zoechan comments

complaining can be great constructive feedback - as long as the person you're complaining to is the person responsible...

i know of a parent who spent his parent conference (his son is 4) telling the teacher how much he hates an unruly classmates mother and why doesn't the school do anything about her. he even went over his appointed time by 25 minutes just complaining - no mention of his own son.

what did he expect to get back from this complaining?!

seesaw: When i was a kid, my parents never took me anywhere...let alone taking me on flights, for fear my cries would disturb others...If I were to have kids I would do the same..:)

how sad! how about teaching your children how to behave appropriately and respectful and considerate of others? i was fortunate enough to travel a lot when i was young and my parents never had to put up with any ill behaviour - just like ptolomy!

http://www.japanprobe.com/2009/11/10/tatsuya-ichihashi-arrested-in-osaka/#comments

mr hawker found out from the news program.

thank you kirakira - cheers! and a little tear shed that finally, finally, finally, he is apprehended.

kobe kid:

if he turned himself in then no one collects the reward

are you seriously concerned about the reward? such a callous thought when a girl died so horrendously, her killer has finally been caught/turned himself in/whatever - he's done for now.

i send out my heartfelt thanks to the police of Osaka for getting him.

when it happened, and was released in the british press, my grandmother almost had a heart attack, thinking that it had been me. i can only imagine the pain this caused her family - and that is never going to be compensated by financial means

thank goodness for that. yourock - i agree (though lucy was the british girl who worked as a hostess and was killed, this time it was lindsay). a glass of wine and a moment of silence for lindsay: do not forget her face

tip to blissful traveling: earplugs and eye masks. especially the lovely lavender scented ones you can get here in Japan that heat up for about 20 minutes...

main thing that bothers me about traveling on planes is lack of leg room, but thats not the question :D

bigwave.... couldn't agree with you more.

she saddled up to the car? cars have saddles now??

sidled up, on the other hand...

in addition, i truly wish more countries believed in, aided and promoted growing up bilingually, even if the parent doesn't speak a language other than the native tongue.

full immersion in a second language at school is effective. these international and immersion schools have amazing set ups to ensure that their students grow up bilingual.

fishy says its a "status" thing. of course it is. rich papas and stay home mamas send their babies off to international school between 8am and 6pm - lets not kid ourselves - its also day care. however, there are some parents who both work full time to ensure that they can give their child the best start in life.

fishy also wonders about kids ability to learn their own language. kids are more intelligent that adults: they learn language so much faster than we do that its almost shaming! "if the family is looking to relocate to an English speaking country, then sending kids to an international school would be a good preparation, but other than that, i personally think it'd be the parents' ego." I wholeheartedly disagree. even if a child is likely to stay in his native country forever and even stop learning english altogether - research has proven that the exposure to a second language stimulates, exercises and expands the brain much faster than a child only exposed to one language.

i for one intend to teach my own children several languages, even if i can't afford an international school. and yes, i do work in and fully believe in, an international school.

slicklittlemonkey: They're ok for the most part, but I don't like it when "kojin" drive away when a gaijin walks towards the cab.

my favourite part of the japanese taxi experience is not being allowed to jump into the closest taxi... ah, the taxis are in a queue, i see... let's refuse a fare and make the customer walk 100 metres to the front of the queue whilst i wax my car. guy logic or japanese logic?!

he could "go again" to provide enough ammunition for his second victim?

disgusting.

Little old ladies have been known to assault people in order to get to the front of the line before supplies run out.

japanese ladies become evermore aggressive, the older they get.... in my experience anyway!

rest in peace - i had never heard of her work until now, i just wish it weren't the way here that single yet successful women died alone. not much for women to aspire to, in the end.

Heda_Madness - I totally agree with you. There is no proof that the baby was born alive, no proof that she killed it - some posters are alluding to drowning in the toilet - no proof that she knew she was pregnant and planned for nine months to abandon her newborn.

poor girl. she will never get over this, or the condemnation from some anonymous posters.

skipthesong - "what do ESL teachers in Japan make - 80-90k?"

um, no. the majority of positions in japan are paid at less than 300,000yen a month, amounting to approx 3-4million a year or 30-40,000 dollars.

one of my favourite family stories - my parents took me on a relatively short flight (8 hours) when i was about 8 months old. luckily for them, the lady next to them was terrified of flying and was thrilled to babysit me whilst my parents napped.... judging by the posts above, those days are well and truly gone. how sad.

some interesting points from both the author and the comments - i find the comment that she should "find a real school"... what is a real school? sounds to me like the author is at a real, Japanese kindergarten (just her expectations were rather unrealistic!)

i would like to read 'The Japanese Mind', but for now, i'm happy to be working at an international preschool here!

i love this picture - fathers participating in such an old tradition with their beloved babies. this is so far away from bordering on child abuse - yes health and safety is a huge consideration, however, what is better: a father spending time with his child (whilst wearing a nappy himself admittedly) and simultaneously blessing said child with good health, or the father who is too busy/scared/indifferent to even take his child to observe this festival?

this is so true of japan - whilst working at a big eikaiwa of the past, i felt pretty similar to a hostess: having to listen to the most socially inept man talk, or finding enough questions to encourage him to talk if he was that verbally challenged... plus handling the come ons and lecherous looks. yuk. i imagine thats why so many salarymen learnt english - to have the right to hit on the teacher because they paid for it.

toadold: #

At what age do teenage girls stop wearing school uniforms and do they tend to wear them a lot after school? #

teenagers in japan live in their school uniform because they go to cram school immediately after their sports club, and most don't return home til 10 or 11pm.

i've been wondering if this teenage lifestyle of school/club/juku doesn't inspire an entire fortitude of men who never got the chance to "do" a schoolgirl when he was of similar age - thus the reason why high school girls are touched up all the damn time?

just a thought

so the ex wife only moved out jan 10, but the rent was already in arrears?? how long had the ex wife been living off grandma (god rest her soul)??