This is my new garbage can-turned source of daily inspiration. The picture's a bit blurry, so let me help you with the reading:
Trash
Resources are limited.
However, there's no
limit to ideas of
human beings.
It's Engrish at its finest, yet another example of the Japanese tendency to slap random, often grammatically incorrect, English on anything - including garbage cans - to make it seem more prestigious. (Why "Engrish"? The "l" in "English" gets replaced with an "r" because there are none of the former in Japanese pronunciation.) The ol' Engrish marketing trick apparently worked on me this time, because I scooped this garbage can right up, even though it was several hundred yen more expensive than its Engrish-free counterparts.
But 500 yen is a small price to pay for daily inspiration, isn't it?
Moving more serious note, one that perhaps shouldn't be introduced with my musings on garbage cans: as of late, my students have been pretty darn inspiring, too. As part of my ongoing quest to teach them that not all Americans look like my blondish, freckled, fair-skinned self, I did a unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. in celebration of the holiday earlier this week.
We tackled the issue of racial segregation - a concept that's really foreign in Japan, because, except for the random gaijin, it's a pretty homogeneous society. I gave students either a piece of black paper or a piece of white paper, and told the two groups to stand on opposite sides of the room. I then told them that because they were different colors, they couldn't go to school together, that they couldn't have lunch together, that they couldn't ride the same train or use the same restrooms or even be friends.
They looked at me like I had two heads because the concept was so strange to them. They'd respond with "Eh?!?!," which translates to "surprise, amazement, the feeling of 'I can't believe it!'" according to my Japanese textbook. I can't describe how refreshing it was to find a group of kids that didn't understand the concept of discrimination - I envied their innocence.
Trash
Resources are limited.
However, there's no
limit to ideas of
human beings.
It's Engrish at its finest, yet another example of the Japanese tendency to slap random, often grammatically incorrect, English on anything - including garbage cans - to make it seem more prestigious. (Why "Engrish"? The "l" in "English" gets replaced with an "r" because there are none of the former in Japanese pronunciation.) The ol' Engrish marketing trick apparently worked on me this time, because I scooped this garbage can right up, even though it was several hundred yen more expensive than its Engrish-free counterparts.
But 500 yen is a small price to pay for daily inspiration, isn't it?
Moving more serious note, one that perhaps shouldn't be introduced with my musings on garbage cans: as of late, my students have been pretty darn inspiring, too. As part of my ongoing quest to teach them that not all Americans look like my blondish, freckled, fair-skinned self, I did a unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. in celebration of the holiday earlier this week.
We tackled the issue of racial segregation - a concept that's really foreign in Japan, because, except for the random gaijin, it's a pretty homogeneous society. I gave students either a piece of black paper or a piece of white paper, and told the two groups to stand on opposite sides of the room. I then told them that because they were different colors, they couldn't go to school together, that they couldn't have lunch together, that they couldn't ride the same train or use the same restrooms or even be friends.
They looked at me like I had two heads because the concept was so strange to them. They'd respond with "Eh?!?!," which translates to "surprise, amazement, the feeling of 'I can't believe it!'" according to my Japanese textbook. I can't describe how refreshing it was to find a group of kids that didn't understand the concept of discrimination - I envied their innocence.
I told them to imagine that the piece of paper was the color of their skin. I asked if they thought that the scenario was fair. It took a lot of explanation for them to get it, but inevitably, they agreed - hell no, it wasn't fair.
Then I told them about MLK, played an "I Have a Dream" video I found on You Tube, and hoped that they were getting something out of the lesson. Turns out I needn't have worried.
The culmination of the class was to write an "essay" - just five sentences - on their own dream, taking MLK's cue. I got the completed essays - 18 classes' worth - on Friday. And wading through the stack of grading - usually a rather arduous chore - was one of the most inspirational experiences of my time as a teacher thus far.
The students wrote about ending war, cleaning up the earth, promoting racial tolerance, tackling world hunger, volunteering, working for literacy, and making people smile. I cringed when one student wrote, "My dream is to be rich," but smiled when he explained, a few sentences later, that he would donate the money to help those less fortunate. Despite their broken English, their message was clear: the 442 student at Sakai Jr. High do have a clue about what's going on in the world outside of their sleepy little Japanese town. Not sure if you'd get the same result by polling 442 random adults in Anywhere, USA.
An essay toward the bottom of the stack had a note for me, written in careful English in the margin:
I have the utmost respect for King.
I will remember him.
Thank you.
Yes, the student really used the word "utmost."
And, yes, the message is pretty darn inspirational.
God, I love being a teacher.
1 comment:
So, I've been helping some 3-nensei write about their time at my school as they are about to graduate. The most inspiration students have here is,
"I chose this school because I dont like study"
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