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{ 2008 03 13 }

Dead Man Walking

I’m not dead, but I feel like it.

It’s been a long several weeks. Last week in particular was rough, as I had to visit elementary schools every day. Now, I don’t know how many of you can appreciate what I’m about to say, but it’s the god’s honest truth.

Little kids are life sucking vampires that will drain you of every ounce of energy you possess and leave you a withered, empty husk.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the little punks. It’s great fun teaching them… except when, well, they’re punks, but still. Kids are kids, so certain things are to be expected. Constant, endless movement? Check. Deafening shrieking at the drop of a hat? Check. Inexplicable odors? Check. My classes running long and only having a minute of rest at best in between? Check.

Frankly, I think it’s a miracle I’m still alive. I don’t think I’ve ever been that exhausted before in my life. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever had that much fun working before in my life either, so it balances out.

—

I also still have this English conversation thing going on, though that’s fun for an entirely different reason. Elementary school kids are great fun because of the silly things that they do. Adults, understandably, provide a more mature form of humor.

During last week’s intermediate class, we were conducting a short debate activity. The students were paired up and asked to discuss an issue, with each person assigned to support one particular side. The goal was to promote discussion, as well as teach certain phrases which might be useful during a real discussion or debate.

One of the topics in question was, “Who has more power in Japan: men or women?” The ones arguing for men were pretty straightforward, but the arguments supporting women were… interesting, I thought. See for yourself:

  • Women are more powerful because men give all their money to their wives.
  • Women are more powerful because the Japanese women’s volleyball team won at the Olympics (???)
  • Women are more powerful because they can cry and make their husbands do what they want.
  • Women are more powerful because they outlive their husbands.
  • Women are more powerful because if their husband dies, they can live much longer. When wives die, the widowed husband dies much sooner (apparently there are statistics supporting this, but I’m reluctant to confirm).
  • Women are more powerful because the Japanese people were born from the tears of the Sun Goddess, not the Sun God. (again, ???)
  • Women are more powerful because they can divorce their husbands after they retire and take half their pension (apparently this has happened enough that there’s actually a word for this kind of wife, though I forgot it. Again, I am reluctant to confirm).

    • Yes, these are my students.

    Posted by John on Thursday, March 13, 2008, at 10:22 pm. Filed under John's Posts. Tagged , , . Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. You can post a comment or trackback from your blog.

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