The Debate Team

Today marks the beginning of the debate season for me. I should mark myself lucky because, unlike the other teams, we are just starting to practice. The teams that we will competing against have been practicing for over two months. Just like last year the staff at my school has put off teaching or preparing our students until the last minute. I have been teaching the basics to my students in class, but they also need to have support from the other English teachers.

I was rewarded with a good group of girls who seem to really want to try to do their best. I did let them know the situation before starting today. I am not sure if that was a good thing or bad. Should I have given them some false hope, or the idea that they are on equal footing with the other teams? Or, should I present the the truth unadulterated? I think that if I was in their shoes I would want to be treated like an adult, or at least a person who can handle the reality of the situation.

I had trouble sleeping last night. It could be because I was perfectly rested or it could be because my brain has been working at a million miles an hour lately. I really need something to calm myself down sometimes. I tried my yogic breathing, reading, and other tried and true methods that "guys" revert to occasionally. Sleep didn't come until around 4 o'clock or so. I might not have fallen asleep at all. I recall waking to my alarm just after dawn. The cool breeze gave me a boost of energy. It has been difficult for me to keep my eyes open today, but, it being 11 o'clock, I think that I might be able to sleep normally tonight.

I got shit to do tomorrow, so I need to be ripe and ready.

Rainy Monday

A rainy Monday is meant for sleeping and dreaming. I have long believed that I am not meant for work. Humans are not meant for work. The word has lost all meaning in our world. Most people do not really "work," the sit at a desk wasting time. Our time is never really used for much good. We sit in a comma waiting for 4:10, the first possible moment we can leave our hell.

I understand that I should not complain about a job that doesn't require any "work." I just recite English to students. When I am not doing that I sit at my desk and search the internet, read books, or study Japanese. It is not my job in essence that is the problem. It is the concept of jobs that I don't seem to enjoy.


Loafing around provides our brains with the power to handle every other day. Watching movies and taking naps all day these are the things that give us happiness. Going out shopping or having lunch lead to thinking about money and work. But, listlessly rumbling around the house gives people time to think about what life should really be like.

I love the rain. The sound and smell of the rain wash my mind of all worries. Waking up from a nap to the gentle sounds of rain pattering against my porch, lubricate my future plans. Gently waking up from sleep and moving slowly towards wakefulness makes it easy for me to think about the future. Usually, I think of the future only when it is hovering over my head. I think about it only when I need to, but leisurely thinking about it during the day gives me hope for the future.

Fall is here.

These past few days have been beautiful in Japan. After the sweltering summer, this fall has started in a very calm, cool way. With the recent ebb and flow of the weather around us I have really wished to write more about my thoughts concerning weather. I, hopefully, am not the only person in the whole world who believes that this change in weather is man-made. I wish that my thoughts on this were the fiction of futuristic tales, but I don't think that is true. But, the real fiction is that we have no warriors, no leaders, no humans to stand up and shout to the heavens that this is bad. This is going to do nothing but change our entire civilization, for the worse. It is with these thoughts that I ponder upon my place in this system of ineptitude.

Last week, I went for a constitutional downtown. With friends in tow, we practiced our talents in tasting temptuous tankards. I have been fighting the gods of drink for some time now, but I still have yet to find a reason to the challengers. Usually, I end up face down in my bed moaning for other gods to come and show me the way towards the door. On this such occasion, I sat down for a while to drink my nectar. A moment later a couple of Japanese fellows strolled by and wanted some company. Jollily, I shared my company and my sustinence with them.

The older of the two gentlemen was taken aback by my use of Japanese. His younger friend was very talkative and gracious. The more that we spoke, the more the elder was angered. I am never quite sure how to take peoples reactions to my being foreign. Should I be sympathetic. Or, perhaps, should I strip my shirt and show my true form. America-man: to fight anybody and everybody, to speak before I think, and to call every god-damned kettle in the tea shop black, while I sit on the stove ignoring my own ebony color.

High School Sports Day

Springtime in Japan brings many things. The cherry blossoms, the new school year, Golden Week (a five day holiday), and, in many places, the school Sports Day. From what I have learned, these events started around WWII. They are a way for Japanese students to show school spirit, athletic fitness, how to follow instructions, and, most importantly, how to be a part of the group. The later of these actions is probably the single most stereotypical characteristic of Japanese society. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't some truth in the stereotype.

For the past few weeks, my students have been practicing for the school Sports Day. Usually, the activities that occur are similar from school to school, including: running (100 m. and relay events), tug of war, a game where large bamboo poles are placed at the center of a field and two teams struggle to take as many poles as possible to their side of the field, cheer leading, and finally the Mass Game.

The Mass Game is a choreographed exercise. Which consists mostly of cheer leading pyramids of various sizes. There are 100's of different poses and the students move around the field to make a large scale design of some kind. This is, by far, my least favorite of all of the events. It is interesting to look at from a crowd perspective, but as a teacher at the school and a person who cherishes individuality, I think that this event is a waste of time and a form of group-think brainwashing.

The Mass Game reminds me of the annual Mass Games that North Korea puts on every year. These Games are a way to control the perception of North Korea, both internally and abroad. North Korea uses the games as an exhibition of national strength and solidarity. To show the country's (purported) strength, and to show the rest of the world the North Korean peoples' appreciation towards their leadership.

Many of these same characteristics are a part of the Mass Games in Japanese high schools. Nationalism, group strength, and doing things to appease parents, teachers, and community leaders.

My biggest problem with the Mass Games event is the overt sexism of the whole event. The boys must participate without shirts on. The girls are sandwiched on either side of the boys, usually performing tasks that are much simpler than the exercises the boys are charged with performing. Usually, the whole event is prefaced by the girls, with pom-pomed hands, dancing and cheering to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend."

I know, as a foreigner, I am not able to understand all of the nuances of the sports day events, but as a conscious human being I can see the cro-magnon, ancient beginning of the event still peppered throughout the whole sports program. As an overweight American, I shouldn't be questioning any kind of event that aggrandizes exercise and sporting events.

There are many redeeming qualities about the event; teamwork, exercise, and traditional games and dancing. One of my favorite events is the ouendan cheer leading. This is a uniquely Japanese type of cheer leading, or dance. The students work very hard to get all of the moves in rhythm to the beat of a taiko drum. And, it is really amazing that the students are able to coordinate these dances in such a short amount of time, especially with the school year just beginning.

It is truly a unique event. I enjoyed the event very much. But, there are some questions of equality that should be pondered and discussed.