Wednesday 30 October 2013

Wear Me Out

So, just how many ways are there of saying "wear" in Japanese?  Well, allow me to illustrate, with a little help from "cool guy"*.  

*Please note that I cannot draw shoes.  And notice the legacy badge and odd socks, showing this guy is totally into supporting his community.  He is also wearing blush, for the sake of illustration.  What a trooper.


Okay, here we go:



So what's the answer then?  Nine.  There are at least 9 words in Japanese for the English verb "to wear".  Is there any wonder why I'm having trouble keeping up?

Saturday 19 October 2013

Wonderful Life


“One human life is as precious as a million lives, for each is infinite in value.” - Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits.

“We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.” – J.K. Rowling, author.

"Society professes reverence for human life. We weep for those who die, pray and work for those whose lives are in jeopardy. For years I have labored with other doctors here and abroad, struggling to prolong life. It is impossible to describe the grief a physician feels when the life of a patient is lost. Can anyone imagine how we feel when life is destroyed at its roots, as though it were a thing of naught?" - Russell M. Nelson, former surgeon and medical researcher.

"In times past we have looked upon a person who saves another human life as a great hero; yet now we have come to a time when the taking of an unborn human life for non-medical reasons has become tolerated, made legal, and accepted in many countries of the world. But making it legal to destroy newly conceived life will never make it right. It is consummately wrong." - James E. Faust, former attorney.

"Some say, as did the Supreme Court of the United States, that it is only a theory that human life is present from conception. This is contrary to insurmountable medical evidence."  - James E. Faust.

"Approximately twenty-two days after the two cells have united, a little heart begins to beat. At twenty-six days the circulation of blood begins." - Russell M. Nelson.

“I am deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty that I had in fact presided over 60,000 deaths. There is no longer serious doubt in my mind that human life exists within the womb from the very onset of pregnancy.” - Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, former director of the first and largest abortion clinic in the western world.

"If one is to be deprived of life because of potential for developing physical problems, consistency would dictate that those who already have such deficiencies should likewise be terminated. Continuing, then, those who are either infirm, incompetent, or inconvenient should be eliminated by those in power. Such irreverence for life is unthinkable! - Russell M. Nelson.

"Some justify abortions because the unborn may have been exposed to drugs or disease and may have birth defects. Where in all the world is the physically or mentally perfect man or woman? Is life not worth living unless it is free of handicaps? Experience in working with handicapped children would suggest that human nature frequently rises above its impediments." - James E. Faust.

“Every argument that can be made for aborting a fetus can also be made for killing the same fetus once it is born,” -  Professor R. Paul Ramsey of Princeton University.

“An abortion is never commonplace, for the world holds no heartbreak like the death of innocence. Whenever and wherever it occurs, we all suffer another loss from that little which sustains us and holds us together. It is the degradation of humanity. It is fulness emptied, innocence defiled, song unfinished, beauty discarded, hope unsprung." - Dr. Henry G. Armitage, Jr.

"The great medical profession, for which I have such great respect, that for centuries has been committed to the preservation of life under the cardinal principles of treatment—“do no harm” and “protect life”—now finds itself destroying almost a million unborn children a year in the United States alone. Each of these, because of tiny chromosomal differences, would have been different from any other person born in the world. How many with special gifts like unto Moses, Leonardo da Vinci, and Abraham Lincoln might have been among them?" - James E. Faust.

"Consider [this] individual weighing the consequences of her pregnancy. She was beyond the normal age for bearing children. She announced to her doctor that her husband was an alcoholic with a syphilitic infection. One of her children had been born dead. Another child was blind. Another had tuberculosis. Her family had a history of deafness. Finally she confessed that she was living in abject poverty. If this true historical situation were posed today, many would recommend abortion. The child born from that pregnancy became the renowned composer Ludwig van Beethoven." - Russell M. Nelson.

"Social, educational, financial, and personal considerations alone do not outweigh the value of the life that is in the fetus.  These considerations by themselves may properly lead to the decision to place the baby for adoption after its birth, but not to end its existence in utero." - Anon. (from a letter received by Dallin H. Oaks, former US Supreme Court Justice.)

"Why destroy a life that could bring such joy to others?" - Russell M. Nelson.

"One of the most evil myths of our day is that a woman who has joined hands with God in creation can destroy that creation because she claims the right to control her own body. Since the life within her is not her own, how can she justify its termination?" - James E. Faust.

"The woman’s choice for her own body does not validate choice for the body of another. The expression “terminate the pregnancy” applies literally only to the woman. The consequence of terminating the fetus therein involves the body and very life of another. These two individuals have separate brains, separate hearts, and separate circulatory systems. To pretend that there is no child and no life there is to deny reality." - Russell M. Nelson.

“If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light." - John Calvin.

 "Another contention raised is that a woman is free to choose what she does with her own body. To a certain extent this is true for all of us. We are free to think. We are free to plan. And then we are free to do. But once an action has been taken, we are never free from its consequences. Those considering abortion have already exercised certain choices.
   To clarify this concept, we can learn from the astronaut. Any time during the selection process, planning, and preparation, he is free to withdraw. But once the powerful rocket fuel is ignited, he is no longer free to choose. Now he is bound by the consequences of his choice. Even if difficulties develop and he might wish otherwise, the choice made was sealed by action.
   So it is with those who would tamper with the God-given power of procreation. They are free to think and plan otherwise, but their choice is sealed by action" - Russell M. Nelson.

“This is one of the most despicable of all sins—to destroy an unborn child to save one from embarrassment or to save one’s face or comfort.” - Spencer W. Kimball.

"More than 95 percent of the millions of abortions performed each year extinguish the life of a fetus conceived by consensual relations. Thus the effect in over 95 percent of abortions is not to vindicate choice but to avoid its consequences." - Dallin H. Oaks, former US Supreme Court Justice.

“Abortion itself is a potential source of psychiatric illness and a basis for mental breakdown. For this reason there should be no psychiatric grounds for abortion." - Dr. Victor Calef.

"We must stand up for the right choice. Those who persist in refusing to think beyond slogans and sound bites like 'pro-choice' wander from the goals they pretend to espouse and wind up giving their support to results they might not support if those results were presented without disguise." - Dallin H. Oaks.

“I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.” – Ronald Reagan, former US president.


Thursday 17 October 2013

Standby Me

First, here's some theme music to listen to whilst you read this post:


This morning I had yet another morning standby stint for work.  


Last time, through a bit of positive (and realistic) thinking, I made a small break-through in coping with this experience, basically lessening the anxiety aspect.  My goals this time were:
*  No complaining;  and
*  Just accept and prepare for the fact I will be sent out.


I'm happy to say I achieved my goal!  I had told myself I would be sent out, in fact I would be sent out first (as usual), and it would be an elementary school with 5-6 classes.  With this in mind, I had reviewed and studied elementary school lesson plans and consolidation activities, as I still run out of ideas quickly when put on the spot.  And I thus told myself it would be okay.


But actually.......*drumroll please*.........







I got sent out THIRD!  AND I lasted in the office until 8am!  That's the longest I've survived the sudden-death game that is Morning Standby.   I couldn't believe it.  Seems my luck may finally be changing!

The second bit of good news is I got sent to a Junior High School!  Yay!  I think the morning standby staff are trying to be a little merciful to me in the fact that if they know they have a JHS assignment they'll give it to me first, as that's my area of expertise (technically I was sent out third, but it seems they received all 3 assignments at the same time).  I was pretty happy with that!

So I was given all the lesson plan papers, and the maps and the train directions (4 trains to get to my assignment).  I was told the first period lesson would have to cut as I wouldn't be able to be there in time, and that the teacher at the school was apparently a bit upset or angry about that.  (Apparently no one had informed them the teleportation machine has not  yet been invented.)

When I got to the school though, I found no angry people, which was great.  I taught 3 lessons during the day, and with a combination of Interac's lesson plans, preparation time during the remainder of 1st period, and collaboration with the Japanese teachers, they all went pretty smoothly.  The two teachers I worked with were very nice and helpful.  The class sizes were quite small (especially compared to the usual classes of 38ish students at my schools).  And the students were, as usual, funny and easy to work with.  Japanese teenagers?  I got it down.  Like a boss.  Many were excited to talk to me, even outside of class (including a couple of girls very excited to hear I knew of Justin Bieber). 

The students had fun asking me questions after my self-introductions, including one 9th grade boy who asked (with the help of the teacher, funnily) "Can I be your boyfriend?"  I told him sorry, I'm 29 and I need an older guy!  He was a little disappointed.  "Just one day?"  Nope, I don't do 'one day' - sorry!  "One minute?" Nope!  It was funny.

Overall it was a relatively stress-free and pleasant experience.  The only unpleasant part, really, was when I got a toe-cramp mid lesson!  Ouchies!  Luckily I was facing the blackboard at the time, but my poor train drawing that was  in progress was consequently ruined due to my being in such pain!  Realising I had to hand out the worksheets next I tried not to show it in my face as I hobbled around, and thankfully it was short-lived!

And so, I have thus survived once again, and even progressed in my quest to overcome the bane of my existence as an ALT in Japan.