Skip to main content

The Best Kyoto-Sensei Ever!

Okay, brief post: I have two kyoto-sensei (vice-principal) at my school, and while both of them are very nice, one is superbly hilarious every day. When I first met him, he insisted on being called the vice PRESIDENT, emphasis on PRESIDENT. Mostly he finds new things to come up to me and say, or to give me. They are always random, and I think they are things he needs to get rid of, so he tries them out on me. He has also clued into the fact that I won't get paid for some time (first real check is end of Nov) so that's part of the offerings. He is truly a funny, funny man.


Things I have obtained or been offered:

1. The ability to swim in the school pool. ("But you must wear the bikini.")
2. A fruit jelly cup.
3. A hornet's nest cut from a bush outside the school. When I said no, I don't want that, he asked why not. I said, "what am I supposed to do with it?" And he laughed. For a long time.
4. A sushi bento (lunch box).
5. A Mexican newspaper from July. ("You can read. You can have." Really? I did not know I could read Spanish.)
6. The use of a school bicycle.

I'm sure there's more to come....

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gamagori Fireworks Festival

Takeshima, at low tide. Every year, on the last day of July, a big fireworks festival is held in Gamagori, Japan.  Fireworks are very big in Japan, with each major city priding itself on its particular display, and swearing up and down to anyone who will listen that their fireworks are the best in the nation.  Gifu's displays were canceled this year because of the earthquake, so we took the opportunity to travel a little more than an hour by express train to Gamagori.  It's a cute little town, not far from Okazaki, with a famous island that is entirely shrine space (seen in the picture to the right). It was a wonderful, if long, day.  Four of us set out from Gifu and picked two more friends up on the way to the island.  We arrived early, perhaps too early, but we did miss the worst of the afternoon sun as we wandered around the island.  Even though I was very diligent about my SPF 50 sunblock, I still managed to get burned on both shoulders before the morning was over.  I

Combatting Casual Bigotry and Racism in Ourselves and in the World

This post will deal with contentious issues of the way race is perceived  and how that perception directly impacts the treatment of various ethnic groups, specifically as I have experienced it in Japan.  Please understand that the following is my way of looking at such topics, and I understand it is not the way of everyone.  My education is comprised primarily of evolutionary biology, behavior studies, and neurobiology, so I am in no way able to look through a sociological or anthropological lens.  If you are qualified (like one of my sisters), please feel free to comment for the benefit of everyone reading this blog. First, I think it's necessary to state that I believe bigotry and racism exist everywhere, in everyone, to greater or lesser degrees.  According to The American Heritage Dictionary online at answers.com, a bigot is someone "who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ," and racism is &quo

To Live in the Moment Without Fear

To Live in the Moment Without Fear  is a work by Yuko Shinoda from Gifu, Japan.  Danced by six women, the dance investigates what it means to be a part of a community threatened by a disaster that takes a life.  Premiered June 5th 2011 in Nagoya, Japan, the dance features a strong movement aesthetic that draws from traditional Japanese dance as well as contemporary styles and contact improvisation.  Shinoda's use of space and timing, as her dancers flow in-and-out of solos, duets, trios, and unison, creates a sense that the dancers are unified and alone at the same time.  In the end, Shinoda's view of life is clear: we must tend to the fallen, but we must never surrender ourselves to fear while we are still alive.