they actually SLEEP in class
You know those stories we've all been fed about Japan's state-of-the-art, shockingly-strict, hyper-efficient, highly-advanced schools.
I'm calling Bullshit, here and now.
Some days I walk around campus, and I see no one with a backpack. Sure, everyone around me will have a designer purse, and a cute bento tote - but nothing you could practically transport books in. BECAUSE THEY DON'T USE BOOKS! Per usual, I have found the intellects of the school, and the braininacs are my friends - so most anyone you've heard me talk about in my blog is a rare exception to the blatant laziness that permeates the Japanese school system.
Japan "constitutionally guarantees" education to all students, which means that teachers are not legally allowed to kick a student out of class no matter how rude or ignorant they are. This results in students freely talking - not whispering - through the entire class. There are times I cannot hear my professors. On the first day of classes, girls sitting in the front row, sprawled their arms across the desks, put their heads down and unabashedly slept just a few feet from the professor. Last week, 11 students were sleeping in my class 35 minutes into the period, the class only has 23 people. That's just shy of half the class, taking a post-lunch nap.
I know what you're thinking, I must be on vacation here, right? There is an exception to every rule... As the token "exchange student" I am held to a much higher standard. If I so much as yawn in on of my three hour language classes, my teacher proceeds to ask me what time I went to bed, then stops the lesson to tell me (in front of the entire class) I need to get more rest and prioritize my class performance. She'll inevitably go on to ask me how many hours I studies the night before. Usually, the honest answer is about three or four. No matter what I say though, she'll always say, "Really, three hours? Four would have been better." WTF. Not fair. Next time I'm just going to say "twenty-four hours. I spent the past twenty-four consecutive hours doing nothing but worshiping your language." But it wouldn't be worth it, because sarcasm just doesn't translate cross culturally, and "Twenty-five probably would have been better."
posted by Mo @ 8:22 AM
2 Comments:
Do you find that the 'extra-focus' your receive is sarcastic, aggressive or just matter of fact?
The extra focus is, just as the name implies. My learning experience is just drastically intensified beyond that of a normal student. There is no way - no way - I could ever go a day without being one of the most (if not the most) active participants in my classes. In my intigrated classes (as oppose to my language courses, which could be considered private lessons for all intents and purposes) the teachers will ALWAYS call on me. This is because they want "the American/foreigner perspective." This happens for two reasons 1) Japanese students are taught at an early age that class participation in negative, having an opinion is worse, and disagreeing with the teacher or another student is the worst act one can commit in a classroom, short of homicide. So the profs call on me becuase I have been socialized differently - I particpate, imagine that. And 2)Because I stand out in the crowd - at least they know my name, I'm the only white chick, how could they not? So... Imagine my classes are intense and draining - but I am having a great learning expereince. Two heads to every coin I guess.
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