Finally got around to uploading more photos. For the past couple of months, when I would do a batch save in Photoshop, all my photos would appear washed out. I think I've fixed the problem, and I'm too lazy to go back and fixed the others. The washed out ones are a bit obvious I think.
Most of these are from the undoukai (Field Day) we had this weekend.
The reason I chose to stay in Okinawa one more year is because of its low cost of living. I wanted to take a final year to settle my student loans, build up some savings, and open up an IRA.
A fellow JET who lives nearby use to work for the Federal Reserve. We had a conversation last year about investing that rather eerily foreshadowed the current Wall Street crisis. I can't quote, but he said something along the lines of, "I worked at the Fed long enough to learn that the system is flawed and people are pushing around imaginary money."
Now I am in a position to start investing and, if internet news is anything to go by, it seems the Apocalypse has come to Wall Street and opening up an IRA would be the last thing I would want to do. If I was actually in America, I'm sure I would have a better perspective of what's actually going on. I guess one way to look at it is it's the best time to invest because everything is low. But news sites keep referring to the possible bailout as the biggest since the Great Depression. If I remember my history, many banks closed because they tried to reclaim their loans, and I don't want to see that happen with me.
A bailout to me seems to be only postponing an inevitable (the idea of bailing out debt with debt doesn't make sense to me) fallout, so as someone who knows practically nothing on economics and banks, my question is: is it still safe to invest in an IRA? or are we headed towards anarchy where money is worthless and I'm better off investing in Okinawan goats to use as bartering in the future?
Today, a man and some military wives showed up at one of the elementary schools to donate books to the school library. They had filled a station wagon with boxes that came to over 200 children's books. I helped carry the boxes into an empty room where we spread everything out on several tables.
I think this would be a nice thing to do...in America. The problem with all these books is that they are in English and the only person who can read them is me. It would be like a group of Japanese people showing up at a school in America to donate over 200 books in Japanese. Also, some of the pop-up books were ripped, some of the sound-making books were broken, and some books had crayon colored in them. I was told the man running this book drive is very passionate about what he is doing, but I couldn't help feeling the school was just used as a dumping ground for military family's unwanted stuff.
I feel bad for the librarian who has to go through them all.
I had lunch with my 6th graders today, and one of the boys turned to me and says, "Kinky!", and then waited for my reaction. You see, Kinki is a southern-central region of Japan. It is the home of Kinki University and the hometown of the pop band Kinki Kids. (I'm not making this up.) This 6th grader had apparently heard on TV that foreigners find the word funny and he wanted to know what it meant. So I got to explain to everyone what I think of when someone says 'Kinki Kids'.
This was a big hit and it lead them to asking me for more Japanese words that sound funny in English. The only other one I could think of is the drink Calpis. This is a bottled drink with a taste I can't describe. Kinda like a milky-lemonade. Of course when you say it, it sounds like 'cow piss'. This also tickled their 6th-grader-funny-bone.
These two alone entertained them the entire lunch period, but can anyone think of any others?
I've been having a problem with some of my students flicking me off.
For example, one of the guys I play basketball with has two daughters, a 1st grader and a 3rd grader. The 1st grader ran up to me last night speaking fake English (think 'blah blah blah') and sticking up her ring finger. The 3rd grader, goes, "No no no, like this!", and shoots up her middle finger. The 1st grader then copied her.
I also get it at some of my schools. I'll be sitting at my desk and some kids will walk by, see me through the windows and shout out "Hey Cliff-sensei!" while flicking me off.
I think they understand the meaning of it in a basic sense and they do it to be funny cause they see it on TV. But what they don't understand is the unsaid words that go with the gesture.
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Western symbols have also been imported void of any meaning. The ones I see the most are the cross, the marijuana leaf, and the Playboy bunny. Lots of girls wear cross necklaces because it's cute. Christians make up about 2.3% of the population in Japan, so I think it's safe to say they aren't wearing it to get closer to Jesus. This is also the country where people are married by unordained priests. People getting married just want a foreigner to stand at the alter with them to complete the 'image'. Apparently the 'priests' here get paid well, so I've considered doing it myself...
The marijuana leaf symbol is everywhere: from flags, car air-fresheners, pencil cases, and clothes. One of my students has one such pencil case and it's not uncommon to see my students to wear marijuana t-shirts. This all came from Jamaican imports, of course. Again, I would say the majority of people have no idea what they are actually wearing.
And finally, the Playboy bunny, usually accompanied with the word PLAYBOY. No one knows what this is either. When I saw a 6th grader wearing a shirt, I told a teacher that if a student showed up with a shirt like that in America, she would be forced to change. He asked why and I told him what Playboy was. Not a clue... Also, junior high and high school girls have school uniforms with tall socks. They get to pick their own socks, and I would say half of them is the Playboy bunny.
But to be fair, we have zero knowledge of Asian cultures and tend to group everything as 'Chinese'. For example, my mom has a Japanese robe she's worn for over 20 years that she got from my grandpa when he visited. We found out from Yuka that the design was Shogi chess pieces.
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This was printed on a kid's t-shirt (worn by my autistic kid, no less) that had a rub-ix cube on it and said:
"Is this object the human challenge to a brain?
What do six colors arranged for such aspect of a cube mean?
And what do we witness when these six colors gathered?
It will be assumed that I challenge this hexahedron with great wisdom."
English t-shirts are in style and no one cares what they mean. They provide entertainment to me when I read them, and they provide entertainment to the kids when they have me read them out loud. Speaking of which, nothing makes you feel more uncomfortable than a 5th grade girl asking you to read their shirt that says, "Juicy Girls". It's the name of the brand.