Saturday, November 04, 2006
Bright and shiny and pointy things! WHEE!
Yesterday was Culture Day, aka Yet Another Holiday That the Japanese Government Randomly Made up to Keep Japanese People from Working Themselves to Death, and pretty much every temple in the country had a festival. It was hard to choose between them, but eventually I decided on Meiji Jingu's celebration of the Emperor Meiji's birthday.
First there was an archery competition, which ruled. But little did I know the day was only beginning. After that was a martial arts demonstration that ran most of the day and included demonstrations of karate, aikido, kendo, nunchucks, throwing knives, samurai battle techniques, and even horseback archery. Horseback archery! Let me just say, if I saw one of those guys charging at me on a horse with a bow and arrow pointed at my head, I'd wet my pants. Those guys were awesome! Everyone was in costume or traditional clothing. Have I ever mentioned that I find hakama dead sexy on a man?
I also got to see a bit of the ceremonial dances, which were actually rather boring. Less dancing, more standing around and occasionally taking a step or waving an arm, while a cat dies in the background. I've tried--really, I've tried--to appreciate gagaku, traditional Japanese court music, but it really sounds like howling felines. There's a taiko drum, which beats a beat which bears absolutely no relation that I can fathom to the beat the other instruments are playing to, and various types of flutes and stringed instruments that twang in a way that put country musicians to shame. There's nothing that bears much resemblance to a melody, or a tune. I really enjoyed the other music that followed, though--there was a taiko group, and a folk dance group, and a dancing-Chinese-lion-puppet group. The taiko group was amazing--half their musicians had to be less than 10 years old.
After that I hung out in Shibuya in Tokyo with my friend Liz. Shibuya is the real hip, young area of Tokyo, with lots of teenage clubs and clothing boutiques with shirts that cost more than my monthly salary. In Liz's words, "There's no words in the English language to describe the kinds of girls that hang out in Shibuya. Actually, there are: skanky hos. There just aren't any polite ones." I saw my first ganguro gyaru--a girl that deliberately wears five layers of makeup about 10 shades too dark for her, often compounded with big white or black facepaint circles about their eyes. They're known for sitting in 'gyaru circles' in the middle of a busy sidewalk and applying makeup and chatting for hours at a time. One of the stranger subcultures in Japan. There were also a fair number of goths and gothic lolitas wandering around, too.
It was fun wandering around all the shops and people-watching. But after walking around the shrine all day I was exhausted, and we headed back to Ikuta around 7. I felt rather silly, being in the center of Tokyo's nightlife and heading home by 7 PM. Ah, well, that's the price you pay for being a hopeless nerd. :P
Work is continuing to go well. Today for Voice we played Hangman. The students had a lot of fun with it. Can you imagine getting paid actual money to play games with really nice people? Okay, one or two of the students is really, really annoying, but most of them are darling beyond all belief. And I'm getting paid. To play Hangman. The higher-level classes are a lot of fun, too, because they're all discussion-based. You just throw out a topic like, "What do you think about the death penalty?" and sit back and watch the fur fly. These debates often provide a unique look into the Japanese mindset. The other day I had a student tell me that the government should do more to step in and censor 'crude' comedians on TV-- their opinions are insulting, he says, so the government should take them off the air. The other students nodded in agreement. Can you imagine the American government trying something like that? Note to self: 'freedom of speech' means something slightly different over here.
I mentioned earlier that I always have trouble teaching the lesson on tactful criticism. The students, particularly the male ones, JUST DON'T GET IT. We try to teach them the 'Sandwich Method': First, say something positive. Second, define the problem. Third, phrase the solution as a request (e.g. "Would you mind...?" or "Maybe you should consider...?"). Not so difficult, you think?
So, I review the steps and explain the situation. "Now, one of your employees works very hard, but has been late for work twice this week. Please tactfully correct him."
Student: "Don't be late again or I'll fire you."
Me: "Remember, step one is to say something positive. Maybe tell him that you're pleased with his work performance?"
Student: "Um... Do you have an excuse for being late?"
Me: "Something positive. A compliment?"
Student: "You work very hard... But don't be late again or I'll fire you."
Me: ::facepalm::
I've had two students UTTERLY FAIL this lesson, because by the end of 40 minutes they still don't remember they need to compliment and make suggestions instead of issuing a direct order. The women are better than the men--they're used to more indirect ways of speaking--but whoever told the West that the Japanese were a polite and reserved people obviously didn't know what the heck they were talking about.
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First there was an archery competition, which ruled. But little did I know the day was only beginning. After that was a martial arts demonstration that ran most of the day and included demonstrations of karate, aikido, kendo, nunchucks, throwing knives, samurai battle techniques, and even horseback archery. Horseback archery! Let me just say, if I saw one of those guys charging at me on a horse with a bow and arrow pointed at my head, I'd wet my pants. Those guys were awesome! Everyone was in costume or traditional clothing. Have I ever mentioned that I find hakama dead sexy on a man?
I also got to see a bit of the ceremonial dances, which were actually rather boring. Less dancing, more standing around and occasionally taking a step or waving an arm, while a cat dies in the background. I've tried--really, I've tried--to appreciate gagaku, traditional Japanese court music, but it really sounds like howling felines. There's a taiko drum, which beats a beat which bears absolutely no relation that I can fathom to the beat the other instruments are playing to, and various types of flutes and stringed instruments that twang in a way that put country musicians to shame. There's nothing that bears much resemblance to a melody, or a tune. I really enjoyed the other music that followed, though--there was a taiko group, and a folk dance group, and a dancing-Chinese-lion-puppet group. The taiko group was amazing--half their musicians had to be less than 10 years old.
After that I hung out in Shibuya in Tokyo with my friend Liz. Shibuya is the real hip, young area of Tokyo, with lots of teenage clubs and clothing boutiques with shirts that cost more than my monthly salary. In Liz's words, "There's no words in the English language to describe the kinds of girls that hang out in Shibuya. Actually, there are: skanky hos. There just aren't any polite ones." I saw my first ganguro gyaru--a girl that deliberately wears five layers of makeup about 10 shades too dark for her, often compounded with big white or black facepaint circles about their eyes. They're known for sitting in 'gyaru circles' in the middle of a busy sidewalk and applying makeup and chatting for hours at a time. One of the stranger subcultures in Japan. There were also a fair number of goths and gothic lolitas wandering around, too.
It was fun wandering around all the shops and people-watching. But after walking around the shrine all day I was exhausted, and we headed back to Ikuta around 7. I felt rather silly, being in the center of Tokyo's nightlife and heading home by 7 PM. Ah, well, that's the price you pay for being a hopeless nerd. :P
Work is continuing to go well. Today for Voice we played Hangman. The students had a lot of fun with it. Can you imagine getting paid actual money to play games with really nice people? Okay, one or two of the students is really, really annoying, but most of them are darling beyond all belief. And I'm getting paid. To play Hangman. The higher-level classes are a lot of fun, too, because they're all discussion-based. You just throw out a topic like, "What do you think about the death penalty?" and sit back and watch the fur fly. These debates often provide a unique look into the Japanese mindset. The other day I had a student tell me that the government should do more to step in and censor 'crude' comedians on TV-- their opinions are insulting, he says, so the government should take them off the air. The other students nodded in agreement. Can you imagine the American government trying something like that? Note to self: 'freedom of speech' means something slightly different over here.
I mentioned earlier that I always have trouble teaching the lesson on tactful criticism. The students, particularly the male ones, JUST DON'T GET IT. We try to teach them the 'Sandwich Method': First, say something positive. Second, define the problem. Third, phrase the solution as a request (e.g. "Would you mind...?" or "Maybe you should consider...?"). Not so difficult, you think?
So, I review the steps and explain the situation. "Now, one of your employees works very hard, but has been late for work twice this week. Please tactfully correct him."
Student: "Don't be late again or I'll fire you."
Me: "Remember, step one is to say something positive. Maybe tell him that you're pleased with his work performance?"
Student: "Um... Do you have an excuse for being late?"
Me: "Something positive. A compliment?"
Student: "You work very hard... But don't be late again or I'll fire you."
Me: ::facepalm::
I've had two students UTTERLY FAIL this lesson, because by the end of 40 minutes they still don't remember they need to compliment and make suggestions instead of issuing a direct order. The women are better than the men--they're used to more indirect ways of speaking--but whoever told the West that the Japanese were a polite and reserved people obviously didn't know what the heck they were talking about.
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