Mid Year Conference 2015

Wait, there's Strongbow? I don't even care, I am going to be ALL OVER any kind of cider.

In defense of useful things at Mid-Year Chaos, I liked the keynote speaker last year, the deaf guy who knew international sign language and talked about seeing and hearing culture. Made me realize how majority people think about foreigners and other minorities (aka they don't).

Hopefully I won't be sick this year and can come out to the meetup!

I thought the keynote was interesting as well, but for different reasons.

I may have completely misinterpreted the intent of the keynote, but I thought it was quite profound (for CLIAR, at least) that they brought together hundreds of people who are defined (within the confines of the JET Programme) as foreigners who can speak Japanese and reminded them that there's more to communication than just words.

Exactly what Graeme said (not sure if you meant that as a good thing or a bad thing though..)

The keynote is supposed to just be interesting and get you thinking a little bit--it's going to be abstract and not immediately applicable to your situation like the workshops are. So that's why I liked that it made me realize why we as CIRs are necessary, because we can point out what doesn't occur to fluent native-speakers (just as the speaker pointed out what doesn't occur to hearing people). It helped jolt me out of that "Japanese people are just racist and actively hate us" phase that I think a lot of us fall in and out of.

I had a lot of brainblasts when I attended a sign language circle for a while. We usually picture Japanese as so calm and reserved but these people were so expressive with their faces and bodies and it was so refreshing. Another example of how Japanese people are not monolithic in culture and language, and how deaf culture really is a different culture than hearing culture.

meant it as a very good thing

i'm typically quite disparaging about the quality of Mid-Year Chaos in general, but last year's keynote was a cut above everything else i've experienced at the past two mycs

Sometimes they're not really conveying anything. 2013's had some lady just talking about Filipinos (?) working in Sendai as nurses. Then she played a sad montage of the 2011 earthquake - because that is Sendai now.

Ahaha the mikans and Indonesia (right?). I definitely fell asleep during that one. 

Proof that last year's keynote was good: I stayed awake during the whole thing.

omg that was Ividia on stage. i didn't know until now.


also the mikan one was awful, then i ended up going to her workshop at the PA conference and nearly beat poo-poo magoo with my conference 資料

you did good tho

I remember an Asian CIR of mystery affiliation going "日本語がすごい上手！！" and being filled with an intense, jealous rage.

I remember it well! I was sitting next to Kyohe, and when we introduced ourselves he was like

"Wait. Graeme Howard?"

this is why you always do full names people

nooOoOOo boss look what you've done

PS it was actually "police"

aw shucks
all is forgiven

(//∇//)