Post by Kyo Suzuki on Mar 9, 2011 8:37:57 GMT -5
Kyo felt a yawn develop in the back of his throat and clamped his mouth shut, trying to stifle the thing.
It was a Wednesday in school, third period, World History class. The lunch bell was still one more hour or two away, and though the day had just begun, Kyo was already a bit tired.
It wasn't that he was afraid to yawn in front of people or anything of that sort. In Japan it was considered rude, depending on how it was done, and he also didn't want the teacher thinking he found her class boring. The truth was, he just hadn't been going to bed as reasonably as he used to back home, and he had only himself to blame for that.
Grunting, Kyo rubbed his eyes instead and squinted hard at the board.
"World. War. Two." His history teacher, a strict but otherwise charming middle-aged woman who looked a lot like she could be the thin twin sister to his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Hart, was looking at the class quite seriously now, holding open their humongous-sized textbook as delicately as though she were holding a baby. She'd professed to the class on their first day that she was an avid history buff and bookworm and demanded that all the students take care of their precious textbooks. Kyo had actually liked her for that, rather than considered it annoying the way his "friends" Alex and the gang did.
"Now, I realize this is a topic in world history that can be....well, for lack of other words, debatable..."
"Oh oh, I got it!" Alex broke into laughter, reaching over a hand to give Kyo a fierce pat on the back.
Kyo turned and looked at him, surprised.
"Japan versus US, right? BOOM! Blew them up twice--don't wanna talk about it, right?" Alex was still laughing, but Kyo felt a bit uncomfortable. "Don't worry about Kyo, Mrs. J....he's pretty cool, he doesn't care about stuff like that."
Mrs. Jackson hesitated a moment, as if trying to find the right words, then pulled off her glasses and set them aside on her desk, sighing.
"What you have to realize about history, all of you, is that it is not something to be interpreted, it just is what it is. Every country in the world involved in a war has done something bad--and I mean every country. People will avoid the topic or pretend "bad" actions were done as a necessity, and maybe sometimes they were......." She paused again. "But what you have to realize is that no country is free of blame in a war. All are fighting over something, all will do what they have to do to win. There is no fair fighting in war because there can be no declaration of what is fair. What is fair for one country will not be fair for another."
Kyo saw Alex grin at the teacher, feigning a yawn that became contagious and forced Kyo to stifle another. Yet despite his friend's lack of seriousness about the topic, Kyo was actually intrigued. Truth be told, this was a lot different an approach to history teaching than he was used to.
"Likewise, I think it's true to say that when there is war in the world, the people involved adopt a mindset that while might seem the best and most logical at the time, could be one they look at later with regret or shame."
She picked up her glasses again and returned to the board, lowering the history textbook onto the desk in order to scribble more on the board.
"That being said," she continued, beginning to write out dates and a long list of important events during the war--Kyo grabbed his mechanical pencil and began to write--, "I am going to focus on as many points of view in the war as I can. When I teach this class, I try to make sure my students can get a good understanding of why other countries made the decisions they made or show aspects of the war that might not usually be taught in American high school classrooms. But I think it's important, and for that reason, I will be going into a lot of.....serious things."
She looked at Kyo for a moment.
"I feel bad about this because there is a Japanese student in my class, and I don't want you--" she turned to Kyo now, who felt his face flush, "-- to feel as though I am trying to pick on you. I do go into Japan's role in the war, in great depth at points, but if you ever feel uncomfortable about this or that I am being unfair, then please let me know. Maybe there is also something you learn in school in Japan that can add to the class."
Kyo just blinked a moment before nodding. "Yes, okay..."
Truth be told, he didn't know much about Japan's side in the war. When he'd been taught it in classes back home, he'd learned very basic things, like that Japan had attacked America after the Americans stopped trade with Japan but continued supporting Germany's opponents or that there had been a "necessary" invasion in China and Korea, or the bombs in Hiroshima. Actually, Kyo admired that Mrs. Jackson was being so neutral in her teaching as to encompass as many country views as she could into these teachings, but he actually felt fairly nervous. How would the rest of the class react to the Pearl Harbor bombings? Wasn't there actually a holiday here for that? He just didn't want to be the standout student who everyone turned on when it came to that part in the war re-telling.
"On that note, I know things can get a bit hectic in this kind of class, so I want you to all keep in mind what I said earlier. No one is to blame, and no one is free of blame--"
"Too many riddles, Mrs. J!" Alex still thought everything was amusing.
"--so I don't want anyone to act rashly towards anyone else in the class. That is called 'discrimination' and is severely frowned upon in modern societies."
(to be continued....)
It was a Wednesday in school, third period, World History class. The lunch bell was still one more hour or two away, and though the day had just begun, Kyo was already a bit tired.
It wasn't that he was afraid to yawn in front of people or anything of that sort. In Japan it was considered rude, depending on how it was done, and he also didn't want the teacher thinking he found her class boring. The truth was, he just hadn't been going to bed as reasonably as he used to back home, and he had only himself to blame for that.
Grunting, Kyo rubbed his eyes instead and squinted hard at the board.
"World. War. Two." His history teacher, a strict but otherwise charming middle-aged woman who looked a lot like she could be the thin twin sister to his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Hart, was looking at the class quite seriously now, holding open their humongous-sized textbook as delicately as though she were holding a baby. She'd professed to the class on their first day that she was an avid history buff and bookworm and demanded that all the students take care of their precious textbooks. Kyo had actually liked her for that, rather than considered it annoying the way his "friends" Alex and the gang did.
"Now, I realize this is a topic in world history that can be....well, for lack of other words, debatable..."
"Oh oh, I got it!" Alex broke into laughter, reaching over a hand to give Kyo a fierce pat on the back.
Kyo turned and looked at him, surprised.
"Japan versus US, right? BOOM! Blew them up twice--don't wanna talk about it, right?" Alex was still laughing, but Kyo felt a bit uncomfortable. "Don't worry about Kyo, Mrs. J....he's pretty cool, he doesn't care about stuff like that."
Mrs. Jackson hesitated a moment, as if trying to find the right words, then pulled off her glasses and set them aside on her desk, sighing.
"What you have to realize about history, all of you, is that it is not something to be interpreted, it just is what it is. Every country in the world involved in a war has done something bad--and I mean every country. People will avoid the topic or pretend "bad" actions were done as a necessity, and maybe sometimes they were......." She paused again. "But what you have to realize is that no country is free of blame in a war. All are fighting over something, all will do what they have to do to win. There is no fair fighting in war because there can be no declaration of what is fair. What is fair for one country will not be fair for another."
Kyo saw Alex grin at the teacher, feigning a yawn that became contagious and forced Kyo to stifle another. Yet despite his friend's lack of seriousness about the topic, Kyo was actually intrigued. Truth be told, this was a lot different an approach to history teaching than he was used to.
"Likewise, I think it's true to say that when there is war in the world, the people involved adopt a mindset that while might seem the best and most logical at the time, could be one they look at later with regret or shame."
She picked up her glasses again and returned to the board, lowering the history textbook onto the desk in order to scribble more on the board.
"That being said," she continued, beginning to write out dates and a long list of important events during the war--Kyo grabbed his mechanical pencil and began to write--, "I am going to focus on as many points of view in the war as I can. When I teach this class, I try to make sure my students can get a good understanding of why other countries made the decisions they made or show aspects of the war that might not usually be taught in American high school classrooms. But I think it's important, and for that reason, I will be going into a lot of.....serious things."
She looked at Kyo for a moment.
"I feel bad about this because there is a Japanese student in my class, and I don't want you--" she turned to Kyo now, who felt his face flush, "-- to feel as though I am trying to pick on you. I do go into Japan's role in the war, in great depth at points, but if you ever feel uncomfortable about this or that I am being unfair, then please let me know. Maybe there is also something you learn in school in Japan that can add to the class."
Kyo just blinked a moment before nodding. "Yes, okay..."
Truth be told, he didn't know much about Japan's side in the war. When he'd been taught it in classes back home, he'd learned very basic things, like that Japan had attacked America after the Americans stopped trade with Japan but continued supporting Germany's opponents or that there had been a "necessary" invasion in China and Korea, or the bombs in Hiroshima. Actually, Kyo admired that Mrs. Jackson was being so neutral in her teaching as to encompass as many country views as she could into these teachings, but he actually felt fairly nervous. How would the rest of the class react to the Pearl Harbor bombings? Wasn't there actually a holiday here for that? He just didn't want to be the standout student who everyone turned on when it came to that part in the war re-telling.
"On that note, I know things can get a bit hectic in this kind of class, so I want you to all keep in mind what I said earlier. No one is to blame, and no one is free of blame--"
"Too many riddles, Mrs. J!" Alex still thought everything was amusing.
"--so I don't want anyone to act rashly towards anyone else in the class. That is called 'discrimination' and is severely frowned upon in modern societies."
(to be continued....)
