The summer of our discontent
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Clearing up a potential misunderstanding
Before an overdue family update is posted I'd like to clear-up a misunderstanding I might have invited in a previous post. I wrote a sensitive article for my work in Japan
regarding stereotypes. My closing paragraph included the phrase, "it's hard to argue that stereotypes are completely groundless. most people, regardless of race, seem to feel pressure--either consciously or subconsciously to conform to the cultural and societal norms surrounding them." I should've said a "few stereotypes." There's more than a few stereotypes that have no right to exist. For example, no specific race of people should be singled out as being more sexual than another. The way those feelings are expressed and dealt with are no doubt influenced and shaped by what you see around you but I've observed over the years that regardless if you're white, black, asian, or hispanic--and often even regardless of if you attend a church where governing those feelings is a core teaching--those feelings are often an itch many people can't resist scratching--in one way or another. A fair stereotype would be it's a biological challenge of being male.
Second, no race of people should ever be labeled lazy or intellectually inferior. Growing up in homes and neighborhoods devoid of people who had the opportunity to receive a high-quality classroom education and where those opportunities aren't available for the current generation of students are tall barriers to scale, but it's not about being black, hispanic, southeast asian, or country white, it's about being in environments beyond your control where survival is often an energy consuming pursuit, to say nothing of the dearth of scholarly models surrounding you.
Opportunity is the starting point. You can't demean or harshly evaluate people who really never had a proper chance to get out of the starting blocks. You can only be judged on how you utilized your opportunity, after you got it in the first place.
So much of our behavior is imitating what's been modeled for us. How we speak follows that same principle. I don't know too many people who invent a large number of their own words, grammar, and expressions. Most of it's recycled words and phrases we've heard or read others say. Our behavior is often recycled behavior we observed in parents or extremely close friends. That's one way where people of all races are the same.
I could add to the list of stereotypes that are as reliable as statements in the national inquirer. My initial statement in that article wasn't referring to these types of stereotypes.
Now, let me transition to stereotypes that perhaps aren't completely groundless.
I believe some cultures tend to be more relaxed or up-tight than others. Japan is by far the most up-tight culture I've ever lived in. My sister told me when she visited Costa Rica people kept telling her, "tranquilla," any time she expressed anxiety.
Koreans hit the books a lot harder generally than any other culture I've ever seen. Does that mean they're smarter? no. it just means from my observation Koreans generally tend to spend longer hours studying in high school and junior high. I heard an LDS church leader say once--Elder Dallin H. Oaks I believe--that no one culture has a monopoly on virtue or vice. Any stereotype that suggest inherent inferiority should be immediately discarded. There's no doubt in my mind that if a white baby born into an affluent neighborhood switched places with a black baby born into the projects, the white baby would struggle growing up and in the classroom just as much as many of his peers in the projects, whereas the black baby would reap the benefits of getting top of the line education just like many of his affluent classmates. So this has nothing to do with race. This is about the contrast of affluency versus poverty, safety versus danger, abundance of opportunity versus dearth of opportunity, and what you have modeled for you by adults in your environment.
But when it comes to stereotypes that suggest a cultural style that is neither inherently good nor bad, but rather is a mixed bag of merits and demerits, I believe those aren't completely groundless, although definitely there will be a fair amount of people within that culture who don't fit into that mold. I hope this long-windedness cleared up any misunderstanding I'd be horrified if I caused.
regarding stereotypes. My closing paragraph included the phrase, "it's hard to argue that stereotypes are completely groundless. most people, regardless of race, seem to feel pressure--either consciously or subconsciously to conform to the cultural and societal norms surrounding them." I should've said a "few stereotypes." There's more than a few stereotypes that have no right to exist. For example, no specific race of people should be singled out as being more sexual than another. The way those feelings are expressed and dealt with are no doubt influenced and shaped by what you see around you but I've observed over the years that regardless if you're white, black, asian, or hispanic--and often even regardless of if you attend a church where governing those feelings is a core teaching--those feelings are often an itch many people can't resist scratching--in one way or another. A fair stereotype would be it's a biological challenge of being male.
Second, no race of people should ever be labeled lazy or intellectually inferior. Growing up in homes and neighborhoods devoid of people who had the opportunity to receive a high-quality classroom education and where those opportunities aren't available for the current generation of students are tall barriers to scale, but it's not about being black, hispanic, southeast asian, or country white, it's about being in environments beyond your control where survival is often an energy consuming pursuit, to say nothing of the dearth of scholarly models surrounding you.
Opportunity is the starting point. You can't demean or harshly evaluate people who really never had a proper chance to get out of the starting blocks. You can only be judged on how you utilized your opportunity, after you got it in the first place.
So much of our behavior is imitating what's been modeled for us. How we speak follows that same principle. I don't know too many people who invent a large number of their own words, grammar, and expressions. Most of it's recycled words and phrases we've heard or read others say. Our behavior is often recycled behavior we observed in parents or extremely close friends. That's one way where people of all races are the same.
I could add to the list of stereotypes that are as reliable as statements in the national inquirer. My initial statement in that article wasn't referring to these types of stereotypes.
Now, let me transition to stereotypes that perhaps aren't completely groundless.
I believe some cultures tend to be more relaxed or up-tight than others. Japan is by far the most up-tight culture I've ever lived in. My sister told me when she visited Costa Rica people kept telling her, "tranquilla," any time she expressed anxiety.
Koreans hit the books a lot harder generally than any other culture I've ever seen. Does that mean they're smarter? no. it just means from my observation Koreans generally tend to spend longer hours studying in high school and junior high. I heard an LDS church leader say once--Elder Dallin H. Oaks I believe--that no one culture has a monopoly on virtue or vice. Any stereotype that suggest inherent inferiority should be immediately discarded. There's no doubt in my mind that if a white baby born into an affluent neighborhood switched places with a black baby born into the projects, the white baby would struggle growing up and in the classroom just as much as many of his peers in the projects, whereas the black baby would reap the benefits of getting top of the line education just like many of his affluent classmates. So this has nothing to do with race. This is about the contrast of affluency versus poverty, safety versus danger, abundance of opportunity versus dearth of opportunity, and what you have modeled for you by adults in your environment.
But when it comes to stereotypes that suggest a cultural style that is neither inherently good nor bad, but rather is a mixed bag of merits and demerits, I believe those aren't completely groundless, although definitely there will be a fair amount of people within that culture who don't fit into that mold. I hope this long-windedness cleared up any misunderstanding I'd be horrified if I caused.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Final Week
First I need to qualify the statement, "final week." In this context it means my days in Japan are numbered and I'll be departing this Saturday. I'm grateful to skype and web cams to tide me over while I've been separated from Vyda, Arielle, and Ryosei since July 15th. My last week will consist of work, packing I can't put-off any longer, and saying plenty of good-byes. I actually remarked yesterday to anyone who cared to listen that I'm really tired of saying good-bye at this point. It takes its toll. It has been a wonderful 10 months in Toyama, Japan. I can't imagine how it could've been any better. Our previous three years in another country that shall remain nameless were tumultuous, to put it mildly. We've learned how to be grateful for any good thing, no matter the size, that happens to us because our previous three turbulent years still are anything but a distant memory. Hopefully, I can write a little more about Japan before I leave.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Vyda's Odyssey
Vyda left Toyama Japan at 7:10 a.m on Wednesday July 15th with a four year old and six month old and several suitcases. She arrived in Boston, MA on Thursday July 16th 11:30 a.m Japan time, or 28 some hours later.
Luckily, Arielle is an amazing travel companion.
My own Odyssey is less than two weeks away. My employeer was only willing to pay for a ticket to Hawaii, so my route goes Tokyo-Hawaii-San Franciso-Boston. I leave Japan on August 1st 7:45 p.m and finally reach Boston Aug. 2nd 8:00 p.m, Japan time. I read once how Donald Rumsfield read voraciously on long flights so I plan to do likewise until the uncontrollabe head nods win-out.
But 24 plus hours on an airplane and waiting in an airport sure beats one month on a ship, eh?
Luckily, Arielle is an amazing travel companion.
My own Odyssey is less than two weeks away. My employeer was only willing to pay for a ticket to Hawaii, so my route goes Tokyo-Hawaii-San Franciso-Boston. I leave Japan on August 1st 7:45 p.m and finally reach Boston Aug. 2nd 8:00 p.m, Japan time. I read once how Donald Rumsfield read voraciously on long flights so I plan to do likewise until the uncontrollabe head nods win-out.
But 24 plus hours on an airplane and waiting in an airport sure beats one month on a ship, eh?
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