Education is arbitrary: what we learn is arbitrary; how we learn is arbitrary; whether we learn is arbitrary. This was something I suspected as a student and have had fully confirmed for me while on the other side of the chalk board. To put forward a very obvious example, there’s the seating plan. Quite…
I’m not a student, that much is certain; but I’m also not really a teacher. I’m like Gollum– technically not part of either side, useful to both if controlled correctly, but too unpleasant to keep on long-term and liable to dance weirdly when he gets his way. The No-Man’s-Land nature of my job became…
lords of the past that rue the day flowers that blossom for today enjoying the seasons as they rise and set times and feelings of those you’ve met ride on the petals carried in wind recorded, kept, enfolded. begin spin & spin as the cycle turns soul, darkness & light adjourn swords…
Game   An active interest or pursuit, especially one involving competitive engagement or adherence to rules. Three Card Monte is a confidence trick that originates from the turn of the 15th century and is, ostensibly, an easy chance to make quick money. The dealer, or shill, in the local parlance, usually aided and…
 Much like Buffy before me, I’ve decided to split my Graduation episode in two. Also, to bring a stake to school.  At time of writing (about three weeks before time of publishing, if you’re interested, which I know you’re not), I have just finished watching my third year JHS students graduate. I…
By the time you see this, gentle readers, the third years will have graduated and the school year will be over. Unless you’re exclusively an ES ALT at which point, the sixth years will have graduated and the school year will be over; also have a drink on me, you must be exhausted. …
Since I came to Japan, I’ve had people back home ask me “How are you finding it?†and I reply “Amazing! I’m earning the most money I have in my life.†This is meant to be a slight bit of tongue-in-cheek bathos but there is some truth to it– part of the reason I like…
 Onsen: a short history.  暇ã¤ã¶ã—（ã²ã¾ã¤ã¶ã—）is a Japanese word whose meaning, as a JET, is probably extremely familiar to you by now. It literally translates to “crushed time,†and is the Japanese equivalent of our “killing time.†In my case, killing time at work usually involves drinking copious amounts of coffee that comes in wee…
A friend recently told me that I was “so like Byron.†I tried to puzzle out what she meant: A prolific poet? A notorious bisexual? A major theme in a work by Tom Stoppard? All are applicable to me, but I imagine, given the context of the conversation in which we were engaged, she…