Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
I tried to help teach a class of kids at JANM. Using the Big Boss Robot, their job was to make something fun with what materials they had-glue guns, wire, paint, and general junk. All part of the Biennale! It’s hard to talk to High School kids, I could see them peering at me, wondering “wtf does this guy know?” Or perhaps it’s the complete opposite… and them thinking, “wtf do I know…” Either way, I think they listened. Once they got the robots in their hands, they got to work quick. [nggallery id=JANM-Entourage-Giant-Robot]
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Yesterday, over 600,000 Korean seniors strapped themselves in for day long testing. It’s over nine hours long and known as Suneung, the College Scholastic Ability Test. For these kids and their parents, this is one of the most important days of their entire lives. Some will get suitable scores their first time around. Others will take the test multiple times (it’s offered once a year), repeating the stress and expense of preparation over and over until their scores are high enough to get them into a “decent” national university. The Korean educational system is an intense one. Everything builds up to Suneung, when the die are cast. Will your life be worth living? Is your future bright? Will you be doomed to live a life of blue collar mediocrity, or will you rise to corporate greatness? These are questions that are asked in Junior High, and prepared for in grade school with extra-curriculars and tutoring that make a kid’s work day about as long (sometimes longer) as that of their parents. On Suneung, parents, younger students and empathetic citizens rally in support of the students taking the test. Juniors, second year students who are soon to face the same fate, line up outside the testing centers before dawn to get a good spot to yell rallying cheers, and offer snacks and juice to the students heading in for the test. Parents pray outside the testing centers. They pray in Christian churches and at Buddhist temples. In Jeju, the airport avoids takeoffs and landings during the listening portion of the test. I’m not sure if today is any easier for the kids that tested yesterday. I want to believe they slept well last night, with the hurdle of Suneung completed, but it’s not over yet. Their test results will be released in December. The admissions process continues for those with scores they can live with. For everyone else… it’ll be ok. Relax, and try to take it easy while you get ready for November 2013. Don’t do anything crazy, and don’t let your parents get you down. You can do it! FIGHTING!
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Stuyvesant High School Class of 2012. The best 4 years of his life couldn’t have been college… it has to be going on now! Either way, a cool thing to do for a high school class. [youtube]L4cPG1Dmh2I[/youtube]
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Japanese high school baseball is written about with nice detail by a Seattle Times Reporter. The part about scooping dirt to take home is touching. It’s like Friday Night Lights, and this is their time. (Seattle Times – Koshien)
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