Nothing but Time

More random thoughts from a "work-challenged" ALT ;+)

Here is something that I meant to write about before. While I was in Taiwan and we were touring, my travel companion (who is Japanese) and I began talking about Hawaii. She then informed me that the Japanese invented the Aloha shirt AND shaved ice. I didn't argue with her, but I mentioned that I was pretty sure that it wasn't invented by the Japanese, but that it was probably influenced by Japanese fashion. Well, I decided to do some research (I had nothing else to do). Guess what I discovered? The Aloha shirt was in fact, invented by a Hawaiian. In the early 1930s, Elsie Das was commissioned by some Hawaiians to design the floral pattern. At the time, it was fashionable to make shirts out of yukata (Japanese summer kimono). After Ms. Das designed the pattern, the print was sent to a store in Japan where it was printed on to the same material used for yukata. The material was then sent back to Hawaii and made into shirts. So there we have it ladies and gentlemen, the Aloha shirt was brought about by the Hawaiians, but the Japanese had a hand in it.
Secondly, I decided to look into the shaved ice claim. I was pretty sure that this practice had been around for awhile, but probably has evolved over several hundreds of years or more. Well, I was actually surprised to find out that the practice is as old as it is. Apparently, the Romans were known to have made treats from shaved ice as far back as 27 B.C. according to the site: http://snow-cones.com/history.htm In 1934, a machine was designed by a man from Louisiana that makes the ice into the texture that we currently know as shaved ice and snow-cones. To my friend's credit, a Japanese man (born in Hawaii) made this treat famous in Hawaii about 60 years ago. So I would concede that he started a craze in Hawaii, but I don't think that he should be credited for inventing shaved ice.
I have no problem crediting people IF they did in fact do something, but I learned a long time ago not to believe everything you hear. I have also become a little wary of what I am told in Japan. Ethnocentrism is rampant. Rather than get offended, I take these instances as a challenge to learn more about something and then to discuss it again when the opportunity arises.
In the meantime, I think all of this talk may have had some bearing on my Wednesday night English class. Recently, we had one woman drop the class (she is taking 2 classes. Her husband recently retired and wants her home more, so I understand. Another person left the class to begin a year-long study in New Zealand). Well, the "leader" of our class is a nice woman, but she doesn't like to be challenged. She is also the worst offender for NOT speaking English in my class even though her level is good. She is often like a child...everything is in one ear and out the other. I guess that she has been a member of this club for many years. Most of their teachers have lasted for about a year or less. My frustration, is that she is always complaining about the activities that I choose (only one was a real flop). They knew ahead of time that this was my first time teaching an English class (I have done tutorials and assisted) and they don't want to use a set curriculum.
Anyway, because of the decrease in members, I was informed that my pay would be less (I expected that to happen eventually). Well last night, I was getting ready to leave and this woman looked at me and said "You can go home now. We have to have a meeting." I don't know if she meant to be rude, or if it just came out that way. I have a bad feeling about this though. I know that I have done my best, but I also know that I can't please everyone. In Japan, there is an order to do things (that doesn't always make sense to us foreigners) and the decisions are usually deferred to the sempai (senior members). If that's what will happen in this case, then I will accept it. All of the other members have been pleased with my work and I have met most of them outside of the class. So why is there a problem? I think it's because I don't focus all of my attention on her. Also, it is a conversation class, so I play devil's advocate a lot.
"F" as I will call her, usually states her opinions as fact. For example, last night she said that there aren't many gay men in Japan. It doesn't take much to know this is incorrect information. In fact, everyone looked at her like she walked around with her eyes closed all of the time. So, we had a lively discussion about that last night. In the past, we have also had discussion about her belief that all Americans carry guns or the belief that Americans don't like rice, so we eat bread with all our meals (what about potatoes!?). So with things like this, it may mean that I have put myself in a position to be replaced. I may also be reading too much into this.
Whatever the result, I am actually fine with it. I have so much going on now that I think that I might actually welcome the opportunity for an extra night to myself. I would still have two conversation groups. Also, I know that I would still have the opportunity to meet with most of the current members if I choose to. I'm strangely at peace about the whole situation (they may be nothing at all). So I won' t worry about it. I've done my best and I leave the rest in God's hands. He knows what I can and can't handle.