Problem children are international

Yes, indeed. Every school has at least one kid who is just trouble. Well, my school is no exception. We have a student, let's call her Snow just for facility in telling the story. So, last year I noticed that Snow liked to wear her skirt very short, but I figured... you know, teenage girls, they do that sort of thing. Well, Snow has continued to wear her skirt very short into her third year, but she has also started to sort of dress a bit like a slut, for lack of a better word. Let me clarify, she wears her blouse with only 2 of the 6 buttons buttoned (guess which ones?) and NO undershirt. It is gross to see!

Ok, well I can hear you wondering what is so wrong with this behavior? Well... this is at a Japanese school and there is a dress code. There are uniforms and rules. Also, in addition to the rolled skirt and shirt, she has earrings, wears make up and has dyed hair, all of which are "no-nos" for my school. There is a particular teacher who, when he catches Snow wearing makeup or earrings, drags her to the teacher's room and removes the make up/earrings. If she will not take off the make up herself, then it is done for her. Same with the earrings. It is actually a sad sight to see her, almost every day having her makeup forcefully removed. I understand teenage rebellion, but can anyone explain to me the repetition of such behavior? Every day, really?! He also bought hair dye for her, but I have yet to see that forcibly applied, though I am looking forward to that day, whenever it comes.

ok... and the best story... One day, Snow came in with newly dyed hair! The teachers asked her why she dyed it and her answer? What do you think she said?

a) because it is cool!
b) because I want to look different from everyone else with dark brown hair!
c) because Elissa's hair is this color, so why can't mine be?
d) because I wanted to see how it looked.
e) dyed? this is natural!

While you think that over, I will tell you the most frustrating part. The teachers don't do anything! I mean, yes, they do forcibly remove her make up, and one time she did get majorly chewed out (though that was for storming out of the teachers room and knocking a trash can over, not for the earrings and make up), but all in all, she does not get into trouble. This is normal here, where kids do not get into trouble for anything. Also, if a kid is bad during English class, we are just supposed to tell the homeroom teacher, rather than do anything about it. I am so used to the American way of embarrassing kids in front of their friends to make them behave, but that is not how it is done here! It is aggravating to just see the kids doing the same $hit over and over and over and never getting in trouble for it. I have no idea why her parents are not doing anything, and I do not know enough about families in Japan to even try to guess at what sort of family classification situation she would fit into that could cause this behavior.

Ok... back to the question...

I would love to make you all wait for a future post to learn the answer, but odds are I will forget. So, believe it or not, her answer was C. Yes. She pointed to the foreigner in the room, who has lighter hair naturally, and used that as an excuse for dying her hair. The teachers sorta paused for a minute and just bust out laughing! I would also like to point out, that my hair is NOT that color at all! Snow's hair is sort of orange-y... you know the color... someone with really dark hair tried to dye it lighter? Yeah...didn't work.

So anyway, just know that there are problem children around the world, and that even in japan, they pull ridiculous excuses out of nowhere to try to explain their actions.

the end!

Cute Japan things

Well, just one for now, actually.

There is a whole series of animals who are so relaxed that they are all flattened out! Aaaaand there is a giraffe! It is the cutest thing ever!!!! I have a keychain of him, and now, a mug!!



It says: (above the giraffe) "I want to eat that apple, so could someone please pull me to it?" (below the giraffe, with the red arrow pointing to his leg) "I am trying as hard as I can."

New pictures

Pictures are up on my shutterfly site...

Motivation to go check them out? Here are some previews! Hopefully you do not feel I gave everything away in my previews.

Rose festival:

(It seems I will be making peace signs in all photos from now on. It's contagious.)

Hakuba:

(the point of this second Hakuba one is the SNOW on the mountains. Don't mind the power lines... I could not find a place to take a picture without them in the way)

Pikachu!

Licensed...

... to drive!

That's right. After 4 attempts, I managed to get my Japanese driver's license! Yay!!! If you have not been following the progress, here is a recap:

Attempt #1: not a chance of passing because we did not know we were going to get to take the test. We did the paperwork, took the written and eye exams, and then were given maps and told "memorize the course. you can take the practical in 20 minutes." FAIL

Attempt #2: I failed for going too slowly, turning my head too far when I look over my shoulder into the blind spots and braking too much before certain turns where braking is not necessary. At one point, the proctor told me something like "well, on actual roads you should brake, but this course is closed so... there is no one there." ?!?!?!?!?! FAIL

Attempt #3: preface: got a speeding ticket on my way to the driving center. (irony?) Failed because I was in a bad mood. Ok, not really. Actually, I thought this time went well, but I failed because I took one turn too fast (yes, only one turn) and still turned my head too far to check my blind spots. FAIL

Attempt #4: I took a whole day off of school (usually I only take a half day because the test is in the afternoon) and did a practice in the morning. I also managed to get a different proctor than the previous three fails, which makes a difference in my opinion. (Let's just say that the other proctor has a big stick stuck up his @$ and fails people because he likes to and because he can.) When I finished the course, I did feel like I had nailed it... and PASS!

Problems? Well, remember that speeding ticket? At the time when I got the ticket, I did not have a Japanese license. I was told by the police in Iiyama that since I did not have a Japanese license, that there were no negative points and I just had to pay a fine and so the ticket could be seen as an expensive warning. Ok, no problem, right? WRONG. The Iiyama police were WRONG and had told me incorrect information. As it turns out, that non-existent point DOES exist and is carried over to my license now that I have it. So I asked the people at the center about it, and explained what I had been told. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done, but here is the funny part: They will contact the officer who gave me a ticket. If he did, in fact, tell me incorrect information, then he has to go to police school for a day and he has to APOLOGIZE TO ME! Gosh I am hoping for that apology. I can only hope that he will not change the facts as the police so often do. Luckily for me, Alaina (who was there when I got the ticket and translated all the explanations for me) also heard this, so perhaps he will admit he made a mistake. PS it actually took 8 officers total to figure out how to give me a speeding ticket. I hope they live to regret it and have to come apologize to the foreigner. IF they had just let me go with a warning...

Other problems? The picture on my license is terrible because they told me not to smile. Let's face it, I am a smiley person generally (I have bad days... doesn't everybody?) but I look bad in pictures if I am not smiling.

But, moral of the story... IT IS OVER. I have a Japanese driver's license and I never have to go to that stupid driving center again.

New Design

New Design same blog! I have been waiting for the day when blogspot would have better templates, and that day has finally come, so I was able to pick a nice pretty one. do not be surprised if it changes again!!

Other differences, the Acronyms have been moved and are now a post with a link on the main page. And my little intro is gone.

Pictures

I just posted lots of pictures...

Cherry blossoms in Suzaka and the zoo in Suzaka

Random photo expedition

Hiking in Madarao.

Take a look and enjoy! Don't mind the blurry ones, or the lack of captions!

Oh my, is it June?

Hello to anyone who still checks my blog. I apologize for the extreme gap in my posting, but there has been nothing exciting to post about since I got back from America. I have a few ranty posts drafted that I could post, like ones about driving in Japan or about patience, but instead, I opted to post about fun things I will do this summer! These fun things will probably get their very own blog post, so you can look forward to reading all about them and seeing pictures!

So... June adventures include a Tegomass concert (!!!!), and a trip to Ueda (which is a city in Nagano prefecture, but I haven't been there yet) If you're curious, you can read about Tegomass here.

July will have me going to Nagoya to see sumo and to hopefully see Sarah, and also in July, Kim and I are going to climb Mount Fuji (or try to, at least)

No plans for August yet, but we are thinking of a few fun things we could do during summer break. Probably a trip to a beach somewhere, and who knows what else.

And September, I think Kim and I are going to go to Korea! YAY.

Ok. Now you can look forward to hearing about fun summer adventures!

Maybe I will even post a ranty blog now and again.