Happy New year, everyone!
In spite of the Universe's attempts to drive me into a depression just five short days into the new year - I resolve (so far) to ignore the shit it is throwing my way and focus solely on the Shinola.
I have high hopes for the year. I am resolved to switch schools. I cannot handle the administration at this place anymore. I cannot continue to be a part of the culture of negativity and anger that permeates the managerial style of this place.
The thing that gets me is that we are told as teachers to respect the emerging identities of our young charges and not to purposely embarrass or marginalize them in front of their peers. Yet I watch the headmaster yell at the staff here for the most minor of infractions. Everyone here has a story about being "chewed out" by the headmaster so badly that they would be sure to "never make the same mistake again." So, in a sense, he treats us worse than children. How can we ever expect to rise to the level of professionals when we are in a constant state of fear?
Kung Chiu-tze said (more or less) in The Analects that a good leader is someone who makes people who are far away want to come near - and a bad leader is someone who makes people who are near want to be far away.
The line of thinking is that a good leader is someone who does not have to discipline his subordinates. His enthusiasm for his job, his righteousness, and his fairness will inspire so much loyalty that they will discipline themselves out of respect and a desire to receive the praise of a man (or woman) they hold in such high regard. Bad leaders have to rely on force to implement their ideas and thus drive subordinates away.
Another way of looking at it is to take the advice of William S. Burroughs. He says: "An old junk-pusher once told me, 'Watch whose money you pick up.'"
I'm tired of picking up his money. I can't stomach the man anymore and I see my dependence on his paychecks as continuing his "hold" over me. So long as I desire his money - I have to play by his rules. It's the same reason why you DON'T borrow from the mob - and it's why I cannot work for him.
So the search is on! I'm giddy with excitement. I say this because the giddiness is masking the dread of not knowing where I'm going to land, that I have a VERY thin window of time to secure employment, and the nausea I feel from knowing I have fixed monthly bills, yet the looming possibility of not garnering a steady income. But enough of that - there's plenty of time in the future for wallowing in fear and uncertainty.
I'm hoping to return to the Philly region - but New England is certainly in the cards as well. Either way, for now the sky is open and I am emotionally free of the bonds of a tyrant. It feels great.
=============================================
Favorite student anecdotes of the week!
=============================================
Said in class today (from the department of "so right yet SO wrong"):
Student: It seems kinda weird that the Pope is in Rome, which is in Asia, when Christianity was created in the country of Judaism.
In spite of the Universe's attempts to drive me into a depression just five short days into the new year - I resolve (so far) to ignore the shit it is throwing my way and focus solely on the Shinola.
I have high hopes for the year. I am resolved to switch schools. I cannot handle the administration at this place anymore. I cannot continue to be a part of the culture of negativity and anger that permeates the managerial style of this place.
The thing that gets me is that we are told as teachers to respect the emerging identities of our young charges and not to purposely embarrass or marginalize them in front of their peers. Yet I watch the headmaster yell at the staff here for the most minor of infractions. Everyone here has a story about being "chewed out" by the headmaster so badly that they would be sure to "never make the same mistake again." So, in a sense, he treats us worse than children. How can we ever expect to rise to the level of professionals when we are in a constant state of fear?
Kung Chiu-tze said (more or less) in The Analects that a good leader is someone who makes people who are far away want to come near - and a bad leader is someone who makes people who are near want to be far away.
The line of thinking is that a good leader is someone who does not have to discipline his subordinates. His enthusiasm for his job, his righteousness, and his fairness will inspire so much loyalty that they will discipline themselves out of respect and a desire to receive the praise of a man (or woman) they hold in such high regard. Bad leaders have to rely on force to implement their ideas and thus drive subordinates away.
Another way of looking at it is to take the advice of William S. Burroughs. He says: "An old junk-pusher once told me, 'Watch whose money you pick up.'"
I'm tired of picking up his money. I can't stomach the man anymore and I see my dependence on his paychecks as continuing his "hold" over me. So long as I desire his money - I have to play by his rules. It's the same reason why you DON'T borrow from the mob - and it's why I cannot work for him.
So the search is on! I'm giddy with excitement. I say this because the giddiness is masking the dread of not knowing where I'm going to land, that I have a VERY thin window of time to secure employment, and the nausea I feel from knowing I have fixed monthly bills, yet the looming possibility of not garnering a steady income. But enough of that - there's plenty of time in the future for wallowing in fear and uncertainty.
I'm hoping to return to the Philly region - but New England is certainly in the cards as well. Either way, for now the sky is open and I am emotionally free of the bonds of a tyrant. It feels great.
=============================================
Favorite student anecdotes of the week!
=============================================
Said in class today (from the department of "so right yet SO wrong"):
Student: It seems kinda weird that the Pope is in Rome, which is in Asia, when Christianity was created in the country of Judaism.
VIEW 11 of 11 COMMENTS
skank_zero:
Yeah, I can see the JET cliques, and I don't happen to be in any of them. I think the biggest problem in my prefecture is population distribution. Practically everyone else is living in a town with at least one other JET, but I'm alone in mine, so everyone else gets together to hang out on a regular basis, but I don't really get to do that. Then at the big events, they've all bonded and then there's me 
I'm starting to make Japanese friends in my town now, though, and that's definitely a pick-me-up.
I'm starting to make Japanese friends in my town now, though, and that's definitely a pick-me-up.
quietlythere:
how's everything going?