Smells Like Teen Spirit...
Happy Belated April Fools Day...yeah, i was desperate for a new greeting...besides, "hey" or "talofa"...anyways, i have a couple of things to write about tonight...it shouldnt be rocket science...and ill try to make it short...the pictures today were all taken at our final two games for soccer...in the end, we didnt do too well...we came in like 5th or 6th out of eight teams...our boys just didnt have the heart and passion for it...which is really needed in a winning team...but we did win our last game...and i had a lot of fun with them...though it was difficult and tiring to do, i kinda miss it...mostly because im hella bored now without it...i used to come home around 5 or 6 or even 7:00 at night...now im gettin home at about 3:30...and i dont know what to do with myself...but im gonna try to keep myself busy as much as i can...if i dont, i get homesick and angry with the island...so i think im gonna help out with other after-school activities...and maybe even get a membership at our local gym...
before i get started on the main issue of this blog entry, i wanted to respond to someone's message about the treatment of dogs on the island...(by the way, thanks for the support and interest in my blog...i love when y'all interact with it)...the person said:"I just can't stand the stories about the horribly suffering animals. Haven't these people ever heard of spaying and neutering! And where are the animal activists? You say that all there people are such God-fearing and respectful people but why for gosh sakes don't they extend their values to Dogs???"
...well, i dont know if i can really answer this question...but i will say that its something i wonder about everyday...i suppose all humans are like this...i mean, we're all a little hypocritical and two-faced...however, because samoans do believe theyre pious and righteous and god's people, it does make their duplicity and pretense seem more frusterating and more obvious...i dont want to sound like im judging a people, but here are just a few examples of how insincere they are to god or their religion:
-as the person said, their treatment of animals...the dogs here are rampantly diseased, homeless, hungry, and feral...and there are free clinics to spay and neuter...but they do not use these excellent programs...i would think they would have more respect for god's creatures...
-their litter problem...many samoans throw their rubbish on the ground...id like to start taking some pictures of the disgusting trash that litters the island...once again, there is education about this on island and i talk to my kids about it all the time...and yet i still see them and other samoans tossing their garbage on the ground...sometimes the island looks repulsive because of this problem...youd think theyd appreciate this beautiful land that their god gave them...
-their rearing of their children...i wont even mention the physical punishment they give to their unruly children (cause, who knows, maybe jesus is all for beating children!), but i often wonder why they dont have a better reverance for life and the preciousness of it...everyday, i see children outside with no shoes on and playing dangerously in the road...every week theres stories of children getting hit by cars or drowning in the ocean...or even falling off rocks or trees or whatever...my samoan students always tell me that "palagis are overly sensitive"...in other words, we worry about getting hurt...i guess samoans dont care about that kind of stuff...well, im sorry...but i sometimes wonder if they have a lack of respect for the precious life that god has given them...
theres probably a million other examples i could give...but those are the big ones...i realize that there is no such thing as a "perfect christian"...im not saying samoans are sacrilegious...but whats the point of worshipping a god if youre not gonna have respect for him?...what do you guys think?...am i being judgemental?...or do i have a point?...
i like the picture above because im always showing you guys these gorgeous images of the island when most of the island looks like this...industrialized and ghetto...i gotta take more pics like these...to show y'all the complexity and oddity that american samoa is...it fascinates and bewilders me 24/7...
theres that pose again...what the heck are they looking at?...are they deep in thought?...or are they pretending to be models on the cover of vanity fare?...okay, the main issue of this blog entry is the notion of having school spirit...especially in regards to high school students...essentially, im asking if school spirit is necessary...is it beneficial?...lets first begin with my own past dealing with school spirit...actually, i didnt really have any...i was one of those kids that looked at school spirit as a zombie-producing, robotic system of communal, bigoted team thinking...i wouldnt say i was goth (that was julieta), but i was definetly against the football players and the cheerleaders and the pretty, smart, rich, and popular kids...i went to pep rallys and thought "ugh...these peeps are like a scary cult!"...i remember going to friday night football games and not even glimpsing at the game...i mostly caused trouble with my friends...(and listened to suzy's rendition of freeze frame)...i despised the school activities...and i wasnt in any clubs or extra-curricular programs... not only because i had to get home after school for rosie and oprah, but also because i had no interest in those things...i didnt have a shred of school spirit in me...in fact, i didnt want to be a part of it at all...and i didnt really see the point in it all...i mean, i was in favor of individuality and creativity..and art!...i believed in having a open, individual mind...i didnt wanna follow a group and have the same mentality as them...besides, all those kids with school spirit, pom poms and banners and face paint and glitter (oh, my!), were snobby little perfectionists anyways...well, in college i got off my high horse...and as i became a teacher my mind changed...
now that im a high school english teacher (and a soccer coach...and, hopefully, a director for the school play next year), my opinion on school spirit has become the opposite...well, for the most part...i truly feel that having school spirit and being a part of school activities and extra-curricular programs does help make a teenager a better student, citizen, and person...i know, that sounds like a big proclamation...but i believe that when a high school student supports and loves their school and involves themselves in school activities they will behave better in it...they will also have more respect for their teachers...and the property...theyll care about their education more...theyll have a better sense of community and responsibility...i mean, playing on a sports team can teach teens team work and cooperation...when teens cheer for their sports team it creates an environment of support and friendship...etc., etc., etc....i could write a dissertation on all the values that extra-curricular activities teach teenagers...they inspire young people to care and respect eachother, and to be honest with themselves, and be more mature and responsible...and the list goes on...i cant believe i became one of THEM...a promoter of school spirit...a cheerleader!...maybe its because ive become an adult...maybe its because ive been brainwashed by the zombies of high school spirit...either way, i really admire the positive power that school spirit and community involvement can have on high school students...well, most of the time...
the reason why i keep saying "most of the time" is because tafuna high school has been letting school spirit get in the way of education...you see, the school is preparing for flag day...flag day (an american holiday not even really celebrated in america) is one of the most important, popular, and celebrated holidays on the island...if you do research on american samoa youll notice immediately that flag day is huge here...its a part of their culture...the samoans dont really treat this day as a day to celebrate america...its more of an opportunity to celebrate their own territory...their own flag...anyways, to make a long story short, all of the high schools are preparing a performance for flag day...all the schools and many, many people will gather in the tafuna stadium on april 17 to watch each of the high school's performances...the performances consist of dancing the siva (a samoan dance), singing samoan songs, doing the slap dance (a samoan way of stepping or stomping), and much, much more...im sure its gonna be awesome...ive been watching the kids practice and their performance is absolutely amazing...and very cool...but the thing thats been bothering me is how much the kids have been forced to practice...i mean, i know some of the kids are loving the practice because it gives them something to do on this boring as all get out island...but theyve been made to practice for hours everyday after school...and theyve even canceled classes to have practice...last week we lost two hours of the school day monday through friday to go and practice for flag day...two hours of learning to go sing, dance, and slap...theres even been days where they cancel school to practice...many of the kids arent even showing up...many sneak out and skip so they dont have to go...so, not only are those kids not learning when they should be, theyre off causing trouble at homes or in their villages...the principal even made an announcement to everyone a few weeks ago saying all teachers should give the students who are going to practice extra credit...i thought that was unbelievable...i told my students that they were not getting extra credit..."i dont give points for school spirit"...with all this flag day stuff becoming more important than education, im beginning to change my thoughts on school spirit once again...
i mean, obviously this school spirit in american samoa has swallowed the education of our students whole...i understand that this flag day activity does have its benefits for young people...it teaches them culture and community and cooperation...it also creates wonderfully positive memories...oh, and its fun, too...but should all of this take the place of education?...of learning?...is building and remembering culture more significant than learning how to write or do a math problem?...is school spirit more beneficial than sitting in class and reading a book or disecting a frog?...what do y'all think?...is american samoa's school spirit hurtful?...or does it produce strong, caring, and responsible citizens and people?...does it promote a robust, resiliant culture and community?...afterall, their teenage students are better behaved than most kids in the states...or does their school spirit smell fishy?... 
the following is a quick list of the films that make me cry every time i see them...i guess they might not be "sad"...they just make the tears flow... 
alright...ill let you guys go...was it short enough?...leave me a message...what do you think about the hypocrisy of the island people and their relationship with god?...what about their school spirit?...and what films make the water works flow for you?...thanks to all of you that intermingle with my blog...i truly am grateful for y'all...and keep the thoughts and opinions and questions coming...love ya and miss ya...
now that im a high school english teacher (and a soccer coach...and, hopefully, a director for the school play next year), my opinion on school spirit has become the opposite...well, for the most part...i truly feel that having school spirit and being a part of school activities and extra-curricular programs does help make a teenager a better student, citizen, and person...i know, that sounds like a big proclamation...but i believe that when a high school student supports and loves their school and involves themselves in school activities they will behave better in it...they will also have more respect for their teachers...and the property...theyll care about their education more...theyll have a better sense of community and responsibility...i mean, playing on a sports team can teach teens team work and cooperation...when teens cheer for their sports team it creates an environment of support and friendship...etc., etc., etc....i could write a dissertation on all the values that extra-curricular activities teach teenagers...they inspire young people to care and respect eachother, and to be honest with themselves, and be more mature and responsible...and the list goes on...i cant believe i became one of THEM...a promoter of school spirit...a cheerleader!...maybe its because ive become an adult...maybe its because ive been brainwashed by the zombies of high school spirit...either way, i really admire the positive power that school spirit and community involvement can have on high school students...well, most of the time...
the reason why i keep saying "most of the time" is because tafuna high school has been letting school spirit get in the way of education...you see, the school is preparing for flag day...flag day (an american holiday not even really celebrated in america) is one of the most important, popular, and celebrated holidays on the island...if you do research on american samoa youll notice immediately that flag day is huge here...its a part of their culture...the samoans dont really treat this day as a day to celebrate america...its more of an opportunity to celebrate their own territory...their own flag...anyways, to make a long story short, all of the high schools are preparing a performance for flag day...all the schools and many, many people will gather in the tafuna stadium on april 17 to watch each of the high school's performances...the performances consist of dancing the siva (a samoan dance), singing samoan songs, doing the slap dance (a samoan way of stepping or stomping), and much, much more...im sure its gonna be awesome...ive been watching the kids practice and their performance is absolutely amazing...and very cool...but the thing thats been bothering me is how much the kids have been forced to practice...i mean, i know some of the kids are loving the practice because it gives them something to do on this boring as all get out island...but theyve been made to practice for hours everyday after school...and theyve even canceled classes to have practice...last week we lost two hours of the school day monday through friday to go and practice for flag day...two hours of learning to go sing, dance, and slap...theres even been days where they cancel school to practice...many of the kids arent even showing up...many sneak out and skip so they dont have to go...so, not only are those kids not learning when they should be, theyre off causing trouble at homes or in their villages...the principal even made an announcement to everyone a few weeks ago saying all teachers should give the students who are going to practice extra credit...i thought that was unbelievable...i told my students that they were not getting extra credit..."i dont give points for school spirit"...with all this flag day stuff becoming more important than education, im beginning to change my thoughts on school spirit once again...
i mean, obviously this school spirit in american samoa has swallowed the education of our students whole...i understand that this flag day activity does have its benefits for young people...it teaches them culture and community and cooperation...it also creates wonderfully positive memories...oh, and its fun, too...but should all of this take the place of education?...of learning?...is building and remembering culture more significant than learning how to write or do a math problem?...is school spirit more beneficial than sitting in class and reading a book or disecting a frog?...what do y'all think?...is american samoa's school spirit hurtful?...or does it produce strong, caring, and responsible citizens and people?...does it promote a robust, resiliant culture and community?...afterall, their teenage students are better behaved than most kids in the states...or does their school spirit smell fishy?...here are some clips from youtube of the kids practicing...you can see how incredible the performances are...and theyre not even close to being finished...and you can also notice how much practice it all involved...and how much education theyve lost because of it...
(check out the dancing J.R.O.T.C. guy...he's not so tough lookin now, is he?!...
the following is a quick list of the films that make me cry every time i see them...i guess they might not be "sad"...they just make the tears flow...My Five Saddest Movies of All Time:
5. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey = yes, this is the movie about the talking dogs and cat...but when shadow, chance, and sassy finally find their way home, i consistently begin to cry like a big baby...im sappy like that...
4. Brokeback Mountain = y'all knew i couldnt keep this off the list...jack twist's flannel + depressed enis del mar + that moving guitar score = joe joe's downfall...
3. Steel Magnolias = oh, my lawd...when sally field loses it in the cemetary, i do too..."why!?...WHY?!...i just want my shelby back!"...ditto, mama...
2. Titanic = i know this is such a boring choice...but it always seems to start the tearful waterfall of my eyes...the most heartbreaking scene?...of course it has to be the husband and wife clutching eachother in their bed as the icy water begins to engulf them...ah, here i go with the crying again...
1. Forrest Gump = give me a scene in this film and ill give you a handful of tears...when bubba dies...check...when jenny begins reciting "dear god, make me into a bird so i can fly, fly far away from here"...check...when lietutenant dan loses his legs...check...and when mrs. gump passes away (sally field again!)...check...and then theres the scene that gets me every time...when forrest is under the tree at jenny's grave and talking to her about their son..."oh, jenny, he's just so smart"...someone pass the kleenex...STAT!...
what are the flicks that make you boo-hoo?...am i just a silly sentimental guy?...or do these movies make you cry too?...
alright...ill let you guys go...was it short enough?...leave me a message...what do you think about the hypocrisy of the island people and their relationship with god?...what about their school spirit?...and what films make the water works flow for you?...thanks to all of you that intermingle with my blog...i truly am grateful for y'all...and keep the thoughts and opinions and questions coming...love ya and miss ya...-JOE
"The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway."
-Henry Boye
posted by Samoa Joe at 2:43 AM
4 Comments:
Hi, a few quick comments;
Samoans and religeon - I cant recall the exact facts but one of the earliest christian missionaries to Samoa recorded that he was amazed at his success in converting thousands in a day...and they ate him the next! (just dont acheive his level of success Joe!).
Samoans and school - its can be hard to keep kids focused on the importance of education and school, but it must be even more so there being that employment opportunities on island are limited.
Flag Day celebrations - Samoans seem to love pomp and ceremony, and if they can find a way to make it competetive then all the better.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Joe, oh I'm the one that's bothered by how they treat dogs. I hope I didn't sound too self-righteous or snotty, I didn't mean to, I love dogs (I have 4!)an' I just can't stand to see an animal suffer (any animal but especially dogs)
Nellie Garcia (your fan in San Diego.)
A note about the dogs - I know several people that have attempted to get their animals spayed and neutered. Don't let that alleviate the neglect of the hundreds that ignore the service. There is a second error which is fundamentally Samoan. The clinics are incredibly backed up. This could be because there are too many damn dogs on this island and there are several families being pumped through each month off of waiting lists, but you and I both know that this island isn't really known for organization or the expediting of government services. Most likely only a few animals are spayed or neutered each week and because animals don't get off the waiting lists and nobody leashes their pets, the population grows at an exceedingly faster rate than the animals are sterilized. And did you know that when families have puppies that they don't want, they just dump them in Lion's Park? There are at least four or five that are running around there just from the past couple weeks.
And now to get to the school spirit/Flag Day concerns. I was confused about your comment stating that American Samoan teenagers are better behaved than state-side ones. Are you kidding? We had two fights today, one inside my classroom. The other one was over a drum that the kids were using for Flag Day practice. At our game against Kanana Fou, two of my students were there drunk and a couple of Tafuna students, and several Polytech kids. One of the Polytech kids started swearing at us while we warmed up, until I started walking over to throw him out of the stadium. I so hope you get mainstream classes next year so you actually realize how the students on this island behave, haha. Maybe that's just me though. Maybe Northern Virginia kids are just better behaved than Wisconsin students. Ok, just kidding, don't get your panties in a wad.
School spirit is great to an extent. I hated the zombie-like enthusiasm kids had in high school too, although I was involved in pretty much every extracurricular activity we had. The kids here are very spirited about their school. So much so that everytime we play in a championship game, we get rocks thrown at our buses by other teams or we get shoved or punched, etc. Every single time. Sometimes even in regular season games. One time a mother with her baby in a bus of ours during men's basketball was hit with a rock in the head. Rivalry drives competition and can be an excellent motivator, but it gets pretty out of hand here.
You only lost two hours of your school day to song practice? We lose that almost every single day. I graded my 118 notebooks last week and they had one assignment from 2 weeks time. That's because I only had them 3 days during that entire period and a couple of those 3 were less than 30 minutes long. I tried to understand the justification of it and asked my co-workers only for them to get defensive about the importance of learning Samoan culture. I just thought....aren't they Samoan? Don't they receive Samoan culture 18 hours of every single day, not including the Samoan class that every student takes!?! The principal, after a practice one day last week said, "I don't care what outsiders have to say about our practices. This is how we were taught our language and history in the past, through song and dance!" First I was pissed because I don't need to be singled out. I was the only "outsider" there. And I never said anything negative about the practices. But unless every student in the school desires to become a Samoan teacher or Samoan writer or Samoan dancer or singer....how the hell is this going to help them when they need to get a job? How many colleges are going to ask them about the benefits of singing and dancing in Samoan instead of learning English. I think it's wonderful for them to learn about their culture and history. I disagree with that particular education to supercede the fundamental courses they need in order to continue their education after high school. The students on this island are already at a severe disadvantage compared to stateside students....every single one of them. Getting $10,000 from a government that repeatedly offers broken promises isn't worth the sacrifice of an entire island's education.
By the way, did you have the propagandists of ASCC come by Tafuna and shovel bullshit down the throats of your senior class? We did today. They tried to convince all the students that were going off-island to other colleges to stay and go to ASCC. Yes, get the kids that are just going to work at KFC or Checkers to go to school at least part-time at ASCC, but don't take the kids that are venturing out and trying to experience the world. I understand the argument that it's difficult to leave your family and move into a different environment and I also know that the first year of school can be difficult (I personally left after my first year and took time off), but that's why the students who are leaving need to be educated about the difficulties they'll face, not told that they shouldn't go. They made statements like, "you will only be a number at their schools, your teachers will never talk to you outside of class and your counselors will never help you." This boldface bullshit was told with the confidence of a salesman. College teachers have office hours for a reason and the counselors are paid to help you, I had several that I was a frequent visitor to (only because of my CC attendance actually!). They even told the kids that if they go somewhere else, they'll experience diversity, as if that was a horrible thing! They don't give a shit about the kids here. If they did they would encourage them to be ambassadors of their culture, not cower behind its veil of security. I wanted to punch the faifafine that was hosting the presentation. He was just so negative. They did nothing to tell the kids about how difficult it is to get all of your credits to transfer from a 2 year college or explain that if they move they could get residency in the first year and the last 3 would be cheaper. They didn't even boast about any benefits of ASCC outside of saying that it's the cheapest college in the country. Since when did "cheapest" mean best, or even good? You'll see when they make a visit to your spot.
you must call me now.
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