Life in Japan

[catalyst]

I do like that the students clean up the school themselves, though. They don't do a very good job of it but it gives them a sense of pride in the building.

Yeah. I wish students here had that sort of pride and stuff. Then maybe you'd see fewer phone numbers and swear words on the bathroom stalls in high school. Then again, I've noticed a big push in Japan is becoming a productive member of society, and I thought I read somewhere that cleaning the classroom was a part of teaching that.

 

[Erk]

Yes, it is far more about learning to be productive, to function as a team, and to take pride in your work than it is about getting anything clean. Not much gets cleaned.

 

[Tana]

Well, due to my new roomate having a bit of an emergency and needing to fly home only two days after getting here, I'll be going to Tokyo tomorrow, to help her figure out how to get to the Airport.

Its a really bad situation to have to go down, but I'm going to make the most of it...Go see some of the sites and what not.


EDIT:
If anyone cares to know the reason, or see the pictures, its up in my LiveJournal:
http://alisa-tana.livejournal.com/5482.html

 

[Z-Row]

do people in japan stare at americans for being so much taller and blonder and white?

 

[Erk]

No idea, I am not American and I don't notice if they stare at other people.

Besides, it is generally a myth that caucasians are taller. We used to be, but the new generations of Japanese people are around the same height. I think the average might be a centimeter or two shorter, but not enough to notice. There are fewer super tall people, but they do exist. And there are almost no overweight people.

As for being blond and white, I do get a lot of looks. More than that though, my eyes get the weirdest reactions. I have made kids cry, and shocked my students, and sometimes if people meet my eyes they have troubles looking away for a bit. I could totally be a hypnotist here.

 

[Selwyn]

While I was in Tokyo I didn't paid attention if people were looking at my blond hair and my blue eyes.
However it was different in Hiroshima. I got lost searching for my hotel and asked my way to two young ladies. They were actually amazed to see a person with blue eyes...

 

[catalyst]

I wonder what it'll be like if I bring my boys over. Both have gained a few Asian features from me, but my older son has blond curly hair and dark brown eyes, and my younger son has dark straight hair (so far, he's only 6m old) and blue eyes. We've been speculating that our younger son is going to look Asian, but with blue eyes.