Misc. Ramblings

There are many books and movies based on the premise commonly referred to as a "fish out of water." That is, you take a person of one culture/race/age/gender and place them in a different culture/race/age/gender. You then step back and watch the hilarity ensue as each learns about the other.

This web page chronicles the travails of an American in Japan. In this case, a Black-American teaching English to Japanese students in what we call junior high school (children around the age of 10 to 12 years old). We see, through his humorous writings, a culture, at times, very different from ours.

Now, the Japanese culture has been around for a long time. Over that time, it has evolved into being a very complex, and to a certain extent, caste oriented system. One of the ways of describing a complex system is to note it's paradoxes. These tend to illustrate not only the tension within any system, but also the range of behaviors exhibited within that system.

This American teacher, using the lens of his own culture to examine his surroundings finds startling, and many times humorous, insights. I can't quote anything here because he has copyrighted his site (Bad JuJu) but believe me when I say you will probably want more after reading everything there.

Warning: There is strong language in his writings. If that offends you, do not go there.

Aloha!