All That Glitters Isn't Gold
As the pace of industrial and economic growth heightens, the world is faced with the ever increasing problem of how to deal with the impact of our consumption based society on the environment. Several scientists have predicted doomsday scenarios of varying ferocity, whilst others predict nothing will happen and we are worrying ourselves for no reason; one thing is for sure, many of the worlds politicians and citizens are concerned, and the state of the environment is likely to dominate our thoughts with increasing frequency over the coming decades.
In 2000 the Kyoto Protocol was drafted and finally became law (except in the US, because Bushes like lots of Carbon Dioxide,) just a few days ago. The aim of the treaty is to lower Carbon Dioxide emissions that are presently heating up the planet. It is not surprising that Japan was chosen as the location to hold these discussions and broker the agreement. The Japanese are the world leader in waste management and resource conservation. Pollution here is low and despite rampant consumption, on a level that makes it clear to me why Japans economy so large, waste is also low. Everything is recycled and natural resources conserved militantly.
Last weekend I visited Kyoto. It may be on your television screens and in your newspapers for the reasons above; but at a deeper level Kyoto is the spiritual capital of Japan, steeped in history and tradition, with treasures every Gaijin should discover themselves. Valentines weekend brings a holiday here, so last Friday morning Claire and I packed up our stuff and headed excitedly for ancient Kyoto.
On arrival, our requisite visit to McDonalds* only added credence to the Japanese obsession with recycling. Separating your rubbish at the end of a meal is a complicated business here with bins for paper cartons, plastic containers, straws and drinks lids, and a separate container to pour unfinished drinks and ice into. Elsewhere it is even more complex with up to 13 different receptacles for rubbish in some areas of the city, depending on what you are throwing out. .
Next stop in Kyoto was Kinkaku-ji, or the golden temple. Yes, a temple made out of pure, solid gold, surrounded by beautiful trees and a stunning lake. After overcoming the temptation to try and put a bit of the front door in my pocket to fund the rest of our trip - it was agreed not too, but that it had still been a must see and definitely worth fighting our way across an insanely overcrowded and inefficient bus system to get there. Our next stop was Niji Castle, which I must say resembled a barn and had various empty rooms that had signs saying swords were once stored here and the emperor once ate here. They all looked the same to my untrained eye. The Japanese loved it, I hated it, and had to escape by any means necessary. We finally did, but the time we took at the castle, combined with the inefficient bus system, meant that unfortunately we did not get to see a tea ceremony with a Japanese Geisha; but, having said all that, the city was beautiful and both Claire and I had a lovely weekend.
In 2000 the Kyoto Protocol was drafted and finally became law (except in the US, because Bushes like lots of Carbon Dioxide,) just a few days ago. The aim of the treaty is to lower Carbon Dioxide emissions that are presently heating up the planet. It is not surprising that Japan was chosen as the location to hold these discussions and broker the agreement. The Japanese are the world leader in waste management and resource conservation. Pollution here is low and despite rampant consumption, on a level that makes it clear to me why Japans economy so large, waste is also low. Everything is recycled and natural resources conserved militantly.
Last weekend I visited Kyoto. It may be on your television screens and in your newspapers for the reasons above; but at a deeper level Kyoto is the spiritual capital of Japan, steeped in history and tradition, with treasures every Gaijin should discover themselves. Valentines weekend brings a holiday here, so last Friday morning Claire and I packed up our stuff and headed excitedly for ancient Kyoto.
On arrival, our requisite visit to McDonalds* only added credence to the Japanese obsession with recycling. Separating your rubbish at the end of a meal is a complicated business here with bins for paper cartons, plastic containers, straws and drinks lids, and a separate container to pour unfinished drinks and ice into. Elsewhere it is even more complex with up to 13 different receptacles for rubbish in some areas of the city, depending on what you are throwing out. .
Next stop in Kyoto was Kinkaku-ji, or the golden temple. Yes, a temple made out of pure, solid gold, surrounded by beautiful trees and a stunning lake. After overcoming the temptation to try and put a bit of the front door in my pocket to fund the rest of our trip - it was agreed not too, but that it had still been a must see and definitely worth fighting our way across an insanely overcrowded and inefficient bus system to get there. Our next stop was Niji Castle, which I must say resembled a barn and had various empty rooms that had signs saying swords were once stored here and the emperor once ate here. They all looked the same to my untrained eye. The Japanese loved it, I hated it, and had to escape by any means necessary. We finally did, but the time we took at the castle, combined with the inefficient bus system, meant that unfortunately we did not get to see a tea ceremony with a Japanese Geisha; but, having said all that, the city was beautiful and both Claire and I had a lovely weekend.
Unbelievably, I only have two and a half weeks left here. Today, working in Japan I feel very much at home. The frustration is still there, though teaching is extremely rewarding and despite the differences, particularly in work culture, I have managed to carve a niche for myself. On Wednesday I was interviewed by the Japan Times, who I recanted my adventures to with great delight; they are running a feature on me next week as I am the first AIESEC Education Trainee in Japan. All very exciting - I have now been on Colombian radio, British TV and in a Japanese newspaper, not bad for someone who is not a mass murderer, or international terrorist.
Last week frustration reached boiling point. It is illegal for me to teach on my own here, as I do not have a Japanese teachers licence, so I need a qualified Japanese teacher to observe my classes. Normally they do just that, observe. On Monday and Tuesday I was running a class for 180 Japanese beauticians in the aptly named Glamour Beauty College located in a very exclusive area of Osaka. The building was stunning, 10 floors high in the middle of the city - worth and absolute fortune in property value alone. The students spoke little or no English so my job was to teach them how to take reservations from customers and explain the price for their services. The lesson was good, except for the Japanese teacher. This one was intent on being proactive.
Now, to be a good Japanese English teacher the first qualification required is to be able to speak English, fluently would be good - but not essential; to be able to construct the odd sentence, of minimal importance; to be able to count I would say is an absolute must. As I mentioned before, normally the Japanese teacher observes. Not this one. But, as she pointed out, she passed the Japanese teaching exam (at the fifth attempt I was later told,) and the exam never lies, or so they say. She was going to use her qualifications, despite the fact I know more Japanese than she knows English. It was when she read her personal introduction to the class that gigantic, nuclear armageddon type, piercing, ominous sounding alarm bells started ringing in my ears. She began
Let me introduce myself to me. Name is Yuka. I work in PR section. The word PR is coming from the Public Relations. Teaching you I am pleased to.
Finally, after the seventeenth or eighteenth look of utter contempt I had aimed in her direction, I managed to shut her up for long enough to start the lesson, and almost completely, when she realised that I was getting frustrated with her translation of every word I uttered (completely against the point of the lesson, the students are supposed to work it out for themselves.) Almost, that is. It happened when I was teaching the ordinal numbers; first, second, third and so on - that was when the cardinal sin was committed. She started, (21st) twenty oneth, which I could bear a slip of the tongue I could correct later, (22nd) twenty secondth was tolerable for the same reason, (23rd) twenty thirth was like someone running their nails down a blackboard, but it would be rude to cut in and correct her now I thought, twenty fourth was light relief, but (25th) twenty fifst was the final straw. I had to stop her - yes, I know, it is a massive no, no in Japan, but I did not care I am not going to stand-by while some poor Gaijin gets their hair appointment booked for February, twenty fifst because of one of my lessons. She was not amused, but fortunately my boss, who understood my frustration, found it absolutely hilarious.
As you can see teaching here has its ups and downs, and I must admit whilst there are certain things I will miss, there are others I would hope never to have to experience again. Japan will always struggle with competency in English whilst teachers like Yuka persist and sadly there are many like her all over the country, many foreigners I hasten to add are not much better. They might have a Golden Temple, and glitzy private schools, but as I compare it to education back home I guess that I have come to realise a lot.
All that glitters isnt gold.
Deano
*For those of you who are interested in how my McDonalds consumption is going, I have now had McDonalds in Kobe, Yokohama, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, building on various locations in about 20 countries I had previously visited. Who says globalisation is bad.