Facebook altercation and American racism

 After turning on the news and seeing yet another black female American murdered for no good reason hollows me to the core. I don't know how to process my fear, my anger, my thirst for justice, feelings of helplessness, confusion...all these feelings just swirling around having no outlet. However, one thing that has stood out for me personally is an altercation that happened on Facebook with a high school classmate.

I went to high school in a predominately white area where all of my life I tried my best to fit in and make it seem like I was "the same". That my hair was straight and I washed it everyday. That I had the same culture as they did, experienced the same things, that I wasn't in anyway different from the majority. This is what I did for all of my schooling life. I didn't stop pretending until I was a sophomore in college.

Anyway, this is besides the point. On Facebook during the time of the Ferguson decision one of my high school friends...or I guess I should say acquaintances posted this picture this the caption written above:

   

 When I saw this it was clearly offensive to me and I couldn't just ignore this kind of blatant disrespect for what these protestors were fighting for let alone let this acquaintance be ignorant of the fact that this picture had been photoshopped where the original sign said "leaves the house". One of her friends enlightened her to the alternation of the photo but she still kept it up justifying herself by the next string of comments: 

   

I try to explain myself to her and state why I think it is offensive but to no avail and what she says next truly shocks me.

The first comment in the above string of comments is of her friend trying to show how the sign undermines the movement and the protest but of course now my acquaintance his trying to flip the script and say that because I pointed out how this altered picture that she posted is highly racial that I am suddenly the racist.

Her ending comment is what really shocked me the most. I was just in awe at what had transpired before me. I didn't expect her to say what she did, to try and demean my character and to make it seem like I'm the racist person that's holding race relations back. I was utterly in awe. Needless to say after this interaction she de-friended me on Facebook and I haven't talked to her since but its just really sickening to see people like this not willing to listen and comprehend blacks, the black experience and racism.

Through this I realized why I hid myself through all those years I was in school, why I allowed my mom to straighten my hair, why I lied and hid my own experience, its because I tried to avoid this. I tried to avoid these ignorant people that are unwilling to make any efforts to try and understand others. Even though no matter how hard I tried to avoid it back then in order to "make friends" I can't just sit back and ignore whats going on now when people are dying...being murdered in the street because people feel that they can roughhouse and manhandle human beings because they think they are less of a person. I can't stand it. It breaks my heart. It makes me angry and when some whites like my acquaintance doesn't even try to understand or comprehend the situation and what blacks are trying to scream and tell this nation it makes me that much more ill. 

When the Wash n' Go turns into the Wash n' Fro

Hey everyone,

So for the past couple of months I've been trying to experiment with my hair a little more to see what it can and can't do. My hair is very tightly coiled when I get out of the shower and I've been manipulating my hair in a stretched out state, meaning that I usually style my hair in braid outs, twists outs or just leave the braids or the twists in and have a protective style for the day.

However, a couple of days ago, I came across this one video where the lady in the video did a wash and go. I had tried doing this when I had first went natural and....needless to say it didn't turn out well. lol My wash and go turned into a wash and fro. At the time I thought that maybe my hair was too short to get the desired look I wanted so I held off on trying to attempt it again until today.

My hair is really long now and I thought that maybe this time I could get similar results to the other ladies on YouTube that do their wash and go looks. I know that every hair type is different but ball park I thought I could at least get a look that I was semi-pleased with, without getting the fro. I mean, I love my fro in all but it's a nightmare to detangle and my hair in its fro state gets dry too quickly so I wanted to define my curls and try something new.

I detangled my hair thoroughly and split my hair into four sections. I got in the shower and section by section, washed and slathered conditioner on my hair. My hair was very soft and detangled but....as soon as I step out of the shower....

Yeah...another wash and fro. I feel that my hair is just too tightly coiled and bunched together to get that nice wash and go look. If anyone has any tips or advice please let me know!! lol One of my favorite YouTuber's CharyJay, in one of her salon episodes had a beautiful wash and go done on her hair....so maybe I just need to go to a professional and gets some tips.

「青丘社」(Seikyu-sha) Blue Hills Society Interview and Zainichi minority (Part 2)

So the first part of this interview series was with the Blue Hills Society's organization head. The second part of the interview was with a Zainichi Korean living in Japan now. I'm very grateful to her for sharing her story with me and answering my questions. Please read what she had to say: 

パート２：チさん (Part 2 Ms. Chi) *name is pseudo* 

私(me)：日本の育ちですか。

(Were you raised in Japan?)

チさん(Ms. Chi)：日本で育ちました。

(Yes)

私：そして、出身は大阪ですね。

(And you said your hometown was in Osaka?)

チさん：大阪です。

(Yes)

私：母語は日本語ですか。

(Is your native language Japanese?)

チさん：母語は日本語です。

(Yes)

私：韓国語も話せますか。

(Can you also speak Korean?)

チさん：韓国語話せるのかな、うちのお母さんと日常会話で話すけどニュースとか聞くとあまり聞き取れなかったりとかする。難しくて。

(Can I speak Korean lol? Well, I speak daily conversation level with my mom but if I listen to the news I can't understand what they're saying, its too difficult.)

私：お母さんと話し合ってだけで習ったんですか。

(So you just learned Korean while speaking with your mother?)

チさん：そう。去年韓国に一年間で留学しました。Kyongju大学という。そこに母国研修プログラムというところがあって在外同胞という例えば日本に住んでいる韓国人だったり、ヨーロッパに住んでいる韓国人だったり、ロシアに住んでいる韓国人という人たちを集めて安いお金で教えるっていう教育プログラムがあって、そこで勉強しました。だから、韓国語だけじゃなくて文化とかあと歴史、そういうこと、あと旅行をたくさんしてくれたりとかそういうプログラムしてくれる「国の機関」。そこで勉強しました。

(Yes, but last year I went to Korea to study abroad. It was at Kyonju University. At the university there's a native language program where overseas Koreans, like Zainichi living in Japan, Koreans living in Europe or Russia can gather and learn Korean for a reasonable price, so I studied there. But that program just doesn't concentrate on the Korean language but also introduces culture, history and they also take us on trips.

私：ジューさんは今大学生ですか。

(Are you a college student?)

チさん：一年休学したので大学三年生です。

(Yes, I took a year off so I'm a junior in college now.)

私：専攻は？

(What's your major?)

チさん：専攻は映画です。ドキュメンタリーコースを取っているです。だからここに取材しに来ています。

(I'm majoring in film. I'm taking a documentary course now so right now I'm volunteering at Blue Hills Society to gather materials.

私：日本の国籍を持っているんですか。

(Do you have Japanese nationality?)

チさん：持っていないです。持ていると思っていました去年まだ。去年、Kyongjuの大学に行ったら、同じような在日韓国人はパスポート二つ持っていたんですよ。それで、「えぇ」ってなって「えぇ、なんで二つ持ってんの」って言ったら二重国籍と言われて、私も二重国籍じゃなかだっけと思って電話したら、あなたは一つしか持ってないよと言われた。その時で初めて知りました。韓国の国籍だけだったという。ショックでした。

(No, I don't. I thought I did all the way up until last year. When I studied at Kyongju University I met someone like me that was Zainichi and s/he had two passports. I thought to myself "Huh?! Why do you have two passports?!" S/he told me that s/he had double citizenship and I thought to myself that maybe I also have double citizenship but when I called and asked, I was told that I only had Korean citizenship. That was the first time I realized that I only had Korean citizenship. It was a shock.)

私：日本に住んでいる在日朝鮮人のある人々は朝鮮半島の国民は一つの民族と考えられているですが、その考え方についてどう思っていますか。

(Some Koreans in Japan think that the Koreans on the Korean peninsula are one people one nation but what are your thoughts about this type of thinking?) 

チさん：私の母親は韓国から来たんですよ。だから、あまりそういう一つの国ということは全然考えてなかった。北朝鮮の国と韓国というのは別々という考えで生きていた感じはします。でも、ここに来ているハルモニーたちはやっぱり一つのだ考えているし、朝鮮学校に行っている子たちも一つと思っているし。

(Well, my mother came from South Korea. So, I don't really have that one nation, one people type of thinking. I feel that there are South Koreans and North Koreans living separately as different nations but the old ladies that come to this organization and kids that go to Korean school will probably have the one people one nation type of thinking.) 

私：お母様は韓国、南の方で、ジューさんは南の方の国籍を持っているんですか。

(So, since your mother came from South Korea, you have South Korean nationality?)

チさん：南の方の国籍を持っています。

(Yes, I have South Korean nationality.)

私：ご家族の構成はどちらですか。

(What is the make up of your family?)

チさん：うち一人子で、両親はどちも国籍は韓国でお父さんが二世で、お母さん韓国から来ました。

(Well, I'm an only child. Both my parents have South Korean nationality. My father is a second generation Zainichi and my mother is from South Korea.

私：お父様は韓国語が話せるんですか。

(Can your father speak Korean?)

チさん：話せないです。全く。聞き取るのはちっとできる感じがしますけど、悪口を言ったら、悪口言っているだろうというぐらいの程度。何言っているかはたぶん聞き取ってない。母親と韓国語で話して、お父さんと日本語で。

(No, he can't at all. He can understand a little, like if you say something bad about him he can understand that maybe you said something bad but he can't understand what was said. So I speak Korean with my mom and Japanese with my dad.

私：韓国の留学は初めて韓国に行った時だったんですか。

(Was your study abroad experience the first time you went to visit South Korea?)

チさん：いや、夏休みの時にお母さんの実家にずっと行っていて。

(No, over the summers I would go to see my mother's family.)

私：お母様に実家はどちらですか。

(Where is your mother's hometown?)

チさん：KawandoっていうDonghae

(Kawando)

私：それはソウルの近くですか。

(Is that close to Seoul?)

チさんと他の子：全然遠い！

(No, it's really far away!)

チさん：韓国があって、こっちの海側。日本っていうと日本海と言われるが、韓国でいうと・・・日本海側。

(So there is Korea and my mom's hometown is near the ocean. If we were talking about Japan, it would be on the Japan coast.)

私：お母様は韓国に育ちましたか。

(Did your mother grow up in Korea?)

チさん：はい、33歳まで韓国にいたんです。・・・

(Yes, she lived in Korea until she was 33 years old.)

私：そして、日本に来て、33歳の時に？

(And then she came to Japan when she was 33?)

チさん：30歳かもしれないね。

(Yeah....maybe 33.)

他の子：どういうきっかけで大阪に行ったんですか。

(Why did your mother decide to go to Osaka?)

チさん：お母さんは、恋愛の話になるんだけど、プサンの港でお父さんの弟がプサンと日本に行ったり来たりして、プサンで船があって、・・・行ったり来たりしていて、そしてお母さんの知り合いがまた行ったり来たりしてちょうどその船の中でずっと会ってその時に紹介してもらった。で、その写真をもって、その弟がお父さんに見せに行ったら、その写真に一目惚れしてお父さんが韓国まで行って、それで連れてきたみたいです。らしいです。

(Well, when it comes to my mom, it's gonna get into a sort of love story here but at a port in Busan my dad's brother use to go back and forth between Korean and Japan. An acquaintance of my mother also use to take the same ship back and forth so my dad's brother and my mom's acquaintance use to always meet on that ship and that's where, my dad was introduced to my mom. My dad's brother brought a picture of my mom to my dad and when he saw it my dad fell in love at first sight. He went to Korea and it seems that he went to bring my mom back with him to Japan.)    

私：小学校から高校まで日本の学校通ったんですか。

(Did you go to elementary, middle and high school in Japan?)

チさん：そうです。ずっと日本の学校でした。小、中、高、大学もね。

(Yes, I've always been schooled in Japan. Elementary, middle, high school, even college.

私：これはちっと個人的な質問なんですが、学校で別と扱っていることとかいじめられていることはあったんですか。

(This is sort of a personal question but in school were you treated differently, like was there any time when you were bullied?)

チさん：えっと、うちがたぶん小学校の三年生の時ぐらいかな、冬のソナタが始まったなのかな。そこで、皆韓国という国を日本人の人たちを知ったんです。それまで韓国って日本からよく分かってなかった時期です。で、小学校四年ぐらいまではずっと中国人とか、「韓国ってどこだよ」という冷やかしみたいなことがあった。まぁ、いじめられたのかいじめと言われたいじめだけどね。色んな荷物を持ってたりとか「お前は違う人」みたいな感じで言われたりとかいっぱいあるし。

(Well, when I was a 3rd grader I think around that time was when the famous Korea drama Winter Sonata began. Because of that drama , Japan began to recognize and know about the country of South Korea. Up until that point Japan (Japanese kids/society) didn't really know much about South Korea. When I was in 4th grade, everyone (all the kids) would mistake me for a Chinese or ask me "Where's Korea at?" so it was kind of like teasing. So, I guess that's sort of a form of bullying. When I would be carrying a lot of things, some kids would tell me that I was different; there was a lot of teasing like that. 

私：日本人の友達いますか。

(Do you have Japanese friends?)

チさん：たくさんいます。たぶん韓国の友達より多いと思います。

(I have a lot of friends! I think I have more Japanese friends than I do Korean.)

私：日本と韓国と、どちらの文化によりしたしんでいるんですか。

(Between Japan and Korea, which culture do you feel more comfortable with?)

チさん：どうなんだろうね。そこは複雑で家では料理は全部韓国だし、ジェサもするし、でも韓国をしているのかなと思いながら、韓国人よりたぶん韓国って感じなんじゃないと言われたんじゃない在日って、だからどうなんだろう、家で韓国の文化をずっと触れているけど学校でずっと日本の文化らしいっていう感じ。

(Hmm, well...that's difficult to answer, at home all my family makes is Korean food and I also do Jesa (traditional Korean honoring of ancestors ritual) but when I think that maybe I'm Korean, compared to a Korean (that lives on the main peninsula) I'm probably not Korean at all. That's why were called Zainichi right...so, hmm.... at home I've always been in contact with Korean culture and at school I've always been connected to Japanese culture...so I guess it's like that.

私：大学を卒業してから、日本で働くつもりですか。

(After you graduate from university, do you have plans to work in Japan?)

チさん：そうですね。日本で働くつもりかもしれない。韓国では働かないかもしれない。去年韓国に行った時に、様々な外国からきた人たちと会って、そこの友達と一緒に仕事をしたいなと思っていて南米に行って仕事をしたいということを考えていてスペイン語勉強中です。

(Hmm, I guess I might have plans to work in Japan. I probably won't be able to work in Korea. Last year when I went to Korea, I met a lot of foreign students and I made one friend. We were thinking that maybe we could work together in South America so I'm studying Spanish now. 

私：就職活動の不安はあるんですか。

(Do you have any worries/anxieties about looking for a job?)

チさん：全然ないです。別に就職できなかったら、まぁいいか。でもドキュメンタリーって皆ほとんどフリーでやっている人が多い。だから自分の腕しかないから。

(No, not really. If I don't find a job after graduation oh well. But for people in the documentary industry, there are a lot of people who  do the freelance type of thing. But, I only have my own abilities so (I'm not too stressed about it) 

私：これはちょっと広い範囲で聞くですが、日本におけるマイノリティーの将来について何を願っていますか。

(I'm asking this question in a broad sense but what do you hope to see in the future for minorities in Japan?)

チさん：どうなんだろう。なんかそんなこと考えたことないし。まぁ、外国人として生まれちゃったのは生まれたくて、生まれたわけじゃないから、いじめられるのはどうなのと昔からずっと思っていたけど、違うのかなと思いながら日本ってちょっと違う、アメリカと違うと、攻撃するっていうか。今のhate speechもそうだけど。でもhate speechを批判するとまたする人たちはちょっと過激になってきたなと気がしていて、知らないというわけじゃなくて日本の人たちが知ってほしい。ただそれだけっていうか。知らない人が多いから在日って言いても皆全然知らないし。「で何、結局日本人じゃん」「母国語は日本語でしょう、日本人じゃん」と言われる。外国に行けば、例えばヨーロッパとかだと何系何人と言われるけど日本だとなんか・・・

(Hmmm.....well....I've never really thought about it before but...it's not like we wanted to be born as foreigners so I've always never really understood the bullying, but I think that Japan is a little different from America...maybe more critical. Even with hate speech, people who criticize hate speech but then turn around and are even more critical of others, I feel its gotten really violent lately. It's not that no one knows about it, but I would like more Japanese people to be aware and knowledgeable about it (minorities in Japan)...but...maybe just that. A lot of Japanese don't know about Zainichi people and usually say "Well..your basically Japanese" or "Your native language is Japanese right, so your Japanese". If you go abroad you have things like "heritage"/"nationality" (Korean American) but here in Japan...    

私：その言葉はあまり使っていないですね。

(Those type of words and thinking aren't really used here huh...)
チさん：そう、韓国系日本人と言われるとちょっと・・・

(Yeah, People don't really say your Korean Japanese )

私：言わないですね。在日だけの言葉が使われているですよね。

(Not really part of the vocabulary huh? Most only use the word Zainichi right?)

チさん：難しいですよね。そういうことを言えるような日本はどうでしょう。私は韓国系日本人ですって。でも、韓国と日本だから言えるのが言いづらいかもしれないし。歴史的に。でも、私よく聞かれているのは「ハーフ」です。

(It's really difficult right? I wonder what a Japan that used those type of words would look like...if I could say I'm a Korean Japanese. But maybe because of the historical relationship Korea has with Japan, it might be difficult to say that. Even though most people usually ask if I'm "half" (a term used to discriminate between mixed Japanese race individuals) 

—省略—

I really enjoyed having this interview with Ms. Chi and I'm so grateful to her for letting me listen to her story and her thoughts. From listening to Ms. Chi's story and from my own research, it becomes more and more clear that within Japanese society, there is a specific emphasis placed on heritage and one's bloodline which make it easy for people living within Japan to feel excluded or marked as different because of racial and ethnic difference.

「青丘社」(Seikyu-sha) Blue Hills Society Interview and Zainichi minority

インタビュー (Interview)

So a couple of weeks ago I traveled to Kawasaki to visit the organization 「青丘社」(Seikyu-sha) or Blue Hills Society. The organization concentrates mainly on Zainichi issues and was founded to help this particular group combat discrimination and prejudice within Kawasaki. During my time there, I had the opportunity to interview the organization's leader and a third generation Zainichi. Although my time was short there, I had a very eye opening experience and was received so warmly there that the society left a life long impression on me. The first part of my interview is with the Blue Hills Society head. (I tried to summarize in English as much as possible...please forgive my horrible translation skills lol) 

パート１：館長

私(me)：「青丘社」の団体は民族差別をなくす市民運動のもとで創立したとインタネットで書いてありましたが、現在戦っている差別はどのようなものですか。

(On the internet, it says that this organization was created in conjunction to combating discrimination and extending civil rights, however, what discrimination does the organization combat today?)

館長(org. head)：

具体的に僕たちの課題というのはやっぱり、民族差別の制度や政策の問題よりも、もっと前に生活の実態にあるという問題だと思っているので、特に昔からあった問題、貧困とか、弱い立場の子供たちが一番どうせ勉強したってしょうがないって言ってその進路を諦めちゃうという状況があるのでそういう具体的に地域社会の現実にきちんと関われるのが僕たちの希望なのですよ。

(Well today, instead of concentrating on systemic discrimination within policies, we are looking at the living reality of these problems, such as poverty, how to teach children from a young age [about discrimination] and students giving up on post secondary education. So, you could say that now, the goal of our society is to get directly involved with the social realities of our community.)

そこの中で当事者の人たち、子供もそうだし、親たちもそうだけれども、やっぱり諦めない。諦めないできちんと自らのできる権力をきちんと主張して、社会参加をしていることと、背中をおしていく作業をしながら、そこで不条理に出くわせば、皆の力で解決をしていくということも僕らのこの40年ぐらい・・・ずっと繰り返されてきて最初の20年は日本の社会は外国人問題とは韓国朝鮮人のことほとんどだった。そういう意味で戦争政策とか、戦争責任の問題とか平和の問題と差別の問題切っても切りはなせない問題だったので、最初の部分はそういう意味では韓国朝鮮人の民族差別をなくすということにたくさんのエネルギーがいたし、他の活動というのは韓国朝鮮人当事者の人たち、二世の当事者の人たちが、特に母親たちが最初に立ち上げてきた。その人たちを支えていくという活動もあった。

 (What we really want is for the citizens of our communities to not give up, to exert the rights that they have and to take part in the community and society. For the past 40 years, we feel that if we [organization] can run against the irrationality [of the problem] while also supporting work endeavors, with everyone's support we can solve some of the problems [zainichi minorities face]. For the first 20 years [after the war i.e. WWII] within Japan, the 'foreign problem' had almost always referred to Zainichi Koreans. Because of this, things such as war policy, war responsibility, problems of peace and discrimination were all problems that were inseparable from one another which is why during the first 20 years after the war there was a lot of energy put into trying to get rid of discrimination. People from Korea, Second generation Zainichi, especially mothers all rallied together and we[the organization] also did various things to support these people.)       

で、この20年ぐらいは新しい教育を得ている人たちとたくさん出会って、そういう人たちにもコンピューター技術や留学生とか､変え言えば、High classの生活の人もいるけれども、私らこの地域っていうのは生活課題を持った外国人がたくさん住んでいる。それは埋め立ち地工場地帯だったね。昔よりは少し働く場所が少なくなってきたけどそれでも日本語の読み書きができなくても働く場所があるのでとても厳しい三交替の交替で朝昼晩、夜間勤務とか今日は６時からとか、そういう交替で勤務して働く場所とか、あと前あたりには色んな飲食店があるから、皿洗いという仕事というのは外国人の力を借りてという企業もいいので、そういう人たちは駅前ではなくてこのあたりに住むので大変厳しい労働とか貧困孤立の問題とかは今の一番大きな課題としてあるのです。
(However, speaking about today, for the past 20 years or so, in our community there are people who you can say are "high class" such as those receiving new and improved education, people who have been able to encounter different things in their life, study abroad students ect but within this region/area there are a lot of foreigners who are living here dealing with life [having to face life tasks/problems] Compared to the past, places to work have become scarcer but even if you can't read or write Japanese there are still places to work. However, these places have implemented a very strict three shift system where they experience very severe work and isolated poverty. These are some of the problems/tasks that we [the organization] are facing now.)       

私：先に昔の話だったのですが、昔の差別はどのような差別でしたか。

(Earlier you were talking about past events that happened within Japan, so what kind of discrimination did (zainichi) face in the past?)  

館長：

元々、韓国朝鮮人は日本の植民地政策で日本の国籍を持たされたのだけど、一方的にそういう意味では1945年に戦争が終わって韓国朝鮮人の当事者も独立をしたというイメージが強いし、簡単に言えば日本の中で権利主張するということはほとんど行われなかった。つまり、戦争が終わって日本はどんどん経済復興している家庭の中で社会保障制度を作っていくのだけど、社会保障制度全部日本の社会は国籍条項が韓国朝鮮人を排除していくという制度よ。そういうふうにつくっていくんだけど、それに対しては当事者もおかしいというふうに違和なかったし、日本人の民主的な人たちも気づきもなかった。政府はある意味で韓国朝鮮人を追放する、あるいは同化させるということも政策でずっと一貫してきたのだった。韓国朝鮮人はそういう意味では祖国の分断をされて、帰国建国色んな課題を抱えながらも現実には就職差別という大きな壁がありながらも、そのことに対して異議申し立てをなかなかしてこなかった。

(Well originally, Korea was a colony under Japan's policy and because of this Koreans were forced to carry Japanese citizenship. However, after the war ended in 1945 the image portraying Koreans as a free people was strong and simply put, no one tried to exercise their rights within Japan. Basically, after the war Japan gradually entered economic recovery and created this social welfare plan for the nation, however, this plan connected with a nationality clause was created to remove Koreans from Japan. What's more Koreans at the time didn't feel anything weird about it and ethnic Japanese also didn't really realize the implications [of the system]. The Japanese government, for certain reasons, deported Koreans or forced them to assimilate and this type of policy was repeated consistently. Koreans, who had been separated from their homeland, faced a lot of difficulties returning back to Korea, or faced discrimination within the job force here in Japan. There was never any real objections to the way things were [at that time]    

それを最初にしたのはやっぱり二世の母親たちだ。自分が日本の学校の中で「朝鮮人朝鮮に帰れ」という差別発言にさらされる体験を持っているから、自分の子供だけはそんな辛い思い出にさせたくないという当たり前に差別する方が悪いので差別される方は下向いて生きてはいけないと胸を張ってちゃんと本名で生きていくべきだという主張をし始めた。1970年代だった。これはちょうど戦争が終わる頃に1945年に生まれた人が30歳ちょうど子育ての時期だった。70年代に入って、初めて差別はけしからんという日本人、別に着たくて来たんじゃないし日本の中で韓国朝鮮人の市民的な権力をちゃんと認めるべきだという運動が始まったのが1974~５年。僕らの活動の出発点でもあるんだけど、当時はあらゆる社会保障制度に国籍条項が当たり前のようにあって当事者の人たちも、自分は外国人だから仕方がない諦め感というのがすごく支配的だった。
(The first people to really stand up to these types of problems were 2nd generation Zainichi mothers. These mothers had experienced discrimination in school with such remarks as "Koreans go back to Korea!" and through these experiences, 2nd generations Zainichi mothers didn't want their children to go through the same terrible experiences they had so of course these mothers would say that we can't just live while ignoring the problem so they stuck out their necks for their children and asserted that Zainichi should be able to live with their real name and not be discriminated for it. This type of movement first happened around the 1970s. During the 70s, it was the first time that people realized the absurdity of this type of discrimination and it wasn't like Koreans came to Japan because of an actual desire to do so, thus people started thinking that within Japan, Zainichi should be able to exercise their rights as citizens. This movement began around 1974~5. That time was also when this organization was founded as well but during that time, a lot of people thought that the social welfare system in connection with the nationality clause was a natural thing and Zainichi also thought that nothing really could be done because Zainichi are foreigners. This type of thinking was dominant during the time.) 

でも母親たちが子供には胸を張って差別を負けるなっていうわけだからだ。具体的にはやっぱり本名はほとんど名乗れてなかったのだ。で、日本人と同じような見た目もそうなので日本人と同じように生き暮らすという状況が強かった。やっぱり本名をちゃんと名乗って、堂々と生きていこうという運動が始まった。それは本当にわずかな母親たちから始まったと思う。
(However, mothers are the one's that really stuck their necks out for Zainichi rights. Zainichi really didn't use their real names and because they didn't look any different then normal Japanese, lots of Zainichi just began to live exactly as regular Japanese [hiding their identity] However, at the time the movement of using one's real name and not being ashamed of it had begun. In my opinion, I feel it was because of these mothers that tried to protect their children that this movement started.)

その「子供たちに差別に負けるな」って言っているのに、大人たちだって平気で差別に負けているんじゃないかという僕らの側のやっぱり、日本の中で例えば児童手当とか公的な住宅とか銀行でお金を貸せないこととか色んな差別に出会った時に大人たちもやっぱりちゃんと主張していこうということで地域のなかから出てきたことについて一つ一つ、行政とか企業にもおかしいというこてで皆で話し合いをしたりっていうことがそれは70年代、80年代の初めまで同じように行われるだけど、まぁ、当時はだから本当に少数の意識的な人たちの活動だったので日本人からも、つきあいづらいと見られていたし、在日韓国朝鮮人の全体のなかからもやっぱりそんなに受け入れられたわけじゃない。やればやるほどやっぱり行政がこの問題を色んな社会保障制度からオミットしていたのは行政がそうしていたわけだから。
(But even though it was said "Don't let the children loose out to discrimination" does that mean that it's ok for adults to loose out to it. On a number of levels such as childcare benefits, public housing, money lending at banks, there was various situations were adults met discrimination within society and in these instances,adults should also assert themselves. Within the regions of Japan one by one, in the 70s and 80s people started talking about the strange practices of the government and enterprises within Japan but it wasn't like Zainichi were wholeheartedly accepted into Japanese society. The more I think about it, the government omitted a lot of these problems when creating this social welfare policy and they omitted it because they wanted to.)      

—省略—

私：その差別は昔と比べると大きく変わったと言えるのですか？

(When compared to the past, would you say that today's discrimination has changed a lot within Japan?) 

館長：国籍条項が1982年に大きく変わったので社会保証性とからの大まかの国籍条項がなくなったので制度的には受け入れられることになってきた。

(After the nationality clause was amended in 1982, most of the clause surrounding social security/welfare was dropped so systematically [Zainichi minorities] began to become incorporated into Japanese society.)  

私：川崎で在日コリアンに対する差別をなくす市民運動は「青丘社」の団体はどのようなものをしていますか。

(In order to combat discrimination against Zainichi Koreans in Kawasaki, what are some of the things that the Blue Hills Society is doing?) 

館長：今ですか。

(Right now?) 

私：はい、今です。

 (Yes, now.)

館長：韓国朝鮮人は、地域でいうと韓国朝鮮人というのは朝鮮部落を作って戦争中から、日本人の社会の中では、戦争中は日本の社会に受け入れられなかったので朝鮮人部落というものを作って皆住んでいた。ほとんどの人たちですね。それで日本語もわからないし、助け合って生きなきゃならない。たとえ、4~5軒でも皆で固まって住む。で、住宅もなかなか貸してくれないから、自分たち例えば今で言うと河川敷のホームレスのバラックのような、ああいう感じでぬかるんだ所でそういうところに家を建てて住むということが多かった。固まっていたが会社が準備した長屋みたいなところに朝鮮人がぱっと住むのが多かった。

(Well during the war, because Koreans weren't accepted into Japanese society they created what one could call Korean quarters/hamlets were Koreans would gather and live together. This is because most [during the time of the war] didn't understand Japanese and needed to reply on each other to survive. For example, within 4 or 5 houses, everyone would solidify there and live. Most [Zainichi] living in Japan wouldn't be able to rent living spaces anyway so in places like today's homeless barracks in Kasenjiki, people would build houses and live there.) 

それが1945年の敗戦の時にも一回各地で働いていた人たちは戦争が終わると失業するわけだから、「これからどうするのかい」って言いながら大移動するわけね。皆本当に「これからどうやって生活をしていこうか」って、戦争産業も首を切られるわけだし、朝鮮半島もめちゃくちゃだったっていうし、子どもも小さいし、日本籍だってなくなるというし、いったいどうなるかしらっていうことが全く分からない中で、朝鮮人リーダの人たちの所に皆不安だから集まる。朝鮮部落は朝鮮人の集中地域集まって住む街っていうのはそういう形でもう一回再編される、全国的に。関東の中では、関西いっぱいあるんだけど、関東は川崎と三河島とかが有名だ。

(However, after losing the war, within every region of Japan people working for the war efforts became unemployed. A lot thought "What on earth will I do now?" and there was a lot of migration (within Japan) Everyone during the time was thinking "How will I survive and make a living now?" Within Japan, the war industry's head had been cut and back on the Korean peninsula was just mayhem and havoc. Children were small, Japanese nationality was taken away and no one really knew what was going to happen. In the midst of this, people gathered at places surrounding leader's within the Zainichi minority because they were insecure/had a lot of anxieties. People would restructure and gather in this way all around Japan. In Kansai there are a lot of places like that but in the Kanto region, cities like Kawasaki and Mikawashima are famous.  

集まってくるのは自然に助け合いで集まってくるから、簡単に言えば知り合い同士を引っ張るので。その地域地域の、ここでいうとプサン周辺のキョウサンナンドという地域の人たちがここに集まっている。で、三河島はチェジュドという島の出身である人たちがたくさん集まっている。非常に密集的な、この地域周辺に桜元とかいうと朝鮮人の街だという感じで有名だ。そのぐらい有名な街だったのでそういう小さな地域を大切にしたずっと活動してきた経緯があるよね。で、その地域活動の中でも本当に、この周辺に、例えば焼肉屋さんがあったりとか朝鮮人の食材店があったりだとかっていうことが昔からずっとあって、法事があるたびにいろんなところに住んでいた人たちもそこに買い出しに来たし、就職しようと言っても日本の企業は受け取ってくれないから、就職を探している時にはここの人間関係の中で探したりとか、結婚相手を探したりとかという、昔からそういうcommunity、差別の裏返しだけれども助け合って生きるというcommunity がここにあった。僕らの活動の出発点ていうのは大韓キリスト教関西教会っていう韓国の教会が母体になって、そこの中で差別をなくすという運動を始めた。
(When people gather and live together, its natural that people will help one another so to be brief, people would rely on one another for help. Regionally, for example here, a lot of Zainichi have come from Pusan/Kyonsan nando region and gathered here. In Mikawashima, there are a lot of people that have roots from Jeju island. However, here [Kawasaki] for example the area of Sakuramoto is famous for being a densely populated Zainichi area. For being so popular, this small area has a history of being active in cherishing its small community. Within this activity, especially in this area [where the institution is situated] there are Yakinuku restaurants and Korean food stores all here since the old days. Within this type of community that has been here since the old days where we denounce discrimination and help each other, there is the opportunity to look for jobs if Japanese companies won't accept foreigners and opportunities to look for marriage partners ect. This organization started when the Korean Christian Church became our parent organization and started supporting movements to get rid of discrimination.   

—省略—

Last week, the head of this organization stepped down from his post and resigned.

Hi everyone. I know I haven't written in a long time and to be honest I have been 1/2 busy and 1/2 too lazy to do so. I'm in my winter term of graduate school in Japan and I can honestly say that it has been a humbling and eye opening experience for me thus far.

I have figured out what I want my research topic to be but I'm not sure about how I will go about collecting empirical data for it. There are several options I have but finding the one that will best suit the ends to my means is difficult to decide.

This semester I have taken my first graduate class in Japanese and at first it was very daunting. to be honest it still is but I am trying to pull through. I know that the language in an academic setting is another world entirely that needs time to get use to and sometimes I do feel overwhelmed but the teacher and the other students are nice and (to what I can assume anyway) not judgmental so I will do my best to tough it out.

In addition, I have started my own YouTube channel about my experiences in Japan. It's not too interesting but I hope to make more videos in the future and try to talk about subject matter that's relatable and interesting to people. Please subscribe and give me some suggestions =)

Also, it's almost been three years that I have been with my boyfriend and lord...that just deserves a whole separate blob post for that. However, despite all the things we go through I love him and appreciate him. Hoping that there will be more years to come I cross my fingers and pray XD

When I first started this blog, I focused a lot on my hair since in 2009 I cut all my hair off to begin my "natural" me journey...or rather to not care about what society thought of my "wild" hair and  just let it grow out of my hair free. I have learned a lot this past five years of living with my natural hair and to be honest it feels like I'm just beginning to learn what my hair does and doesn't like. It's grown a lot as you can tell and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future hold for me and my hair journey. I'm actually not one of those girls that's obsessed about length. I use to be though. Now, I just  let it do whatever and am grateful that I have healthy hair on my head. However, I'm not about "tail bone almost touching the floor" hair life. I really don't have time for that! So once my hair goes past armpit length, its snip*snip.

Anyway, I just wanted to write an update on my life and thank everyone for reading.

Going back to school...part 2 Graduate School MEXT

So in September I will be a graduate student in Japan at International Christian University. I still can't believe that I actually able to have this opportunity. I was able to receive the MEXT scholarship that the Japanese government offers international students. My graduate school is hence free for the two years of my study for my masters degree. I know I will have to work hard but I am so grateful for this opportunity when I know how expensive school and an advanced degree can get. I'm still paying loans off from my undergraduate degree so I can't believe how blessed I am for this opportunity. I know that this will mean that I will be away from my family and my boyfriend for two more years...I just hope that I will be able to have the strength to overcome whatever these two years bring. I know I had originally wanted to go to Nanzan University's International studies program but at this point in my life I feel like my Japanese isn't up to the potential that I see it going to and I feel that at ICU I can hone my Japanese studies better than at the school I had originally planned to go to. Plus, ICU is familiar because I have studied there before and I do feel like I can gain a lot out of this opportunity.

My full year at Amity

Hello everyone.

So I haven`t been updating my blog in a while and this is because I have been so busy with finding a new job, moving and finishing my contract with Amity. I`m writing this blog post to give anyone thinking of applying to Amity some advice with the application process and the teaching aspects of the job.

The application and Interview process:

The application process and the essay that you have to write are pretty straight forward so I won`t get into a lot of details about it. The interview, however, takes place in certain cities across the US and Canada (I believe) if you have an interview in a city that is far from where you live, you will have to bear the cost of paying for your hotel, meals and plane ticket to and from the interview site. I lived in Maryland and interviewed with Amity in Boston so I had to pay for everything in this regard.

At the interview site, the interview will last two days. I have written about my interview experience in a previous blog post but I will summerize it here. If you want more information about it please look at my `Amity Interview` blog post found here [1] [2] [3].

The first day of the interview is bascially an introduction to the company, life in Japan, salary ect. I will say that working with the company you can save money even if you have student loans but you will have to budget wiselly and complete your contract. I was able to save around $300 a month while also paying loans and other expenses. Putting that aside, the first day is an introduction and you will also have to do your model lesson with the other applicants and the recruiter. For this part of the interview I would say to just have a lot of energy and put some time into your props, if you have any that you will use. Amity recruiters want to see that you take the time and effort to make quality lessons because you will be asked to do a lot more if hired for the company.

After the first day of the interview you will wait for a phone call from the recruiter to tell you if you have a second interview. This can be a very nerve racking period because if you are like me you spent a lot of money to get to the interview and not getting a second phone call and having to go back with no job and less money in your pocket will suck.

Anyway, after you get your phone call and are offered a second interview you will do another model lesson but this time not in front of the other applicants but with the recruiter. S/He will pretend to be a Japanese kid which can throw you off but just go along with it and do the lesson. All the props and cards the recruiter will give to you and you will have some time to prepare for the lesson. Once you finish the lesson the recruiter will talk about the job some more and will contact you when an available placement comes up. For me this process took around two to three months.

Training and Placement in your branch school:

Now, we get into actually going to Japan when you get your placement and everything. I`m saying this because I do have a certain level of proficiency in Japanese but I highly reccomend that you learn or already have some language ability under your belt. It will help emmensly when you  get over to Japan. For exmaple, when I got to Japan and the person that I was going to replace messaged me on Facebook, she said that I should just apply for the internet myself because going through the school could take up to 3 months. This being said I went to an internet provider myself and applied and had internet within a week of arriving in my apartment. There are alot of situations like this so knowing Japanese will definitly be a plus.

Not to mention that you, more times than not, will feel/be isolated. I say isolated because in my experience I felt that a lot of the times Amity doesn't treat it's employees, or rather foreign employees with the amount of respect that one would wish for. For example, there are times when your branch school meet "spirit" goals or some other occasion happens where you go out for drinks or eat dinner together with your co-workers. In this setting, most of the Japanese teachers will speak Japanese and if you don't speak any Japanese then you are just S.O.L. Now, I didn't have a problem with this because as a constant learner in the language I thought it was a good chance to improve listening/speaking and what not. However, for Amity to intentionally bring people who speak NO Japanese to try and authenticate the atmosphere of the Amity school and then turn around and exclude them at events like this is in my mind like using someone as a tool and putting them on the shelf to later use again.

This is not the only instance where I have felt this way. For just another example, as Amity employees it is sometimes necessary for you to attract new "students" to the school. Now, sometimes you may have to just put flyers in mailboxes around the community but if you are lucky and have a festival or something going on in your town, you might get to play the jolly goofy foreigner that doesn't know a stitch of Japanese that kids should flock around and point at. One day I needed to go with my manager and hand out flyers and instead of being an active member in trying to explain what Amity is about and try to actually get use out of my Japanese abilities, I was told to wave at the kids and say "Hello" to attract people. Exploitation at its finest if you ask me but hey this is just my personal experience and I know others who work with Amity may have different experiences but I thought it would be beneficial to contribute my experience into the collective pool of thought.

Getting back on track from my rant there, you will have to pay for your own plane ticket and you will have to choose a flight approved by Amity to make sure you arrive there on time. They will give you a list of flights that you can choose from and from there you will have to bascially pay around $1000~2000 for the flight. Once you get there, you will meet the trainers at the airport to go to the training facility in Okayama. I can`t say that I have lived in the training facility before because when I went, there was overcrowding in the facility so all of the girls in my group got to stay in a hotel. However, from what I heard the training facility doesn`t have any internet and is bascially like a dorm. You will be staying here for a week while you undergo training.

Training will be intense as there is a lot of information thrown at you each day. You will probably also be jet lagged and if you are anything like me want to just go to sleep at 3 in the afternoon. Do your best to get through the training and the trainers also know you are jet lagged so they will be understanding. What is different from when I had training is that now Amity uses computers for its lessons. Before, I had to make all the language strips, props and other materials for all the classes myself so it being computerized helps with the workload but it will still be a lot of classes that you will have to teach and prepare for so be warned.

Personally, I feel Amity made this move to computerization because back in 2011, a Japanese Amity employee committed suicide. Japanese society has a history of death by overwork or becoming to consumed by overtime work and committing suicide. Working at this company I absolutely felt that it was way too much work and way too many classes for someone to do just starting. I remember when I first started out, I literally spent all of my weekends and break periods preparing cards, lessons and other prep materials for the classes. In my mind it's very easy to see someone getting so consumed in the work that it because too much for them. I was lucky that I had another foreign co-worker that gave me the best advice "don't take work home." However, now that most of the class are digital now I'm guessing the load is easier but I have only been fully immersed in the "digital" lessons environment for only a week so I'm not completely sure how true that is.

Aside from another rant, after you have completed your training, Amity will pay for you to go to your school by Shinkansen. This is the Japanese bullet train. Once you get to your school you will meet your manager and your `Co-Net,` the other foreign teacher at the school (if you have one) and the other Japanese teachers. At this point you will also shadow the person that you will replace for a week and you should also be prepared to teach classes on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of that week. The person you are replacing will decide the days and you should be informed about the classes you are teaching when you get your class schedule on the last day of training.

The first day can be overhelming to some people as you begin to see how much work needs to be put into the lessons and the amount of classes you have. Especially if you were at a big school like I was. Just remember that everyone feels overwhelmed at first and you will get used to it. What I had in the back of my head is that I spent a lot of money just to get here so I might as well finish what I started. Some people freak out and go back home on the first or second day. In my training group I know of two people that didn`t last a month at their schools. The person that was suppose to replace me actually cracked from the pressure on the second day of his shadow week and left, leaving the company with no replacement for me until July. I had other plans after my contract finished with Amity so I wasn`t able to stay longer, thus they had to call in emergency teachers.

Not to mention my manager had already decided in her head that I wasn't getting a second contract for unexplained reasons (I'll write about that later) so Amity was not in my future as a default choice.

However, just remember that with any job people feel overwhelmed on the first day and that it will get better over time.

Financial Aspects:

As I said before, the start up cost that Amity makes you pay on your own can be quite substanial. With your plane ticket, start up living cost and the processing fee, it can be around $4000-$5000 you are spending just to get settled into Japan for this job. Since so much money is required you really do have to be commited to completing your contract if you don`t want to lose a lot of money in the process. For me, I liked to think of this as an investment in myself and going throughout the year I would say that it was a good investment because Amity`s work experience will definitely get you ready for any other job you would have to face in the world...however the bonus at the end of your contract is basically around $500...so I mean monetary wise its not good, not great, just ok. Throughout my year with Amity I saved around $300 a month while paying for $650 worth of student loans I had. To be honest Amity used to pay a lot higher but I`m guessing because of the recession they docked the pay to 270,000 yen a month when orginally it used to be in the 300,000 yen range. I believe that as much as the teachers have to do at the schools the pay should be higher but it`s only my opinion and one of the reasons why, if offered, I would decided not to extend my contract beyond the predetermined date. However, to put it simply you can save money at this job while paying for student loans if you have any.

Daily Life and your Manager/ coworkers:

Once you get used to your school, the one thing that everyone says is that the manager at your school can make or break your experience at Amity. I can only tell you about my experience and the impressions that I had. My manager was a nice lady and when compared to a lot of the other horror stories I`ve heard I`m glad that she was my manager but we didn`t really gel well together. I don`t know if it was just a cultural thing, being that she has never been abroad before or whatever but we just didn`t get along. I mean we didn`t have fights or argue or anything like that but you know how you can just feel hostitality in the room with someone that you don`t like, that was my situation. When it came time for my six month review she said if I didn`t change my `attitude` that I wouldn`t be able to work there anymore. I was really surprised when she said this because I was super friendly with all the parents and the students and all of my co-workers and I got along well so I`m guessing she was just saying that because of her own personal feelings or the fact that I didn't fit the "foreigner" mold that is laid out for the native English teachers. The only thing that really upset me was that I didn`t get to listen to what was being said about me to the trainers or who ever is in charge of rehiring.

That`s one of the things I didn`t like about Amity is that the communication there is so closed. For example, me and my Co-net at the time decide we want to go to Korea so we took the same days off in order to go together. A couple days later the manager calls me in and says that as I may or may not know both foreign teachers aren`t allowed to take off on the same day. Now, this wasn`t told to us at training nor was it written in the policy manual but they are just telling us this now when we already booked our tickets. We still took off the days but our manager was like remember it for next time. I was really upset at that because why do I have to subject my days off to when someone else takes their days off. I should be able to take my days off whenever I want to regardless of whoever else is taking the day off. Not to mention that whenever, my co-net or I decided to take days off it would always be a hassle and we would be scrutinized for not working hard like the Japanese teachers. We have five days written in our contract and we should be allowed to take it without question if we put in our request two months before like we`re suppose to, however, I always felt it was a struggle, especially for my co-net to take days off. I feel like the scrutinity was because Amity is a business and everyday that you aren`t there working the company is losing money.

I feel that`s one of the things that you have to realize when working with Amity. You aren`t working for a school. It is a business. If you want to work at a real public school then Amity is not the place to apply. Because Amity is a business, you will feel pressure to get more students, meet business goals for textbooks and other promotional things the school does to make money. I also didn`t like the pressure I was put under every day which is another reason why, if offered, I wouldn't have extended my contract.