The 10,000 Post thread V3

[Duke87 1,070]

(2551)

 

Oh come on, it isn't THAT bad.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

2552: Due to the days I work, Monday is actually like a 'Friday to me'. As opposed to a Monday to Friday work week, mine is a Friday to Monday week, inclusive of the weekend.

[timmie 988]

2553

 

Usually, Mondays are a part of the weekend for me, last semester I had courses on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

2554

 

I went in yesterday (Monday) expecting it to be my school's new semester ceremony, but there was nothing.  I wrote and edited all day long.  Today was the opening ceremony.  The third and final semester has officially begun.  I actually have classes tomorrow.

[Duke87 1,070]

(2555)

 

Senior year of college I had no classes on Friday both semesters. That was nice.

 

But with the exception of one month during my second summer as an intern where they only had me in for 20 hours a week, I haven't had any odd days of the week off from work unless it's a holiday. I've never worked on a weekend and it would seriously throw a wrench into my lifestyle if I had to (road meets are always on Saturdays).

[astronelson 339]

2556.

 

My semester doesn't start until February 17, so ha!

[timmie 988]

2557

Mine starts February 10, but I've got exams now

[Duke87 1,070]

(2558)

 

My spring semesters in college started the last week of January, usually right after Martin Luther King Day.

[Larks2242 251]

2559.

 

Sounds like fun.

[Mr Saturn64 742]

2560

Some people (not including me) are. Taking the Keystone exams, so I have Keystone this and Keystone that drilled into my mind. Standardized tests are arguably my least favorite thing

[Duke87 1,070]

(2561)

 

Standardized testing is shackles on the art of education.

[Muck308 55]

2562

 

Do they still give the ERB exam? I use to take it in elementary school. I can't recall ever taking a Keystone exam, despite being schooled in the Keystone state of PA. Maybe that's the ERB's replacement?

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

2563

 

I remember being really young and taking Iowa tests, and then when we moved to Michigan they were called the MEAP or the MEAT or something like that.  I was always good at taking tests.

[Duke87 1,070]

(2564)

 

Connecticut had a test they gave in 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th grades called the CMT (Connecticut Mastery Test). They then had a separate series of tests given in 10th grade called CAPT (Connecticut Aptitude and Performance Tests), which you were required to pass in order to graduate unless given a special exemption.

 

New York calls their standardized tests Regents Exams. No silly acronyms here.

[timmie 988]

2565

 

The concept of a standardized test is quite exotic for me. I don't think standardized tests are used in the Belgian education system.

[Mr Saturn64 742]

2566

I hate them. All you need to do to succeed in the American education system is be a good test taker. Then they only teach what's on the test. I hate them.

[Duke87 1,070]

(2567)

Yeah, it's become all the rage in US education. Every teacher is expected to blindly follow a common standard, all results must be quantifiable by standard means, and you have to focus on making everyone pass - which means coddling the lazy and remedial kids while neglecting the intelligent kids. It's one giant rush to make everyone average.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

2568
 
However bad you think it is in the US, the US has NOTHING on Japan so far as standardized testing.  EVERYTHING depends on tests.  Getting into high school depends on tests.  Getting into college depends on tests.  Getting a license to do anything, from tea ceremony and abacus to teaching Japanese to foreigners, depends on tests.  There are no bypasses.  There are no shortcuts, workarounds, leapfrogs or anything like that.  Nepotism only stretches far enough to take care of the rich and the families with long-standing influence.

This leads me to an interesting thing about Japan.  The Tokugawa family, the family that ran the country until 1868, they are still relevant and powerful, as are the Fujiwara, a clan that has been associated with the imperial family since something like 600AD.  A prominent Japanese educator named Fukuzawa Yukichi in the late 1800s once noticed upon visiting the US that he found it strange that nobody knew what happened to George Washington's family.  The guy was our first president, he willed us through the Revolution and set up a huge number of customs that presidents still follow to this day, and no one knows what happened to his family.  In Japan, his family would still be quite powerful, but not back home.  I think that's quite interesting.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

2569: Part of that is that George Washington had no children of his own. But even then some families are very influential politically. One only has to look at George H. W. Bush, whose son was also a president and the other a governor. Another example is the Clinton's, with husband and wife serving as president and secretary of state, respectively.

[Duke87 1,070]

(2570)

 

Or dare we mention the Kennedys?

 

But yeah, the US tends not to preserve the influence of families across generations the way some other places do. This happens for two reasons:

 

1) We focus on influential individuals more than families.

2) It is both acceptable and common in the US for children to follow a very different path in life from their parents. After all, that's what everyone who immigrated here did.

[timmie 988]

2571

 

Today I learnt the mayor of New York eats his pizza with fork and knife. Can you imagine. HOW DARE HE. It's unbelievable a guy that eats his pizza with cutlery can become mayor. It's unbelievable there even are people who vote for such a guy! Dear goodness.

[Larks2242 251]

2572.

 

Something wrong with that? I do the same thing, well most the time I fold it over.

[Duke87 1,070]

(2573)

 

Eating pizza with a fork and knife is kind of necessary if it's deep dish pizza and in many places it's normal. In New York, however, it's not. Everyone eats pizza with their hands, often folding the slice in half as they do. So it's easy to say that someone who eats pizza with a fork and knife is not a "real New Yorker".

 

Of course, it should also be noted that this was first made an issue out of by the New York Post, which is known for being a conservative tabloid and is going to criticize De Blasio every chance they get simply because he's a Democrat.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

(2573)

Eating pizza with a fork and knife is kind of necessary if it's deep dish pizza and in many places it's normal. In New York, however, it's not. Everyone eats pizza with their hands, often folding the slice in half as they do. So it's easy to say that someone who eats pizza with a fork and knife is not a "real New Yorker".

Of course, it should also be noted that this was first made an issue out of by the New York Post, which is known for being a conservative tabloid and is going to criticize De Blasio every chance they get simply because he's a Democrat.

2574: Isn't that how any leaning newspaper is? You'd be surprised how many left leaning articles are harshly critical of conservatives.

Also I want pizza. I might walk up the road and order some.

[AkemiAzula 280]

2575 I have never heard of a man eating pizza with cutlery. How bizarre. You might as well have a salad or pasta

[timmie 988]

2576

 

Half of the people I know eat it with knife and fork (I don't). What amazes me is that there are people who really make an issue of it. It's not like he smokes crack (like some other mayors do, as you may well know).

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

2577: Wait, whose what what?

Funnily enough, I got asked at the servo the other day by a bunch of people if I had pot on me. I guess that's what you get when you are out and about doing normal person things at ridiculous hours such as 1am.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

2578

 

2569: Part of that is that George Washington had no children of his own. But even then some families are very influential politically. One only has to look at George H. W. Bush, whose son was also a president and the other a governor. Another example is the Clinton's, with husband and wife serving as president and secretary of state, respectively.

 

Yes, but two generations of Bush, two generations of Clinton, and a few Kennedys can't really compare with the 1600 year history of the Fujiwaras, or the fact that the Tokugawas first came into real power about 400-500 years ago.

 

Also, the mayor of Toronto is a walking MTV reality show who looks like an old Chris Farley and so far as eating pizza with a knife and fork, [georgecostanza]What do you eat it with?  Your hands??[/georgeconstanza]

[Duke87 1,070]

(2579)

 

I just had to google "servo". That's what you folks down there call gas stations, eh?

[Larks2242 251]

2580.

 

(2573)

 

Of course, it should also be noted that this was first made an issue out of by the New York Post, which is known for being a conservative tabloid and is going to criticize De Blasio every chance they get simply because he's a Democrat.

 

 

As they should, I think I found a new favorite newspaper.