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Currently StationaryCurrently Stationary (CS) is a blog started by Nyunkia Tauss on March 20 2004, located on the Blogspot blog server. It describes life as an English language teacher living in Japan, and is notable for its commentary on the peculiarities of Japanese society and customs as viewed through the eyes of an Australian. Though Nyunkia Tauss officially closed the blog on September 14 2004, it continues to recieve medium to heavy internet traffic and is now prominent on any Google searches for "currently stationary". Despite this, it is debatable whether it is a true internet phenomenon or whether its status as such is still dormant. However, it remains prominent in a community of similar blogs, also operated by expatriated westerners. Prominent Themes Engrish T-Shirt Quotations Quotations from Engrish T-shirts are prominent throughout the blog. However, they are not generally presented in a humorous manner as with many other web sites dealing with badly translated English. Instead Tauss presents the Engrish quotations in a neutral, almost philosophical, manner. Often, posts within Currently Stationary use such quotations as headings with no further discussion of their content save for a brief mention detailing their source. In a similar fashion, CS posts also feature music and mood counters, which describe the author's mood and the music which she is listening to. The Broken Leg A large amount of the space within the Currently Stationary blog is dedicated to describing the aftermath of a skiing accident that caused Tauss to break both the tibia and fibula of her left leg. Many readers have commented on the unusual sentimentality of this section of the blog, which is written in a highly ironic style. It is notable for causing shock to regular readers because of the manner in which Tauss describes not only the physical challenges of living in a foreign country with a broken leg, but also her emotionally scarred state of mind. This is perhaps the most dramatic of the developments within the blog. Alienation The blog often discusses the alienation that can result from working in a foreign country and this is described in detail in several posts. Some of these posts detail Nyunkia Tauss' love/hate relationship with her co-workers and with Japan itself. Some posts are positive in their outlook, and describe various facets of Japanese culture in an interested manner, while others cite issues such as the naturalisation of small apartments, high watermelon prices, and attitudes towards foreigners as reasons for a critical stance towards Japanese culture. Curiously, Tauss describes many other treatments of the Japanese island mentality and the alienation resulting from it critically. For example, she rejects Sofia Coppola's 2003 film, Lost in Translation, as being "unneccesary" and unrealistic. Despite this, Tauss never makes her overall attitude towards Japan clear in her blog, causing some readers to view her writings with controversy, even suggesting that this lukewarm attitude exists out of appeasement. Memes and Influences How to be a Good Teacher One particuarly notable meme created on Currently Stationary is a list of guidelines for being "a good teacher". These precepts appear to be based on an apocryphal citation from a 1950s home economics textbook known as "How to be a Good Wife". However, the good teacher parody replaces the 1950s patriarchy with the ettiquette and workplace expectations of present-day Japan. The 1950s source is suggested by the final sentence's reference to creating a harmonious running environment, which is similar to the Good Wife citation's reference to making the home "a place of peace, where your husband can relax". Related Articles Japan blog internet phenomenon meme web log tourism engrish External Links http://currently-stationary.blogspot.com/
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