I passed my Japanese Proficiency Exam!!!!
No time for details now since I am having a HELL of a day. Suffice to say I am pretty damn excited at having a little piece of paper (and it really is little) that says I can offically speak, read, write and understand Japanese.
How much do I rock?*
*Despite all appearance this is NOT a question so please don't feel obliged to answer.
February 08, 2007
February 07, 2007
Student population overwhelmed
There's a bloke living in the town next to me who is employed under the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching - or something) scenario. Since that area is pretty sparse in the population area he goes around to several different schools in a week. One school he teaches at is on an island so he spends the whole day there. There are 10 students in the middle school and there are 8 staff members! How insane is THAT! In March the year 3 kids will graduate and move on to High School (off the island I think) leaving the student population at 6*, since there are no year 6 kids in the primary school currently to move up and increase the middle school population. How is this possible? How can a school for a mere 10 kids be running with eight staff members? Why does a school with a third as many kids as the average homeroom class need to have a principal, a vice principal, a maths teacher, a music teacher and office dogbodies? How much money does this country have, and why are they not using it for things like giving the kids grass to run around ( I mean LAWN, not pot, although that would also be quite an improvement on school life), or teaching the kids to stop doing the kancho**. I think this story goes a long way to proving that having more money in your budget does not necessarily mean doing a better job.
* Figures may vary from actual figures but you get the idea. Stories heard when drunk are never going to be retold with much precision.
** Kancho - Japanese child invention involving the use of the index fingers to poke adults in the arse when they have their hands full.
* Figures may vary from actual figures but you get the idea. Stories heard when drunk are never going to be retold with much precision.
** Kancho - Japanese child invention involving the use of the index fingers to poke adults in the arse when they have their hands full.
A New Format
OH MY GOD IT'S ALL DIFFERENT!!
Yep, got sick of the old brown blog so have twiddled with a few knobs behind the scenes here and now we are all blue. Matching the blue T-shirt I am wearing in that photo - nice. Even though it's blue, which traditionally would mean "sad" (if this were year 12 English it would anyway), I think it seems a bit happier this way...
Yep, got sick of the old brown blog so have twiddled with a few knobs behind the scenes here and now we are all blue. Matching the blue T-shirt I am wearing in that photo - nice. Even though it's blue, which traditionally would mean "sad" (if this were year 12 English it would anyway), I think it seems a bit happier this way...
February 06, 2007
A New Public Holiday
Yesterday was Despair Of The World Day in Japan. Did you know that? And today is Reconcile Yourself To Never Knowing The Truth Day.
Done.
I might be a very small person in the world and mean nothing to nothing, but might as well have a crack at enjoying it as much as possible without making anyone else hate it. To which end; I think I might stop using petrol. OK I know that it will be impossible to avoid using motorbikes, cars, trains, buses, planes completely - I do want to get home from Japan without getting wet after all - but it's a decision to minimise the use of all these vehicles as much as possible. That doesn't mean just leaving the car at home when it's nice weather, and walking, but walking in the rain too. That means using a car only when it is absolutely unavoidable. It means not even owning a car, which is my situation at the moment - and I do just fine. In fact, the last year I was living in Adelaide I used my car very infrequently and the times I did, it was only because I was lazy rather than because I had no other options. Living in Adelaide is TOPS for this because it is flat everywhere and this means it is excellent for cycling without too much effort or creating those tree trunk legs that come with pushing uphill constantly... Although, it must be said, it is pretty dangerous at times when car drivers seem to think that bicycles have no right to be on the road and don't mind almost killing someone to prove that point.
Personally I think it would be tops if everyone cycled everywhere. For several reasons
a) Fewer cars on the road
b) Fewer Fat Arses - leading to less heart disease and all Fat related illnesses which cost the health care system a packet every year (supposing we have a health care system for much longer)
c) Less NOISE
d) More people arriving at work with sweaty hair and bum like me.
Think how much happier everyone would be! Healthier in general, less grumpy cos they haven't negotiated traffic jams all the way to work breathing in exhaust fumes. There are LOTS of excuses why it can't be done, but there are no good reasons. I can testify to the fact that it actually takes less time to ride into the city than drive during peak hour. Plus you don't have to pay or look for parking. I say stop thinking why it's impossible and start making it possible.
Just a suggestion.
Done.
I might be a very small person in the world and mean nothing to nothing, but might as well have a crack at enjoying it as much as possible without making anyone else hate it. To which end; I think I might stop using petrol. OK I know that it will be impossible to avoid using motorbikes, cars, trains, buses, planes completely - I do want to get home from Japan without getting wet after all - but it's a decision to minimise the use of all these vehicles as much as possible. That doesn't mean just leaving the car at home when it's nice weather, and walking, but walking in the rain too. That means using a car only when it is absolutely unavoidable. It means not even owning a car, which is my situation at the moment - and I do just fine. In fact, the last year I was living in Adelaide I used my car very infrequently and the times I did, it was only because I was lazy rather than because I had no other options. Living in Adelaide is TOPS for this because it is flat everywhere and this means it is excellent for cycling without too much effort or creating those tree trunk legs that come with pushing uphill constantly... Although, it must be said, it is pretty dangerous at times when car drivers seem to think that bicycles have no right to be on the road and don't mind almost killing someone to prove that point.
Personally I think it would be tops if everyone cycled everywhere. For several reasons
a) Fewer cars on the road
b) Fewer Fat Arses - leading to less heart disease and all Fat related illnesses which cost the health care system a packet every year (supposing we have a health care system for much longer)
c) Less NOISE
d) More people arriving at work with sweaty hair and bum like me.
Think how much happier everyone would be! Healthier in general, less grumpy cos they haven't negotiated traffic jams all the way to work breathing in exhaust fumes. There are LOTS of excuses why it can't be done, but there are no good reasons. I can testify to the fact that it actually takes less time to ride into the city than drive during peak hour. Plus you don't have to pay or look for parking. I say stop thinking why it's impossible and start making it possible.
Just a suggestion.
February 05, 2007
Do you know that you don't know?
This morning I had one of those dreams where you are doing what you are actually supposed to be awake and doing. i.e. I was supposed to be up getting dressed, eating breakfast and walking to work. I was in fact still snuggled up in my doona snoozing and dreaming away about performing the aforementioned tasks. Oops. Luckily I am a low maintenance thing in the mornings and 10 minutes proved to be sufficient to get me out of the house in good order making me wonder why I bother waking up a minute before 7:22am every day.
It stumps me to explain why I needed so much sleep after spending a great deal of yesterday either unconscious or lying down, as if unconscious, reading. After such an amount of rest, why would one need to sleep in an extra 22 minutes thus forcing her to turn breakfast, hair taming and dressing into a multitasking frenzy. Perhaps sleep is addictive, the more you get, the more you want until eventually you are just comatose permanently. Perhaps that is why we have to work at least 8 hours a day; to prevent us all falling in to comas? There must be SOME explanation for why I need to be at work 9 hours a day when I am only actually working a maximum of 3 of those hours. It doesn’t seem a very economical use of time to me. Why spend any longer at work than you need to? If you can do the job in 3 hours, go home after 3 hours. THAT seems like a greater incentive to efficient use of time to me. Of course here I am not all that fussed about it since even whenI am not at work I am doing sweet bugger all. But upon my return home I expect I will be a great deal busier with many more fun things I would rather be doing than twiddling my thumbs at work because whoever decided that it takes 9 hours a day to do my job was grossly underestimating my abilities.
Yesterday I was reading a book where every 20th word or so was CAPITALISED. It was fun because in my head I was YELLING random words at myself. It was, in a word, a very DISMAL book. As a result of reading it I felt like a very insignificant blip in the universe and couldn't help but wonder what is the POINT of all this? It's not a new thought of course, either to me or anyone else, but still retains its strength in depressing the hell out of me. I mean, we all just keep DYING. It doesn't matter what I do with my life, in the end I will just be dead and that's the end of the story. Keeping that in mind, I wonder how anyone can care about anything, let alone the shit that is cared on a regular basis in a modern capitalist society. But then when I think we will all be dead one day anyway, does it really matter if Miss Must-have-a-Louis-Vuitton-Bag seems to be missing the bigger picture of the world? What is the point of us running around collecting all this information about the world? What is the point of us being wiser, smarter, faster, bigger, better, longer lasting, prettier when in the end it just amounts to dust? Maybe it is better to be distracted from it all by a cute bag? Maybe I would be better off if I never considered my own purpose in this world, or pondered my own mortality and didn't know that none of us REALLY know what is going on here.
It stumps me to explain why I needed so much sleep after spending a great deal of yesterday either unconscious or lying down, as if unconscious, reading. After such an amount of rest, why would one need to sleep in an extra 22 minutes thus forcing her to turn breakfast, hair taming and dressing into a multitasking frenzy. Perhaps sleep is addictive, the more you get, the more you want until eventually you are just comatose permanently. Perhaps that is why we have to work at least 8 hours a day; to prevent us all falling in to comas? There must be SOME explanation for why I need to be at work 9 hours a day when I am only actually working a maximum of 3 of those hours. It doesn’t seem a very economical use of time to me. Why spend any longer at work than you need to? If you can do the job in 3 hours, go home after 3 hours. THAT seems like a greater incentive to efficient use of time to me. Of course here I am not all that fussed about it since even whenI am not at work I am doing sweet bugger all. But upon my return home I expect I will be a great deal busier with many more fun things I would rather be doing than twiddling my thumbs at work because whoever decided that it takes 9 hours a day to do my job was grossly underestimating my abilities.
Yesterday I was reading a book where every 20th word or so was CAPITALISED. It was fun because in my head I was YELLING random words at myself. It was, in a word, a very DISMAL book. As a result of reading it I felt like a very insignificant blip in the universe and couldn't help but wonder what is the POINT of all this? It's not a new thought of course, either to me or anyone else, but still retains its strength in depressing the hell out of me. I mean, we all just keep DYING. It doesn't matter what I do with my life, in the end I will just be dead and that's the end of the story. Keeping that in mind, I wonder how anyone can care about anything, let alone the shit that is cared on a regular basis in a modern capitalist society. But then when I think we will all be dead one day anyway, does it really matter if Miss Must-have-a-Louis-Vuitton-Bag seems to be missing the bigger picture of the world? What is the point of us running around collecting all this information about the world? What is the point of us being wiser, smarter, faster, bigger, better, longer lasting, prettier when in the end it just amounts to dust? Maybe it is better to be distracted from it all by a cute bag? Maybe I would be better off if I never considered my own purpose in this world, or pondered my own mortality and didn't know that none of us REALLY know what is going on here.
February 03, 2007
Origami - too fiddly
To complete the picture of boredom, here is me being bored. Perhaps I don't seem all that fed up at first glance but when you take into account the amount of inactivity that must precede the descision to take a photo of oneself as though there is someone else in the room you may well appreciate it. Perhaps it is just a vain attempt to convince myself that I do in fact still exist, something easily forgotten when you have gone several days without a single social interaction to speak of. Or, possibly more likely, perhaps it is to remind myself how desperately I need a hair cut.
And it's worked because now I have started thinking about the tiresome task of finding a hairdresser who won't completely ruin my efforts at growing the stuff longer by cutting too much off in an attempt to make me at least appear "oshare" for 2 hours after I leave the salon. 2 hours being about the length of time my hair retains any of the shape, volume or style a persistant hairdresser can inspire in my locks. The following 2 months are invariably then spent trying to recreate that look to little or no avail whereupon I seek a new hairstyle that is more likely to be maintainable by someone who despises hair products of every description. I have failed in every attempt so far and am being extremely tempted by the idea of shaving it all off. One day it will happen, this I guarantee. One thing only prevents me from doing it right now; the cold. Without hair I know I would freeze in my bed, I already find it impossible to sleep unless I have socks on. Too chilly.
February 02, 2007
No Tears Today
Yesterday the little girl in my year 1 class who NEVER stops crying stopped crying! It was eerie. She came in a little late with the part time teacher who helps with that class and she was dry faced and quiet, and remained that way for the rest of the lessson, although she did not participate and seemed dazed and confused throughout. Afterwards while she was washing her hands for lunch I stopped by and told her and her teacher that she did a good job today (never thought I'd ever be praising someone just because they refrained from crying when there was no need to, but that's primary teaching for you). She actually spoke to me, I was a little bit shocked to hear her voice since all I usually get is "Whaaa whaaa whaaa" (hmm, it's hard to spell crying), and she said that she was trying extra hard today cos her dad asked her to. Her dad always comes to pick her up when the kids go home because she is always crying too much to walk with the rest of them. The first time I noticed her she was crying in the dirt of the playground because on her way to line up for assembly a bigger kid had ran into and knocked her over, it was the funniest thing I saw that week, she just flew backwards and sat on her arse and started crying immediately, tears flying out of her eyes without touching her face and onto the dirt. Like a cartoon. And she is TINY so the big kid didn't even notice he'd done it! Yesterday she was doing so well that she even walked all the way out the gate with a year 6 kid who is in her walking group and her dad had to go and chase them down the road to get her back. I wonder what happens with kids like that. If this crying thing is something she will grow out of in time to catch up with her classmates academically and socially, or if it is going to be a permanent thing. There are a lot of troubled kids at this school for some reason. Every class has at least one who obviously has learning disabilities or is socially ill-equipped in some respect. But rather surprisingly, there are only 2 kids in the special needs class. I would have expected the special needs class to be about the size of an average homeroom when you look at the behaviour of some individuals here. I wonder what the qualifications are for getting that extra help when so many of them seem to need it.
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