Engaging in a Larger Online Discourse

I apologise for going on a tangent and not talking about my travels to Japan but this is an issue that's close to my heart and I feel is important and relevant to myself, the people around me and my community at large. Also this will be VERY long (especially if you include all the videos) so feel free to skim or not read at all :)

As well as being a woman, bilingual, bisexual, anime fan, cosplayer, avid book reader, sci-fi/fantasy fan, lover of films and comics, I am also a gamer. Out of all these identities (and others, as we all have many identities) I do not identify myself as a feminist (although some people might think or classify me as one). I simply believe in equality, trying to the best of my ability to stop injustices, and that if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all! Critiquing is fine, but just being nasty for the sake of being nasty doesn't make sense to me. (The last one's not a popular belief online). And due to the fact that I am a gamer and I do believe in equality and the right to critic I've become quite interested in the larger online debate surrounding Anita Sarkeesian and her videos Troupe vs Women in video games.

Many people in the gaming and general online community will have heard about her so I won't repeat what everyone knows. (If you don't know what this is all about just click here)

Last week I came across the video "Do Video Games Need Anita Sarkeesian's Feminism?"

I loved this video so much that I put it on my facebook to share with my friends. One in particular loved it so much she put it on her facebook. The response that she got from her friends (in the US) compared to my own (in the UK) was surprising to say the least. One in particular was very negative saying:

Guy: "Sarkeesian is a liar. She acts like shes this video game expert but in reality she knows nothing. She acts like theres some sort of conspiracy against women in gaming and overly exaggerates the way woman are treated in games and fails to realize that there are more video games with positive female protagonists than she realizes. this guy says that everyone should be free to express there ideas but unfortunately Anita disables the comments section and rating system. This guy is an idiot!"


This began a very, very, very long discussion which I feel is important for people to see (and I will post it at the bottom if I can if people do want to read it). But for now I will sum it up.

This person's (who we shall call Guy) arguments were as follows:

• Anita Sarkeesian is a liar (based on this video)
• She is not a real gamer (based on the fact that she is a liar based on that video)
• She has no experience in the subject she is talking about
• She and other femenists are forcing their views on the industry 
• They (Anita and feminists) do not belong in the gaming community
• Feminists who claim to be harassed are just responding to opposing opinions
• Anita is not a true critic because she disabled her youtube comments
• There does need to be more female protagonists in games
• There are already a large number of games with women, and who are not sexualised
• Masoganistic games like GTAV shouldn't be taken seriously because they are a satire of society
• There is sexism in the gaming industry
• Sexualisation of women in games does not perpetrate rape, abuse or sexual harassment
  
  He also posted these videos to back his opinion (make of them what you will): 

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfkS9YS_T0k
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJeX6F-Q63I

His comments and arguments got me very angry. Although I agree with a few of his point that there needs to be more female protagonists, and there are games with women protagonists already (although I would argue these are very few and often not well known ones), I did not agree with most of what he was saying.

I decided to engage back. But my arguments fell on deaf ears and we essentially went around in circles.

My counter arguments:

• Anita might have told a class of University students and her lecturer that she did not play games because she wanted to be respected. I myself have done the exact same thing, hiding one identity to gain more respect in the academic and professional world.
• Lying about one identity in a certain social situation does not make that identity invalid.
• She has proved again and again in her videos and on her site that she has the experience to talk about this.
• She is not forcing her ideas on anyway, she is simply criticising the image of women in many (not all but many) games as a whole.
• Who can say who has the "right" to be in a community or not? (The irony of this one is that this defence of 'them vs us' is addressed in the original video I posted Why Gamers Need Anita)
• Anita disabled her comments due to the 24/7 abuse and harassment she received (as shown in this video)
• There is not a lot of funding that goes into games with female protagonists due to the belief they won't sell as well as male driven ones (as argued by penny-arcade)

Our conversation then spilled over into a one-on-one discourse between myself and him on my friends facebook wall (which she was fine with because her Masters is based on the perceptions on gender in games so this was perfect for her research). At this point I was no longer angry, just amazed and bemused by this person's point of view. I had never come across anyone like him in person before and found his beliefs quite baffling. 

Our one-on-one discussion began today with this video where a man calmly breaks down MrRepzion's arguments slating Anita, and discusses why they are wrong. (MrRepzion's videos are the ones Guy mostly used to back his point of view). Our discussion, as I said, went in a bit of a circle with us both re-instating our views and arguments that I listed above.

I made the statement that Anita's videos were relevant because women are abused every day in the gaming community (as proved by Anita's own experience of abuse and others)

This was Guy's response:

" "And women every day are abused by men in the video game world", I find that completely hilarious. I dare you to go out of your relatively comfortable life as an American citizen and go to an Islamic country where woman are truly abused. You along with most modern feminists need to stop trying to point your fingers at video games and look at the real problems facing society. But of course you don't want to look at the real problems and continue to bitch and moan about video games because its much easier to do than to go out of your way to actually help." 

So apparently criticising something or someone and engaging in a larger online discourse is "bitching and moaning" and that means we are not addressing "real problems" in the world. Because of course the issues Anita is discussing are not "real issues", and that the abuse women get for playing games or speaking out is not a "real issue".

Motivation - Improve Yourself

I'm planning to post about my business trip to Japan (which I just got back from) but first I wanted to ramble on a bit about motivation. I know we've all had times when we've wanted to do something but we haven't done it. We've gone "I'm going to do this for at least 30mins every day and it's going to be amazing". But we don't. And the more we don't do it the more we like not doing it because we feel like we suck.

I've gone through that many a times with Japanese but I've noticed a lot of my friends are going through this same issue too lately. And it's important because with everyone (including myself) its to do with something that we love, to better ourselves in the area we love and to hopefully succeed in that area as more than just a hobby. Success isn't going to just fall on our laps, we need to work for it, no matter how long that takes.

I'll use a random/fictional example. A friend wants to become an author. (I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.) But she has no experienced or published works. So she plans to write 1000 words a day. Of anything, and upload them online for critic to improve her writing and then eventually enter them into competitions and editorials and publishers when she has a novel. She feels motivated and does it for 2 days. On the third day she feels like she's quite busy and can get it done in the evening. But she doesn't feel like writing then. Well if she writes 2000 words tomorrow then that'll make up for it. Ah so now she HAS to write 2000 words which is so much! Ok, then I'll just do it tomorrow and then another 2000 words the following day. Oh but I'm going out with friends tomorrow.....etc. etc. etc. And she looses all motivation. Suddenly a week, month, year has passed with no writing being done and she feels guilty and horrible and hates herself. And all in all doesn't want to write.

It's great to have dreams and to push yourself to want to achieve that dream, but when you are your hardest critic you will burn yourself out. And you won't enjoy what you love to/need to do. (Yes you can even love the things you need to do)

I've found a few things help get yourself back on track:
1. Don't worry! What's the point in worrying? It will only stress you out.
2. Don't make up for lost time. Trying to compensate for missed days/deadlines will only stress you out more. Just accept that it's happened and carry on the next day.
3. Do it in the morning. No matter what make time in the morning to do what you plan to do. Morning is good because a) you get it out of the way, b) you feel like you've done something productive, c) you can adjust morning times easily, d) you're more awake and focused compared to the evening when you want to spend all your time on the internet.

I don't always follow my own rules. This last week when I was away I did no Japanese study and now my anki flashcards are all up to 100 reviews ;_; BUT I will keep working on them because the 2 weeks before the trip I did a TINY bit everyday and found that I had improved a lot even after only 2 weeks! This motivates me to do more. I guess it's like quitting smoking but instead trying to take up a good habit rather than a bad one. It's hard to start, but once you get going you find you become more motivated.

Oh I forgot one thing:

4. Enjoy what you do! Even if you knock yourself down and make yourself feel like poop for not doing this for so long (me with violin), just let that go, do it and try to enjoy it! This is something you've been wanting to do, wanting to improve at for some reason or another. It shouldn't have to be a chore so don't make it one otherwise you'll never enjoy it.



(I wish all of my friends the best and want them to know that myself and others are there for them. It's often hard when you're unmotivated, and even harder to admit that you're having a hard time. I love the friends that have admitted it to me and I really try to push them to help themselves. Everyone has people that can help push, but you are ultimately the one that needs to do what you do need to do.)

Ram-blings (jewellery for sheep)

When I was young I imagined age as a line of white numbers in the dark that you could see from different perspectives. 10 was seen from the top to the left looking down, and 18 was from underneath to the right looking up. I could never imagine an age beyond 18 even though I knew that people were older than 18. I remember starting college at 16 and thinking that it was weird because it felt like college was still supposed to be so far away and that University was even further. Then I was at Uni and planning my year in Japan which felt impossibly far away, and I never even imagined graduating. And now I've graduated... It's been over a year since I graduated Uni and I'm starting my first ever job. I actually cannot believe it.

I had a plan when I started my final year of Uni because I knew graduating without one would be stupid. I decided to focus on Japanese because turns out Anthropology is shite unless you want to be an anthropologist or a spy. So I planned the trip earlier this year so that I'd pass the N1. Ok that didn't happen but I got the N2 and once again I forward planned and got a job! Wait...a job? I never imagined getting a job. I never imagined life beyond Japan this year. I hadn't planned months in advance how exactly it would work out and right now I am just riding the waves hoping my little boat doesn't capsize. And as Ingrid Michaelson says "Eyes on the prize and I can't capsize this time because there's somebody else in my boat".

So yes. I am suddenly 24 with a wonderful boyfriend and a brand new job. Jumping in the deep end and seeing where things go. I can't exactly plan things out from here but I'm hoping it all works out. As my mum says "cross that bridge when you get to it".

The Start of My Career in Japan!

I mentioned in a previous post that I was in the interview process with an American company who were after someone to work for them in Japan. Well long story short I GOT IT! \o/ After coming back from Japan I stayed for a few weeks in the UK before going out to Detroit (where they're based) to meet them. They are the nicest, hard working, down to earthiest company I've ever met! I am so lucky to be working with them.

What will my job be? Well I will be translator/project co-ordinator/company liaison for the American company working in Tokyo with their Japanese customers Isuzu. So I'll be their face, working for the American company but in the Isuzu offices.

Well work's not quite started yet, there is still a LOT to do. I'm going to Japan on the 23rd-29th September to join two of the American employees on a business trip and to meet the employees at Isuzu. Then I'll be back to the UK to finish sorting out my affairs before going to Detroit for a month or so for training. And then it's off to Japan permanently probably around January 2014!

As I said before it's an amazing opportunity for someone like me and I am incredibly excited but also incredibly anxious. It's a big thing going away to actually work in a country where it's not your native language. But I'm not going to let that stop me!

Review of NILS Language School Fukuoka

So I just finished 6 months in Fukuoka studying at a private school called NILS. They provide lessons from 1 month to 2 years for a variety of levels at a reasonable price. I've had a few people ask me about them and they want me to write a recommendation for their site so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone?

Overview of the school
NILS is based in Fukuoka. It has 2 campuses, one outside of Fukuoka (but not far away) for long term students who are there on the 1-2 year courses. Shorter term classes are based in a small office at Ohashi, about 20mins train ride from the centre of town. As well as a school that teaches Japanese to foreigners it also trains teachers to teach Japanese as a foreign language, so most of the teachers are trained by the school themselves. Not everyone who trains with the school (called New York Academy for Japanese Teachers) stay with the school, once they get their teaching certificate they move onto other schools.
                     

Teachers
I mentioned the school trains some of their teachers, but this doesn't mean the quality isn't good! And not all the teachers are originally from the school, a few come from different schools. They're all different ages (all women) from different backgrounds and different teaching styles. To be fair I had one teacher who I found her teaching style to be dull, but although she wasn't as engaging as other teachers what she taught me was useful and she was incredibly nice and talkative when we went on excursions! The teachers really were engaging and eager to help me learn as much as I could. When I didn't do homework (which wasn't compulsory) they gently prodded me in a way that made me work on it. They were incredibly kind and smart and I really wish they had been allowed to go to karaoke with us students.

Lessons
Classes are from 9am to 12:30pm with breaks (3 hours of class a day). Lessons were slow at first because I was put with someone who was a slightly lower level. But because it was winter there weren't many students enrolled in short term (3 to be exact, including myself). Other students also found that the first month was spent going over things they felt they'd already learnt. However, I thought that although tedious this was incredibly useful to re-affirm the what I'd already learnt so that I had a good foundation to move onto.

Because the short term students were few (I think the most we ever had was 12 and that was spread over 3 different classes based on difficulty), classes were more personally catered. The teachers really tried to work on our weaknesses so that we'd improve relatively equally in all areas. They have a huge collection of work and text books which they choose based on y
our level and skill. I did N2 so they used Kanzen Master and Minna no Nihongo intermediate level. Other students used Minna no Nihongo beginners and the very beginners used Japanese in 45 hours. They also gave copies of each of the books to us for free (well its included in the initial costs)

I learnt a LOT in the 6 months I was there. I did 3 months of normal Japanese followed by 3 months of JLPT study, but the two of them blended together as they tried to get us working on JLPT stuff as soon as possible. What I found most useful was probably the regular practice tests where you could get a feel for the exam and see yourself improving. I stress though I did a LOT of studying at home too.

I think you do improve studying at a language school in Japan but it does help to self study, and talk to natives. I think if you do want to study for a long period of time (more than 2 weeks) the best way is probably for around 3 months (that's how long you can stay in Japan before you need a visa).

Extras!
We would normally have at least one day a week in the morning (9am-1pm) where we would go out and do an activity. You can look through the back-log of the blog for the really knitty gritty details of each activity but to sum up we did things like, go to the post-office, parks, shrines and temples, zoo, sakura picnic, museums etc. The school really tried to let us experience as much as possible and if there was something we wanted to do before we left Japan they would try and organise it! All excursions were paid for and we had the option of staying longer if we wanted to.

Also if you want to know something the teachers were incredibly helpful! When I wanted practice with job interviews they were very kind to help me with questions and answers and would practice with me outside of class. You could normally do extra self study at the school twice a week after classes finished, which I found useful at times when I needed to not be distracted (by things like internet).

Overview of the City
Fukuoka is a really small but really green city. I lived on the border of the city and it only took 40mins to cycle to the centre of town (Tenjin and Hakata) and 1 hour to get to the other side where the sea is (Yahoo dome). It's incredibly nice with a lot to do! You can find your Round Ones at regular intervals if you enjoy arcade games or bowling. There are so many shops in Tenjin you'll find the time just running away from you! A lot of stores for all avoid otaku, and clubs/restaurants/bars for people who enjoy venturing outside at night. And that's all just in Tenjin! Hakata is the main station but venture outside of that and you enter the older part of the city with the main shrine, temple, architecture and traditions that you expect from visiting Japan.
If you're worried about not making Japanese friends fear not for there are many, many free events run by local people for language exchanges to take place! Such as the Speaking Salon, Meetup Fukuoka, and for more private meetings My Language Exchange where you can find speaking partners where ever you are!

Living in Fukuoka
Soooo muuuuch fuuuuun!!! I love Fukuoka! Actually living in an apartment was great despite it's size and the freedom to sort out my own food meant I got to experiment with a jot of cooking and learnt a lot of Japanese recipes (thank you google!). It was also great just having my own space and freedom to do my own thing. Other students stayed in dorms which were often with Japanese university students rather than foreigners, which meant freedom and the chance to speak Japanese (if their neighbours were friendly enough). And a few did homestay which meant a lot of speaking practice and a 'native' experience of Japan but restricted freedom. It really depends on how you personally prefer to live and what you want out of your experience.

(It's bigger than it looks)

Costs
For me 6 months living in an apartment (with 1 other person) and classes came to about $9,000/£6000 which is pretty reasonable for both school and living! Bills were included in the price which was also nice. I had another £6000 ontop of that for living costs, stuff and travel (spent a bout £1000 of that on a holiday to Korea 3 months in). So that means that I could live comfortably including going out weekly on about £700/$1000 a month, with extra for a big holiday and for posting things home (by sea because that's always cheaper). It does mean that for a 6 month trip you need about £12,000 saved up because you CANT work in Japan without a student visa. But compared to other language schools which cater for short term students of about 2 weeks it was INCREDIBLY cheap! I've actually studied at Genki Jacs which is also in Fukuoka but I found NILS had a better quality of language study and was cheaper.

Negatives?
I should probably write something that was wrong with the school but I really can't think of much. I was surprised at first how tiny the school at Ohashi was but I got used to it and it worked for the number of students. I did miss home a lot towards the end but that was more myself rather than the school... If I wanted to study more of something I just had to ask and the teachers did their best to provide me with the knowledge I wanted (the teachers have weekly meetings to see how they can improve their lesson plans and teaching). To be honest NILS gave me everything I needed from a language school and more.

HOWEVER, if you're after a school that has a set curriculum and class structure then the short program with NILS is not for you. If that is what you want you'll be best going with the 1-2 year programs they offer. If you want structure and study for just a short period of time, you're probably better off looking at other schools or their long-term courses as it's difficult to have a structure for only a few weeks of class.

Summary
NILS is a fantastic school! The teachers are really engaging and try their hardest to cater to your needs and to help you with your weaknesses in the language (even if it did mean starting slow). Everyone at NILS was incredibly kind and it was great fun going out with the students and teachers every week to experience different parts of Fukuoka and Japanese culture. I made so many good friends at my time there that I know I will keep forever. I didn't think 3 hours of class a day would be enough but I was surprised how much I did and how much I learnt! After taking the JLPT course for N2 I felt like my brain was going to explode but I was able to use the knowledge and skills I gained at NILS to pass the exam and get a job working in Tokyo!

Fukuoka is a fantastic city to live in and NILS is a great school for Japanese study, I would recommend it to anyone!

June~July in Japan

Not many exciting things happened in June or July but things did happen. I also didn't make a note of dates...

Kate's leaving party

Kate had to leave us at the beginning of June! Waaaahhhh ;_; She's so amazing, and funny and charismatic and Wes and her got along so well! (They kept pretending to be black women and is was very amusing).
SO as a celebration we all went to karaoke along with people we'd gone with before and school people. It was good fun buuuuut there were times when certain people had no karaoke etiquette (it exists) and kept picking song after song after song not letting anyone else have a go -_-;; But Kate did sing at least and she's such an amazing singer!!! I am very jelly of her talents.

We were able to hang out with Kate one last time before she left though (the day before she left) because there was a ComicCity at the Yahoo dome! This meant the entire baseball stadium was full of fan made comics and cosplay! It was great but we were all so tired from walking around we left an hour early. I'd probably spent enough money by that point anyway. My best buy was defiantly the fan fiction of Top Gear in Wonderland!!!

Our next exciting trip out was with Miki, her son, and 2 friends of hers (one Swedish the other Japanese). We went to Karatsu castle! I'd been wanting to go since the first people we met mentioned it (they also mentioned amazing burgers but we didn't get any of that). Japanese castles always surprise me because of how small they are! That and I can't imagine lords getting up the ladders all those years ago in the clothes they wore. I still wonder how they did it...

After that we went to get lunch at a place in the mountains Miki had seen on TV. But it turned out that everyone and their mums had heard about it too and we were waiting for an hour in the car and then 30mins when we got there for food!!! ;_; We did entertain ourselves playing Mario Kart with Miki's son (always good beating a 9 year old at their own game). I was really annoyed by the time we got there too, but felt much better after a sugary drink (which scared Wes a bit hehe). The food was good! It was soumen, noodles which are run down fresh spring water in a bamboo, which you pick up with chop sticks, dip in a sauce and eat! 

And then we graduated! \o/ It was the Friday before the exam so we'd spent pretty much all of July studying. Well I had...Wes too but not as much but he's smart and doesn't have brain of a sieve.

I didn't feel sad when we left because I was so stressed, but I am a bit sad now. The teachers at NILS were so amazing. If I could go back I would!

(All of the flashcards!!!)

Once the exam was over Wes and I had a chance to chillax! That evening we celebrated with Mami, Sae and Eri in Tenji going to a yatai (street stand) for the first time ever for dinner! Fukuoka's famous for its yatai which pop up after dark and it was fantastic food and the guy running it was hilarious!

So our last event was the night after that going out with all our Japanese friends! We spent the day in Tenjin shopping for last minuet things and having our last Mr.Doughnuts. Then we met up with Sae-chan and went to a pub to wait for the others who showed up about an hour after us. Once we were all there we decided to go to Round One. We were going to bowl but instead did this thing were you can play on games, darts, internet, read manga, karaoke, and sports as much as you want for a few hours! It was really impressive! The floors were shut off except to people who had paid so we literally had free reign on the area! I got to try batting for the first time ever! 

It was really sad leaving Mami, Sae and Eri because they really had been the most amazing friends while we were in Fukuoka. I wish I could have found a job in Fukuoka just so I could hang out with them more!

The Wednesday of that week Wes and I flew back to our home countries (T_T). I was going to America anyway for a job interview/orientation so it didn't make sense for Wes to go back to the UK with me and then to America and then back again. And I needed to see friends and family again (missed them so much!) and I'm sure Wes needed the same. Kinda sucks we're back to long distance, but once Wes get a job in Tokyo we'll move in together and it'll be awesome! (I hope ><)

And just incase you were wondering JLPT results came out this week and Wes and I both passed N2!!! YAAAAY!!!! Wes did better than me because he's amazing but we both passed and that's what counts!

May in Fukuoka

Now I am aware May way 5 months ago and I have been very slow in updating as usual, however, better late than never.
Now May had a lot of goings on but I'll try and put it all into this one post so that I get it out of the way.


May 3 - Hakata Dontaku Festival
This was one of the major festivals that Fukuoka is famous for (the other was in July that I missed). I'm not entirely sure what it originated for but the festival itself consisted of local companies, NGOs, groups and organisations getting together to show off a performance or a parade. There were dance groups of children and teenagers showing off hip-hop, or middle aged women doing traditional dance. There were bands and musicians playing on small stages dotted around the centre of town. And food and games stalls in parks and along the streets. The main parade was massive and when on for hours over the course of the weekend. More details here: http://fukuoka-now.com/2013/04/hakata-dontaku-2013-guide/

So Wes and I met up with Kate and Lizzie (our amazing American and Australian friends) and wandered around the festival taking in the sights and sounds and standing around for the parade until we got too hungry to wait any longer. Street food in Japan is what it always is, expensive, not entirely tasty, but just what you need. Out of the millions of people that attended the festival we ran into a few people we knew!

May 11 - Nakamura Strawberry Farm
My first trip to Japan 5 years ago was to Fukuoka and while there I did WWOOF staying at 2 farms. One of them was a farm that did a variety of fruit but mostly strawberries which people could do 'all you can eat' for a set price. They also have a small shop that sells their own and local produce. So being in the area I decided to see them again this time with Wes.

It was a baking hot day, which wasn't helped by the fact that Nakamura got the wrong train station and was a bit late. But that was ok. He treated us to lunch at their shop (using the tables Mog and I had made 5 years before!) and I got to see his wife and son again! And his son even has a wife and 2 children which was new. Wes and I ate a load of strawberries and went to see some flowers and some really old tombs (about 1000 years old!) We had dinner with them and got the train back.

May 12 - Birthday trip to Aquarium
Wes and I had made a number of friends in Japan, and for once Japanese friends, so I really wanted to do something with them all. We hadn't been to the aquarium in Fukuoka so I thought that would be a good place to go. Lizzie, Mami, Saeko, Eri, Mayuko came along (Kate was in Tokyo) and we had a great day. The aquarium in Fukuoka was pretty amazing, much better than the one at Osaka. AND because it was my brithday I got to touch a dolphin! We also fed seals! And saw a dolphin show which was pretty amazing.

May 17 - Nomihoudai Lizzie's Goodbye Party
Lizzie had to leave us to go back to Australis *sadface* so we and her house mates went out to nomihoudai (all you can drink). It was at an 80s music style club that had record covers and posters all over the wall along with 80s Japanese music in the background. We had an hour and a half to drink as much as we wanted which was great but I hadn't realised that Lizzie's Japanese friends were all under age (they don't really check in Japan), so they all got rather drunk and one was very sick. But it was great fun! Was sad to see Lizzie go, but I'll see her again in Japan I'm sure :)

May 23 - Uminonakamichi Park
This was a theme park and gardens next to the Aquarium which we went to with the school. Kate, Wes and I went around together, and for once we were with the larger campus' students. We didn't talk to any of them in the end, but it did mean there were a LOT of foreigners walking around. There was a rose garden, a really awesome zoo (with tons of bunnies and guinea pigs!!), and a park with games, slides and a ferris wheel. The ferries wheel was awesome, a tad scary cos I hate heights, but awesome none the less.

LLAMAS!!!!