Apologies to my throngs of readers for not writing in a while. I've been spending my evenings the past week and a half hanging out with Stefanie who, sadly, left yesterday morning.
Sepcial apologies for not finishing my post from last time. I had said I would write about the second thing that happened in class, so I need to take care of that first. It's funny, thought, writing about it nine days later (it happened last Tuesday). At the time I thought it was exciting and meaningful, but I've learned that so much happens in class every day that if I wait, the power of what I was going to write about is immediately replaced by something new.
Last Tuesday I was leading a discussion of the Samurai's Garden, which is about a 19 year old Chinese boy who goes to live in Japan during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Anyway, so the book deals a lot with the protagonists feelings of being an outsider. We were talking about this theme, and I was clarifying whether one of the cities at which Stephen, the narrator, stays was in Japan or China. I asked the class, "So Kobe, is that in Japan or China?" This girl named Valerie, who is at the same time one of the brightest and most difficult students in the class, answered:
VALERIE: Why does it matter? They all look the same anyway [Chinese and Japanese people].
ME: Whoa, whoa Tasha--I mean, Valerie. Hang on--
VALERIE: Don't fucking call me that.
(Tasha and Valerie have a history of not liking each other, I found out. They started shouting insults at each other across the room.)
ME: (trying desperately to get things under control) Okay, Valerie, I'm sorry. But see, my mistake illustrates a point. You say that Japanese people and Chinese people all look the same, but I could say that you and Tasha look the same, too. I mean, I could be like, 'you both have dark skin, you both have a similar hairstyle, I can't tell a difference between the two of you."
VALERIE: I don't look like her!
ME: Yeah, well that's my point. So someone might get really mad at you saying that Chinese and Japanese people all look the same.
VALERIE: Whatever.
J.J.: (from the back of the room) I can tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese people!
ME: Thank you, J.J. Also, Valerie, there's a huge cultural difference between China and Japan, and that's really one of the central themes of the book. It's important to understand that there is a difference, and Stephen really feels different as a Chinese person in Japan.
Etc., etc. I felt like it was crucial for me to explain my point to Valerie, if for no other reason than one of the themes of our class and for all the books we read is Identity. Also, several other students had gotten up in arms at Valerie's initial comment--What's the difference?--saying things like, "they're totally different countries!" After the exchange, though, I thought Valerie was pretty pissed at me, and I thought Tasha might have been, too, which sucked considering what had happened the day before with me and Tasha.
It's funny that I'm writing about this today, because I actually had a very nice exchange with Valerie this morning. So far this week Valerie has been a completely different student. Where the first couple weeks she was disruptive and contrary and always looking to rile people up (an she never did her work), this week she has been working hard and acting very pleasant. I think it might be because she found out she was in danger of failing, even though myself and the other teachers have told her repeatedly that she's so smart and if she just does her work she should get an A. It also might be beacuse she's had some long talks with the principal of CHSA, Mr. Myrie, who a lot of the students seem to respect.
Anyway, so this morning, as I was helping J.J. with his writing (which is a whole other blog post itself), Valerie randomly turned around to me and said, smiling, "Capisci?" I answered, "Si, capisco." She asked, "So you speak Italian?" I guess Adam had told her I speak Italian, and she told me she could understand it, so she kept having me say things to her in Italian and she would try to figure out what I was saying. She asked me how to say "my name is." I asked her what languages she spoke at home (French Creole and Spanish) and where her family is from--her mom is from St. Andrews and her dad is from Port Au Prince. We talked for a while about our families and siblings; Amanda joined in, too. It was so calming to just sit and chat with them. Oh, I should mention we were on break, too, so I wasn't distracting them from anything.
Finally, speaking of J.J., the piece of writing he gave me today is fucking *amazing*. I'd like to post it here in my blog, but I think that would be betraying his trust. I'll ask him tomorrow if I can share it.
I'm going home now to practice guitar and keep reading Harry Potter. My first guitar lesson was good. The stuff I'm working on--major chord shapes and major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads--is deceptively hard. It's so exciting to be taking lessons again, putting theory behind what I've been doing the last few years. I think I might go play at an open mic at Club Passim--this cozy, laid back folk club in Harvard Square--next Tuesday.
I'm so excited about Harry Potter. Everyone says this book is awesome. I should call Brianna and see how she's doing with it.
Sepcial apologies for not finishing my post from last time. I had said I would write about the second thing that happened in class, so I need to take care of that first. It's funny, thought, writing about it nine days later (it happened last Tuesday). At the time I thought it was exciting and meaningful, but I've learned that so much happens in class every day that if I wait, the power of what I was going to write about is immediately replaced by something new.
Last Tuesday I was leading a discussion of the Samurai's Garden, which is about a 19 year old Chinese boy who goes to live in Japan during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Anyway, so the book deals a lot with the protagonists feelings of being an outsider. We were talking about this theme, and I was clarifying whether one of the cities at which Stephen, the narrator, stays was in Japan or China. I asked the class, "So Kobe, is that in Japan or China?" This girl named Valerie, who is at the same time one of the brightest and most difficult students in the class, answered:
VALERIE: Why does it matter? They all look the same anyway [Chinese and Japanese people].
ME: Whoa, whoa Tasha--I mean, Valerie. Hang on--
VALERIE: Don't fucking call me that.
(Tasha and Valerie have a history of not liking each other, I found out. They started shouting insults at each other across the room.)
ME: (trying desperately to get things under control) Okay, Valerie, I'm sorry. But see, my mistake illustrates a point. You say that Japanese people and Chinese people all look the same, but I could say that you and Tasha look the same, too. I mean, I could be like, 'you both have dark skin, you both have a similar hairstyle, I can't tell a difference between the two of you."
VALERIE: I don't look like her!
ME: Yeah, well that's my point. So someone might get really mad at you saying that Chinese and Japanese people all look the same.
VALERIE: Whatever.
J.J.: (from the back of the room) I can tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese people!
ME: Thank you, J.J. Also, Valerie, there's a huge cultural difference between China and Japan, and that's really one of the central themes of the book. It's important to understand that there is a difference, and Stephen really feels different as a Chinese person in Japan.
Etc., etc. I felt like it was crucial for me to explain my point to Valerie, if for no other reason than one of the themes of our class and for all the books we read is Identity. Also, several other students had gotten up in arms at Valerie's initial comment--What's the difference?--saying things like, "they're totally different countries!" After the exchange, though, I thought Valerie was pretty pissed at me, and I thought Tasha might have been, too, which sucked considering what had happened the day before with me and Tasha.
It's funny that I'm writing about this today, because I actually had a very nice exchange with Valerie this morning. So far this week Valerie has been a completely different student. Where the first couple weeks she was disruptive and contrary and always looking to rile people up (an she never did her work), this week she has been working hard and acting very pleasant. I think it might be because she found out she was in danger of failing, even though myself and the other teachers have told her repeatedly that she's so smart and if she just does her work she should get an A. It also might be beacuse she's had some long talks with the principal of CHSA, Mr. Myrie, who a lot of the students seem to respect.
Anyway, so this morning, as I was helping J.J. with his writing (which is a whole other blog post itself), Valerie randomly turned around to me and said, smiling, "Capisci?" I answered, "Si, capisco." She asked, "So you speak Italian?" I guess Adam had told her I speak Italian, and she told me she could understand it, so she kept having me say things to her in Italian and she would try to figure out what I was saying. She asked me how to say "my name is." I asked her what languages she spoke at home (French Creole and Spanish) and where her family is from--her mom is from St. Andrews and her dad is from Port Au Prince. We talked for a while about our families and siblings; Amanda joined in, too. It was so calming to just sit and chat with them. Oh, I should mention we were on break, too, so I wasn't distracting them from anything.
Finally, speaking of J.J., the piece of writing he gave me today is fucking *amazing*. I'd like to post it here in my blog, but I think that would be betraying his trust. I'll ask him tomorrow if I can share it.
I'm going home now to practice guitar and keep reading Harry Potter. My first guitar lesson was good. The stuff I'm working on--major chord shapes and major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads--is deceptively hard. It's so exciting to be taking lessons again, putting theory behind what I've been doing the last few years. I think I might go play at an open mic at Club Passim--this cozy, laid back folk club in Harvard Square--next Tuesday.
I'm so excited about Harry Potter. Everyone says this book is awesome. I should call Brianna and see how she's doing with it.
posted by DB at 7:05 PM
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