I'm keeping an eye on this one. Teacher Ramblings

This reminds me of when I used to be in credential school. I was trying to balance student-teaching and a part-time job, university work for my own credentials and high school work from kids. Then, when I got my first teaching job... oh the hell and stress!!!! Suddenly, credential school seemed easier.

I'm so glad I'm done with credential school, but the experience was exhilarating. I would never do it again though. (^_^)I'm glad I'm a teacher now who is getting more experience as I keep teaching.

Testing Friendships

Once in a while, I get these chain emails from people I haven't heard from in years. It's great to get emails from people you think you lost contact with, but a chain email??? Why a chain email? Why not something of a personal touch to let people know that you thought of them? Instead, I get this chain email with tons of >>>>> marks, which gives me an idea of how many times that email was sent around. It's like getting a "used" email. Do I feel special? No.

The chain emails I hate the most are the ones where you have to send it back to the person who sent it to you. That's someone's cheap way of testing if you are a friend or not. I think people like that are just insecure about losing their friends. Sometimes I think they are still stuck in this high school mentality, where the more friends you have, the more popular you feel because you know that many people. They want to find their email's INBOX full of replies from all the people they sent that email to and feel loved because so many people do care about them.

Not.

Don't get me wrong. There are some of those emails I do actually reply to because they are from people who I keep regular contact with: via email, via phone, via letters, by hanging out, by having lunch, by working. When I get emails from those people, I do reply. But emails from old friends who have become strangers to me, I automatically click on DELETE. I'm not here to provide a brief "self-esteem" fix. Get a life.

I'm All For This!

Playing Dirty in the War on Plagiarism

We should have dirty little papers for the high school level curriculum so we can bait the teenager plagiarists as well.

*august23 does her evil teacher laugh*

This is scary.

Toxic Flame Retardant Found in Breast Milk

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several American mothers nursing their infants had high levels of potentially toxic flame retardant chemicals in their breastmilk, a U.S. environmental group said on Tuesday."

"The chemicals are bromine-based fire retardants and are used in a wide range of products including furniture, computers, television sets, automobiles, copy machines and hair dryers to make them less likely to catch fire. They can build up in the body over years."

via Yahoo! News.

Now I Understand

When I first saw "Bram Stoker's Dracula" by Francis Ford Coppola, I actually thought it was slightly boring. It wasn't horrific as I hoped it would be. I read the book back in junior high, which means I forgot a whole bunch of stuff when I actually saw the movie. Post-viewing, I read the book over, and my feeling was, "Ugh... the movie was way off." No wonder I was bored.

I know that Hollywood always distorts things to make them more interesting for their audience, but a decent bloodfest would have been just as good rather than promoting the idea that vampirism, especially in Dracula, is erotic; there was nothing erotic in that book. You want erotic? Read Anne Rice.

I wanted to see a movie that depicted Dracula in his horrific nature, as the book intended. But if I can't get a decent movie, maybe I'll get to read a decent comic. Thank the heavens for comics!

While surfing, I came upon this: Poppy Z. Brite's LiveJournal. I find it definitely cool that a popular writer like her has time to write in a personal livejournal.

Ever watch The Actor's Studio? A bunch of acting students get to sit and talk to a famous actor and ask him/her about their acting experiences and methodologies and practices. As someone who likes to read and write, reading a weblog or livejournal from a known author is like The Actor's Studio for me. I get to see what they write about, and actually look at their writing style-- all the way to the grammar and punctuation and semantics. Not that I am dissecting their words and meaning, but seeing it all together is like seeing a work of art. Break it down and see if I can learn anything new, too.

I wonder if Anne Rice has a blog or livejournal?

Remembering

Yesterday, while watching TV, I came upon a newshow that replayed footage of commemoration ceremonies of September 11th. It still shocks me to this day when I see old footage of that fateful day... of planes crashing, of people falling, and of towers burning and crumbling. I still cry when I think about it too much. And even seeing just commemoration ceremonies was too much. I sat in my living room and started crying all over again.

I still ask, "How can someone do this to my country? How can someone's blind faith see death and murder as a good thing?" I never felt so much hate, anger, and pain in one day.

It is still hard to even express my emotions. It has been two years since that day, but not a day goes by when I don't think about the world we live in now. I love my country even more for pulling together, for finding strength with their fellow Americans, and I know that we'll get through this together.

That which doesn't kill our American spirit will only make the American dream that much stronger.

I was reading the Japan Times, and I found a small article regarding Barbie dolls. Here's a snippet:

"RIYADH (AP) Saudi Arabia's religious police have declared Barbie dolls a threat to morality, complaining the revealing clothes of the "Jewish" toy--banned in the kingdom--are offensive to Islam."

The tiny article continues, explaining that the Saudi Religious Police have a website (in Arabic), and one poster said this:

"Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures... are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers."

Since I couldn't find the link in the Japan Times website, I did a search and found a similar article.

Fat People and Their Fat Pets

"In tests where animals were allowed to eat whenever they wanted, cats ate smaller meals, more often, than dogs. Cats ate 12 to 20 meals, spread out through day and night, while dogs ate seven or eight times, mostly in daytime."

When my family first got a dog, we read that feeding it twice a day was enough. This is a shame.

via Yahoo! News.

Obesity Is A Choice

"NEW YORK - For a second time this year, a federal judge threw out a class-action lawsuit Thursday that blamed McDonald's for making people fat."

When I read this, all I can think of is how stupid people are for even coming up with this lawsuit--and for the second time! The issue is not that "McDonald's food causes health problems in children" or McDonald's violation of "consumer protection laws and engaged in deceptive advertising," it's about the lack of common sense that people have that they have to ask a court to help protect them from unhealthy fast-food. Just because there are packs of cigarettes in stores doesn't mean you have to buy them.

"In his earlier ruling, Sweet [the ruling judge] said consumers cannot blame McDonald's if they choose to eat there. 'If a person knows or should know that eating copious orders of supersized McDonald's products is unhealthy and may result in weight gain ... it is not the place of the law to protect them from their own excesses,' Sweet wrote at the time."

Good ruling! If you don't want to get fat, just don't eat there! If you don't eat there, you will never have to complain about unhealthy fast-food. If you don't complain about unhealthy fast-food, taxpayers would never have to pay for frivilous lawsuits to help other stupid consumers.

Practice common sense, people!

via Yahoo! News.

Bothersome Spam

Everytime I check my email, the folder with the spam and junk mail gets bigger and bigger when the page refreshes. That is so irksome.

A friend of mine once described what his telemarketing job was like: "I call people up, but no one really wants to talk to telemarketers, so it feels that I all I did was disturb them."

Why don't marketers see that spam is the same thing? It's just junk that takes up space, and no one ever reads them anyway. Why bother still sending them?

Happy Birthday from UCSD

It was my birthday recently. Check out this email letter I get from the old alma mater:

"UCSD wishes you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! As another year has passed so quickly, we would like to share some big changes that have happened on our campus.

This past fall, the UCSD community expanded on both undergraduate and graduate levels to include students for the new Sixth College and the School of Pharmacy. Sixth College opened its doors to an entering freshman class of approximately 250 students. Sixth College features the Culture, Art, and Technology (CAT) sequence that integrates learning in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and science and engineering.

The new School of Pharmacy accepted its first class of 25 Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.) students and plans to increase student enrollment at a steady rate of 60 students per class by 2005. The School of Pharmacy is a great addition to the health-sciences professional education offered here at UCSD.

We also anticipate the opening of the Graduate Management School, offering a Masters in Business Administration, in the Fall of 2004.

Now that we have shared a little bit of what has been going on here at UCSD, we would love to hear what you have been up to this past year. Please keep in touch by replying to this email or by clicking over to http://alumni.ucsd.edu/update/index.asp?millid=0100017344&name=XXXXXXX, or feel free to update us via our toll-free number at 1-888-UCSD-785.

We at UCSD hope you have an amazing year. Thank you and once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

External Relations
University of California, San Diego

Yeah. I was greatly moved that my university really wanted to wish me a heartfelt birthday.

*XXXXXXX=modified to protect ID

Paradox

I read this article and I'm puzzled. I first heard about the rape case when I read about it in the Japan Times back in June. A 19-year old woman was sexually assaulted in Okinawa by a U.S. serviceman. So many things went through my mind, from feminism, anger and hate for all men, sexist and cultural oppression, and international relations. As a woman, it sickens me when I hear and read about rape cases. It's violation, plain and simple. It's an act of violent aggression that cannot ever be justified. Unlike a murder case, the act of killing can be an act of unjustified rage, or it can be an act of self-defense. In a case that involves sex, the act is done by consent by two willing individuals. Rape is a violation of sexual rights and human rights. Raping a woman is the same as saying that a woman has no rights whatsoever. I immediately hated the man who could do such a thing, and I was even more disappointed when I learned that he was a U.S military serviceman, Lance Corporal Jose Torres of the Marines. 

There are many stereotypes of military personnel that describe them as having insatiable sexual needs. If you think about the history of military bases around the world, especially around Asia, prostitution rose where bases were founded: Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. Areas like these only add to the stereotype of "horny sailors," and sexual interaction between individuals who have language barriers can be misinterpreted. Jose Torres did the opposite of breaking the "lusty military-man" stereotype; he only added to it. The residents of Okinawa already hate the presence of the military because of its long history of sexual assaults and other military accidents. Given these incidents, the relationship between the U.S. military and the Okinawans is highly sensitive, and Jose Torres only added more fuel to the fire. 

Many Americans are proud of the U.S. military. There are so many slogans about the pride of serving in the military. It advertises honor and perfection with its straight, clean cut image of soldiers. When I read about Jose Torres, I thought, "What a dishonor, what a disgrace." Not only that, he committed this act at a very crucial time: during the war on Iraq. Iraq and other non-supporters hate the U.S. and its military. They cry that American troops are evil. You think that American troops would watch their backs and watch their steps at a time like this, so that they don't make the U.S. look any worse than it is. American troops stationed out in foreign countries represent America, and it's the same for civilian travelers and tourists. When you step into another country, whether you want to or not, you represent your country and its culture. Someone is always going to ask about it. American troops are the same, but they have a heavier responsibility because they also represent the government. 

In the midst of war as the military is fighting Iraq, Jose Torres rapes a Japanese woman. Although it is the act of just one man, he represents the U.S. military and government, contributes to tarnishing stereotypes rather than maintaining a pristine image, violates a woman's human and sexual rights, breaks laws in another country... and people wonder why the U.S. is the most hated country in the world? Just because the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world does not mean its individual soldiers should exercise that power freely by breaking laws in foreign countries. It reeks of "imperialism" and cultural oppression. We hate the word "imperialism," but many people will read this as just that. What gives one man the right to rape a woman? Did it ever occur to him that he was breaking a law in another country? Did Jose Torres think that "I'm an American and I know my rights!" would bail him out of this? When you break a law in a foreign country, there is that strong possibility that you will be subject to that country's laws, no matter how much the U.S. might intervene. Did any one learn from Michael Fay's public caning in Singapore (and that was just for vandalism)? 

Japanese prosecutors are out to get Torres, and as much as I would love to see him get tried in the hands of the Japanese justice system, I don't fully trust the hypocrisy of the Japanese justice system. Japanese society is still primitive with its male dominant ideas. Sexual assaults are blamed primarily on the victim and the suspect serves only a light punishment that most victims describe as nothing more than a "slap on the wrist." If a Japanese man were to rape a Japanese woman, you never hear much about it because the victim is told that it was her fault. She is persuaded not to press charges and that she will learn to cope and move on with her life. As for their assailant, a light sentence and a pep talk. The Japanese are inconsistent when handling their own sexual assault cases that I find it hypocritical of them to suddenly want to prosecute Jose Torres with full force. I do hope that he will be discharged him from the military (without honor), and that he serves time in prison--whether in an American one or a Japanese one. All the better if it were a Japanese prison, so he will know how his rights have been violated. 

Read: Okinawa Nights

Military Misogyny 

Women Demand End to Military Violence 

US Troops in Okinawa 

Tons more of articles on Google.com, keywords: Okinawa, sexual assualts, U.S. military

Pop Culture as Cultural Literacy

According to E.D. Hirsch, "cultural literacy" is the basic foundation of knowledge that Americans should know in order to succeed in American cultural, both socially and professionally. I once read an article by him and he listed things that should be common knowledge if one was educated in the American school system. If you know these, then you are considered "culturally literate" in American culture and hold the key to succeeding in American society:

[looks into her old college reader]

1. Name the important events that happened during these years: 1066, 1492, 1776, 1861-1865, 1914-1918, and 1939-1945.

2. What is important about this year: 1984? (Hint: don't think of events, think of literature)

3. The meaning of these expressions or the origin of the quote:
-- Read between the lines.
-- Remember the Alamo!
-- Alas, poor Yorick...
-- All's well that ends well.
-- Beggars can't be choosers.

4. Defining words: bas-relief, aficionado, red tape, realpolitik, adagio, al fresco.

I used to proudly know all these things, but now that I haven't been in college for at least a year, nor have I seriously studied like I was a college sophomore, most of these things I have forgotten.

I write this because something struck me one evening as I was hanging out with friends. At this moment, I'd like to point out that many of my friends graduated college and have pursued professional careers. So, one evening, while drinking up beers and Smirnoffs, conversation topics varied from personal daily activities to TV episodes and pop music. Now, everyone has a different taste when it comes to watching television and listening to music, but I was surprised to discover that many of my friends can make references to the random everyday things, like television and music, and still maintain the fluidity of discussion and conversation as though it were a college lecture hall. Knowing the joke of a certain South Park or Seinfeld episode is just as important as knowing the politics of the California gubernatorial recall election, yet no one ever alluded to Hamlet or MacBeth and their similarities of characters usurping power.

Cultural literacy sounded good to me seven years ago, but I question its validity now that I am a teacher. Not only that, I found it to be pointless at times because then you just sound like a person with too-much-random-information-who-has-too-much-time-on-your-hands-so-you-read-up-on-random-American-historical-tidbits-so-you-can-sound-intelligent. I never liked watching TV too much, but it seems that knowing pop culture is just as important as knowing current events.

I better start watching the tube.

Perfectly In-Between

I took this Asian IQ test and I scored 50%. I guess that means I'm perfectly bicultural. ^_^

Wal-Mart: The State of America

Wal-Mart is becoming the shopping store of America. There are so many Wal-Marts in the country that some people protest its building or future construction sites. It's also become an icon of American living: goods at affordable prices for the middle class family.

I went shopping yesterday at Wal-Mart. Normally, I don't shop there because it gets crowded and chaotic with all the kids around, but I wanted to get some children's books, and books do get expensive, and since Wal-Mart was right next to Best Buy... why not?

I didn't buy any books. The book section was practically non-existent. It consisted of only two aisles, mostly of magazines, young adult, and tons of self-help books. Hmmm...

As I was leaving the store, I passed by the women's clothing section. Before I head back to Japan, I thought about stocking up on some clothes before leaving because I can never find my size there. The average waist size of women in Japan is 64cm (or 25in), so slacks are pretty slim there. As I browsed through the women's clothes, I was a bit shocked to find that I still could not find my size. It's not that everything was small-- it was all too big... and I mean BIG, for heavy set women.

In most stores, I find that average sizes overtake the floor, while plus sizes have a small section. It wasn't so at this particular Wal-Mart I went to: it was the other way around. When I looked at the advertisements around me, they were all heavy set women. The blouses were huge, like tents, and the pants were like balloons. I eyed the junior section, but I wanted something conservative, not T-shirts that bare my mid-riff and tight low-cut jeans that would expose me more than if I were naked.

Wal-Mart must really know their customers when they know what they're offering, but I wonder if this is the state of America: people who don't read unless they have a low self-esteem, and eating excessively to the point where the average size of women has gone from a size 10 to a size 14, and teenage girls dressing like miniature prostitutes-in-training.

I'm all for good health, and Americans hate the waif-thin models that adorn the pages of a magazine, but obesity is just as unhealthy. People need to lay off the sodas and potato chips.

And pick up a piece of literature or other book other than a self-help one. Self-help books only point out that one has low self-esteem.

And parents need to start watching their daughters. At Wal-Mart's affordable prices, girls can buy more of their clothes just by wearing them.

Absolutely Wrong

I heard the most awful thing today: Mariah Carey singing "Bringing On the Heartache" by Def Leppard.

She should be shot.

Reconfirmation

I'm back... and it's time to refamiliarize myself with politics in a language I can understand.

First of all, something interesting happened today. Upon my return from Japan last week, my father handed me a letter from one of the local universities. In this letter, they were requesting my presence to do a formal interview regarding my immigrant background. I had been part of this study for the past ten years, starting in 1992 when I was in the ninth grade. During that time, I had done numerous questionnaires regarding my educational experience in high school and college. They are now at the final phase of this study, tracking all the students they had once studied to see how they are in adult life. I was glad to do the interview for many reasons, mostly revealing my current beliefs about immigrant children, biculturality, cultural identification, and affirmative action... and the $100 check at the end of the interview played a part, too. =)

The woman who interviewed me was Filipino, and she had been helping the two sociological doctors who started this study eleven years ago. She interviewed me for roughly three and a half hours, starting with questions about my birth country and upbringing, trudging through my high school experience, comparing high school and college, living situations and experiences, all the way down to personal relationships, dating, friends, and career and personal goals.

She was particularly interested in my ideas of affirmative action. She said she doesn't normally ask the "affirmative action" question to some of the interviewees because many of the interviewees are not firmly grounded in their political beliefs. She was eager to jump on this question as much as I wanted to answer it. I told her about my thoughts and personal experiences about why I was against such a program, and how it seemed to invalidate everything I had worked for as an individual with my own merit.

So now it's on the record of some sociological study: I don't support affirmative action, and I hope to be successful without it.

This site will no longer be updated due to the fact that august23 has gone to Japan. She will return near the end of July. Please check back until then.

For now... a small poem to the people who protested the war...

"Wish You Were Here"

For all the free people that still protest.
You're welcome.
We protect you and you are protected
by the best.

Your voice is strong and loud,
but who will fight for you?
No one standing in your crowd.

We are your fathers, brothers, and sons,
wearing the boots and carrying guns.

We are the ones that leave all we own,
to make sure your future is carved in stone.

We are the ones who fight and die,
We might not be able to save the world
Well, at least we try.

We walked the paths to where we are at
and we want no choice other than that.

So when you rally your group to complain,
take a look in the back of your brain.

In order for that flag you love to fly
wars must be fought and young men must die.

We came here to fight for the ones we hold dear.
If that's not respected, we would rather stay here.

So please stop yelling, put down your signs,
and pray for those behind enemy lines.

When the conflict is over and all is well,
be thankful that we chose to go through hell.

written by
Corporal Joshua Miles and all the boys
from 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines, Kuwait

I got that from an email. Tah tah for now. --august23

Another Cowardly Act

From the NY Times:

"BAGHDAD, Iraq, Thursday, March 20 — Iraqi television broadcast a speech by a defiant Saddam Hussein this morning, a few hours after the first blasts on Baghdad. In it, he exhorted his people to "draw your swords" against invaders and referred to the United States government as "criminals" and "Zionists."

Now he's recruiting his people--untrained civilians--to participate in the war. Given that some of his own people don't like him, I don't think his call to arms will be taken seriously except for those who are as delusional as he is.