discrimination
noemi hiraishi
Dear members of the list.
This is my first post to the list. I am second generation
Japanese-Brazilian, my husband is Japanese and we unschool our
7yo dd in Tokyo, Japan. So far
it seems to us that we are the only HS of the neighborhood. We
are lucky that we can join a weekly outing with a multicultured
hs group. Anyone can find us playing in one of the parks
surrounding Tokyo during weekdays.
My dd and I are much darker than most of the people of our area
in a country that is the best one consumer of whitening products.
We have been enjoying the summer of both north and south
hemisphere for the past 3 years. We have just come back fm Sao
Paulo, Brazil, where my mother and sister live.
Dd says that T., 6yo is her best friend. Until last year dd used
to say that T. was American. T. is blond. Her daddy walks and
work on bear foot and finger prints when he has to "sign" the
receipt for my sister for his monthly salary. T's mother uses pen
when she gets her own pay-check for looking after my sister's
ranch house and garden.
Last year, T's mother and T. walked 8 km to and from the public
pre-school. This year they are walking to the building next
door. We spend most of our days in Brazil at my sister's ranch
that is one and half hour fm Sao Paulo city and 20 min. to the
beach. Dd wakes up and before having her break fast, runs to T,
place to see if she had already taken her breakfast. T's mother
does not allow T. to call dd to play. Dd has to go there all the
time. T, is also not allowed to go inside my sister house unless
invited. These are the rules of the area. My sister tells dd
that these are the rules there. T. and dd are friends, but T.
families and my sister are employer and employee too. Dd knows
that each family operates within its own rules and each family
have their our requirements of manners. From having been to many
homes, dd knows that families have different table manners, eat
distinct foods and speak in languages not yet familiar to her. Dd
daughter also knows that she knows it all because her parents
like to travel, meet people, share soul and table food and
homeschool.
When we left Brazil, I gave T. most of the pencils, colored
pencils, crayons and white papers. Once T's mother said that T.
did not do her homework because T. has not told her that she did
not have colored pencils. It happened last summer.
Now that we are back to Tokyo dd is speaking Portuguese more the
way I do. Dd is not using T. and T's family Portuguese classified
by the experts as "Portuguese spoken by the unlearned". I follow
Holt's teaching and I do not correct, neither dd Portuguese nor
her English (mostly yet passive). I am thankful to T's family for
allowing their daughter to play freely with dd fm 7 AM to 8 PM.
Thanks to them, dd began speaking Portuguese. (Last year I have
posted at unschooling.com under trilingual unschooling)
Right now dd is playing with her friend M. M's father is fm
Pakistan and her mother is Japanese. M. has big dar eyes and is
hairly. On her way home fm ps, M. daily stops at our apartment
and calls dd to play with her. Dd is set next to the apartment's
window 30 min. before that call.
Today it is rainning but on sunny days 5 to 6 children with one
or both parents that do not speak Japanese fluently gather at the
park in front of our apartment. We live in public housing for low
incomers. There is a quite large Chinese comunity here.
This gathering is unusual. Children here in Japan is said that
only play with their own classmates. The ps policy is to teach
comformity and strong group spirity ("wa"). But the children at
this park are fm different ages. I know all of them because dd
and I are at the park on most sunny days. I am one of the few
adults that frequents the park. I see the group as "ostracized
children of the neighborhood". I am grateful that they gather at
this park. And I make sure that they enjoy their time here.
I can see and hear the talks at the park fm my apartment's
window. If I see that if bully come, I am there to impose adult
authority. By just being there.
.......
I have been unschooling for a year already but have not yet found
any hsing family that does it in Portuguese. When people here
approach me their first question is from which country I am from.
The following question is always if I speak English. Thanks to
this hability, I do feel discriminated here. Neither I feel that
dd does. But my brother, 5 cousins and 3 nieces that are here in
Japan as laborer hold hurt. None of them speaks English neither
do they read and write Japanese, although they all have more than
16 years of Brazilian school education. 250.000 Brazilians are
in Japan "learning" about discrimination, a subject that most of
these Brazilians say it is over in Brazil.
World soccer 2002 will be hosted by Korea and Japan. Before
WWII, Japan made Koreans speak only Japanese. So far, it seems
that soccer has brought Koreans and Japanese closer.
Discrimination / racism will be a hot subject again in the
following months; for the ones that have not been confronted by
it.
Thank you Joylyn for your sharing. And thank you for reading
this far.
noemi. my humble contribution. love and peace
This is my first post to the list. I am second generation
Japanese-Brazilian, my husband is Japanese and we unschool our
7yo dd in Tokyo, Japan. So far
it seems to us that we are the only HS of the neighborhood. We
are lucky that we can join a weekly outing with a multicultured
hs group. Anyone can find us playing in one of the parks
surrounding Tokyo during weekdays.
My dd and I are much darker than most of the people of our area
in a country that is the best one consumer of whitening products.
We have been enjoying the summer of both north and south
hemisphere for the past 3 years. We have just come back fm Sao
Paulo, Brazil, where my mother and sister live.
Dd says that T., 6yo is her best friend. Until last year dd used
to say that T. was American. T. is blond. Her daddy walks and
work on bear foot and finger prints when he has to "sign" the
receipt for my sister for his monthly salary. T's mother uses pen
when she gets her own pay-check for looking after my sister's
ranch house and garden.
Last year, T's mother and T. walked 8 km to and from the public
pre-school. This year they are walking to the building next
door. We spend most of our days in Brazil at my sister's ranch
that is one and half hour fm Sao Paulo city and 20 min. to the
beach. Dd wakes up and before having her break fast, runs to T,
place to see if she had already taken her breakfast. T's mother
does not allow T. to call dd to play. Dd has to go there all the
time. T, is also not allowed to go inside my sister house unless
invited. These are the rules of the area. My sister tells dd
that these are the rules there. T. and dd are friends, but T.
families and my sister are employer and employee too. Dd knows
that each family operates within its own rules and each family
have their our requirements of manners. From having been to many
homes, dd knows that families have different table manners, eat
distinct foods and speak in languages not yet familiar to her. Dd
daughter also knows that she knows it all because her parents
like to travel, meet people, share soul and table food and
homeschool.
When we left Brazil, I gave T. most of the pencils, colored
pencils, crayons and white papers. Once T's mother said that T.
did not do her homework because T. has not told her that she did
not have colored pencils. It happened last summer.
Now that we are back to Tokyo dd is speaking Portuguese more the
way I do. Dd is not using T. and T's family Portuguese classified
by the experts as "Portuguese spoken by the unlearned". I follow
Holt's teaching and I do not correct, neither dd Portuguese nor
her English (mostly yet passive). I am thankful to T's family for
allowing their daughter to play freely with dd fm 7 AM to 8 PM.
Thanks to them, dd began speaking Portuguese. (Last year I have
posted at unschooling.com under trilingual unschooling)
Right now dd is playing with her friend M. M's father is fm
Pakistan and her mother is Japanese. M. has big dar eyes and is
hairly. On her way home fm ps, M. daily stops at our apartment
and calls dd to play with her. Dd is set next to the apartment's
window 30 min. before that call.
Today it is rainning but on sunny days 5 to 6 children with one
or both parents that do not speak Japanese fluently gather at the
park in front of our apartment. We live in public housing for low
incomers. There is a quite large Chinese comunity here.
This gathering is unusual. Children here in Japan is said that
only play with their own classmates. The ps policy is to teach
comformity and strong group spirity ("wa"). But the children at
this park are fm different ages. I know all of them because dd
and I are at the park on most sunny days. I am one of the few
adults that frequents the park. I see the group as "ostracized
children of the neighborhood". I am grateful that they gather at
this park. And I make sure that they enjoy their time here.
I can see and hear the talks at the park fm my apartment's
window. If I see that if bully come, I am there to impose adult
authority. By just being there.
.......
I have been unschooling for a year already but have not yet found
any hsing family that does it in Portuguese. When people here
approach me their first question is from which country I am from.
The following question is always if I speak English. Thanks to
this hability, I do feel discriminated here. Neither I feel that
dd does. But my brother, 5 cousins and 3 nieces that are here in
Japan as laborer hold hurt. None of them speaks English neither
do they read and write Japanese, although they all have more than
16 years of Brazilian school education. 250.000 Brazilians are
in Japan "learning" about discrimination, a subject that most of
these Brazilians say it is over in Brazil.
World soccer 2002 will be hosted by Korea and Japan. Before
WWII, Japan made Koreans speak only Japanese. So far, it seems
that soccer has brought Koreans and Japanese closer.
Discrimination / racism will be a hot subject again in the
following months; for the ones that have not been confronted by
it.
Thank you Joylyn for your sharing. And thank you for reading
this far.
noemi. my humble contribution. love and peace
Pam Hartley
This is my first post to the list. I am second generation
Japanese-Brazilian, my husband is Japanese and we unschool our
7yo dd in Tokyo, Japan.
----------
Welcome to the list! I love to read about unschooling experiences in other
countries.
Pam
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Japanese-Brazilian, my husband is Japanese and we unschool our
7yo dd in Tokyo, Japan.
----------
Welcome to the list! I love to read about unschooling experiences in other
countries.
Pam
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Fetteroll
Welcome Noemi!
There are so many fascinating things about the Japanese culture. And some
not wonderful things. :-( The not wonderful things are probably true of any
closed culture the way Japan was and is. Zenmama's experiences in Utah might
be very similar!
I've heard that homeschooling is very difficult in Japan. Have you found
that to be true?
Joyce
There are so many fascinating things about the Japanese culture. And some
not wonderful things. :-( The not wonderful things are probably true of any
closed culture the way Japan was and is. Zenmama's experiences in Utah might
be very similar!
I've heard that homeschooling is very difficult in Japan. Have you found
that to be true?
Joyce
schuyler_waynforth
Hello Noemi,
I really enjoyed your posting. Reading about the bullies at the
apartment playground reminded me of our stay in Kyoto. We used to
walk down to Takashimaya via a little apartment playground. And
once, I got to be the non-Japanese speaking, overbearing American to
a bunch of young boys. There was a clear bully action going on
wherein some big boys took a collection of little boys Pokemon
cards. I stepped in and gave them back to the little boys. I had
never dealt with such direct bullying in front of an adult, before.
It was a huge adrenalin rush. It is good to know that there are
bodyguards scattered about the playgrounds of Tokyo, as well.
Schuyler
I really enjoyed your posting. Reading about the bullies at the
apartment playground reminded me of our stay in Kyoto. We used to
walk down to Takashimaya via a little apartment playground. And
once, I got to be the non-Japanese speaking, overbearing American to
a bunch of young boys. There was a clear bully action going on
wherein some big boys took a collection of little boys Pokemon
cards. I stepped in and gave them back to the little boys. I had
never dealt with such direct bullying in front of an adult, before.
It was a huge adrenalin rush. It is good to know that there are
bodyguards scattered about the playgrounds of Tokyo, as well.
Schuyler