I said yes.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
April 29th in Japan
Yesterday was a national holiday in Japan. It was the former emperor’s birthday. I had the day off of work, so Joe suggested going to Kyoto. We went to Mount Kurama. I’ve wanted to go to Mount Kurama for a while now but was never able to because it is on the north side of Kyoto away from all the other things we wanted to see. Joe and I hiked up the mountain and realized we were really out of shape. On our hike we saw a lot of cool things including a snake! In Japan snakes are considered good omens. Please enjoy the pictures.
I said yes.
I said yes.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Hypocrisy in Blocking Gay Marriage.
I've written before about my stance on gay marriage. I think marriage should be between two consenting (monogamous) adults. Infidelity is what is ruining the sanctity of marriage not homosexuality. If gay marriage was legalized in the United States, I wouldn’t go off and marry a woman, or I wouldn’t say “Yuck, marriage is a gay thing now”. It’s just stupid to think that it will ruin straight marriage. When people talk about the sanctity of marriage, I want to barf. What about those who cheat? Let’s make sure they NEVER marry again. Then we have the cheaters and people who love them protesting that we are taking their rights away. This is all stupid; life is too short to go on blocking peoples’ right to marry.
Allowing gay people to marry will not make it okay or easy to be gay. They will still suffer verbal and physical attacks from hate groups. Bigotry will not die if this passes. It won't make their lives easier, but it’s a small step. When black people got the right to vote, there were still plenty of assholes trying to prevent them from voting at the polling places. All I am saying is that if you are one of these assholes, you will still have a job.
Here is a good article about the GOP’s hypocrisy about the sanctity of marriage.
I know a couple of the accusations to be true, but some things in this article I didn't know about. You can do your own fact check on that. It’s an interesting and shocking read. How the party still survived is beyond me. I mostly blame the “loyal” media for sweeping it under the rug.
http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/the_devil_quotes_scripture
"All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.” Thomas Jefferson
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson
Allowing gay people to marry will not make it okay or easy to be gay. They will still suffer verbal and physical attacks from hate groups. Bigotry will not die if this passes. It won't make their lives easier, but it’s a small step. When black people got the right to vote, there were still plenty of assholes trying to prevent them from voting at the polling places. All I am saying is that if you are one of these assholes, you will still have a job.
Here is a good article about the GOP’s hypocrisy about the sanctity of marriage.
I know a couple of the accusations to be true, but some things in this article I didn't know about. You can do your own fact check on that. It’s an interesting and shocking read. How the party still survived is beyond me. I mostly blame the “loyal” media for sweeping it under the rug.
http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/the_devil_quotes_scripture
"All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.” Thomas Jefferson
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson
Playing a little catch up.
It's been quiet a long time since my last blog. A couple of weeks ago my internet went down and I couldn’t post the blog I intended to post. Somehow I can’t drive myself into posting it, because it seems quiet irrelevant now. I will briefly talk about what has been going on here in Japan, with my personal life and my work.
Joe’s parents came during our spring break. We travelled quiet a bit and took lots of wonderful pictures. Overall I would say it was a success. We had lots of fun and saw many new things. We went to Himeji, Kobe, Osaka, Nara and Kyoto (3 times). We saw the oldest castle in Japan (Himeji-jo), the largest wooden structure in (Nara), a really awesome aquarium (Osaka), Monkeys (Kyoto) and ate wonderful Indian food (Kobe). Kyoto has a lot of really breathtaking shrines and temples. I think I can spend the rest of my life in that town.
The new school year began April 6th. In Japan the teachers get shuffled around from school to school. This year we lost and gained 4 teachers and a principal. They seem nice enough, but rarely talk to me. Something having to do with the language barrier. I am a little relieved that we have a new principal because I felt uncomfortable with the other principal. I didn’t re-contract for another year and I felt like I let him down.
I also picked up a new elementary school, now I will teach at 4 elementary schools and one Jr. High. I am really happy about that. I love teaching elementary schools. The classes are fun and the students seem to enjoy English more. I also have more freedom in how I conduct the class and I get to play with them during recess and that is always fun.
Joe and I started Japanese classes. They are every Friday in the neighboring town. I am in the lowest level class and Joe is a couple of levels above me, so we don’t sit together. I really enjoy the class, wish it was 3 times a week so I can learn faster though. The classes are taught in a big hall, there are several groups with a native Japanese speaker (our instructors) in each group. The class is taught in Japanese only, our teachers know a few words in our native language but not enough to instruct the class using her and our native language. Our town has a large Brazilian population so the rest of the students in my group are Brazilian and speak Portuguese. I understand them and sometimes help them understand the material. There are a total of 6-7 students in my class so everyone gets speaking time (wish I could hog all of the time, but the other students are just as interested as I am). Joe has a total of 4 students in his class, which he loves because he has more speaking time than he did in his previous classes.
Joe and I are starting to get sentimental about having to leave Japan. We knew it would only be for a year and that year is almost up. The other day we went bike riding around our little town for a couple of hours and discovered such beautiful things on our ride. Japan is a very magical place, there are many wonderful things hidden in every corner. We also ran into some of my students and began chit chatting with them. Children in general are amazing, but unless you talk to children who don’t speak your language, you will never see how strong a child’s desire is to connect with people. Adults always speak so divisively. Always speaking in terms of “they” and children are not like that. They understand differences between people, but are always so willing to understand and get to know them. To a child these differences are only aesthetic differences. That is until society spoils them. I will miss seeing my students try so hard to communicate something to me, or try to understand something about me. You should see these 3rd, 4th, 5th , 6th grade students use their limited English vocabulary, simple Japanese and a lot of gestures, to teach me a new game, just so I can play with them. Children are better communicators than adults. I've learned so much from them in these short months and I am very thankful.
(I can hear the tiny frogs croaking outside of the school. I can't wait to go out and try to catch me one. The frogs are so cute by the way.)
Joe’s parents came during our spring break. We travelled quiet a bit and took lots of wonderful pictures. Overall I would say it was a success. We had lots of fun and saw many new things. We went to Himeji, Kobe, Osaka, Nara and Kyoto (3 times). We saw the oldest castle in Japan (Himeji-jo), the largest wooden structure in (Nara), a really awesome aquarium (Osaka), Monkeys (Kyoto) and ate wonderful Indian food (Kobe). Kyoto has a lot of really breathtaking shrines and temples. I think I can spend the rest of my life in that town.
The new school year began April 6th. In Japan the teachers get shuffled around from school to school. This year we lost and gained 4 teachers and a principal. They seem nice enough, but rarely talk to me. Something having to do with the language barrier. I am a little relieved that we have a new principal because I felt uncomfortable with the other principal. I didn’t re-contract for another year and I felt like I let him down.
I also picked up a new elementary school, now I will teach at 4 elementary schools and one Jr. High. I am really happy about that. I love teaching elementary schools. The classes are fun and the students seem to enjoy English more. I also have more freedom in how I conduct the class and I get to play with them during recess and that is always fun.
Joe and I started Japanese classes. They are every Friday in the neighboring town. I am in the lowest level class and Joe is a couple of levels above me, so we don’t sit together. I really enjoy the class, wish it was 3 times a week so I can learn faster though. The classes are taught in a big hall, there are several groups with a native Japanese speaker (our instructors) in each group. The class is taught in Japanese only, our teachers know a few words in our native language but not enough to instruct the class using her and our native language. Our town has a large Brazilian population so the rest of the students in my group are Brazilian and speak Portuguese. I understand them and sometimes help them understand the material. There are a total of 6-7 students in my class so everyone gets speaking time (wish I could hog all of the time, but the other students are just as interested as I am). Joe has a total of 4 students in his class, which he loves because he has more speaking time than he did in his previous classes.
Joe and I are starting to get sentimental about having to leave Japan. We knew it would only be for a year and that year is almost up. The other day we went bike riding around our little town for a couple of hours and discovered such beautiful things on our ride. Japan is a very magical place, there are many wonderful things hidden in every corner. We also ran into some of my students and began chit chatting with them. Children in general are amazing, but unless you talk to children who don’t speak your language, you will never see how strong a child’s desire is to connect with people. Adults always speak so divisively. Always speaking in terms of “they” and children are not like that. They understand differences between people, but are always so willing to understand and get to know them. To a child these differences are only aesthetic differences. That is until society spoils them. I will miss seeing my students try so hard to communicate something to me, or try to understand something about me. You should see these 3rd, 4th, 5th , 6th grade students use their limited English vocabulary, simple Japanese and a lot of gestures, to teach me a new game, just so I can play with them. Children are better communicators than adults. I've learned so much from them in these short months and I am very thankful.
(I can hear the tiny frogs croaking outside of the school. I can't wait to go out and try to catch me one. The frogs are so cute by the way.)
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