There were three different rooms where food was served everyday. Breakfast was a really good time to talk with other JETs. I didn't have the forethought to decide beforehand where I was going to be and where other people that I met were going to be, so each meal was unique because I usually ate with people that I had never met before. There were some cute girls that I would look for before I chose my eating arrangements, but I usually woke up with enough time to get downstairs, slam some food, and ride a packed elevator back to my room to change into a suit.
On my second day in Tokyo, there was two events during the morning for all of the ALTs: a keynote and a panel presentation. They were more laid back than the first days speeches, and they didn't last as long either. The keynote speaker was even funny and interesting at points which was a breath of fresh air, considering the stuffiness of most speeches. After the large group presentations, we broke into our respective teaching levels (i.e. elementary, junior high, and senior high) for team teaching demonstrations. After a lunch break, there was another level specific workshop over teaching materials and designing language activities. I was tired. I had my fill of workshops, so I went back up to my room to take a nap. There were three workshops that afternoon, but I was supposed to go out with my prefecture later that night, so I wanted to rest up.
I had my first Irish moment in Japan. I'm not even sure that I would chalk it up to anger, but instead it was a moment where I spoke my mind at an apporotune time but it wasn't seen so by the other party. During the keynote speech, two girls behind me talked for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the speech. I finally turned around and said, "If you guys are going to talk during the whole speech, could you go outside." It was a packed auditorium, and everybody was being attentive to the Japanese gentleman who was giving the keynote. But these two girls were talking about nothing even concerning JET or the keynote, and, as a fellow American, I felt I needed to tell them that they were acting like pompous idiots. I decided to make it slightly more G rated because of the situation.
I took a three hour nap. We went out to a restaurant near our hotel. I was ready for a full Japanese night of dinner, drinks, karaoke, and whatever else the night brought. There were 30 out of 45 of the Kumamoto JETs who attended the dinner, the others went to their embassies for dinner. The restaurant was the type of place where you cook your own food on burners at the table. There was a lot of beer and a lot of conversation, we were able to get to know each other in a more casual atmosphere and it was a good opporotunity to get to know the people that would be the closest in distance, not necessarily in relation, for the next year.
After dinner, I was hoping for some karaoke but, those who weren't going back to the hotel, wanted to go to the top of this really tall building. There was talk of finding a bar after that, so I went along for the ride. It was a chance to ride the Tokyo subway and check out the city from a great view. We rode to the building and when we got there Saleem, our Prefecture Advisor, told us that there was a 1000 yen ($10) charge for getting to the top floor. The poor, South Omaha boy took over and I said that I would wait on the boardwalk for the rest of the group. I brought my DS in preparation, so I played a video game and watched all of the Japanese people watch me, it is really unique being the minority because of the difference that you feel just by looks. I will never know what it is like to be a minority in the most severe, hated way but, being in Japan, I have realized what it is like to be watched at all times. It was over an hour later when the group came back. They had somehow lost one of the group, and there was a lot of discussion whether he would be left behind or if we would wait. It was decided that one of the PA's would stay to check again. The rest of us went back to the station, and got the train back to the hotel. The prolonged search for Landon, the lost JET, had worn everybody out and everybody wanted to go to bed.
While it doesn't seem like the most exciting night, it did end up establishing a view of Japan that I have tried to hold onto; it really is not that different here than America. Of course, there are many differences but I have tried to keep an eye on the similarities.
Both America and Japan are rich, buisness centered countries, but the plight of the poor is still prevalent. We were walking through Shinjuku train station, a humongous subway station, on our way back to the hotel, and I saw many people laying on the ground covered by cardboard boxes or with the boxes standing, in a shanty like way. I was grounded once again, and I was given perspective into my place in this world. A half a mile walk through a train station in Tokyo, looking at people who had given up on capitalism, or whom capitalism had given up on, I was reminded of the excess that I left behind. I thought back to Omaha and my preparations for coming to Japan. The things that I had in my possession before leaving were meager, but in retrospect, the donation of my possessions felt more like freedom from bondage than an act of generosity.
I am in a Westernized country. Japan is not Western in thought or action, but only Western in business, dress, and, to a lesser extent, excess. But, there are many differences that make them completely Eastern as well. "Oh, East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Kippling actually got it right, but not in his most famous line. He was correct in the line following, "There is neither East nor West." Our differences are vast, but in the end we are all human beings getting by.
No comments:
Post a Comment