Somali pirates attack Japanese ship!
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2009
1
36
47
Trip End
Jun 25, 2011
Nachikatsuura,
Japan
Saturday, November 17, 2007
08 Japanese 'alphabet' = Hiragana
that are used in Japanese, in addition to some basic
07 very basic Japanese characters (Kanji)
Japanese kanji (characters). I am able to have a basic conversation with people. I can recognize common kanji's for food on menu's and on signs, etc. I had my flat tires changed at the tire place, I talk to my teachers about the lesson plan for the day, I have basic conversations with my elementary school students, I practice tea ceremony in Japanese, mail packages at the post office, and joined the gym. Between both Lily and I we definitely manage to get our point across, using both Japanese and gestures. After that, well it's as the Japanese say 'chotto.....' ("a little"...well, difficult) However one thing that I have gotten rather good at, is pretending I understand! I think I'm very convincing when I reply 'Hai hai, wakarimashita' (translates to "Yes, ok I understand"or "ok, got it") - haha
I know that studying more would have made my life that much easier, but with the little Japanese I know now I get by juuust fine. Who would've thought I would be able to speak some Japanese before coming here? I certainly did not. I think for coming here with literally no knowledge of Japanese, that I've done okay. My agenda for coming on the JET program was different from many JET's (who come here to continue to improve their Japanese in addition to learning about the Japanese culture) so where I am now is a lot farther than I ever imagined myself being.
Last week at pilates our instructor was waiting outside the room and she (has seen me at the gym countless times before) but she asked, "Nihongo wa daijobu desu ka?" (Is Japanese OK?) I gave the thumbs up and replied enthusiastically, "HAI OK DESU!" (yes, its ok!) What would she have done if I said no? conducted the whole class in Japanese and English? haha, I don't think so.. but I am very appreciative of the fact that she even asked! As always, the Japanese people only look at me as the one that doesn't understand, not Lily! haha
Another thing I think is so funny that my friend told me (who speaks fluent Japanese) is that the prefecture where we live, Wakayama, has a very distinct dialect/accent. He said "it is, soooooo ghetto I feel like I speak with an thick Alabama accent sometimes when I speak Wakayama-ben." hahhaha ohh poor (literally, it's also apparently the second poorest state in the country!) Wakayama.
Recent Interesting news from Japan...
1. Heroes star Hayden Panettiere visits the town next to mine to protest dolphin and whale slaughter! Go Hayden!! http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20070801a1.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21877284/ I included some pictures of Taiji, Wakayama (5 minutes drive from my apartment) that were taken by activists who came to protest what's going on.
05 dolphin slaughter
2. On November 20th, Japan introduced new immigration policies at all airports that Amnesty International has described as "a violation of basic human rights." Japan is the only country apart from the United States to resort to fingerprinting foreigners and is carrying it further and targeting almost everyone, including people with permanent, work or spouse visas, as well as short-term visitors. In the U.S., all permanent residents are exempt. In Japan, only children under 16, diplomats and special-status, mainly Korean, permanent residents will escape the lines and the tedious procedures. I have a visa that is good for 3 years, and until today have enjoyed the benefits of short lines because I stand in a line for Japanese people! No longer!
Apparently an immigration bureau official made a rather smug and arrogant, (the reporter said he's dangerously deluded), comment when he declared that the fingerprinting and photographing of foreigners "will greatly contribute to preventing international terrorist activities on our soil."
10 new immigration laws
Interestingly enough the Japanese resist any type of fingerprinting, and as the law states that only criminals and suspects who are forced to provide fingerprints. But what is the point of fingerprinting and photographing? All that provides is information about identity. As we know from 9/11 by the time the terrorist actions are carried out the people are dead anyways. Had the perpetrators of 9/11 been fingerprinted on arrival in the U.S., they would not have been stopped: They entered legally. It would be a rare and incompetent terrorist who leaves prints marked "terrorist" at all, let alone before doing their work.
From an article on msnbc.com, " The failures on 9/11 were sloppy intelligence in not sharing highly relevant information, and lax security that allowed the terrorists to get onto flights with deadly box cutters and force their way through flimsy doors to the flight decks. It would be a one in a billion chance if a real terrorist boss with a known record were to join the immigration queues at Narita or Kansai or even Fukuoka airport. Would Japanese immigration be able to recognize Osama bin Laden if, disguised in a burqa, he dared to test the efficiency of Japan's new system? Does immigration even have his prints on file?"
The only problem Japan has had with terrorism is the 'homegrown' type. So foreigners do have reason for legitimate fears when being finger-printed. What will they be used for anyways? A European bar hostess was murdered, who may have had both Japanese clients and European friends. The police checked out her apartment and what do you know, the only prints they can match with their records are those of one of her European friends obtained via immigration. Japan's police have an awesome reputation of winning confessions through forceful interrogation and claim an incredible 98 percent success rate in solving crime. Scary!
Crazy stuff, huh? Guess I'll get to experience this first hand when I return from my trip to Cambodia and Vietnam in January. Hope I get through immigration OK!
3. Japan's biggest private conversation school chain 'NOVA' closes hundreds of doors amidst scandal-many English teachers have lost their jobs and are facing eviction because they can't pay their rent.
09 NOVA english school closing
The company faces bankruptcy. One of my principals said to me, "Katherine-sensei, NOVA IS BAD PEOPLE. YOU LUCKY" I don't know about luck, because I actually had to do a lot to get into the JET program, as opposed to teachers who work at NOVA who don't even have to have graduated from university to get a job.
5. Somali pirates hijack Japanese owned ship off coast of Africa! But they're not the Jack Sparrow type of pirate, these dangerous Somali pirates are trained fighters who have speed boats, GPS satellites and sophisticated weapons.
01 somali pirates
They have seized merchant ships, ships carrying aid, and once even a cruise ship! They capture ships and hold them for ransom. The waters off the coast of North Eastern Africa have been very dangerous for many years. (Somalia hasn't had a government in over 10 years) Kenya's economy depends on cargo ships moving north, past Somalia, and has made an international plea for to patrol the Somali coast, and clear out the pirates.
02 more pirates
The U.S., Germany and France already have warships north of Somalia, guarding the Djibouti coast and the Gulf of Aden, but no nation has offered to go after the Somali pirates. But foreign fishing ships are reluctant to give up working the waters off Somali. So the pirates still have a reason to prowl the coast. After this most recent hijacking of the Golden Nori (nori means seaweed in Japanese), the US Navy agreed to help remove the pirates from the ship, which is carrying a highly flammable solvent called Benzene. At one point the US Navy's missile destroyer USS Porter opened fire to destroy the pirates ships that were tied to the tanker.
If you made it to the end, congratulations. Sorry sometimes I have a lot to say :)
Next up..blog about my weekend in the mountains sleeping at a temple with Buddhist monks!
