Time for an update
Well my first week of summer vacation has been very nice & relaxing. July 7th was Tanabata-no-hi in Japan which loosely translates as Star Festival. The festival is about 2 lovers that can only meet once a year, represented by 2 stars that only appear in the night sky together 1 time a year. Many Japanese also write down their wishes on small pieces of paper and tie them to tree branches in hopes that their wishes will be granted on this day. Because I'm such a romantic I skipped my jiu jitsu class and stayed home to make Yukiko a fabulous vegetarian chili dinner.
I was a bit less romantic after dinner as I settled in to watch the K-1 kickboxing tournament on TV. A really small Muay Thai fighter from Thailand beat up on everyone and swept the tournament. He was very impressive.
Even though my classes are finished I still had to go to school and calculate my students grades. I definitely don't like the way students are graded in Japan. Everyone is marked on the bell curve. Top marks only go to 1 or 2 students, and 1 or 2 are guranteed bottom marks. So in a class of geniuses half of the students will still get poor grades. In a class of idiots half the students will get excellent grades. The worst thing about this system is that it provides nearly no motivation for students to improve. If there is 1 really good student in a class then it is certain that she or he will get the lone top score. If you know you can't pass that student then there is no need to make any extra effort.
Last night Yukiko and I and my friend Dan went out for some dinner and to see the latest Harry Potter movie. We all enjoyed it but it's a little confusing if you haven't read the book, which Yukiko hasn't. So Dan and I were trying to remember the details in the book to answer her questions. A quick side note: after seeing all the adverts for this movie in Japan I learned the word and Chinese Kanji for prisoner. It's very easy to remember, it's the symbol of a man trapped in a box. I love user-friendly Japanese.
By the way, can anyone else see the pictures I'm posting? I can see them when I view my page from my computer, but Yukiko can't see them from work. When I use a computer at my school they just appear as red x's. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.
I was a bit less romantic after dinner as I settled in to watch the K-1 kickboxing tournament on TV. A really small Muay Thai fighter from Thailand beat up on everyone and swept the tournament. He was very impressive.
Even though my classes are finished I still had to go to school and calculate my students grades. I definitely don't like the way students are graded in Japan. Everyone is marked on the bell curve. Top marks only go to 1 or 2 students, and 1 or 2 are guranteed bottom marks. So in a class of geniuses half of the students will still get poor grades. In a class of idiots half the students will get excellent grades. The worst thing about this system is that it provides nearly no motivation for students to improve. If there is 1 really good student in a class then it is certain that she or he will get the lone top score. If you know you can't pass that student then there is no need to make any extra effort.
Last night Yukiko and I and my friend Dan went out for some dinner and to see the latest Harry Potter movie. We all enjoyed it but it's a little confusing if you haven't read the book, which Yukiko hasn't. So Dan and I were trying to remember the details in the book to answer her questions. A quick side note: after seeing all the adverts for this movie in Japan I learned the word and Chinese Kanji for prisoner. It's very easy to remember, it's the symbol of a man trapped in a box. I love user-friendly Japanese.
By the way, can anyone else see the pictures I'm posting? I can see them when I view my page from my computer, but Yukiko can't see them from work. When I use a computer at my school they just appear as red x's. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.
posted by Jason at 10:31 AM
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