I was asked by my JTE at KJH to create a poster showing aspects of American culture. She wants to highlight the differences between Japan and the US; I was thinking it would be cool to show differences in how American and Japanese teenagers experience life. According to my JTE, they'll get a taste of US culture in high school, but in junior high they're still fairly ignorant of our lifestyle. Save for what they see on tv. And she wants me to put stuff up about Denver and/or Colorado too (those of you in my home state - a task for you ^_^).
As I sit here listening to Queen's Greatest Hits on my computer, it occurs to me that I am woefully under resourced for this task. I need help!!!
So, here is my request: send me your thoughts, ideas, stories, pictures, whatever that I can put in a poster that will hang outside the English language room at Kuguno Junior High School. Fortunately for us, the Japanese are one of the few cultures out there who love Americans! hee hee ^_^ Things to keep in mind are that these kids are 12-15 years old, and their knowledge of Americans is basically from movies and tv. They don't know much about popular American music (except for Michael Jackson and Avril Lavigne. God help them!), what American teenagers watch on tv, the way they dress, etc. They also have this stereotype that we're all blond and white, which I unfortunately can't do anything to solve except to say that I have all different kinds of friends at home. Also, if you have any cool pictures (or are willing to run out and take some) of American life that you wouldn't mind me sharing, that would be great. It can be really simple things - what schools look like, lockers, how students don't wear uniforms to school, malls, teenagers driving, sports festivals, parties, different kinds of food (for example there is no Taco Bell, Subway, or Wendy's in Japan), etc. Just try to think like a teenager and what they are interested in.
You can send your ideas, pictures, whatever to me at:
takayama.jen@gmail.com
I'd like to get this started soon, so if you could help me out I'd really appreciate it! I'll even take a picture of the final product and post it here so you can all see what we came up with ^_^
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2 comments:
Hi Jen! Here's a link to some random pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/icfantv/RandomPics?authkey=Z06W9jeq0Eg
Hope they'll help. Hang in there! We love you and miss you. Before you know it, you'll be back, drinking beer, and walking in on David's brother and his girlfriend in your basement...
--adam
Jen,
I'm going home for thanksgiving - will ask my sisters and also look through the old picture books for some photos! Here's a great memory to start with - it includes 3 sisters in the basement with a trampoline for a stage and a karoke machine that we got for christmas! we were stars!
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