Where have I seen this before?

So Japan wants to introduce some stiffer checks for foreigners coming to visit the land of the rising sun. I mean, it's understandable that after the rise in immigrant related problems, especially with young women who are tricked into entering as dancers then forced into the sex trade, that Japan would want to try and stem the causes of these problems.

Of course, it's not like we haven't seen all of this before. I mean, it's not like Japan is the only nation that would demand of potential vistors lists of when, why, where and with whom they're planning on going and where when and who they're planning on seeing.

I suppose I have to ask again, who really stands to benefit from this sort of inquiry? And why don't we hear more about it?

Why do I complain about my job?

As you may or may not know (and as you may or may not care), I'm an assitant language teacher working for a couple of elementary schools in Tokyo. And I regularly bitch about not getting anything in the way of support. For years ALTs have been griping about not being sufficiently trained and then being abandoned in the classroom by the Japanese teacher. As it turns out, there's a reason for that sort of behavior...

Yeah. Even if the students want to study it, the teachers often have no interest in taking part. And why? They're nervous. Fortunately, I can't think of a single ALT who's ever felt nervous about trying to communicate with a room full of Japanese students.

So who's swabbing the poop deck?

I don't even know what the point of this was...



...Ya scurvy sea-dogs!