zaaaAP Lit SuperBlog

Chreaster

God Damn it.

Pardon the French, but I have recently become sick and tired of those church goers who simply show up on Christmas and Easter. Over the past weekend, I went to services at my church on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.

Do I see myself as a perfect Catholic? No.

Do I see myself as a Catholic who goes to church to follow my faith? Yes.

How dare someone call themselves "a devoted Christian" when they simply go to church on the fun holidays. Easter. Christmas. Let's celebrate Mardi Gras because it is before Ash Wednesday. 

I am flustered. Do you love God? I do. 

It seems as a society we are losing faith in our faith. No longer do families go to church every week to hear the word of God, or to praise in song. Instead, we go to drink cheap wine, and afterwards socialize over coffee and donuts. 

It is times like these, in which I begin to lose faith not in God, but in my society. Since when is everyone Irish on St. Patty's day? Why should a traditionally Irish-Catholic holiday become a reason for EVERYONE to drink alcohol and become so shit-faced that they can't remember what happened last night as they schlep into school in the morning. Class act, my high school friends.

As a Catholic, I celebrate Catholic holidays. I also however, go to the services and pay attention to the faith in order to build up to these great moments. Take pride in your faith, and in your beliefs, and follow through with them.

A good parallel would be that of a terrible parent who sends their children only to school when they have to take a test. How will they pass the test without going to class to learn beforehand? How will we truly recognize the miracle of our religious celebrations without following the play up before? 

Jesus Christ. This is upsetting. 

You know who else grinds my gears? That Lindsay Lohan girl. What do you want Lindsay?

And that is all I have to say.

Happy Easter.

A Different Point of View

This is my first post on this blog, the reason being that I spent the first semester of my senior year in Japan! So I thought I'd start out by talking about what I was up to, and also about English classes in Japan.

I was in Japan through the AFS Study Abroad Program for five months from August 22, 2008 until February 1, 2009, when I landed in Chicago. I lived with a Japanese host family and attended a Japanese high school in Tokyo. While I mostly spent my time attending school and playing soccer for bukatsu, or club, I also did some touring of the extremely large city of Tokyo, as well as other parts of Japan, such as Kyoto and Nagano. For those of you who do not know, Kyoto is one of Japan's oldest and most traditional cities, and was once the capital of Japan. Nagano is probably not as well known as Kyoto, but it was the host of the 1998 Winter Olympics! I was fortunate enough to be able to ski in Nagano, but whether I was where any Olympic skiiers have ever been, I have no idea. Nagano is also where OPRF's sister school in Japan is, and where, every year, about 20 kids from that school come for a two week home stay. The school is called Nakano-nishi High School, in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture.

By the way, the students will be arriving at O'Hare on Saturday (March 7), so everyone should come hang out with us.

While attending high school in Tokyo, I did go to English classes, mostly in order to help the teachers out and for my general enjoyment, rather than actually learning English—although I won't lie, I did pick up some grammar rules over there. There were actually three English classes, but none of which are really like any of our English classes in America. The first was like an English literature class, where students learned to improve their reading and comprehension skills, using a relatively simple text book that had a tape recording along with it. The second class was more of a grammar class, teaching the basics of English grammar. This actually really helped me learn Japanese at the same time as teaching English, I could pick up Japanese grammar. The third class was a speaking class, and it was only in English. The teacher was a Canadian teacher who pretended that he didn't speak any English during class. Here, I was really able to help the kids learn, showing them how a "real" American speaks English.

I also attended English Speaking Society, which was a club for those interested in speaking English, and I was once again able to help the kids learn, although at a more intimate level, as there were fewer of them in the club than in the class. In club, we usually focused on casual conversation rather than more formal or proper conversation (which was covered in class).

Just a few tidbits of Japanese schooling—unlike most American high schools, they don't have the same classes every day. Every day of the week has its own schedule with difference classes, so while there were three English classes, they weren't all on the same day. The Japanese are required to learn English in school, and they begin teaching it in the first year of middle school. Elementary school is six years long, middle school is three years long, and high school is also three years long.

I just thought it'd be interesting to talk about English in a foreign country (in Japan at least). I'd also like to point out that going to study abroad, in any country, for any length of time is an extremely good, character-building experience that I think everyone should have the right to enjoy.

Next time, I'll talk about a book!

BAM!!!

I am here to talk about Beauty and the Beast. 

It is most definitely a current affair. If you did not have the chance to see it this past weekend, due to the outrageous sums of homework given by teachers to their SECOND SEMESTER SENIORS, I highly suggest seeing it next weekend. The shows are both at 7:30, one being on Friday and one on Saturday.

All roles were cast to perfection. Dan Sugimoto plays a mean beast. Not only is he mean, but he plays the role quite well. His acting is simply superb. If you are going to the show to hear a good voice, Elena Buis has that going. Her upper range is simply stunning, and her dramatic tones will simply knock you back in your seat. Now if you are looking for sheer entertainment, go see the show for me. I'm not trying to boast but...

Our first two shows have had over 800 audience members each. The support is simply phenomenal. Come be blown away and see Beauty and the Beast. You will not regret it. 

I will personally remove your own shoe and throw it at you in the head if you do not come. Thanks. I hope that is persuasive enough.

I am supposed to, however, talk about Light in August as well. I would like to compare the Beast to Joe Christmas. They are both simply misunderstood. The beast is actually a human, with real emotions, simply trying to find love. Joe Christmas is GO a mixed gentlemen, who SEE simply is trying to BEAUTY find a community AND he is welcome in. Are there any THE other character comparisons BEAST you can think of?

Catch my drift?

Election Day

It's hard to believe that Election Day has already come and gone.  In previous years I watched the coverage on the election and thought it was only slightly exciting.  This year, with the ability to vote, my eyes were glued to the T.V.  Every small change in the electoral college votes made my stomach turn.  When Obama was announced as the President Elect, I was so excited. I was very happy at the results, and was surprised at how quickly the results were announced.

Maybe it is the fact that I am older and have the opportunity to vote, but I thought this election was beyond exciting and amazing.  Normally I do not follow politics closely, but this election was different.  I am interested to see what the next four years will bring or will not bring.  Does anyone else share this sentiment?  Am I one of only a handful of seniors who voted? 

Oh Senator McCain

Oh boy, I feel so bad for John McCain.
Perhaps he should have stopped half year ago.
He must feel a rocket ship full of pain.
Perhaps he ran the election too slow.
But let's not forget about Obama.
For he will lead this country to glory.
He looks out for us all and your momma,
His rise, an inspirational story.
At this point, John McCain has given up.
He ran with courage, yet made concession.
And Obama will be president, yup!
Presidency; he has full possession.

Johnny McCain has respectfully stopped,
and his campaign politically flopped.

Congratulations President-Elect Barack Obama.
How do you guys feel about the election?

Just A Thought...

I already posted for this week as a comment, but I'm just going to make an observation.
I was reading through period two's blog and I realized something. Their blog is very interesting. It seems like their posts are well thought out and not just a rush to blog before the clock strikes twelve. I'm not trying to be insulting, but it's the truth as I see it. So good work period two. First period, I think we can do better.

Check it out. You might agree. You might not.
Happy blogging.