June 17th Last Blog Entry...?

Sooo I guess this is my last blog entry...
this is probably going to be one of those really cheezy blogs where i just go on and on about how much I love my stream people...just to warn you beforehand

anyways, i remember the first day of ELA. I was extremely nervous because I honestlyhonestly never in a million years, thought i would be in stream 1. so i just automatically thought these stream 1 kids would be intimidating and beat me up mentally. haha
but no, they didn't. they welcomed me and not only did they accept me but they also respected me which made me feel so 'at home.'
the first discussion, i think i was with moe, johnny, megu and haruka. i remember being so nervous i almost couldnt say anything. buttt as discussions inevitably became a daily part of my life, i got used to it day by day. i know i say this quite a lot but the environment i was in, in the stream 1 classroom was completely different from the one i had in my returnee program in high school. these stream 1 kids are trulytruly special. they represent youth and also a loudloud voice; everything that is pretty much needed in this country. i genuinely think that these people have the potential of making a change in this country or wherever.

Now,
Rab, thank you so much for the most fulfilling 3 months i probably have ever had in my entire life. You taught us to doubt almost every single thing that exists, to not just sit there and accept everything that's been given to you but to actually go and fetch for the information. we all love you so much and i know this isnt the end...like really this isnt the end cause im taking your class in the winter.haha

i really am going to miss ELA with the mac rooms and funky fridays and all its glory.
best semester...
by the way these are the photos we took yesterday! i smell a new screen saverr.aha

as green day said it,
'I had the time of my life...'

Corporation 4-6

First of all, the way chapter 4 started up was excruciatingly painful to read. I mean I bet it is normal for corporations to think about profits even during a tragic event but still, it was shocking. Even during the 311 earthquake, a lot of people who werent affected probably thought only about stocks, gold and what not. This all reminded me a lot of the movie 'Wall Street' with Charlie Sheen(before he went crazy) and Michael Douglas. If you watch the movie, you can actually see how the money moves behind the public eye and there's this quote, a bit long but fits the situation perfectly.

"The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it. You've got that killer instinct. Stick around pal, I've still got a lot to teach you."*1

In the last chapter, it says that corporations were 'originally conceived as a public institution whose purpose was to serve national interests and advance the public good.' This made me laugh a bit because I couldnt imagine a world where corporations-the HEAD of money making, being good. BUTTTTTT, then again, if i think back on Koji's presentation, there might be. 

I think all of this teaches us that corporations dont have to be all bad and caught up in this capitalistic world. They have a choice of doing good but prioritize their interests over the people, just like any dictator would to save his own country. As long as the market, the people keep quiet then none of this will ever change. Recognition, is probably the most important thing. 

All in all, this book was a very stimulating one. I think I want to watch the movie once more though.haha

*1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/quotes

June 17th Presentation Timeeee

So the last group left was Yusuke, Maki and Izumi.
All presentations were interesting, but I gotta say, Izumi's got to me the most. It just might be because I personally am interested in photography but Izumi's was the first and only presentation that I felt like changed me or should I say, my outlook on photography. All of the other presentations that were given throughout the past couple of days were good but the thing is, after I hear the topic/argument, the content of the presentation never really contributed on influencing me...it's hard to explain but after you listen to a topic and the presenter's opinion on it, you(listener) construct your own argument and then you listen to the whole of the presentation hoping that it will influence your original stance. I feel like Izumi's was the one that successfully did this. I still don't understand what it was that made this possible but I'm guessing it was the way she spoke...it seemed as if she wasn't trying to remember the content of a cheat sheet but rather simply trying to deliver a message. It's scary how much the audience can interpret this.
Next up was Kristi. I am so glad that she got to give her presentation. She explained very well how the Koto works and how it is a too often neglected instrument. I was very well convinced to the point that I actually started wanting to play it.haha
although i do wished she wouldve given a bit more detail on why she thinks Koto's lost its popularity since that's her main argument not how the koto works.

Rab also mentioned today that we should say in the beginning of the presentation why people should be convinced by your argument and such.
It was such an experience having presentation classes with Rab but I don't feel content. I am definitely taking the presentation classes in the winter!

June 14th Am I a Psychopath?

Another day of presentations,,,

So the first group was Koji, Masamune, Takumi and Robyn. 

Man Koji is so good at this. He basically went against Rab's idea of corporations and first of all, I think that was a very brave thing to do. Second, even though Koji gave a number of convincing ideas,  my stance towards corporations have yet to change. It would definitely be great if we could use corporations for the better of developing countries but reality is, corporations are taking advantage of those opportunities. I'm not a specialist in this field so I can't say much but. 

Next it was Masamune! It was interesting to listen to Masamune's presentation since I am completely opposed to the olympics being held in Japan. If the olympics were to be held in Japan, I can only a train jam packed with people...as if it weren't crowded enough already. I wanted to ask Masamune a question, but due to time constraints, I couldn't. Anyways, my question was what Masamune thought of the lack of enthusiasm towards the olympics amongst the people.

Takumi and Robyn both had similar topics.  Not to be sexist or anything but it was reallyreally nice to hear a guy talk about women empowerment, especially because I feel really close to this topic. Robyn's video really spoke to me as well. I absolutely hate it when people say to me, 'don't worry about jobs, you're a girl' which is quite often since I live in Japan. People sometimes think the fight for the equality between the sexes are over but it's not. We need more people like Takumi and Robyn to actually take on this critical issue. 

The next group was Narumi and Kenta...Man I love these two. They made me laugh without even trying. 

Narumi's topic was so interesting, especially the point that 1 in 100 people are psychopaths. The thing I realized here was that not psychopaths are criminals. No matter what kind of childhood they might have had, there has to be a trigger within the society that makes these psychopaths transverse into a criminal. Narumi is amazing. Her personality is just..<3!haha

Next up and last one of the day was Kenta. I always thought that the link between personality traits and blood types was completely absurd, but that might have been because I was 'B.' The relations with the ratio of blood types in Japan and the personality traits was very interesting. It's interesting to hear the decent of what is being told to this day.

Anyways,I can't wait till monday but then again its the last class of ela and im not ready for that yet. 

Jun 12th Art, Dance, Food and Animalssss

So today was our session DOS for presentations!
Boy, are the people in 1A good with presentations. My high school had a returnee program and were, I guess you could say enthusiastic in giving presentations, speeches and all of those public speaking opportunities so we did have a fair amount of times where we actually had to speak in front of a crowd. However, with all do respect towards my high school, the standards are completely different from the kids in 1A. The huge element that sets the line between the 1A kids and my high school is CONFIDENCE. Everyone is so confident when giving presentations. I mean, they could be hiding their nerves but even if they were, they are doing a heck of a good job on it.

I reallyreally liked the way Megumi talked with such poise and confidence. She seemed so sure of what she was saying that it drew the audience's attention to her. It would be great to have dancing in education but as Megumi said, a lot of the teachers would indeed get intimidated by children who are actually learning dancing. It's like the Japanese teachers who teach English in front of returnees.
Hitomi,,,wow Hitomi. They way she presented was so professional. Her presentation was based on so much data that I was actually convinced of her argument to make arts a compulsory education. However, I do not know if the government are willing to change anything.
I loved Yuca's topic. I think the way Yuca presented the topic made it much more relevant to the audience with her use of words and pictures to put on the slide. I personally hate the ordinary zoos that have animals locked up in cages. It just seems so wrong and 'unnatural.' Her point about how we were only seeing one aspect of the wild really spoke to me.
Moeka, I loved the first slide pic she had. hehe
I really do think the services in Japan are better than the ones in America but as Moeka pointed out, the difference in culture may reflect this result a lot. The thing I feel when I go to fast food restaurants in America is that I feel like every service is for a tip. I know I am completely biased but I just feel that way somehow. Then you have services in Japan where you get to see lovely  employees like this,,,

Haru,,I really liked the video she had. It was very thought provoking and convincing. She had so much control of what she wanted to say that I could tell that she was well prepared!
Anyways, I totally agree with her point that everyone is responsible for the accelerating obesity rates. This made me recall the time when a girl sued Mcdonalds for her obesity. It seems ludicrous but then again, you can't blame her for feeling that way...


The one important thing I realized today when delivering a speech is that you cannot forget to make your main point. Sometimes, you get caught up in the content of the argument that you forget the premise and the point because in the end, you're giving a speech in order to make a point.
I can't wait to hear others' speeches on Friday!

June 11th Rab's Review on Yesterday's Presentations

Listening to Rab's review on yesterday's presentations made me realize just how much I underestimated the standards of giving presentations. It was especially great to hear Rab's intricate review on my own presentation.
Today, I finally realized what a slideshow actually was for. Before, I had simply thought it was a tool to   help the presenter emphasize points and maybe add a few photos to visualize the talks. However, it is muchmuch more than that. By using slideshows, you can actually control how the audience perceive your whole presentation. From the dopamines to the contrasts, there are so many methods to make your presentation stand out from the crowd and make a point. I mean, lets get real here. Nobody would eagerly choose to sit down for 30 minutes just to listen to the same person talk and talk and talk,,,but with just a bit of a touch in your slides and the way you talk, you'll be able to turn that situation all around. People would start wanting to listen to your presentations. I mean, I listen to presentations on TED not because I should but because I want to, because it's interesting.
I should probably start watching more videos on presentations to learn my skills.

I also can't wait to start taking Rab's presentation courses in the winter term.

June 10th PRESENTATIONS #1

Before class, some of my classmates were extremely nervous about the presentations but for me, I had this confidence that came out from no where that our group would not be chosen. butt, surprise surprise we were the ones chosen. I guess it was good that I never predicted it would be our group since it cut off a lot of time that would have been consumed on being nervous.
The first group that came up on stage was Megu, Moe, Johnny and Take. All of the members of this group had individual strong points. I really liked Take's video because that was very original and something that would surely bring the viewers' attention. Though, Joki probably stole the whole show. Apart from the fact that he probably naturally has the charisma, he was also very confident and was so sure about what he wanted to say. Most importantly though, he was passionate about his topic. I think passion is sososo important when giving a presentation because no one would want to listen to you if you didn't seem that interested in the topic.
As for me, I think I was too much in a rush. Practice is so important because it really does show in your presentation.

Now that I've handed in my essay and finished my presentation, all I'm feeling is relieved...
I can't wait to start listening to other people's presentations without having to worry if I'm going next:)

p.s.
our group consists of joki, kristi and me. Kristi was sick so couldn't give her presentation but her views on the deterioration of Koto music would have truly been intriguing.

Corporation Chapter 1-3

Although the book was more detailed than the film, I preferred the film since it was a lot easier to relate  with visualizations.
 Anyways, the first three chapters taught me how difficult it is to actually construct morals and principles in corporations. Even if the corporations did have certain restraints in themselves, as written in the book, they cannot sacrifice their interests or their shareholders' interests. This reminded me of the 'The Body Shop' story, Rab shared with us the other day. Even though The Body Shop advocates no animal testings, by letting Loreal take hold of the company, that principle will totally contradict its situation since Loreal does conduct animal testings. This is somewhat similar to what Disney does. Although I do love Disney Land and I am well aware of my contradicts , personally I think Disney is one of the darkest and contradictory companies that exist today. Disney is all about the kids, well at least that's what they say. They have cartoons, stuffed animals and create this magical happy kingdom. However, what a lot of people don't know is that Disney has so many sweatshops in third world countries. There are actually small children who should be in school, making these Disney merchandises. Just recently, Selena Gomez, a disney star signed something(I don't know much about the details) with Adidas, another company notorious for its sweatshops. We can see the connection that exists there.

source: http://www.zcommunications.org/disney-blooper-reel-by-barry-deutsch

Mcdonalds as well. They say aloud that they donate a bunch of their money to a children's hospital when in reality, they are the ones selling a load of crap food that actually contributes to manymany sicknesses. (It's funny cause I was actually reading the corporation at Mcdonalds the other day.haha)

Corporations have no morals or principles because their actions are based on how much profit they get...Someone(I forgot who) said during a discussion the other day that the corporations' religion was money. I couldn't agree more. They don't care about us or our healths...
However, as stated in the book, the law contributes to the actions of corporations a whole lot. The only way to change the situation is to change the law and to change the law, we need a majority of people to become aware of the situation.

Old Man and the Sea Lecture Review

The lecture on the Old Man and the Sea was far more interesting than I had initially expected.
 Every time I read a good book, I would search on the internet for an analysis to broaden my perspectives and understanding but sometimes I find things like,,,'the blue curtains represent the character's immense sadness' and I'm just there going, 'no it does not.'
It is impossible to truly understand the author's true motives when he or she was writing the novel. However, Paul's lecture today taught me that we don't need to do that. All we can do as readers is just gather up all of the information that we can and 'imagine' what the author's incentives were...again, it certainly might not be accurate but will allow you to make your own version of the book.

The most interesting point to me throughout the lecture was the contrast between Hemingway's struggle as a father and son and the characters in the book. As explained in the lecture, Hemingway's father committed suicide and Hemingway regretted not being there for him. At the same time, Hemingway was a father to three sons and because Hemingway knew that he was not a good father, he experienced an extreme inflict. These personal facts that can easily be paralleled to the relationship between Santiago and Manolin make the whole concept of the book seem so much more real, raw and relevant.
On the other hand, Paul talked about how Santiago was a symbol of Jesus Christ. I do not have anything against Christianity of course but I have a major disliking for when Jesus Christ is involved in the parallel of books. It just makes the book seem so unoriginal and based on the bible.

Paul told us to read the book aloud next time. According to him, the book is not just a book but a poem itself. I could tell from the way he talks about the book that Paul absolutely loves Hemingway and this book as well.

The way we interpret every book is so different. However, that's one of the best bits of literature, we get to make our own little story. I hope to include at least one book by Hemingway for our summer reading!

June 4th A Look into the Future

 Although today's LLA lecture was not by Rab, it was veryveryvery interesting.

The development of technology has allowed us to achieve things we'd never even dreamed of in the past. Even the iMac I am using right now in order to write this blog used to be as huge as one that would almost fit in the crappy room we use for wednesday classes. Just like computers, inventions allow us to live a more efficient and convenient life. However, at the same time some of these inventions and developments may end up becoming a total threat to our lives. For instance, we are mortal. That's our most human trait. However, if scientists start coming up with a way to live forever or a way to cure all diseases then I think the whole issue becomes a bit tricky. Indeed it would be amazing if we could cure all diseases but speaking as a person who's lost a loved one to cancer, defying death seems like you're defying the fact that you're human.  I don't even understand why I feel that way so it's rather difficult to explain but basically what I am trying to say is that at some point, all of these inventions will lead to a world where we are denying and defying our most human ways. 

The whole lecture reminded me of a movie I watched a long time ago. It was called 'Bicentennial Man.' 

The main character is a robot who is destined to live forever. However, when he witnesses all of his loved ones dying, he lastly decided to break his chord or something to end his 'life.' 

I think the future lies on whether we will be able to think before we act. When nuclear was invented we couldn't think that it would have the power to kill so many people at once. We weren't thinking. If we are able to predict and be critical thinkers as much as we are able to invent then the future will be a lot brighter than Francis Fukuyama and Bill joy make it out to be.

http://www.usrepresented.com/2013/02/01/are-you-for-or-against-future/

June 3rd Afternoon Class:)

Okay so second ELA class of the dayyy
 The reasons for why George W. Bush didn't have to go to Vietnam was absolutely ridiculous but understandable at the same time. This is why the politicians are pro-war. They don't have to pay the compensations, the people do. Of course it would be easy for them to start a war when they don't have to watch their sons go to war...
The most interesting discussion we had today was probably on the girl fight that started during the soccer game. Personally I think that the girl who started punching the other girl was not herself at the time. Of course that can never be an excuse for getting physical with another player even in sports but when you're in the heat of the moment, sometimes the player may feel as if she was possessed because she was so concentrated in the game. Just like when you're in a mentally unstable state and you kill someone, in court you are not charged with the full responsibility. The soccer game incident is very similar. There is no questioning(at least for me) that the girl should be accused of assault but at the same time,  I think her sentence should be less harsh for she does not deserve to be accused of full responsibility of her actions...
Another point that was brought up during this discussion was the fact that people were getting less and less violent through time. A long time ago, it was almost natural for a teacher to punish lazy students with sticks. However, they don't do that anymore or at least that's not allowed anymore.

Like Rab said in the end of class, politics is not just about war. It involves our daily lives as well. The issues are closer to us than we may think.

June 3rd Morning Class

Discussions, discussions, discussions:)
The video we watched about the urine testing conducted or should i say, should have been conducted was horrible. That video actually shows everything that is wrong with the japanese government.
All of the bureaucrats have their own specializations and never actually have an idea of the whole picture. It is like branches that are never connected to one tree. The people know only about their field and nothing about what goes on around them. This is probably why they couldn't answer any of the questions asked by the furious parents.
Also, (my) Johnny pointed out that these bureaucrats who knew nothing about the situation were sent to Fukushima on purpose. This is apparently for a fact since Johnny's father knows about this stuff.
This is all absolutely ludicrous. Just like one of the parents said, even the Soviet Union made their people evacuate places during the Chernobyl disaster. Japan makes itself out to be a democratic country when in reality it is just a country driven by capitalism and controlled by a corrupted government.
Another thing, why was this not on the news? I mean, you can clearly see in the footage that there is a man with a professional camera and microphone...why didn't they air it on national television? The more you think deeply into the situation, the more you realize how undemocratic this country really is and how money runs it more than the people.

Next we watched different videos of people doing the most dangerous things anyone could possibly imagine. It's weird to think that because these people practiced so much and they're so used to it that they have no fear towards their actions. Just like Rab said, I guess the same thing could be said towards our writings. If we practice and practice, our standards may become higher and higher than the ones we had before.

May 31st FUNKY FRIDAY

Today was funky friday. oh yeaaa!
We had a discussion on biases and I think it was Take who pointed out that whether the idea was neutral or not, it would still be bias because trying to be neutral would not change the fact that it has a bias stance on being neutral. So I guessed, nothing in this universe was actually neutral but then I thought, hey what about statistics? They're just numbers how can that not be neutral? Then Masamune pointed out to me that choosing which material to take on is bias itself. I agreed with this idea. The only thing different about being bias and trying to be neutral is that the one trying to be neutral is boring whist the biased opinion challenges our minds to agree or disagree.

Next we discussed how the government can make filters to stop corporations from polluting the environment as well as harming the health of the people. Just like Koji said, we need a majority of the people to actually understand the situation and also feel passionate enough to let them make the government take action.
The videos Rab showed us today had that kind of effect I think. The video I found most intriguing by Free Range Studios was the one called 'Backwards Hamburger.' Although I am not a full on vegetarian, I am passionate about the way animals are treated before they are served on our plates...sorry that kind of sounded a bit too realistic.
Anyways, I watched this video by PETA I think it was, a long time ago. The video was called 'Meet Your Meat. ' The video actually shows footage of animals being brutally harmed in barns. This is why I choose not to eat meat at Mcdonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken. The other meat or dairy products in supermarkets as well probably go through a similar process just like the recent horse meat scandal in the UK but Mcdonalds and KFC are just two of the worst. Times like these, I really respect religion in other countries. I think it was a Muslim culture to pray towards the animals before they kill them. I respect this so much and hope Japan would do the same; if not at least treat the animals with a little bit more respect. This is not just for the animals but for the healths of us, humans as well.

Anyways, I think Japan should start using the power of the internets to send messages as well. We are reallyreally behind in this cyber territory.