In the beginning of class, Rab gave us some feedback on our blogs. When he told us how some students don't know how to write e-mails to professors, it made me kind of scared because I've already done those things to them. For example, starting with the subject "hi".
The Meatrix video really heart moving. Although I thought that the video can do a little better in depicting the cruelty of producing animal meat. As far as I know, the hidden part of meat production is much more darker. Animal meat is made in great mass on assembly line. They are just treated like objects, and not as living organisms. Other than meat, chickens are stuffed into half a size of tissue boxes for their whole lives for them to lay eggs.
I believe that the Meatrix and the upside down mouth video was more successful because the things that they demanded to the readers were a lot more easier. Yes, posting photos and checking websites are things we can do. But writing a letter to the congress... nahhhh too much work.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
May 29th
Gosh that room was so hot and smelly :S I don't like that room.
Today we listened to Rab's talks on how we live in such a profit-centered world. He mentioned that no such thing as "good" corporation exists. However, I'm still uncertain about it. It is true how the money making emphasis of corporations do apply for most of them. Thus, those policies have drawn down serious consequences such as the accidents caused by inefficient cars. Nevertheless, I believe that some corporations can do good. I solely believe in this because I myself take part in some volunteer activities under Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC for the corporation's CSR activities. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has been placing effort in doing some community service to support the damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake ever since that catastrophe occurred. Last year, they needed some students who would support doing their reconstruction support so two friends and I organized a group and have been doing community service for the Tohhoku district since then. This corporations has done so many positive things. They helped in establishing the Ofunato Tsunami Museum, organizing a market place to sell food from Tohhoku, holding a message event for the victims and so on. Therefore, my conclusion is that not all corporations are evil. However, it is true how what I'm seeing is just the single side of this corporation, so the internal system of it may be corrupt. Still, my experiences show how some corporations actually have a bright side.
Today we listened to Rab's talks on how we live in such a profit-centered world. He mentioned that no such thing as "good" corporation exists. However, I'm still uncertain about it. It is true how the money making emphasis of corporations do apply for most of them. Thus, those policies have drawn down serious consequences such as the accidents caused by inefficient cars. Nevertheless, I believe that some corporations can do good. I solely believe in this because I myself take part in some volunteer activities under Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC for the corporation's CSR activities. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has been placing effort in doing some community service to support the damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake ever since that catastrophe occurred. Last year, they needed some students who would support doing their reconstruction support so two friends and I organized a group and have been doing community service for the Tohhoku district since then. This corporations has done so many positive things. They helped in establishing the Ofunato Tsunami Museum, organizing a market place to sell food from Tohhoku, holding a message event for the victims and so on. Therefore, my conclusion is that not all corporations are evil. However, it is true how what I'm seeing is just the single side of this corporation, so the internal system of it may be corrupt. Still, my experiences show how some corporations actually have a bright side.
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| The messages and money that we collected for the victims of the tsunami. |
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
May 28th
This day's LLA lecture about democracy was interesting and shocking at the same time. Most of the "democratic" countries turned out to be fake. The story about overthrowing Chavez due to his citizen-friendly policies was quite hideous. Rab's lecture on Venezuela truly turned around my image on Chavez. Before this day, I had the image of him being the evil communist devil. Because I was educated under an American educational system, Chavez being the opposition of freedom and democracy was imprinted in my mind. When my teacher drew a portrait of Chavez, he was actually portrayed with two horns sticking out of his head with a freaky grin. How can I avoid having a bad image of him if he was represented so malevolent? However, I need to admit that I was simple-minded to easily accept the image that they illustrated despite my deficiency of knowledge of what he had actually done.
The lecture made me question about this country's democracy. Is Japan a democratic country? Japan explains that it has become democratic ever since the defeat of World War II and the control of GHQ. Yes, it does have a democratic constitution. Yes, the Japanese citizens do elect the House of Representatives which points out the prime minister. However, the Japanese people's opinions are hardly reflected in the nation's political policies. For example, the dispute over nuclear energy. Despite the surpassing number of the people who are opposed over the people who are for, the government still continues to rerun the nuclear power plants. The ongoing protests and voices of objections continues to be neglected.
Well, I don't expect anything good from the present corrupt government anyways...
The lecture made me question about this country's democracy. Is Japan a democratic country? Japan explains that it has become democratic ever since the defeat of World War II and the control of GHQ. Yes, it does have a democratic constitution. Yes, the Japanese citizens do elect the House of Representatives which points out the prime minister. However, the Japanese people's opinions are hardly reflected in the nation's political policies. For example, the dispute over nuclear energy. Despite the surpassing number of the people who are opposed over the people who are for, the government still continues to rerun the nuclear power plants. The ongoing protests and voices of objections continues to be neglected.
Well, I don't expect anything good from the present corrupt government anyways...
Monday, May 27, 2013
May 27th
We learned the basic things about Google sites, and had some time playing around with other people's websites. I tried out making a website for my volunteer group using Google sites before but wasn't able to work the whole way through. And I ended up using jimdo, which was much more easier and cooler than Google sites. I personally recommend people to use this one instead of using Google for personal uses.
Chapter 9 +10
Ugh missed to watch the CL final!!! Congratulations for Bayern Munich! I totally needed to watch that match!! Buuuuuuutttt, good news is that I get see David Beckham's last match next month in Japan! Very very very excited about it.
Anyways, back to the book.
Chapter 9 is about the Vietnam war. Since my American history class needed to cover the whole course in just a single year, I barely knew about it. The chapter explains how the whole process of censorship gets involved in textbooks when it comes to Vietnam war. For example, some photos that symbolize the cruelty of war are omitted from textbooks, including the most famous photo of a naked girl fleeing from a napalm attack in Highway 1. I was familiar with this particular photo because it was included in my history textbook in Japan. So I was surprised to know that most American textbooks eliminate showing this photo. According to Loewen, they do so in order to glorify the nation. In fact, "Not one of twenty-one photos shows any damage the United States inflicted upon Vietnam"(249). Moreover, history textbooks lack in exposing antiwar factors. Warfare is positively shown in textbooks, and is affirmed as a matter of fact. However, these censorship yields some serious consequences on the future generation. One-sided perspective of the war deprives the opportunities for the students to think critically. High schools ought to be a place where students acquire the ability to rationally judge certain affairs. And as part of it, history must serve to prevent repeating the same mistake again. In this case, history textbooks should show the inhumane actions of warfare so as to never let them come again instead of concealing the damage that the United States caused.
I am still not able to answer the questions, "Was the war right?" and "Was it ethical?". This shows that myself is an outcome of the corrupt American history textbooks.
As for Chapter 10, Loewen describes how textbooks treat every historical event as mere facts, considering them to be dead. I believe that this can also be applied to teachers' style of teaching history. My Japanese high school's history class was a complete crap. The class was absolutely passive, not letting any chances for the students to think about each historical event critically. Instead, it was solely aimed for passing university entrance tests, and was solid memorization. I mean, what is the purpose for learning history? For passing exams? Isn't there a much more profound meaning in learning the past events? Obviously,their method of teaching was tedious mainly because they presented history just like fake stories from fairy tales. They simply didn't sound really realistic, and was kind of hard for me to think that all those things actually happened. In one word, history was dead in that classroom. Therefore, it goes without saying that I found nothing appealing from my three years of learning history in my previous school. Other than textbooks' poor presentation of facts, the author also mentions that the most recent events are often skipped in detail. I remember spending so much time and class periods studying about the French Revolution and only a few lines on 9.11. It is totally understandable how some of the information of recent things remain obscure and may bring about dispute for their concealability, so textbooks are opt for avoiding them. However, comprehending the present allows students to attain multiple points of view, and perhaps is the most important thing of studying history. Thus, I believe that textbooks and history classes must put more emphasis on teaching about recent events more than any other thing.
Anyways, back to the book.
Chapter 9 is about the Vietnam war. Since my American history class needed to cover the whole course in just a single year, I barely knew about it. The chapter explains how the whole process of censorship gets involved in textbooks when it comes to Vietnam war. For example, some photos that symbolize the cruelty of war are omitted from textbooks, including the most famous photo of a naked girl fleeing from a napalm attack in Highway 1. I was familiar with this particular photo because it was included in my history textbook in Japan. So I was surprised to know that most American textbooks eliminate showing this photo. According to Loewen, they do so in order to glorify the nation. In fact, "Not one of twenty-one photos shows any damage the United States inflicted upon Vietnam"(249). Moreover, history textbooks lack in exposing antiwar factors. Warfare is positively shown in textbooks, and is affirmed as a matter of fact. However, these censorship yields some serious consequences on the future generation. One-sided perspective of the war deprives the opportunities for the students to think critically. High schools ought to be a place where students acquire the ability to rationally judge certain affairs. And as part of it, history must serve to prevent repeating the same mistake again. In this case, history textbooks should show the inhumane actions of warfare so as to never let them come again instead of concealing the damage that the United States caused.
I am still not able to answer the questions, "Was the war right?" and "Was it ethical?". This shows that myself is an outcome of the corrupt American history textbooks.
As for Chapter 10, Loewen describes how textbooks treat every historical event as mere facts, considering them to be dead. I believe that this can also be applied to teachers' style of teaching history. My Japanese high school's history class was a complete crap. The class was absolutely passive, not letting any chances for the students to think about each historical event critically. Instead, it was solely aimed for passing university entrance tests, and was solid memorization. I mean, what is the purpose for learning history? For passing exams? Isn't there a much more profound meaning in learning the past events? Obviously,their method of teaching was tedious mainly because they presented history just like fake stories from fairy tales. They simply didn't sound really realistic, and was kind of hard for me to think that all those things actually happened. In one word, history was dead in that classroom. Therefore, it goes without saying that I found nothing appealing from my three years of learning history in my previous school. Other than textbooks' poor presentation of facts, the author also mentions that the most recent events are often skipped in detail. I remember spending so much time and class periods studying about the French Revolution and only a few lines on 9.11. It is totally understandable how some of the information of recent things remain obscure and may bring about dispute for their concealability, so textbooks are opt for avoiding them. However, comprehending the present allows students to attain multiple points of view, and perhaps is the most important thing of studying history. Thus, I believe that textbooks and history classes must put more emphasis on teaching about recent events more than any other thing.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Chapter 5
This chapter's main focus is racism. Loewen describes how American history classes do cover the issue of racism in length and how in fact they are obsessed with it, however fail to observe it in an objective manner. Meaning that textbooks nowadays still affirm the whole act and regard it as a natural matter of history. It is true how the progress of textbooks to explicate the topic in a fair standpoint can be seen throughout time, as Loewen says "In 1959 my high school textbook presented slavery as not such a bad thing"(137). However, they still omit the whites' involvement in the event. Therefore, the notion of white supremacy still continues to exist within our textbooks and is passed on in high school students' minds in present.
The Americans' obsession with the issue of racism can be seen in many pieces of work. For example, the musical "Hairspray"'s main theme is racial discrimination and segregation. I used to do this musical for my club when I was in high school. Another example is the novel "The Help", which was my topic for my book review for this class. The most memorable piece of work of all times has been the TV-miniseries"Roots". I watched this particular film in my American history class in Spain, and it gave me a huge impact leaving enormous footprints in my mind. These are just a few examples of the numerous pieces of entertainment that focuses on racism. I suppose that students should rely more on these as alternative sources to gain rational information other than just high school textbooks.
The Americans' obsession with the issue of racism can be seen in many pieces of work. For example, the musical "Hairspray"'s main theme is racial discrimination and segregation. I used to do this musical for my club when I was in high school. Another example is the novel "The Help", which was my topic for my book review for this class. The most memorable piece of work of all times has been the TV-miniseries"Roots". I watched this particular film in my American history class in Spain, and it gave me a huge impact leaving enormous footprints in my mind. These are just a few examples of the numerous pieces of entertainment that focuses on racism. I suppose that students should rely more on these as alternative sources to gain rational information other than just high school textbooks.
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| CC image courtesy of 墨琳 on flickr |
Saturday, May 25, 2013
May 22nd＋24th
Another class out in the sun at bakayama at the 22nd:)
Rab explained how the idea of the Stream 1 students to observe other classes got rejected by the ELA director. Apparently, our English levels will discourage the lower level students and damage their self-esteem according to her. I mean... really?? That is such a shallow opinion. As Rab said, there isn't any information that would support her idea. Moreover, from my experience, interacting with higher level students always raised my awareness and encouraged me to study more. I was personally looking forward for this plan so I was quite shocked to hear about the rejection.
About the 24th.
We learned how to make our own photo books using iPhoto! It would be nice if we could make a yearbook just with the Stream 1 students instead of spending 8000 yen on that school yearbook that has so many pictures of people who I'm not acquainted with. As an example of the photo book, Rab brought in one of his with his children dressed for shichigosan. They were soooo cute. I seriously suggest both of them to become child actors:)
Rab then showed us the ways to keep our internet secured, which was a realm I was completely blind of. Of that very intense technological lecture that he gave us, the sole thing I was able to understand was having multiple VPN addresses will be helpful in many ways!! tadaaaa.
Next came up the ongoing talk of universities' corrupt system. Universities are all about profit, and they are a complete business and not a genuine place that offers educational opportunities for those who wish. Of course ICU is not an exception. In fact, this university is one of the most expensive private schools in Japan. Therefore, the recycling of teachers also takes place here at ICU just like other Japanese universities. I've been thinking that ICU was different from other ordinary university... It's sad but I guess that I need to face the reality.
Keynote was such a useful tool! Again, I cannot use this convenient tool on my computer for being a Windows user. But I'm proud with my computer anyways. HA!
Rab explained how the idea of the Stream 1 students to observe other classes got rejected by the ELA director. Apparently, our English levels will discourage the lower level students and damage their self-esteem according to her. I mean... really?? That is such a shallow opinion. As Rab said, there isn't any information that would support her idea. Moreover, from my experience, interacting with higher level students always raised my awareness and encouraged me to study more. I was personally looking forward for this plan so I was quite shocked to hear about the rejection.
About the 24th.
We learned how to make our own photo books using iPhoto! It would be nice if we could make a yearbook just with the Stream 1 students instead of spending 8000 yen on that school yearbook that has so many pictures of people who I'm not acquainted with. As an example of the photo book, Rab brought in one of his with his children dressed for shichigosan. They were soooo cute. I seriously suggest both of them to become child actors:)
Rab then showed us the ways to keep our internet secured, which was a realm I was completely blind of. Of that very intense technological lecture that he gave us, the sole thing I was able to understand was having multiple VPN addresses will be helpful in many ways!! tadaaaa.
Next came up the ongoing talk of universities' corrupt system. Universities are all about profit, and they are a complete business and not a genuine place that offers educational opportunities for those who wish. Of course ICU is not an exception. In fact, this university is one of the most expensive private schools in Japan. Therefore, the recycling of teachers also takes place here at ICU just like other Japanese universities. I've been thinking that ICU was different from other ordinary university... It's sad but I guess that I need to face the reality.
Keynote was such a useful tool! Again, I cannot use this convenient tool on my computer for being a Windows user. But I'm proud with my computer anyways. HA!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
May 20th
Retreat turned out to be so much fun! I was never an all-nighter but I managed to make myself awake for my first time. Overall, I made whole lots of new friends and especially got to know a little bit more about the stream 1 people:)
Anyways, this day Rab showed us the presentation that he did on the ELA teachers' "Retreat". It's so cool how we get to do things that people from other streams don't get a chance to do. All the creative stuffs that Rab shows us fascinates and motivates me every time! After the presentation, we played around with iMovie. All the effects and functions that it has was awesome! It's such a shame how all the tools he showed us never work on my windows computer...:( One of the moments I hate being a windows user... (still love my windows computer anyways:P)
Thursday, May 16, 2013
May 15th
We had class at Bakayama :) It was so nice to have discussions out in the sun!
There were talks about restrictions on clothing with words and on different ages. And there was one conspicuous point that I've noticed; Spain is such a liberal country compared to others! In my international school, there was no control over what we were supposed to wear. Some of the members of my group said that they needed to keep out wearing certain clothes with some images and words in the US, or were simply not allowed. For example, words and images that reminds people on drugs was prohibited. In that sense, we were completely free since we were allowed to wear anything in my school in Spain. The only rule on clothing was not to wear spaghetti straps! Talking of aging restrictions, Spanish laws hardly functioned when I was living there back then. But things seemed to have changed a few years ago when the EU basically unified the rules. Speaking of the time before that, there wasn't such thing as a smoking/drinking age. Anyone was allowed to smoke or drink at whatever time in their lives. The school even served us champagne in 9th grade during Prom! This goes a little off the track, but the laws on drugs are really interesting. The country regulates the purchase of marijuana, but not the consumption and cultivation. So if you get caught by a police officer by smoking marijuana, say that your dad gave it to you. Then you will never be guilty in Spain! Well, I suggest not to do drugs at the first place though...
There were talks about restrictions on clothing with words and on different ages. And there was one conspicuous point that I've noticed; Spain is such a liberal country compared to others! In my international school, there was no control over what we were supposed to wear. Some of the members of my group said that they needed to keep out wearing certain clothes with some images and words in the US, or were simply not allowed. For example, words and images that reminds people on drugs was prohibited. In that sense, we were completely free since we were allowed to wear anything in my school in Spain. The only rule on clothing was not to wear spaghetti straps! Talking of aging restrictions, Spanish laws hardly functioned when I was living there back then. But things seemed to have changed a few years ago when the EU basically unified the rules. Speaking of the time before that, there wasn't such thing as a smoking/drinking age. Anyone was allowed to smoke or drink at whatever time in their lives. The school even served us champagne in 9th grade during Prom! This goes a little off the track, but the laws on drugs are really interesting. The country regulates the purchase of marijuana, but not the consumption and cultivation. So if you get caught by a police officer by smoking marijuana, say that your dad gave it to you. Then you will never be guilty in Spain! Well, I suggest not to do drugs at the first place though...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
May 14th
Our hoodies finally arrived!! We are the Paterson Children!
I was so glad to see Rab surprised :) Thanks Haru for arranging everything.
Rab talked about the segmentation theory and how to keep student's attention during class by trying out multiple methods. The thing he told us about ICU teachers' presentation ability was so true. Some of the teachers I have came into my mind. After that he showed us how to use zotero again and to tell the truth, there we're times when I got totally lost. So I guess I should play around with it at home and see if I can work it out.
Monday, May 13, 2013
May 13th
We learned how to collect and analyze surveys using Google form. I was familiar with this tool since I used to use it so much for my volunteer activities. I made the participators of my volunteer event to submit a participation form using Google form which I had posted on the Facebook event page. This web-based survey made my life so much easier because the need to type in every person's name was omitted, and all the names automatically came up on a spread sheet very organized. However, I didn't know that Google form also enabled us to modify the responses into graphs. This can become an essential visualized tool for our research paper.
We also made our groups for research writing. I became the member of the Youth Culture group with Moe, Johnny, and Take. Hope we get along :)
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Chapter 4
Although, recent textbooks might have succeeded in improving the image of Native Americans, the historical stereotype of them being "primitive" and "savage" is still deeply rooted in the overall American society. It is so ironical how Europeans who are considered to be "civilized" used savage violence in order to conquer "primitive" Indians.
Even today, Native Indians suffer from racism. It is not a racism that involves violence; however, it is a unique type of racism that is all about their disappearance from the modern world. Most people relate racism with black people being discriminated. Frankly speaking, I also thought that way. The reading about Indian slavery was totally a new fact for me. African slavery receives so much attention, and high schools tend to employ materials related to it. I remember spending so many class hours watching the famous TV miniseries "Roots" in history class in high school (Totally heart moving so people should watch it if they haven't), but my classes never mentioned anything about Indians being enslaved. Moreover, last mentions of the Native Americans in textbooks probably comes along with the closing of the frontier and things related to New Deal. No one knows what happened to them after that. The Native Americans are completely gone in this modern world. Therefore, the evil image of them continues to be passed down through history. I strongly believe that a remedy to this problem is needed.
The third quote that is introduced in this chapter grabbed my attention and closely depicts their present situation.
"There is no one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears"-Rupert Costo
Even today, Native Indians suffer from racism. It is not a racism that involves violence; however, it is a unique type of racism that is all about their disappearance from the modern world. Most people relate racism with black people being discriminated. Frankly speaking, I also thought that way. The reading about Indian slavery was totally a new fact for me. African slavery receives so much attention, and high schools tend to employ materials related to it. I remember spending so many class hours watching the famous TV miniseries "Roots" in history class in high school (Totally heart moving so people should watch it if they haven't), but my classes never mentioned anything about Indians being enslaved. Moreover, last mentions of the Native Americans in textbooks probably comes along with the closing of the frontier and things related to New Deal. No one knows what happened to them after that. The Native Americans are completely gone in this modern world. Therefore, the evil image of them continues to be passed down through history. I strongly believe that a remedy to this problem is needed.
The third quote that is introduced in this chapter grabbed my attention and closely depicts their present situation.
"There is no one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears"-Rupert Costo
Friday, May 10, 2013
May 10th
Funky Friday at ILC today! We saw some videos related to the intercultural text of the ELA reader. The sushi tutorial video was reaaalllyy funny. It was quite interesting to see how the Japanese custom worked out from a foreigner's perspective. On the other hand, I found the Whale beer commercial disturbing due to its bizarreness. The blood shedding moment was unnecessary. As for the Rooney's video, I thought it to be very funny. Maybe that was mostly because it was my first time to see Rooney with actual HAIR. He seriously looks 10 years younger than before. Haha. Besides that, the video itself was also hilarious. So I was a little surprised to hear that most girls dislike that video... Or am I just being odd? Anyways, as for the Japanese endurance comedy video, I just couldn't endure watching it. Frankly speaking, I didn't find any funny essence from those violent scenes. However, I remember one old Japanese TV program similar to the endurance show called Takeshi's Castle being very popular among Spain when I was living there. A whole bunch of rebroadcasts were done in European countries. And this fact shows how one humor from one particular country can transcend time and place, and also become understandable in multiple countries after a few decades. In other words, humor can be universal :) Of course, not always.
We also learned how to get images legally. I'm going to try some out. I hope I'm doing it right!
cc image courtesy of 99 James Kieran Nguyen on Flickr
Thursday, May 9, 2013
May 8th
First time to have class in Bakayama!!! It had been my dream to do so:) I even mentioned it in the interview of the entrance examination.
Anyways, we had a group discussion on things related to yesterday's lecture. One topic that was brought into discussion was on Japanese media. Japanese news programs make me realize how peace this country is. They broadcast the most stupid topics. "Cute Panda Babies in Ueno!""Feature on Shoplifter Catcher!""Cheapest Things You Can Buy in Depa-chika!""Where You Can Have Lunch in 500Yen!" and so on. I mean, what is wrong with the Japanese media! Aren't there more things that are worth showing about the world? News programs spend about 20 minutes on those idiotic topics and few seconds about the tragic situation in Syria. This needs to be changed.
Funky Friday tmrw!!
We want more classes outside!
Anyways, we had a group discussion on things related to yesterday's lecture. One topic that was brought into discussion was on Japanese media. Japanese news programs make me realize how peace this country is. They broadcast the most stupid topics. "Cute Panda Babies in Ueno!""Feature on Shoplifter Catcher!""Cheapest Things You Can Buy in Depa-chika!""Where You Can Have Lunch in 500Yen!" and so on. I mean, what is wrong with the Japanese media! Aren't there more things that are worth showing about the world? News programs spend about 20 minutes on those idiotic topics and few seconds about the tragic situation in Syria. This needs to be changed.
Funky Friday tmrw!!
May 7th
Today's lecture made me conscious of how much things the media hided from us, and the potential that Web 2.0 has. Rab explained about Web 2.0 being as an alternative solution for getting information that is not under the influence of big cooperation. Some of the videos that he showed us were shocking. Especially the one which the police officers violently sprayed chemical gas into the peaceful protesters' eyes. I have always had the image of the police being the symbol of justice. Therefore, it has been a surprise for me to know that those malicious acts of the police had been hidden from me for the past 19 years of my life.
I think that the Web 2.0 played an important role among many people during the Great East Japan Earthquake. I personally don't think that I could have survived that day without social media such as facebook, mixi, and twitter. They were truly my lifeline. Having been stranded in Shibuya alone without any access for phone calls, all I had was my phone (not my iPhone at this point) and 500 yen. Plus, my phone's battery was running out and had no solution for charging it. After buying bread for snack, there was hardly any money left. Therefore, I couldn't do anything but to wait for my phone to die out:) However, things changed. Fortunately, I was able to contact one of my friends who was also stranded in Shibuya via mixi, then we met up down Hachiko. After that, she provided me with a battery charger and food. Also I was able to contact my parents using her docomo phone (au phones didn't function that day). My dad came to pick me up and we were able to walk back home. This day made me realize how much social media can contribute to one's life.
By the way, I wonder what happened to myspace...
Monday, May 6, 2013
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Chapter 3
I didn't really get why everyone who knows about or who is in ICU keeps on saying that the amount of studying ICU students do cannot be compared with other universities. I've always thought that it was the Stream 3,4 students who had to deal with staggering amount of homework .. UNTIL THIS GOLDEN WEEK! Now I completely understand why. I guess I will have to face it since I'm in ICU and this was why I choose to this university...:)
Anyways, back to the book.
When I was in an international school in high school, it was compulsory for all 9th graders to take American history for a year. This class was truly American done by an American teacher based on American textbooks. Let me emphasize one thing, it was an international school consisted with international students. However, the content was purely based on the American perspective that neglected the fact that we were students who come from all different countries of the world with different identities. But this course did succeed to put the American spirit in our minds. And off course, I was not an exception. This whole let's-brainwash-international-students-year glorified my image towards America. Until I read this chapter, I've always thought that Pilgrims were the first ones to settle, and that improved the American society, including that of the Native Americans. Therefore, the things that were suggested in the book were shocking and fresh for me. After all, the Pilgrims were heroified. At the first point, never weren't they the first ones to settle in America nor did they introduce the European culture. Moreover, it was natural for them to had been able to rule over the Native Americans with the epidemics swiping out most of the Indian population. As for the Native Americans, my American history class implied the inferiority of the indigenous people to the whites, though they didn't really mention in actual words. But this seems so ironical now knowing that the Native Americans were the ones who introduced many of the crops and ways to harvest them. Considering all these facts, the whole celebration of Thanksgiving turned out to be nothing more than an occasion to reassure the American citizen's obedience to the country. Well, I guess the turkey part is still good though. Although, Americans can be more attentive and tolerant about Thanksgiving instead of being so ethnocentric if they could know about the truth behind it, just like I did.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
May 1st
The explanation that Rab gave us for Academic Writing was very useful. I've already knew some of the parts of his lecture since I learned about it during middle and high school, but most of the things he taught were new for me.
Then we did a psychology test! This was really fun:) Here are my results for it. I'm looking forward in doing the drawing version of it in next class!
Blue: calm, peaceful, beautiful, natural
Bird: free, cute, smart, adorable, fluffy, soft, emotional
Ocean: fun,salty, beautiful, sparkly, shiny, pretty
White room: peaceful, creepy, spiritual
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