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[guest of Japan]

Today started my new work week as I had to work the weekend for a school festival. I work for a private high school in Japan in case you were wondering. I was about 5 minutes late, but no one seemed to notice. I quickly made myself a cup of instant coffee for a pick-me-up. About half way through my coffee a Japanese teacher brought a severely distraught female student into the teachers room. They were immediately followed by the source of the distress. It was a 17 year old boy who ran into the room, grabbed the girl by the hair, yanked her backwards onto the ground and dragged her outside the classroom and started to kick her as she lay crying on the ground. I jumped up out of my chair, and ran outside to pull him off of her. After a couple minutes some Japanese teachers arrived (even though they were hardly traveling any farther than me) and escorted the boy away, as he tried to kick holes in all the walls.

Imagine my surprise to see him later that day and learn that he was not punished in any way.

After that a taught a few classes to students who barely acknowledged that I was present in the classroom with them.

This was followed be a one hour assembly in the gym. A teacher gave a speech to the students. I have no idea what the speech was about as I could only comprehend about 10% of it. However it did put me into a nice embarrassing peaceful slumber despite my best efforts to stay awake.

Feeling refreshed from my nap I went to fullfil my extracurricular duties. I played basketball with the basketball team. This was a lot of fun for a while until suddenly a fight broke out between two players. Once again, I played the part of hero and went to break it up with one of the coaches. Despite our best efforts the students were pretty intent on killing each other. We did manage to break it up, but not until after I took two shots to the face. There will be no punishment to the students.

My contract ends in March. If anyone has any good job leads, I'd be real interested to hear them.

[Albulbul]

Come and teach in Saudi. I have never seen any violence here between students.

And if you can find a good gig here you will have 4 hours a day and that is it, unless you are greedy enough to want overtime, or an evening job.

[johnslat]

Dear guest of Japan,
Albulbul is quite right. In my 19 years in the Kingdom, I can recall exactly two minor incidents of students' getting involved in any sort of tussle ( can't call it a "fight" - it was more like horseplay ), and even those were dealt with very strictly by the administration. Contrast that with some of my experiences in the USA, in Shiprock, NM ( which I always refer to as "Shipwreck" ), for example, where I was teaching on the Navajo rez. There I often felt more like a referee than a teacher - and that's not even counting the drive-by shootings ( 3 of them in my brief stay ) that also took place. So, I'd say classroom ( or outside the classroom ) disruptions are certainly NOT a problem in Saudi Arabia ( hope it stays that way ). However, there ARE other, shall we say, downsides, which you're probably already aware of from reading this Forum.
Regards,
John

[Wolf]

It sounds as if that school has some severe discipline problems. That's a rough situation, Guest. Sadly, I wonder how much can be done. You could always point out the glaring problem, but I've taught in Japan too long to suggest that whole heartedly.

It is, however, all you can do (that I can think of.) Except continue to be "the only face of the law in that one horse town."

[Mark-O]

Guest of Japan,

I hope this was by no means a regular day for you! Correct me if i'm wrong, but I thought that the Japanese were generally non-confrontational and passive people - what's going on? Is violence becoming 'cool' with the youths over there now?

Whilst in Tokyo one night, I was unfortunate enough to have witnessed two Yakuza wannabes jabbing this guy in the metro station. They eventually punched him onto the train line where he lay half-unconcious and senseless. Thankfully, there were 2 american basketball players in the audience that were tall enough to reach down and pick him off the line just before the imminent arrival of the train. Nonetheless, this behaviour I expect to see at home and NOT in Japan!

[dmb]

Albulbul, how did you do that. you have just said'come to saudi'but 5 minutes previously you said 'here in Turkey'on the silly signs thread. Two countries in 5 minutes. Amazing. Where are you? KSA or Turkey?

[Albulbul]

I work for Captain James Kirk. They beam me around.

No - if you examine my post carefully you may notice that I use quotation marks. This is the conventional way to show that I am quoting someone else. I was quoting a previous poster who was upset because these insenitive Turks use the racist expression "Negro".

And I am too stupid to figure out how to do that neat thing with a white box for quotes. So I stick to "................."

At this moment I am in the realms of the Saudis where I intend to teach for some time.

[guest of Japan]

Thanks for the replies folks.

To the kind people in Saudi I say that looks appealing, but unfortunately I still do not have a Master's Degree.

Wolf, You're right. I don't have a prayer. The school has serious discipline problems and is very reluctant to acknowledge them in the higher echelons.

Mark-O,
My day was not a typical day, but it wasn't extremely different from a typical day either. My school is hardly typical either, With that said, the way I see my school react to what happens inside its does not make me feel good about Japan's future. The kids are becoming more agressive and selfish here. The old methods of control are failing (sometimes actually producing the problems).

Gosh darnit. It's time to go to work. I'll be sure to keep my dukes up today.

[yaramaz]

Al, my dear useless birdman, yet again you are totally clueless and blind to subtlety and humour. I never once expressed offence or anger about the Turkish chocolate cookie known as Negro. I was laughing about their use of a very loaded word (and like it or not, it is a loaded word, along with the othe N-word and the South African K-word). I never once said it shouldn't be used, nor did I say you shouldn't use the word. I really don't care if you say Negro or Black or Oreo or cream-filled chocolate biscuit or whatever. It's your choice. I merely said it struck me as intriguing and that it reminded me of American terminology of a half century ago. Martin Luther King et al. Go ahead and use it if it makes you feel happy. I will just sit back and happily munch on a handful of Negros and sip my �ay.

[Roger]

I have read a number of times that teachers and students in Japan are leading dangerous lives, but with brave knights without shining armour such as Guest of Japan, at least some of the - hopefully! - innocent girls can be saved!

[Stephen Jones]

Dear yaramaz,
Why are you presuming negro is an English word. It is the Spansh for black.

[Wolf]

[Will.]

Interesting thread,
Interesting origin to the English word too. For your entertainment.
The Bristol, and other, merchants who plied the seas from Africa to the colonies and then back to Blighty used the term to denote the goods they were carrying. Due to the cargo and the sensitivities of the public, most notably their wives and families, to the cargo they did not choose to use a word that most were familiar with. They chose a Latin word that the average joe would not understand and they could from a cetain standpoint talk about trade in that cargo in a private, argot shall we say. Needless to say the sailors picked up on it and we have it in English today. A word used to shelter behind by some merchants has been changed a little over the years.

[yaramaz]

I am fully aware of the spanish roots of the word negro having studied the lingo for years... but my exposure to it in my everyday life has been so politically loaded. 'Negro' doesn't mean just the colour black these days- it has so many other fascinating and complex connotations. A word too complex for a cookie. That's all I was commenting on. Can we drop this subject? No one else's Silly Sign is being picked to death!!!! It's just a cookie!

[Albulbul]

Words mean different things to different people. They have different connotations. Be specailly careful when they move from one language to another. They change subtly.And from one era to another.

That is what I was trying to point out. For "Yaramaz" the word "negro" meant bus boycotts and the Civil Rights movement. But not for everyone !