7,000 Voices

"....What does it mean to be human and alive? When asked this question, the peoples of the world respond in 7,000 different voices..." --Wade Davis



(If suddenly my ability to speak Japanese fluently happened over night, this is a message I'd want to bestow to my students in some sort of capacity.Maybe by the time I leave Japan, I can translate this into my goodbye speech.) 




To my dear and wonderful students,

 I tackle with the idea that English is necessary. As this world becomes smaller, an international language doesn't sound like a bad idea. At the same time, I worry what we may lose as globalize. The world has gotten by before, right? But in regards to our English classes, honestly, you're not hurting my feelings if you tell me you don't like English. Learning a different is hard. That's true for everyone. You're not dumb in the slightest if you don't understand a grammar point. And yes, I want you to communicate with more people around the world, but I believe we're tricking you into this idea that English is the only way. It's one way, but not the only. By the time you finish your English education, the number one thing I hope you realize is that you're one of the 7,000 voices. Your language, your culture, your history contribute to the great diversity in being human. All the good and the bad. You're a piece of the beautiful mosaic of Earth and you should strive in every possible way to protect that diversity, the voices giving meaning to the human experience. Find and listen to the stories, share your own. 
Don't bound yourself within the strict, yet strangely comforting boundaries of stereotypes. 


Get out there. The world is waiting for you. It wants to hear your voice. 


Your ALT, 


Jasmine-sensei

May Days

Woa. Sorry for the lag in my blog! May flew by like the Shinkansen.  Here's a recap of May.

I turned 23!! Double trouble Birthday Party with Rose and our amazing friends!

                                                                              

Flamenco Debut!

My cousin Lydia got married!! Best wishes to you, my dear cousin!!

Natural Love

I've been natural for quite sometime, but I keep going cray cray and cutting it. Soooo, not much growth. The end of senior year was probably the shortest I've ever had it. Since being in Japan, I've done the minimal with my hair. Braids, then fro, then braids, back to the fro. I've done twists-outs, braid-outs, curler styles, and comb twists. Lots of twists. Rainy season finally hit, so I'm keeping it in...guess what..twists! I've always wanted to do a natural hair journey  post. Here it is!


Hair Routine


I shampoo my hair once a week. Usually I just use conditioner, but I just bought an all natural shampoo and that's doing wonders! Now that the summer is almost here and the weather is getting humid(ugh), I two-strand twist my hair and keep those in for a week. I also put curlers to add a bit of shape. I try not to straighten or blow dry my hair too much. Pretty much a simple routine because I'm trying to grow out my hair. I learned the hard way that my hair will stay short( from breakage) if I keep doing crazy stuff to it. Oh and lots of hats...for those lazy days.

Product List

If I can't eat it, I don't use it. However, I break this rule for Shea Moisture products. I'm pretty sure if I ingested that by some freak accident, I'd still be okay. It's that natural.

Olive oil (Just add to my hair every other day for moisture and shine.)
Honey (I mix olive oil and honey for a deep condition.
Shea Butter
Shea Moisture Curl Enhancer
Shea Moisture Hold Mist Spray

(I LOVE Shea Moisture products! I just started using this line and it's wonderful. All natural and it smells so nice.)

Here's my Japan Natural Hair Journey! (Pictures taken via instagram).
                                                          

                           

Student sayings....Part 1

My students crack me up. And I say part 1 because this is only the beginning....
And all of this is in Japanese when it happens...well broken Japanese on my part.

One day at the kindergarten....

Student: Jasmine-sensei...your skin!
Jasmine: Huh?
Student: It's dark. We need to go wash your hands.
Jasmine: Ah, no, no. This is my skin color.

(He doesn't listen, grabs my arms and leads me to the sink. We proceed to wash my hands and when were finished I show him my hands again.)

Jasmine: See, this is my skin color.
Student: OOOH! Oh. Okay, let's play.

At an Elementary School:

Student (1st grader): Jasmine-sensei....are you black all over?
Jasmine: Yep!
Student: No way!
Jasmine: Yes, way!

Student(A 3rd grader): Jasmine-sensei, what juice do you like?
Jasmine: Well, I like orange juice and apple--
Student: I like apple, orange, banana, pineapple, grapefruit and grape, and, and and, and and.....
Jasmine: -____________-


At the Middle School

I approach two of my students during the lunch break to collect their activity books.

Jasmine: Did you finish the Spring break worksheet?
Students: Yeah!
(They go to their desks and bring their activity books to me.)
Jasmine: Thank you!
(As I'm walking back to the teacher's room, I glance at their worksheets. It's all in Japanese when clearly they were supposed to write in English. I walk back to them.)
Jasmine: This is all in Japanese.
Students: Huh?
Jasmine: You wrote it all in Japanese. It's an English activity, yah know.
Students: Oooooh, naruhodo(really).
My face:  -______-
Jasmine: You have until today. No. Tomorrow.
Students give me the "life sucks" face. 

During lunch one day....
Student: Jasmine-sensei, do you have kids?
Jasmine: No.
Student: Oh. ( And continues to eat his lunch in silence)

At a tug-o-war event. I was at a vending machine when a kid came up to me and started to mess with the buttons as I was trying to buy a drink.

Jasmine: Unnnh uhh! This is my drink!
Kid: No! It's mine! I want that tea.
Jasmine: I don't like that--stop messin' with the buttons!
Kid: Meeeeeh! Heeey, are you Japanese?
(I'm a bit taken back by his question. Usually it's "what country are you from?") 
Jasmine:. Yes. I'm Japanese.
Kid: No way! Cool! I've never met a Japanese that looked like you!! SUGOIII!
Jasmine: I'm joking. I'm not Japanese.
Kid: Oh. Chinese?
Jasmine: Guess again.
Kid: Korean?
(Is he pulling my long leg? Does he go to school? One of the ALT's must have taught him at some point!)
Jasmine: Noope.
Kid: NAN DE??!?!
Jasmine: I'm American.
Kid: WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH! I've never seen an American before.
Jasmine: Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu (Nice to meet you.)
Kid: Yoroshiku Ongeaishimasu!

(And we bow.)

Random Questions

Student: Do you have a boyfriend?
Jasmine No.

Kid: Can you me buy some tea?
Jasmine: NO!

Student: HEY JASMINE! Give me money?
Jasmine: No.

Student: Are you married?
Jasmine: No.
Student: But whyyyy?

Jasmine: Are you ready to play a game?
Students look at me with "fml" written all over their faces.

Student: Do you like Japan?
Jasmine: Yes!

Naked

Laundry must be done.

Lessons to plan.

Well, the groceries are bought...

Damn, I deserve some time off. 

Off to the onsen!

Soothe these aching bones.

Good conversation with the wise.

It's feels good to be naked. 

World Autism Awareness Day

"It must be hard having a brother like that...?

What do you mean like that? With Autism?

Yeah, that. You know..you can't like...talk or anything. It must be hard.

Ah, well no. No, it's not."

Words may fail at times, but there are ways beyond speaking. Even though Paco cannot say many words, he can surely find a way to communicate through his drawings, playing music, and his enigmatic facial expressions. He is certainly not afraid to protest when he's upset, or cry when he's sad. I think a common stereotype associated with people who have autism is that they're these emotionless voids trapped in some far off world. No. My brother is present. He is human.

Paco and I connected through the movies we watched. We'd watch a movie or a show and then reenact it. Paco loooooves to re-wind his favorite scenes from movies. Heehee, I think he picked that up from me. Together, we'd act out scenes from Alice and Wonderland, Jurassic Park and countless Disney movies. We had dance parties to the song "I Like to Move It" from the movie Madagascar and pretended we were the silly penguins. If one of us wasn't up to playing, we knew something was wrong. Words were not always necessary.

But when we were happy, we got lost in worlds of the Jurassic age and Dr. Seuss. Side by side, we read our school books and did our math equations. We picked out Christmas trees and lit up the house during the Holiday season. Autism does not inhibit our family from loving one another and growing together. We'll all here for Paco and he's here for us.

I dedicate this blog post to my little brother Paco, who's not so little now. He now towers over me at about 6'4. I pray for all the researchers and teachers who work with people with autism. To the families, I pray that you stay strong, stay patient. Every day, we found out more about autism and how we can help our loved ones. Hang in there!

Thank you to my lil bro for teaching me to keep the imagination alive and to keep constant love in our hearts.

Happy World Austism Awareness Day.

To learn more about autism, please visit the Autism Speaks Website.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

It's a Woman...Thing?

About a week ago, my lovely lady cycle paid her monthly visit. Dudes, I promise this isn't graphic at all, but it is vital to know this bit of information for this story. And most of my friends know, I have no problem saying I'm on my period....

Guy friend: Hey Jasmine...Are you okay?

Me. No! I'm on my period.

Guy friend: Oh.....

Back to the story....

On this particular sunny day, I went to work at one of the elementary schools. Auntie Rose came a knockin' that morning, but no big deal. I was wrong. By the afternoon, I was almost bent over my desk in pain. The pain became so unbearable, I knew I couldn't make it till 4:30 and left two hours early. When I got home I slept for FOUR hours! When I finally awoke from my deep slumber, I told myself that it was probably a good idea to go to the store and buy some pain killers so I wouldn't be suffering the next day at work.

I slolwy get out of bed, gather my purse and keys and then drive to Daiei. I do a little food shopping and head off to the drug store counter. Now, I remembered at this point that ibuprofen is pronounced a lil differently in Japanese. Well, at least to my ear it sounds the same, but there's something in the word, for when I say it, Japanese people just blankly stare at me as this pharmacist did.

I go up to him.

"Sumimasen, (excuse me). I-bu-pro-fu-e-n....arimasu ka?" Do you have any ibuprofen?

"Hm.?"

He kinda jerks his head to the side, bringing his ear in my direction as if he can't hear me.

I repeat and he still doesn't understand me.

So, I start throwing words like "itai desu" It hurts.

Well obviously he now wants to know what hurts. I begin to motion towards my stomach, but I figured that would say I have indigestion. I'm unsure at this point if I should tell him I'm on my period because last time the topic of women things came up was during my contract reading. My supervisor was going over the terms and when it came to the part dealing with "women matters" he awkwardly looked at me for a bit and said that I was able to read it on my own.

So fast forward to this moment, I'm trying to make this the least awkward for him as possible. So I hold up my arm. It hurts, I say in Japanese, figuring that this might get me to the I-bu-pro-fen.

He nods and brings me to a shelf. Lo and behold, there's medicine for a hurtin' arm.

"Noooo," I say. "koko(here)" and I place my hands over where I think my uterus is located.

Now he thinks my stomach hurts and he's probably so confused becuase the pain went from arm to my stomach. I try to tell him that I'm on my period and I've got cramps. I try to find the Japanese for what I want to say and nothing comes to mind. One thing they never teach you in language classes, "my uterus hurts, get me the meds!"

However, I do know how to say it's a woman thing...or at least I thought I did until that backfired on me too.

"Onna no mono desu........."

He still doesn't understand. My hands are still resting and gesturing towards the location of my lovely and suffering uterus. I slowly indicate where my ovaries all the while saying "it hurts," hoping he'll get the message.

"Your stomach?"

I'm thinking, "Nah, dude, a bit south."

I start to overemphasize that I'm a woman, with woman pain.

"Watashi wa onna desu." I'm a woman.

"Koko, itai desu." It hurts here.

Onna no mono." It's woman thing.

I'm throwing all the Japanese I know into a gumbo pot and hoping for the best.

I think he's finally getting it because he takes me to another counter. Nevertheless, I start freaking out that he may be giving me the wrong medication, so I call Kat, my deus ex machina. She teaches me the pronunciation and then from there all is well. I buy the meds, apologize for my horrible Japanese skills and run off to my car.

Moral of the story, ladies... Come prepared with what you need so that you may avoid awkwardly gesturing towards your uterus and ovaries in the drug store.

Oh, and if you must say it's a women thing in any situation, according to Google Translate, its josei no koto.

Much love!