One Love Jamaica Festival in Tokyo 2012 Part 1
Days 1516 - 1522
Sunday, May 13 - Saturday, May 19, 2012
Day 1516 ( Mistaken Order )
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Went to church today. The first time since I came back from Malaysia on April 9.
Today I ordered a paella (A Spanish dish with fried rice, beef and some other good stuff). I intended to order a small sized one based on what I saw on the flyer. However, beside the small size one on the flyer, there is an "M". So I told the person on the phone that I wanted a "M-size". Only to realize when the delivery dude came, he said my bill was over 3000 yen (3 times the price I budgeted for). And the Paella box was 4 times the size I thought I ordered. I was about to protest, but I really like this paella thing so I paid the over 3000 yen and enjoyed a big paella.
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I definitely agree that some of these recurring questions and comments from Japanese are extremely annoying. Especially these 2:
1) Your Japanese is good.
2) You use chop sticks very well
I hear this almost every single time I meet a new Japanese. And it is annoying multiplied by 20. That 20 goes up the longer you live in Japan. As recent as 3 days ago a lady at the YMCA said this chop stick thing to me. What ?? are my hands handicapped? I didn't say it but I surely was on edge to just say something that would surely offend her. But to be polite I said "Any foreigner who has been living in Japan for over 1 year, it is quite normal to use a chop stick". IT.. IS... NOT... DIFFICULT!!!
Ok so yes, Japan does have a lot of racist undertones and overtones. But is there a country in the world that is racism free? I think there is some form of racism in every single country on earth. If you are a minority in any country, there is a very strong possibility that you will face some form of racism. Some countries worse than others. The exception might be if a country was conquered in some way or another, and the minorities are the ones controlling the country. This minority may not experience so much racism. Possible revenge but not necessarily racism.
I personally believe that many Caucasians have never experienced racism towards them. But Japan!!! as much as they tend to have a general preference for Asians and Caucasians, they still do act a little funny around ANY foreigner. So I think when a Caucasian comes to Japan and experience some form of racism, its a big shock to most of them. Well actually a shock to any of us who are not generally used to being in the minority.
As humans, if something doesn't bother us directly, its not a problem. In other words if we are in the majority and racism is happening all around us, we are less likely to complain about it. But as soon as we find ourselves being affected directly, that's when we complain. Which is a normal human reaction I think.
The problem is that, in Japan, if you are being discriminated against, there is absolutely no one to turn to. The police won't help. The government doesn't care so, all foreigners here have to fend for ourselves.
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Day 1518 ( )
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Work started at 10:30 am for me this morning. I wish all my classes started at that time. When I got home, I played a bit of God of War.
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Day 1519 ( I like Dave Sensei )
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I did an exercise in class where students are to create 4 name cards and draw something that they liked on it. They should then say their names and whatever it is they liked, whether it be soccer, pineapple, chicken, movies or whatever it is that they liked. They should then walk around in the class and exchange their cards with each other. A little girl came to me and said she liked me, and drew a picture of me on it... Awwww...
In the evening I had my adult student and we basically spoke about my last job in Jamaica.
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Day 1520 ( Small Research )
Thursday, May 17, 2012
This coming Saturday and Sunday is the annual One Love Jamaica Festival in Tokyo. A Jamaican guy on the organizing committee asked me if I could prepare a dub poem and a patois (Jamaican Dialect) lesson. In addition to do some research on the history of Jamaican music. I used today to prepare most of that after work. Well he did warn me that the area where I should do the poem and the patois lesson wasn't really organized well so pretty much anything is possible. Meaning I may do it or may not. There is no set schedule or anything, just sort of go with the flow kind of thing. So I prepared though just in case. I will share those patois words in a future blog post.
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Day 1521 ( )
Friday, May 18, 2012
Usual day at work. After work, did a little further research for the one love festival thing.
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Day 1522 ( One Love Jamaica Festival in Tokyo 2012 Part 1 )
Saturday, May 19, 2012
I had to wake up early again this morning. Again something I detest doing on a Saturday morning, but hey I got bills to pay...So I went to the YMCA from 10:30 am - 4:20 pm. All the classes went well again except for the kids group (2 and 3 year olds). 2 kids were absent but the other 2 that were present, are actually the 2 trouble making ones. One kept running all over the place, the other kept crying for his mom. How do I teach??? It almost feels like taking care of kids for pay. Only its 50 mins. Too long actually. But I guess I need to learn for when I am ready to have my own.
After my class ended, I rushed to Tokyo to get to the One Love Jamaica Festival. I saw some friends who went to the Spring Ting camp
http://davecollyjap.blogspot.jp/2012/05/jamaicans-in-japan-spring-ting-2012.html
http://davecollyjap.blogspot.jp/2012/05/jamaicans-in-japan-spring-ting-2012_07.html
as well as met some other Jamaicans that I didn't know before. Some of them I have on facebook for like 2-3 years and finally met them in person. I got there a bit late but it was still fun, and worth the sacrifice.
Sunday, May 13 - Saturday, May 19, 2012
Day 1516 ( Mistaken Order )
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Went to church today. The first time since I came back from Malaysia on April 9.
Today I ordered a paella (A Spanish dish with fried rice, beef and some other good stuff). I intended to order a small sized one based on what I saw on the flyer. However, beside the small size one on the flyer, there is an "M". So I told the person on the phone that I wanted a "M-size". Only to realize when the delivery dude came, he said my bill was over 3000 yen (3 times the price I budgeted for). And the Paella box was 4 times the size I thought I ordered. I was about to protest, but I really like this paella thing so I paid the over 3000 yen and enjoyed a big paella.
-------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I definitely agree that some of these recurring questions and comments from Japanese are extremely annoying. Especially these 2:
1) Your Japanese is good.
2) You use chop sticks very well
I hear this almost every single time I meet a new Japanese. And it is annoying multiplied by 20. That 20 goes up the longer you live in Japan. As recent as 3 days ago a lady at the YMCA said this chop stick thing to me. What ?? are my hands handicapped? I didn't say it but I surely was on edge to just say something that would surely offend her. But to be polite I said "Any foreigner who has been living in Japan for over 1 year, it is quite normal to use a chop stick". IT.. IS... NOT... DIFFICULT!!!
Ok so yes, Japan does have a lot of racist undertones and overtones. But is there a country in the world that is racism free? I think there is some form of racism in every single country on earth. If you are a minority in any country, there is a very strong possibility that you will face some form of racism. Some countries worse than others. The exception might be if a country was conquered in some way or another, and the minorities are the ones controlling the country. This minority may not experience so much racism. Possible revenge but not necessarily racism.
I personally believe that many Caucasians have never experienced racism towards them. But Japan!!! as much as they tend to have a general preference for Asians and Caucasians, they still do act a little funny around ANY foreigner. So I think when a Caucasian comes to Japan and experience some form of racism, its a big shock to most of them. Well actually a shock to any of us who are not generally used to being in the minority.
As humans, if something doesn't bother us directly, its not a problem. In other words if we are in the majority and racism is happening all around us, we are less likely to complain about it. But as soon as we find ourselves being affected directly, that's when we complain. Which is a normal human reaction I think.
The problem is that, in Japan, if you are being discriminated against, there is absolutely no one to turn to. The police won't help. The government doesn't care so, all foreigners here have to fend for ourselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1518 ( )
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Work started at 10:30 am for me this morning. I wish all my classes started at that time. When I got home, I played a bit of God of War.
-------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1519 ( I like Dave Sensei )
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I did an exercise in class where students are to create 4 name cards and draw something that they liked on it. They should then say their names and whatever it is they liked, whether it be soccer, pineapple, chicken, movies or whatever it is that they liked. They should then walk around in the class and exchange their cards with each other. A little girl came to me and said she liked me, and drew a picture of me on it... Awwww...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1520 ( Small Research )
Thursday, May 17, 2012
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Day 1521 ( )
Friday, May 18, 2012
Usual day at work. After work, did a little further research for the one love festival thing.
---------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1522 ( One Love Jamaica Festival in Tokyo 2012 Part 1 )
Saturday, May 19, 2012
I had to wake up early again this morning. Again something I detest doing on a Saturday morning, but hey I got bills to pay...So I went to the YMCA from 10:30 am - 4:20 pm. All the classes went well again except for the kids group (2 and 3 year olds). 2 kids were absent but the other 2 that were present, are actually the 2 trouble making ones. One kept running all over the place, the other kept crying for his mom. How do I teach??? It almost feels like taking care of kids for pay. Only its 50 mins. Too long actually. But I guess I need to learn for when I am ready to have my own.
After my class ended, I rushed to Tokyo to get to the One Love Jamaica Festival. I saw some friends who went to the Spring Ting camp
http://davecollyjap.blogspot.jp/2012/05/jamaicans-in-japan-spring-ting-2012.html
http://davecollyjap.blogspot.jp/2012/05/jamaicans-in-japan-spring-ting-2012_07.html
as well as met some other Jamaicans that I didn't know before. Some of them I have on facebook for like 2-3 years and finally met them in person. I got there a bit late but it was still fun, and worth the sacrifice.
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