Ian and I have been living a pretty quiet life lately. We spend our down time with Fringe and Downton Abbey. This week will be a bit busier, as our classes are back to normal. Plus, we have a few hours of classes at a middle school on Thursday. It'll be our first experience with public schools abroad, so I'll try to document as much of it as possible. We won't be using SMART Boards, so our lessons may actually be closer to the ones we did in our student teaching at The Language House, which pleases me immensely. I'll teach three (of the same) classes in a row and Ian will teach two. Our topic is "family tree," so we've decided to create lexis (vocabulary) lessons. Each of our classes will have 50 students, so that's pretty darn intimidating. We will each have one of our co-teachers with us, so I take comfort in that.
I recently made contact with one of the shelters in town via Weibo, China's version of Twitter. I was invited to come along with one of the founders on Saturday, but I had to decline because of work. I sure hope they have a use for me during the week. Life without animals does not suit me. I'm incredibly lonely for them.
I recently made contact with one of the shelters in town via Weibo, China's version of Twitter. I was invited to come along with one of the founders on Saturday, but I had to decline because of work. I sure hope they have a use for me during the week. Life without animals does not suit me. I'm incredibly lonely for them.
I briefly considered getting a rabbit, but I don't think it's a good idea. It'd be fine while we're here (we have plenty of time), but we intend to move to Japan next year and I have no idea what our schedule will be like then. Plus, when we return to Portland in a few years I'm hoping we can adopt a dog. Two kitties and a dog will be quite a handful, so it's probably best not to add anybody in the meantime. Long story short, I'm really hoping to start fostering soon. Before I lose my mind, preferably.
Maybe you're wondering about the title of this post. Maybe you think I spelled Hawai'i incorrectly. "Kawaii" is a Japanese term referring to the specific brand of cuteness you find in Asian culture (like our pal Pluto up there, Hello Kitty, or Pikachu). Kawaii culture has a lot of implications for gender roles (especially in Japan and South Korea) as well. The giggling, childlike, shrinking butterfly of a woman is a well known stereotype (of East Asian women) in the West, but Kawaii has had an effect on masculine culture as well. Most of the men my Korean students found handsome (their word) had long, feathered hair and effeminate facial features. The feminizing of both genders (on the conventional binary) is less apparent in China and I'll use that as an excuse to leave the discussion to those with a sociology background.
One thing about Kawaii culture that never fails to surprise me is it's presence in situations that are generally regarded as official or serious. For example, the side of a police out post or van will likely be emblazoned with a cute little officer, his smile tiny compared to his large eyes and larger still head. His legs far too short to be of any help in an emergency. There are some new "Healthy Shandong" billboards along a wall that we pass on the walk home from school that exemplify this.
Maybe you're wondering about the title of this post. Maybe you think I spelled Hawai'i incorrectly. "Kawaii" is a Japanese term referring to the specific brand of cuteness you find in Asian culture (like our pal Pluto up there, Hello Kitty, or Pikachu). Kawaii culture has a lot of implications for gender roles (especially in Japan and South Korea) as well. The giggling, childlike, shrinking butterfly of a woman is a well known stereotype (of East Asian women) in the West, but Kawaii has had an effect on masculine culture as well. Most of the men my Korean students found handsome (their word) had long, feathered hair and effeminate facial features. The feminizing of both genders (on the conventional binary) is less apparent in China and I'll use that as an excuse to leave the discussion to those with a sociology background.
One thing about Kawaii culture that never fails to surprise me is it's presence in situations that are generally regarded as official or serious. For example, the side of a police out post or van will likely be emblazoned with a cute little officer, his smile tiny compared to his large eyes and larger still head. His legs far too short to be of any help in an emergency. There are some new "Healthy Shandong" billboards along a wall that we pass on the walk home from school that exemplify this.
Keep in mind, the intended audience for these billboards is adults. Basically, cute sells in Asia the way sex sells in the West. And if we're reducing it to that, I'd rather see Kawaii oranges than sexy chocolate.