Observations of English Textbooks in Japan: Cultural Differences, and Downright Hilarity

Observations of English Textbooks in Japan: Cultural Differences, and Downright Hilarity

So at my junior high, I sit at a desk with TONS of English textbooks. Only the Sunshine textbooks are used for actual class, but as I've found myself with some extra time on my hands after writing, studying Japanese, and planning elementary school lessons, I've often turned to them for amusement. And what I've found: there's some pretty hilarious stuff in there! It's actually turned into a bit of culture study in some places as an interesting look into how the Japanese view and portray English.

The current textbooks in use in junior high schools are called Sunshine, aimed mostly at recitation of short dialogue. There are actually some really sad stories in there though! For instance the second year book has a whole 3 party story about starving elephants to death in zoos during the war, another talks about the plight of pets during the bombings, and the previous textbook New Horizon has a story about two children dying in the Hiroshima bombings. Sheesh. Speech contest here I come, right? Shudder...

Anyway, steering clear of that for now, let's get to the good stuff!

Sometimes it happens....There's a hair in my ramen. I once had a kid spot a tiny hair in his bowl of ramen during lunch and he complained to the teacher about it. She took one look, discarded the perfectly good bowl of soup, and got him a brand new one. It was probably his own hair anyway.

Tokyo Disneyland: Proving There's Room for More Than One Happiest Place on Earth

Entrance to Tokyo Disneyland

I absolutely love Disneyland. Ever since I was little. I’ve been one to two times every year for 23 years – that makes between 20 and 40 times! I’ve always loved Disney movies, the Disney store, and anything else Disney related (I have yet to embark on a Disney cruise yet, sadly). So with Tokyo Disneyland (actually in neighboring Chiba, but Tokyo sounds cool right) only two and a half hours south, I was bound to go while living in Japan. Last year I had the chance to visit Tokyo Disneysea, the adjacent park focused around water, while the Christmas decorations were up. (Inside fact, there’s mistletoe in the Cape Cod harbor! Though it’s mostly lost on Japanese people who have no idea what mistletoe is, nor its tradition.) So now I finally made it to Tokyo Disneyland with a few pals! It was a long day – waking up around 5 am and finally hitting the hay past 1 in the morning – but totally worth it for the day packed with food, fun, and more food. So let’s get on to my review plus insider tips!

Golden Week: Taco Bell returns to Tokyo, Yunessan Spa Resort in Hakone, and fun in Odaiba!

Shibuya: Taco Bell, frozen yogurt at Partyland, and the cutest Disney store you haven’t been to

So Taco Bell opened up in Shibuya a few weeks ago to much fanfare and publicity, or rather reopened, having been in Japan before but closed due to Japanese people’s lack of appetite for Mexican food. Apparently they changed their minds, or else the number of foreigners increased. Anyway, it’s back! Mexican food in Japan is scarce, and when you do find it, it can be a hit-or-miss on the authenticity (not to mention the portion sizes), as many Western foods in Japan become Japanized to suit Japanese tastes. The day it opened people waited up to two hours for their greasy tacos; thankfully it was only about twenty or thirty minutes for me. (Some interesting tidbits: on the way you can pass a “whale meat restaurant”, and right across from Taco Bell is a sex toy shop. Interesting…)

Katei Houmon and Things That Annoyed Me This Week: Politicians, Cockroaches, and Motorcycles

Katei Houmon and Things That Annoyed Me This Week: Politicians, Cockroaches, and Motorcycles

Here's the Meritto shampoo I was talking about! It's been keeping my hair clean and fresh for half a year now! There was a day at junior high when I compared my name to the shampoo as a joke and the kids started calling me Meritto after that haha.

So back to the blog, the second week of school has begun for me, and this means it’s time for katei houmon, when all the teachers pay visits to the homes of each of the students in their homeroom class. (Also on a more exciting note, Taco Bell reopened in Tokyo, with people braving lines up to two hours to get some Mexican goodness. Mexican food is an extreme rarity in Japan, unfortunately). Apparently it's a very stressful time despite the visit lasting for only about ten minutes each. I'm sure it must be just as stressful for all the moms having to clean house and prepare tea and snacks for just a ten minute visit. My teachers said they weren't so much nervous as tired from making all those trips and visits. And they have to be all dressed up in full suits as opposed to their regular track suits and casual wear. Sounds like a lot of work for everyone, but then again that's what Japanese people do best.

Returning to Japan: First Week Back to School

About Myself

A creative writer by nature, this is my first foray into the world of blogging. I’ve been keeping a journal since I first arrived in japan, and figured now would be a good time to start since I wont have to spend so much time preparing lessons this time around. I’m from Los Angeles and Minnesota, and a graduate of University of Minnesota Twin Cities with an English major and Asian studies minor,, and I’ve been studying Japanese about nine years now (wow! Has it really been so long?). It seems like yesterday I traveled to Japan for the first time, when in reality it was six years ago! It was only a ten day trip, but I such an amazing time I knew I had to come back. During my time there my host family in Kobe showed me warm hospitality and introduced me to okonomiyaki and purikura, now two of my most favorite things. I saw Kyoto and Hiroshima as well, but it wasn’t enough – only enough to whet my appetite for more! And thus here I am, starting my second year living in Ibaraki prefecture.

Merissa no Meritto

I’ve titled my blog “Melissa no Meritto” (meritto meaning merit in Japanese). There’s a shampoo in Japan called メリット, only one character different from my nameメリッサ, which I thought was funny enough I had to buy, and I’ve been using it ever since. So basically it means the merits of being Melissa – or Melissa’s Merit shampoo. Whichever.