simply translated as “Why?” but actually has nearly the same effect as if an American student replied, “What the hell for?”

I was momentarily stunned, realizing that there was no way I could explain all my reasons to her – in either English or Japanese – nor should I have to. I simply repeated the request, and she made a great show of reluctantly moving forward.

After that little incident, I tried my best to treat her just as I would any other student, even though I was still reeling from her retort. Would she would have delighted in knowing the effect she had accomplished? Or was it truly a matter of misunderstanding on her part? I have no way of knowing.

When the class was over, an older woman who’s in the class was helping me by erasing the board and straightening chairs, as “good” Japanese students used to do. She told me she was shocked when the young woman had asked, “Nan de?” Knowing that made me feel better about my own reaction.

Upon reflection, what I learned the most is that I need to save my energy for those students who are motivated, attentive, and doing their best. This is actually a lesson that has come up many times for me. Attempting to “cure” or pacify the disgruntled students, when I have no way of knowing where they’re coming from, is simply a drain on my energy and not worth it. Giving such students more attention is a waste of everyone's time. When will I ever truly learn that?

[Note: The following week, I had slept well the night before, was in a really good mood, and the class went especially well, with students being active in group discussions and asking me as well as each other a lot of questions. It wasn’t until later that I found out, from the older student, that Miss Nan De was absent that day. What’s the expression? One rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel. I discovered how true that is!]

Go, Melinda!

At last I know what all the fuss is about. For a couple years I've been hearing about this American Idol program. Now that I have cable (for the first time since I've been in Sapporo), I'm able to watch it. The show is so much more impressive than I had expected, and I can easily see how people get caught up in it.

I'm not sure which I enjoy more - watching the young people's performances, especially as they develop vocally (at least most of them) as well as become more stage-savvy, or the judge's critiques, which are so often right on the mark (even when they disagree).

My only complaint is that I'd like to see more thorough critiques, and not ones that just seem made for sound bites.

I would also LOVE to see all that goes on behind the scenes, especially in terms of blocking. As someone with a graduate degree in Theatre and long-term member of a semi-professional chorus, I've been on stage more often than in the audience. My fascination is not with the performance itself, but in all that went into making the performance, particularly the choice of song and outfit, but above all the vocal training.

Each week (even though, in Japan, we're about 3 weeks behind the American broadcasts so I already know the results), I look forward to seeing what each of the contestants is going to come up with. And I look forward to the reactions from the judges. I can't help but adore Simon (Cowell), holding my breath with the contestants as to whether he's going to tell them in his frank way that the song was a mess, or come up with his delectable comments such as, "You naughty thing" or "You little tiger." Simon is, of course, the real star of the show.

As for Melinda, she had me on "My Funny Valentine," the 2nd time I heard her sing. Another favorite was "I Am a Woman." Since I've performed "I've Got Rhythm" myself (in a medley of Gershwin tunes), I can't wait to hear that one - which will be broadcast in Japan in a couple of weeks.

If Melinda Doolittle were to cut a record today, I'd buy it for sure. Her performances take my breath away. Go, Melinda!

Hokkaido - One of the Most Popular Cities in Japan

On an "ice-melting trip" to Japan, Chinese students chose Hokkaido as one of their favorite cities. That would be wonderful, except that Hokkaido is a prefecture (like state or province), not a city. Perhaps they meant Sapporo, the city where I live.

What's more, when asked about national pride, "80.3% of Japanese respondents were 'proud' or 'very proud' to be Chinese!" [exclamation point mine]

You can read the whole People's Daily Online article, about cultural exchange between Chinese and Japanese students, at: How far and how close are China and Japan?.

Rise again!

In the midst of rehearsal this evening, I realized how unusual my situation might appear to some, although I don't find it all that extraordinary. There I was, an American sitting among a group of Japanese, all singing in German.

We're rehearsing for Mahler's Symphony #2, to be performed in June at Kitara Hall. My German pronunciation continues to improve with each rehearsal. However, I'm probably the only one who has a translation written in English in her score so as to be able to sing not only with correct pronunciation but also with as much understanding as possible of what it is we're singing.

The piece is a tremendously powerful one. I only wish the choral part, which is only 10-15 minutes altogether, were longer. The performance, though, promises to be an exciting one.

"Rise again, yes, rise again. . . .
All that is created must perish.
All that has perished rises again.
Cease trembling!
Prepare to live! . . ."

The Emperor's Bones

I've just spent a couple of weeks inside China in the 1920s, thanks to a novel by Adam Williams. While not a great novel (there is little depth to most of the numerous fictionalized characters, who are only distinguished from one another by some physical trait such as a scar or lisp), it gave me a view of the complexities of that particular period in China I have not had the opportunity to experience until now.

It wasn't the writing that gripped me as much as the fact that my grandparents were in China during the turmoil that was taking place. In fact, my father spent the first 7 years of his life there and, although he born in Massachusetts on furlough (much to his disappointment), his sisters and brothers (some of whom died in infancy) were all born there.

I recall my father once saying that one of his first memories was being frightened of men in uniforms. They were no doubt soldiers, but it's difficult to know for which of the many sides they were fighting. In addition to the Bolsheviks, Communists, and Nationalists, there were numbers of warlords fighting for control of the various provinces. In fact, there were so many groups and individuals from different countries (Japan and Russia, in particular, as well as China) involved that I had to refer to the lists of characters in the novel, some of them real personages, time and time again.

I also poured over the maps in the front of the novel, becoming more familiar with locations that had previously only been vague locations somewhere in Eastern China. Naturally, I was most interested in knowing more about Huchow, which is where my grandparents operated their mission hospital, although I was somewhat unclear of the exact location because of the similarity of names in Chinese. On one map in the book is a city called Foochow, on the coast but somewhat south of Shianghai and on the southern edge of Chekiang, the province where they lived. I've also found a reference to a Fuchow, and it's not clear if that's the same place. To add to the confusion, Fuchow is now known as Fuchaus, Foocxow, or, in one dialect, Hokchiu. Are these the names of different cities or all the same, and which one is where my grandparents lived?

At any rate, the atrocities depicted in the novel are sickening. One can only wonder how much dramatic license the author took, particularly the random decapitations and the scene where dissidents were being thrown live into a furnace. Also, how much were my grandparents aware of the warring and killing that was taking place during that decade?

In one letter, dated May 11, 1923, my grandmother wrote:

I suppose you have all read of the wholesale robbery and kidnapping of travelers on a train bound for Tientsin a few days ago. Undoubtedly the U.S. papers have pictured it even blacker than it is, though it is certainly serious enough. Several countries are involved among the prisoners and many of the people were wealthy tourists or well-known business men. The robbers are disbanded soldiers who strike such terror to the hearts of Chinese that no one dares to stop them. Most of the women prisoners were released because they hindered the party, but a few women and most of the men are still captive and at least one prisoner is desperately sick. We are hoping for a settlement with no lives lost, but we can hardly hope for a cessation of robber activities, for there are precious few missionaries who haven't been within calling distance of robbers.

That is certainly not as graphic as the rapes, tortures, and murders, including those of missionaries, that the novelist "reports," but my grandmother was not one to sensationalize. I do know that the family ended up fleeing to Shanghai in 1927.

At the same time, they were great admirers of Chiang Kai-Shek, with the implication that more Chinese were turning to Christianity because of his leadership. In a letter dated November 1, 1927, she states,

The Nationalist movement has stirred us all, and with all its mistakes it has done a lot of good just by that very stirring. I heard a Chinese leader say recently that the Christian cause in China has grown more in the last six months than in the ten years before the Nationalist movement began.

In the novel, Chiang Kai-Shek is cynically referred to as Cash-My-Check. A couple days after completing the novel, I happened to be watching the film "The Last Emperor" and heard the term again. According to one Marxist, he played "the role of chief butcher of the working class." Apparently, not everyone shared my grandmother's optimism.

Also, there is no mention of the former Emperor in my grandmother's letters. The scene in the novel of the desecration of his bones, while no doubt fictionalized, is sickening in the callous way in which the new would-be leaders of China discarded the symbols of the great empire's historical past. What followed, as we now know, did not lead to the equality and liberalization of the people of China, but quite the opposite.

At any rate, the combination of the novel and my grandmother's letters have whetted my appetite for more about the historical events that changed China from an empire to a Communist state to the emerging economic giant it is now becoming.

I Quit Recovering Workaholics

Note that my subject line doesn't say I quit being a recovering workaholic. Nor does it say I quite being a workaholic!

Having been immersed in what I call the Girl Scout Badge Syndrome, simply defined as accumulating as many badges on one's sash as is more than humanly possibly, I've been wanting to call it quits for a number of years. And, yet, new ventures keep beckoning - including, this week, getting a new website so that I can develop online courses for at least some of what I teach. That's hours and hours of work right there since, naturally, it all has to be perfect!

With no therapy available in Sapporo, I decided to seek online support and joined an egroup list called Recovering Workaholics. What I discovered is, first, that even many of those people, or at least the ones who posted, didn't truly understand workaholism. They were talking, for example, about bosses who expected too much of them. My expectations of myself come entirely from within. I can't rest until the job is done, and I'm not satisfied until the job is done extremely well, all of which leaves me with no rest.

Then I made the realization that belong to yet another egroup list was a source of stress since I started saving messages in a folder - ones that I wanted to respond to but didn't have the time to (and know I'll never have the time to) and ones that I want to reread some day (not knowing when that some day would ever come). I began accumulating more and more, and the list ended up feeding my workaholism rather than even beginning to heal it.

So I ended up unsubscribing from the list. I left without even saying goodbye, which went against everything I believe about being polite, even though I hadn’t “bonded” with any of the people on the list, as of yet. Then I got even more drastic. I deleted the whole folder. I didn’t keep a single message or a single address. And since I’ve unsubscribed, I can’t access the messages or any of the addresses on the list. It was the best move I could have made towards recovery from workaholism – quitting the Recovering Workaholics list.

There's a whole lot of quitting yet to go. In the case of workaholics like myself, quitters can be winners!

How tired is she?

• She's so tired that she couldn't figure out why her backpack was so heavy today, and then realized she hadn't taken out her books and papers from yesterday's classes so was carrying around two days' (and two schools') worth of materials.

• She's so tired that she forgot to give the school questionnaire to not one but five of her classes. (She did manage to give it to 3 classes and actually thinks the questionnaire is not of much use anyway because of poorly worded questions.)

• She's so tired that she came home after the final classes today at one of the universities (2 down and 1 to go) and slept for four hours!

• She's so tired she hasn't even managed to read her email, much less respond to it. There's something on the "body" email list about using treadmills while watching TV. Who has time to watch TV?

• She's so tired that all she could eat this evening was 3 tangerines and feels quite satisfied with that.

• She's so tired that she forgot to take out the garbage all week (and the truck for recycled garbage only comes once a week).

• She's so tired that she's staying home from chorus rehearsal (gasp!) and typing this instead, but since the concert's not until August, and she already knows some of the pieces by memory, she's not feeling too guilty.

Steal This TV!

Japan has the reputation, and I can vouch for the fact that it's an accurate one, of being a very safe country. Certainly there is crime in Japan. For example, the local news will often carry the story of a vending machine that was vandalized. And, yes, I'm being rather facetious because there are more serious crimes.

In fact, bicycles parked in front of my apartment have been stolen, not once but three times. What's baffling is not that they were locked at the time but that they were all second-hand, bordering on decrepit. The thieves actually did me a favor because the condition of the bicycles, well, at least two of them, was so bad that it was hard work riding them, so they seldom got used.

Which leads me to my current problem. I want to get rid of my old TV. In Japan, large appliances are hard to get rid of. Very few people buy used goods (although the numbers increased when the country began experiencing a recession), and there are no junkyards where one can go to throw something away.

What's more, one actually has to pay for the removal of furniture and large appliances. It's a complicated process of calling to arrange a pick-up date, getting a number, going to a convenience store to buy a sticker for 200 yen or so, placing the number on it, putting the sticker on the item to be discarded, and placing it in front of one's abode on one of the infrequent pick-up dates. A real hassle.

For TVs or computer monitors, most flatbed trucks that come around to collect old newspapers will pick them up - for free! Sometimes I'll hear one coming, announcing itself in a high-pitched voice through a loudspeaker, and I'll dash outside to wave it down, but it's always in the next block by the time I get to it.

So I hit upon a plan. I'd just put my TV outside in front of the apartment some evening, and surely it would be gone by morning. My plan didn't work as well as I had wanted. In fact, it didn't work at all. I picked an evening when it was dark and the pavement was dry. At first I put the TV (complete with manual and remote control in a plastic bag taped to the top) near the front stoop. Then I changed my mind and put it by the corner of the building, so it obviously looked discarded. If any neighbors were peeking from behind their curtains watching me do it, at least they didn't report me.

After depositing the TV outside, I kept checking to see if it was gone, but it stayed right where I left it. Then it started snowing, and the TV remained in place, gradually getting covered with snow. When I got up in the morning, sure enough, there was a mound of snow with the TV still under it. Somewhat chagrined, I put on a jacket, cap, and muffler to cover as much of my face as possible, and went outside to retrieve it.

Now the TV sits at the top of the stairs in my building just waiting to be stolen, but more likely until I catch one of the old newspaper trucks. Who knows how long it will remain sitting there? Probably longer than any of the bicycles I've had. Maybe in the spring I can use it as a flower stand.

When I'm 64 . . .

I found out today that I am 64! 64.6 to be exact. At least according to RealAge.com. I tried their questionnaire, which can take a good 20 minutes, in that one has to input information the number of mg. of various vitamins and minerals one is taking, the latest cholesterol count, and a great many other details about one's lifestyle and genetic background.

There are, naturally, some flaws in the questionnaire, and I think it's quite possible that I might be younger. For example, I put Zero for the amount of Strength Training I do per week, but there were no questions about how much snow one shovels on a weekly basis! Also, the results showed that my intake of calcium was low, which is off-base since I take a calcium supplement with every meal, but it's prescribed and I have no idea how many milligrams it contains.

All in all, though, it was a realistic look at the areas where I'm doing well when it comes to being good to my body, and the areas where I need to improve. Some of them would require minimal effort, such as flossing more often. (I'm not sure how much flossing will add to my lifespan, but this past year has given me some harsh reminders of the importance of taking good care of one's teeth.) The details in the report are as follows:

Factors that make my RealAge younger!
Limited or no secondhand smoke exposure
Parents relationship
Flexibility routine
Correct fruit servings
Healthy resting heart rate
No drinking and driving
Folic acid intake
Daily vitamin
Education level
Distances traveled
Good genes
Ex-smoker
Low red meat intake
Daily breakfast
Diverse diet
No ovarian cancer in family
Vitamin E intake
Vitamin C intake
Maintain total cholesterol level

Factors that make my RealAge older:
Social network and stress
Low unsaturated fat
Calcium intake
Workout schedule
Flossing habits
Potassium levels
Low grain intake
Low vegetable intake
Low omega-3 intake
Strength training level
Family history of breast cancer
Too much sleep
High BMI
Oral hygiene concerns
Medication use

What I may do is change a few areas that are lacking, such as including more whole vegetables in my diet - and flossing, of course. (I'm not, however, going to change the amount of sleep because I need my 9 hours!) Then I'll try the "test" again in a few months to see if I've gotten any younger.

Getting Skyped!

This evening I got my first "real" Skype call. I say "real" because at our Macintosh user's group meeting, I tried it out with one of the other members. Then, on New Year's morning, I got a call from a friend in France, but, again, it was basically to check the system to see if it would work.

This evening he called again. The conversation was short, but it was exciting to be talking with someone in France - for free! I was surprised at how clear his voice was. Also, since I have iSight set up, I think he could see me, though I couldn't see him. (Some day I expect my great nephews and nieces will be exclaiming, "You mean you couldn't see other people during calls when you were a kid?")

One thing I learned from the experience is NOT to use the "Skype Me" icon. I get calls from all over the place, all from men. Even if the icon is displaying that I'm online but "unavailable," I'll get calls. I've had a couple from China and one from Kenya. I was a bit tempted to respond to the later, asking him to please let immigrants from Somalia enter the country.

Anyway, I'm keeping my contact list to a minimum - friends only - and hope that I get Skyped often, especially from those in France or North America.

CA & Hassan in front of Bistro, September, 2003

Snow is not News; No Snow Is News

Only in Hokkaido would the evening news have a story that there's no snow! One segment showed postponements of crosscountry skiing events. Note that they "postponed," not "cancelled," because there's a always a strong likelihood of snow in Hokkaido. In fact, a huge storm is supposed to blow in tomorrow.

Right now, though, there are actually wide areas on the sidewalks where the pavement is showing. Just to show how unusual this is, see the photo below of what the sidewalk from my apartment to the subway station looked like last year on this date. Is this a result of global warming or just quirky weather?

Wikigogy Is Here!

"What's Wikigogy?" you may ask. It's a Wiki for lesson plans for teachers of English as a second or foreign language. As a Wiki, it can be edited by anyone, as you may know, and the lesson plans are, of course, free.

So far, the areas covered are Speak, Listen, Read, Write, 4 skill, Grammar, and ESP [English for Special Purposes]. I found 15 lessons at Speak [sic] and 1 at Write. Although there are lessons plans at other sites, particularly Things for ESL/EFL Teachers from the The Internet TESL Journal for Teachers of English as a Second Language. It'll be interesting to see how big Wikigogy grows.


If you're interested, see Wikigogy.

2007 - iYear

My iYear actually began in September, 2005, when I bought the iBook on which I'm typing this. Also, I started using, and to some extent mastering, iPhoto and iDVD during 2006.

However, 2007 is going to be the year when I truly begin using all the tools that come with Apple's iWork and iLife. (to be continued)

Shall we Dance? [sic]

Finally, thanks to a gift certificate from a friend, I had a chance to watch the American version of "Shall We Dance," albeit as a DVD on my tiny 17-inch flat screen. Having seen the Japanese version a number of times, I couldn't help comparing them.

The change I liked best was the development of the relationship between the husband and the wife (played by Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, respectively, two of my favorite actors). In the Japanese version, there are far fewer scenes with the wife, and we know nothing of her life other than sitting at her home in the suburbs, patiently waiting for her husband to come home from work, or driving her daughter to school. For her to have a job, as the American wife does, would be out of the question. The result, though, is a somewhat colorless character who seems to have a far more boring life than her accountant husband. In fact, it’s a wonder that she isn’t the one who ends up taking dance lessons.

On the contrary, we see a great deal more of the work place and its dynamics in the Japanese version, very natural in its depiction of the dominance of the office, as opposed to the home, in a Japanese "salaryman's" life. In fact, when the middle-aged professional, Sugimoto, played with marvelous understatement by Koji Yakusho, doesn't socialize with his co-workers after hours, he's viewed by them as odd for wanting to go home. In the American version, how mundane the lawyer, John Clark, finds his work to be is touched on, mainly through a voice-over (which I generally find to be a weak substitute for action), and not nearly as convincing.

The biggest loss in the absence of work place scenes in the American version is that there's no build-up for the Stanley Tucci character, Link Peterson, a colleague of John’s, and when he is "discovered" at the dance studio, at first we have no idea who this guy is and why he is so embarrassed to be found out. I also didn’t get the bit about his faked interest in sports, so I’ll have to see if that’s clearer in my second or third viewing. I have to say, though, that I loved the wig, and reviewer Rebecca Murray claims that “Stanley Tucci is the reason to see ‘Shall We Dance?’.”

Gradually, the camaraderie that develops between the two men in both movies is convincing as one of the reasons for the main character to continue dancing, even when his invitation to dinner is rejected by the lovely, young dance teacher, whose standing poignantly at the window of the studio was what attracted him to the lessons in the first place.

I was a bit put off by the slapstick in both versions. The effects could have been just as comical without the viewers being beaten over the head with a “This bit is really funny” dialogue or action. It ends up turning many of the characters, who have a potential for full development, into caricatures.

The older dance teacher, Tamako Tamura (played by Reiko Kusamura, who happens to be the same age as I am), so dignified and gracious in the Japanese version, becomes Miss Mitzi (played by Anita Gillette), the owner of a less-than-posh dance studio, in the American version, and a lush who sneaks nips from a bottle with no apparent reason than for a cheap laugh, except that it isn’t funny.

The female dance partner in the final competition, Japanese Toyoko (played by Eriko Watanabe) and American Bobbi (whom one critic described as “Lisa Ann Walter doing Bette Midler”), is boisterous and overdrawn in both versions, making it difficult to have sympathy for her when she collapses from the fatigue of holding down daytime jobs with long hours while spending evenings at the dance studio.

There’s a poignancy in true comedy, seen best in both versions at the climactic scene where, during the two-step – well, anyone who’s seen the movie or perhaps is even familiar with it knows very well what happens.

As for dialogue, why do Americans have to talk so much? Maybe I’ve lived in Japan too long, or gotten too used to Japanese drama with its long pauses and the camera dwelling on the somewhat expressionless faces, a compliment to the audience in that it suggests they can fill in for themselves what is taking place in the character’s mind. In one scene in particular, Clark ends up talking to himself about whether he should or shouldn’t return to the dance studio; the extra verbiage really isn’t necessary. The viewers can figure out what is dilemma is without him having to spell it out for them, and I found the self-talk distracting. The only character with very little dialogue is the assistant dance instructor, Paulina (played by Jennifer Lopez), and her body language is certainly enough to convey the basics of the relationship between her and John Clark.

My biggest complaint, however, is how quickly the American lawyer became adept at ballroom dancing. I realize that, in a 2-hour movie, it’s not possible to show all the grueling hours that it takes to learn a new skill. Having taken ballroom dance lessons once a week for 2 years, though, I can vouch for the fact that a novice doesn’t learn all the facets of the art – one that involves the whole body, including the direction of the eyes – in a few months. For me, more time on the lessons and all the aspects of learning the stance, the hip movements, the footwork, and all that is essential to expertise in ballroom dancing, would have been more rewarding and authentic. The American version simply makes it look much too easy!

I was also disappointed in the final scene, a farewell party for the young dance teacher, which doesn’t have the drama of the Japanese version with the spotlight going around the crowd as Mai (played by Tamiyo Kusakari), the dance teacher, looks for Sugimoto. Although a bit melodramatic, the suspense of whether he’ll show up or not is built up, and one breathes a sigh of relief when he dashes in, briefcase in hand, at the last minute.

In the American version, it is as though everyone was expecting Clark to show up, and, when he does, lo and behold, he has on both a tux and his dance shoes. It must have been quite a stretch for the writers to figure out a way of getting him from riding the El home to getting dressed properly, showing up at his wife’s store with a rose for her, and then making it to the party in time. It’s quite a stretch for the viewers as well.

In both versions, the young dance instructor is convincingly icy, when faced with a distasteful job – attempting to turn ugly ducklings into swans on the dance floor – and passionate, when caught up in dancing by herself or with a partner with whom she can float. I especially enjoy the instructions given by Paulina in the American version about how to do the rumba, which helped me understand the heart of the dance.

The rumba is the vertical expression of a horizontal wish. You have to hold her, like the skin on her thigh is your reason for living. Let her go, like your heart's being ripped from your chest. Throw her back, like you're going to have your way with her right here on the dance floor. And then finish, like she's ruined you for life.

There’s another in which she explains the man’s role in the waltz of acting as a frame for his partner, and I’m still searching for the full quote.

One other disappointment with the American version, though, is that it doesn’t fully explain what happened at the Blackpool Competition and what a crushing blow it was to both her and her career. (Granted that the Japanese version doesn’t handle this as adeptly as it might, since the entire incident is revealed mainly through a letter to Sugiyama at the end and a voiceover.) Also, it’s never quite clear what happened between Paulina and her former dance partner. I would love to see a 3rd version of “Shall We Dance?” in either language with this particular part of the story more fully developed.

What's lacking the most in the American version is, simply, dancing! From the title, I expected much more, not only for my own pleasure, but also because what must have been hours of dance lessons for Gere and Lopez ended up in a few, choppy unsatisfactory scenes.

I have to say that I liked the epilogue at the end of the American version, especially knowing that the klutzy, fat character (in a rather sullen portrayal by Omar Benson Miller) succeeds in getting engaged and married as a result of his dance lessons. OK, so I’m a romantic at heart. One never knows. Maybe I’ll be at an American wedding reception or my high school reunion or some other occasion where there’s dancing, and some fine gentleman will step up to me asking, “Shall we dance?”, and I’ll whirl away in his arms to a lifetime of dancing. Of course, if my partner looks anything like Richard Gere, all the better!

---

See an excellent review by Kuma, the Nihon Review, comparing the two versions at:
http://www.nihonreview.com/wordpress/documents/japanese-and-american-culture-through-shall-we-dance/

Other reviews worth reading can be found at:
Japanese (1996) version: http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/shallwed.shtml
American (2004) version: http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/movies/review/2004/10/15/dance/index.html
http://www.pajiba.com/shall-we-dance.htm
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/flickfilos/archive/2004/shallwedance.shtml
http://www.filmfodder.com/movies/reviews/shall_we_dance/20041008.htm

Time's Person of the Year Is . . .

YOU! And me. If you write a blog, you're a person of the year. If you've ever uploaded a video to YouTube or some music to Podcast, you're a person of the year. If you've ever posted a photo on Flickr, you're a person of the year. (I've done all of the above, so I guess that makes me the person of the year.)

Another place to check out is MySpace.com or the Japanese version that one of my Advanced Writing students is doing her paper on, Mixi.

Better, still, if you've contributed anything to Wikipedia, you are truly a person of the year. In fact, if you've even looked for any information on Wikipedia, that qualifies. And you're reading this blog, so that certainly makes you "with it"!

I thought Time magazine's choice was brilliant. This past year is when the media truly started belonging to the people. It's not that professional coverage and opinions no longer count, but a 15-year-old might write a movie review or a political commentary that is every bit as worth reading. And I'd much rather hear and see what's happening in Iraq from those in the field than from any so-called official news source.

Power to the People is here!

Coveniently-Timed Execution

Perhaps the execution of Saddam Hussein will call the attention of most people away from the fact that the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since the Bush Administration invaded the country is only two away from 3000. (Actually, it's much higher, according to a conversation I had in an airport with a soldier on leave who pointed out that any soldier who is fatally wounded, but dies while being transported out of Iraq, is not counted among the casualties of the "war." Figures of the number of casualties for both Americans can be seen at the Anti-war.com, and those for Iraqui civilians at Iraqui Body Count.)

Even more insulting to Muslim people is the fact that Hussein was hung during Id al-Adha, "an important holiday considered a time of forgiveness and compassion." According to the International Herald Tribune, "Id al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, honors the biblical patriarch Abraham's willingness to kill his son Isaac for God before God decided to spare Isaac's life" and is "the most important date in the Islamic calendar." The Tribune states that "Muslim countries often pardon criminals to mark the occasion, and prisoners are rarely executed at that time."

I'm not suggesting that Hussein should have been pardoned. However, regardless of the atrocities he committed, this was hardly an eye-for-an-eye or a tooth-for-a-tooth execution. It was a blatant political maneuver.

Freude!

What a deer!

Merry Christmas!

Alicia's Smile

Alicia is not her real name. It's the name she would most likely have if she were American and not Japanese. She's a college student in a conversation class I teach.

Alicia has not been the best of students. In fact, in class she often seems despondent, making little if any eye contact with me. I've had to ask her not to sleep in class a couple of times. If she were in American class, she might be thought of as a student with an attitude.

A week ago, the class activity was to write a letter about a personal problem, real or imaginary, and ask for advice, using a pen name. Alicia wrote the following:

---

"I'm sleepy everyday everytime.
Because school is hate.
Morning is hate.
Maybe, every night is very busy so, I'm tired
but I need money.
I must work every night.
I'm very tired.
I hope want holiday.
I want sleep.
I want go to shopping.
I want go to my friend's house.
. . . etc . . . [sic]
I hope get up time. What should I do?
Sleepy Girl"

---

I have no doubt that what Alicia wrote was very real. As I read the letter, I realized that the young woman is simply not getting enough sleep, mainly because of her part-time job. Knowing how grouchy I myself can be without enough sleep, I began to understand why she has an “attitude” in class. I was particularly dismayed, though, about her stating so blatantly that she hates school. I wished that I taught at the school full-time so I could be accessible for her or any students who wanted to discuss problems they were having with school, work, friends, parents, etc.

Then, yesterday, we were discussing a topic that was fairly easy for everyone, housework and chores. (Many of the topics in the textbook, such as abortion, cloning, and addiction, are much more challenging for this class of Child Care majors whose English grammar and vocabulary are extremely limited.)

The students were in small groups for discussion, as usual. After talking about who does the housework in their family now, and who they expect to do the housework in the future (when they have a roommate, partner, or husband), I had them do a kind of role play in which the people in each group were housemates. They had to come up with a schedule of chores, which could either be permanent or rotating.

I circulated the classroom, making sure the students were on task, helping them with vocabulary and spelling, and discussing the topic with them. When I got to Alicia’s group, I noticed they had written “walk the dog.”

I asked them what kind of dog they had. They weren’t able to answer at first, so I asked, “How big is your dog?” gesturing with my hands to show different sizes. Alicia replied with her hands, showing the approximate size, so I asked, “That big? It’s a pretty big dog.” Again, I asked, “What kind of dog is it? A German shepherd? A collie?” using breeds they might understand. One of the students in the group finally piped up, “A Dalmatian,” and everyone eagerly agreed.

At that point I saw that it was Alicia’s “job” to walk the dog 4 times a week. I asked her if she liked dogs and she nodded. “Alicia and the Dalmatian,” I said, to which she and her “housemates” responded with a giggle. I continued, “It sounds like a nice story for children, ‘Alicia and the Dalmatian.’” Alicia’s face brightened and, for the first time, I saw a genuine smile.

I don’t think Alicia hated school at that moment. She enjoyed getting special attention. What’s more, she understood everything I was saying. As for me, I’ll never forget Alicia’s smile.

Below is a photo of other students enjoying English conversation in Alicia’s class.

Moments Teachers Live For

In my Advanced Writing class this morning, I experienced one of those rare moments that teachers live for. The class is small, only 6 students. This being Japan, the 3 young men sit on one side of the aisle and the 3 young women on the other. The students are busy with the final stages of the research papers they've been working on all semester.

One of the students was using a quotation, and I noticed that there was a quote within a quote. In my usual serious way of teaching, I said to him in a stage whisper, "I'm going to teach you a secret about using quotation marks, but don't let any of the other students know, OK?"

Naturally all the ears in the room perked up, and everyone listened in as I explained the usage of single quotation marks for a quote within a quote. As soon as I had finished, they all dashed over to his desk to find out the "secret" information. Peering over his shoulder, those who understood the usage were explaining it to others in Japanese.

I wish I had captured the moment on camera - students crowded around a desk, excited about learning and cooperating to help each other understand. If I had simply "taught" the usage by lecturing about it, about half of them would have been listening, and fewer than that would probably have gotten it right. As it is, I think they'll all do it correctly if their paper happens to include a quote within a quote.

The "secret information" technique is not one I use every day, but it certainly was successful this time, and I'll keep it in my bag of teaching tricks. The success of getting the information across was not, however, due only to a teaching trick. It also took a class that was comfortable with me and students who had bonded. That together with an unusually enthusiastic group is what made the moment.

I Can't Stop!

In 2 of my English conversation classes, I'm using a textbook called Impact Topics. This week, class discussion stemmed from one of the most popular chapters, entitled "I Can't Stop", which focuses on addictions.

In both classes, I made a couple of discoveries. One is that the students don't really understand the concept of addiction. A couple of them who have part-time jobs and work 5-6 days a week thought that they were workaholics. I explained that, unless they continued to work beyond the number of required hours and to do extra work without pay, they weren't really workaholics.

I gave the example of what happened the previous week when a couple of my TOEFL students asked me about the difference between "only" and "just." I ended up spending about 6 hours researching the two words on various Internet sites, coming up with several pages with numerous examples of usage. I'm still not satisfied that I can give a clear explanation and will most likely spend more time on it. Now that's a workaholic! (It's also the reason I haven't been doing my duty as one of the teachers at the ESL Help Center at Dave's Cafe. I simply was spending too much time except on the simplest of answers.)

After my discussions with small groups and talking with the entire class about the nature of addiction, many of the students (if not all) had a much better understanding of the difference between liking something (such as watching movies, which many of them enjoy) and being addicted (watching movies for hours and hours, often until the wee hours of the morning, interfering with their studies and/or work).

I always start out the class by telling them how I'm a chocoholic, and explaining other "holic' terms such as shopaholic. At the end of the class, I ask them what addictions listed in the text they think I've checked besides chocoholic and workaholic. They can usually guess surfing the Net fairly quickly, but it takes a while for them to guess alcoholic. In fact, today there were numbers of different guesses, and one student finally came up with "drinking alcohol." When I said, "Yes," there was a cry of astonishment.

I told them how I used to drink a great deal, a bottle or two of wine, every night, which they found hard to believe. I also explained quickly that I was a recovering alcoholic, through the help of a support group, and that I hadn't had a drink for well over 8 years. I added that I could never drink again, even a single glass of wine.

Students fill out Self-Assessment Forms every week where they can give feedback on what they found interesting in their group discussion, and can ask me questions. I somewhat expected some comments on my self-disclosure about my alcoholism. To my astonishment, not a single student in either class mentioned it. Most of them focused on their own possible addictions or those of others in their group. Some felt they might be addicted to something (a common addiction was use of cell phones) and others came to the conclusion that they weren't. My openness about my own addictions seemed to give them more permission to talk about their own concerns.

Although I always talk briefly of ways of getting help with one's addictions - everything from hot lines to professional counseling to (peer) support groups - very little of their discussion seems to get into those areas. Last year, however, two of the students who smoked decided to start their own quit smoking support group of two. For others, if they need to seek help some day, at least they've been introduced to the concept of support groups.

Fake Priests in Japan

This is with regard to a BBC "news" story, Faking it as a priest in Japan, was published on the BBC Asia-Pacific site November, 2, 2006.

The first time I met Mark Kelly in the part-time university teachers' room, he mentioned his "side job" as a wedding minister. He seemed to do so almost apologetically and wasn't forthcoming about the details. I sensed, and later discovered, that he was not actually an ordained minister. That's why I'm surprised that he was so candid about his experiences with a freelance journalist, Kathleen McCaul.

I am even more surprised that, out of whatever news organizations she may have contacted, the BBC was the only one to accept her "story." From what I know, Mark only spoke to her casually when she travelling through Japan. Her whole report was anecdotal. She didn't get any statements legitimate sources, such as the wedding company for which Mark worked.

As far as I'm concerned, it was totally unethical of the BBC, as well as the reporter, to print anything that was off the record and dubious, at best. Going for the sensational is not up to former standards held by the BBC. Furthermore, since they are claiming they don't know who is telling the truth, the reporter or the source, they are not printing an apology or retraction of any sort.

Whether such fake priests are in existence is a whole other issue. While I would think there would be an appeal to traditional Shinto wedding ceremonies, couples these days seem to find it romantic to get married in a chapel with stained glass, a bell, ribbons on the pews, and foreign man [sic] dressed in a robe. Most aren't concerned with the Christian aspect. The decorative aspect is what counts, much like the colored lights, Santa Claus suits, and Christmas trees that start making an appearance in mid-November in department stores and supermarkets, along with such delightful numbers as "Jingle Rock" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." A bit of a return to Saturnalia.

This is not just an occurrence in Japan. There are certainly Americans who don't consider themselves Christians who celebrate Winter Solstice, not only with lights but perhaps even with an Xmas tree, and the exchanging of cards and gifts. As for weddings, my Unitarian Universalist minister in Racine, Wisconsin, was often asked by couples to perform ceremonies for those who wanted to be married in a church, but who didn't necessarily want a Christian ceremony. The only difference is that, in the U.S., someone with official standing must sign the wedding certificate, but it could be by any Justice of the Peace as well as someone was who had a "mail order" ordination.

What I'd really like to see explored is the number of fake English teachers in Japan. There are far more of them than there are fake priests!

37th National Day of Mourning

The 37th National Day of Mourning was held on Thursday, November 23, 2006, at 12 Noon on Cole’s Hill (the hill above Plymouth Rock) in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was sponsored by the International Action Center.

The explanation of the event on the website is: "An annual tradition since 1970, Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day. Many of us fast from sundown the day before through the afternoon of that day (and have a social after Day of Mourning so that participants in DOM can break their fasts). We [the United American Indians of New England] are mourning our ancestors and the genocide of our peoples and the theft of our lands. NDOM is a day when we mourn, but we also feel our strength in political action. Over the years, participants in Day of Mourning have buried Plymouth Rock a number of times, boarded the Mayflower replica, and placed ku klux klan sheets on the statue of William Bradford, etc."

From a speech by Moonanum James on the 32nd National Day of Mourning, 2001: "The greatest single acts of terrorism to date were not perpetrated by Osama bin Laden, but by the US military when it dropped atomic bombs on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Fast for a World Harvest

"More than 850 million people suffer from chronic hunger," according to Oxfam America. "In the US alone, almost 36 million people live in poverty. Globally, 30,000 children under the age of five die every day, mostly from preventable causes, including malnutrition.

An email I received from The ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History stated, "The problem isn't a lack of food. We have more than enough to go around. The problem is the distribution, something we, with other countries around the world, can be the first generation to fix."

Suggestions to raise awareness include participating in a Hunger Banquet on the Thursday before Thanksgiving (in the U.S.).

If the banquet included 20 people at the table, representing the world’s population:

• 3 would be served a gourmet, multi-course meal, while sitting at decorated table and a cushioned chair.


• 5 would eat rice and beans with a fork and sit on a simple cushion.


• 12 would wait in line to receive a small portion of rice that they would eat with their hands while sitting on the floor.

The true power of an Oxfam Hunger Banquet is that as you eat your meal, unlike the real world, you see what’s on everyone else’s plate.

Another suggestion is to Skip a Meal for Oxfam. This helps to make one more conscious of the number of people all over the world who go without meals. The money saved can be contributed to Oxfam.

A third option, that could be used by teachers for their students or parents for their children (as well as for themselves), is to play the Hunger Game. One "sits" at a banquet table, but the luck of the draw could mean either feast or famine.

The site also includes a Hunger Quiz and some "Recipes" for Change.

Although I accessed this information too late to bring it to the attention of my students in time to participate this year, I will certainly include the "games" in future lesson plans. In fact, in Japan the Hunger Game may be more appropriate at New Year's, which is generally a time for feasting on traditional food. Older generations, who grew up during or just after World War II, may well remember when there was little on the table besides course grain and pumpkin.

Peace Pulse

I have recently installed the Peace Pulse on my computer. Every hour on the hour, there's a chime as a reminder to pause for a minute of silence, contemplating peace in one's own life and in the world. Another chime rings at the end of a minute.

The chime, which can be downloaded at , can be kept open in a small window. Such a wonderful, simple way to keep us focused on peace!

Getting Vetted

The following post is written by Mac (the cat).

This morning we had an adventure! We didn't know what was happening at first. Mommy put Tippy in our carrier, but he really didn't want to be there, so he pulled at the door until he got it open and escaped. Then she grabbed me and put me in, but when she put Tippy in again, I got out. Then she tried to put me in again, but we both escaped. Since Mommy's bigger than both of us, she finally got both of us in. Our adventure began!

First she took us into the hall and down the stairs, where we almost never get a chance to go, but we were in the carrier so couldn't run up and down the stairs playing. Then we got into the back of a car driven by a man who smelled a little like smoke. We haven't ridden in cars very much, and I think it's pretty exciting, but Tippy was scared so he buried his head under my arm.

Then Mommy took us into a small building and put us on a bench. There was a nice lady talking to Mommy, but on another bench was a dog. I've never been so close to a dog before, so I watched him closely. He was really quiet, for a dog, and just sat there with his person, but I was kind of glad we were in our carrier.

Soon a man in a white coat invited us into his room. I remembered him from the smells. He opened the carrier, so I had a chance to get out, but Tippy just stayed in a corner of the carrier. The man put me on a table where he was touching and pushing me, and then he put something in me that kind of pinched. It didn't really hurt much, and he seemed like a nice man, but I made a few noises just so he'd know I didn't like all that touching. Mommy and another nice lady were holding me and talking to me, so I felt pretty safe.

Then they put me back in the carrier and made Tippy come out. I could tell that Tippy didn't like it, but he was really quiet. I was on the floor and couldn't see what was going on, so I made a few noises.

Tippy got back in the carrier with me and curled up against me. Actually, I curled up against him, too, because I was still a little scared and I didn't know what was going to happen next. We got in the back of another car driven by another man, and soon Mommy was carrying us up the stairs. We were home again! Tippy and I walked all over the room, sniffing and checking to see if everything was the same.

An adventure to another place can be pretty exciting, but home is the best place of all!

Don't push too hard

What do a mechanical pencil and an iPod have in common. Both of mine broke down this week. Or, at least, I thought they did.

In the case of the mechanical pencil, it turned out that I was pushing too hard (not being able to read the warning written in Japanese on the side). The lead comes out by pushing GENTLY on the cap. Whenever I use mechanical pencils, I also tend to push so hard that the lead breaks, so I need to practice writing using a lighter hand.

As for the iPod, nothing was showing up on the screen, even after pushing on all the possible menus, turning the wheel numbers of times, and making sure the batteries were recharged.

During my lunch break, I rushed to the Apple store (10-15 minutes away by subway) and ran in more or less shouting that my iPod had died. I was stumbling my way through a long explanation in Japanese when the English-speaking "genius" at the genius bar calmly handed it back. It was working!

"How did you do that?" I exclaimed.

"You push on the center button for 5 seconds," he explained (not adding GENTLY, but I knew that a soft touch was all that was required.)

I muttered a quick thanks, adding "5 seconds" in Japanese, and ran out of the store, explaining that I had a class that started at 1:00.

I think the message is that I may be pushing too hard in my life!

Laws Enacted by My Students

In my class at Fuji Women's University, the topic for the day was what should be prohibited. The example in the text was about smoking, and we talked for a bit about how the rules against smoking were gradually getting more strict in Sapporo. For example, it's no longer permitted on public transportation and even in the stations. What's more, downtown Sapporo now has big signs painted on the sidewalks prohibiting smoking and littering (a new word for the students).

In small groups, they then had to make school rules, then laws for the city, and finally laws for Japan. Here's a slightly edited composite of what they came up with:

School Rules

• No smoking in the school.
• No pets in school. (They said that included my cats!)
• Food and drinks should be allowed in class.
• No cells phones in class.
• No tardiness (being late).
• No writing on the desks.
• No sleeping in class.
• No reading magazines in class.
• No noise in the halls.
• Driving cars to schools should be allowed.
• No bullying.
• No stealing.

Laws for Cities (Sapporo)

• No parking on the streets.
• No crossing against the light.
• No littering, especially cigarettes.
• No hiding trash in the snow.
• People must buy their own trash bags.
• No smoking while walking, including in Odori Park.
• No abandoning animals or allowing animals to roam freely.
• Cell phones shouldn't be allowed on public transportation.
• No shoplifting.
• No graffiti.

Laws for Japan

• Going to school is required for 9 years.
• Getting a driver's license is allowed at age 18.
• No drunk driving.
• No illegal drugs.
• No drinking for minors.
• No smoking for minors.
• No sexual harassment.
• No domestic violence or sexual abuse.
• No cruelty towards children.
• No kidnapping.
• No illegal aliens.
• No polygamy (multiple marriages).
• No religious cults allowed.
• No stealing.
• No scams.
• No fraud.
  
• No sleeping during meetings of the Diet.
• No nuclear inspections. (I'll have to check what they meant by that one.)
  
• No killing people.
• No war!!!

Doing My Civic Duty

I was surprised to receive an absentee ballot in the mail without requesting one (although I had done so for the last presidential election). Have I made the world a better place by filling it in and sending it back? I'd like to think so.

A couple interesting non-binding (whatever that means) questions were on the ballot. One was whether "the state senator from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would allow seriously ill patients, with their doctor's written recommendation, to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana for their personal medical use." Far be it from me to stand in the way of anyone's healing process.

Another was whether "the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the President and Congress of the United States to end the war in Iraq immediately and bring all United States military forces home from Iraq." I doubt if anyone currently in the West Wing is going to pay attention to any such resolution, but I was glad to see the question raised.

(Note: The color of the letters in this post is an indication of how I voted wherever it was possible, except for State Senator [where there was no candidate of color running].)

Synchronicities

Some would simply call them coincidences. I prefer the term "synchronicities." It has a kind of Taoist sound to it. What I'm actually talking about is running into people unexpectedly. It happens so frequently in Sapporo that it almost be eerie if it weren't so very, well, Tao.

This evening it was when I was coming home from a conference in a suburb. I stopped in Sapporo Station for my monthly cheeseburger fix, and standing in line right in front of me was a student from yesterday's (Friday's) class, in fact, one of the guys who's most active in the class. (Aside: yesterday I got a kick out of watching the lightbulb flash over his head when he made the connection between "auditorium" and "audience," and practically shouted, "So "audience" means "listening people," which I affirmed.)

I had thought that would be my synchronicity for the day, but just as I was coming out of my subway station, I ran into a part-time teacher from the same university whom I haven't seen for a while (a piano teacher who studied in Hungary for a number of years). She said that she's teaching Wednesdays instead of Fridays this semester, which is why I haven't seen her.

Last week Sapporo Station was also the scene of a synchronicity when, after chorus rehearsal (held downtown that evening instead of at the concert hall near my apartment), I ran into a student who was in my TOEFL class at Sapporo University the next day. Then, the American exchange student who had been taking my Teaching Development class, also at Sapporo University, was riding on the same subway car. I think he was a bit embarrassed because he hasn't shown up for the class this semester. I didn't have time to ask him about it, since I saw him just as I was getting off, so I said, "Email me." He didn't. And the other student I ran into didn't show up for class this week. Oh, well.

A few weeks back, I went to a concert at Kitara Hall. The friend who gave me the ticket wasn't able to go, but when I was looking for a seat, a student from the educational university was in the audience. Her mother, who was with her, was kind enough to give up her seat so we could sit together and talk about her experience student teaching.

Going back to September, when I was on my way to Singapore (actually to the airport near Osaka where I would change to the plane for Singapore), another student from the educational university was on the same plane. That's five times I can think of when I ended up on the same plane as someone I know, going from or coming back to Sapporo. So I guess the chances of that happening are 5 in 1,800,000!

One of the more pleasant synchronicities, again in Sapporo Station, was running into a friend, Kathleen, and her husband, Terry, last August right after I had finished the audition for Sapporo Symphony Chorus. The experience had been so intense, and I really wanted someone to share it with, since my cats don't fully appreciate it. Kathleen and Terry made a great audience. What wonderful timing!

These are only a few examples of the synchronicities that I have at least once a month. I don't know what to make of them, although others in Sapporo have also told me how they seem to run into someone they know everytime they go downtown. In fact, a couple of my friends are convinced that the population of Sapporo isn't anywhere near 1,800,000. It's really more like 40,000, but the same people just keep moving around so that it gives the illusion of there being more.

If you're from Sapporo and have "synchronicities" like this, let me know about it!

A Pioneer in Hokkaido, Japan

A friend, Sally Kobayashi, gave a talk as a representative of the American Consulate about American "pioneers" in Hokkaido. I was one of the seven people chosen!

One reason she chose me is that I've been the only non-Japanese in Sapporo Academy Chorus for nearly 14 years, and I recently passed the audition for the Sapporo Symphony Chorus, again being the only non-Japanese.

She also talked about my doing hypnotherapy. As far as I know, I'm the only practicing English-speaking hypnotist in all of Hokkaido. Interestingly enough, although I intended to provide a service for those from English-speaking countries, nearly half of my clients have been Japanese, mainly seeking relief from stress!

Sally may have mentioned my forming SOAR, Sapporo Organization for Addiction Recovery, the only English-speaking support group for those recovering from alcohol or drug abuse in Sapporo or Hokkaido. Although we don't meet weekly, the few people who have come to a meeting stay in touch. In fact, a couple of us see each other at work. I don't know any other alcoholics in Sapporo who have "come out" about their addiction. Since Sapporo has such a small non-Japanese community, it takes courage. The main thing is that hope to reach others who may be seeking support.

Other pioneers included some people I know, one who has been a foster mom for more children than I can count; another who published The Couch Potato's Guide to Japan, the first book in English about TV; and another who started Project Santa, a volunteer organization that raises donations for child welfare homes.

Sally herself is a pioneer, who's written a book entitled Creating the Sapporo Snow Festival Sculptures. You can see Sally in the photo where she's speaking at the Edwin Dun Memorial Museum in Makomanai. She's considering writing a book about American pioneers in Sapporo and Hokkaido, of which there are many more.

Possible Nuclear Test in North Korea

This just in from the American Embassy in Tokyo:

On Monday, October 9, U.S. and South Korean intelligence services detected a seismic event at a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea. North Korea has claimed it conducted an underground nuclear test, but these reports are unconfirmed. The United States Government is monitoring the situation closely.

Comment by J.P. Scott (2006), who sends a satirical message daily from his website, The Daily Whale:

What do you think about North Korea's claimed nuclear test?

A. I can't figure out whether they faked it incompetently, or actually did it incompetently.

B. They're planning to deliver this bomb how? With the missiles that don't work?

C. Surprise increase in threat level, exactly as predicted.

D. Arright! Finally! The excuse for action!
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