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Published: December 17th 2009
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Summer Festivals
Sachiko and me dancing at the Awa Odori. Although it is cliché to say, it’s true that time just flies by. It’s hard to believe that I left for Japan almost a year and a half ago, and also that it’s been about five months since my last blog post. Sorry for the wait! It’s with great excitement that I write this with only five days and about 20 hours of travel separating me from my return to the States for Christmas and New Year’s. It will be my first time coming back, and as one can imagine, there are a lot of emotions that come along with it.
First, a quick recap of the past six months:
I have been very fortunate to have some members of my family come to Japan to see me. Without them, I would not have been able to go 16+ months without a visit back to the States. In the beginning of June, my brother Mark came to Japan on the back-end of a business trip to China. He stayed with me in my apartment in Kotohira for a week before going off on his own to explore the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara). While with me, he got to
On top of Japan
Awaiting the sun rise on the summit of Mt. Fuji see the Japanese countryside, met most of my friends, and had the rare opportunity to come to school with me. Drawing on his experiences in China as both a student of the language and as a teacher of English, Mark and I were able to discuss some of the similarities and startling differences between the two countries. I’m sure his first (and most-certainly not last) trip to Japan was an eye-opening experience.
The rainy season of June and July settled into the sweltering heat of August, and I finished my first one-year contract in Kagawa Prefecture. In the days before, I used my last remaining holidays to go to Seoul for a weekend (chronicled in a previous blog). My situation for my new contract was somewhat strange. As you may recall, I found out shortly into my first year that my position would be cut at the end of the contract. However, I was hired by a different Board of Education, this time in the Prefectural capital of Takamatsu, for the following year. This meant moving out of Kotohira, moving into a new place (previously occupied by a JET), changing schools entirely, and saying goodbye to the “inaka” (countryside
Strange Places
It's 1950s American...in Japan! This restaurant/club was bizarre. Had a live band playing music from 1950s and 60s, with the hair styles, clothes and everything! 田舎).
The transition could not have gone smoother, as a year in Japan had prepared me well to meet the new year head-on. Having been “the new English” once before obviously made the whole thing less stressful. And since it’s Japan, all the schools are basically identical, so there weren’t any unforeseen surprises. My new schools did however seem to have a different character to them than the previous seven junior high schools I used to visit. It seemed that my new neighborhood was a more upscale neighborhood than my previous one. I was surprised to hear how many of my new students had traveled abroad for family vacations, and/or had private English tutors. While I am still the “black sheep” of the school, I felt much less like an alien as I had at my previous schools, where sometimes I was the first foreigner the students had seen in person.
Toward the end of August, my two great friends Ned and Amelia came to Japan to see me. We spent about two weeks in the Tokyo region of Japan, experiencing the highlights of that world-class (and personal favorite) city, as well as doing the essential pilgrimage up
Becoming a Pilgrim
My island is famous for a pilgrimage to 88 Buddhist temples. I participated for a one-day pilgrimage wearing the traditional pilgrim clothing. to the summit of Mt. Fuji. We stayed in Edo-period samurai towns, sleeping in welcoming “minshuku” (family-run B&Bs), and gorged ourselves on local cuisines and sake. It was an unforgettable trip, and it provided much need reinvigoration to go another few months without seeing my dearest family and friends back home.
The rest of the fall season featured various weekend excursions to places like Hiroshima (for the not-to-be-missed Sake Festival), natural hotspring town Beppu, and the mountainous Gifu Prefecture where the local beef is said to be even tastier than the famed Kobe beef.
I also started to get serious about my Japanese studying, and decided to put my skills to the test by registering for the Japanese Proficiency Language Test, Level 3. Paying $50 for a test is all the motivation I need to make sure the studying gets done in order to pass. The test was taken on December 6th, and results will be sent in February. I feel pretty confident about it, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I know.
And now, the Christmas season once again is upon us, and excitement to return home for the holidays is becoming more
Chosa
Joined a group of guys for a festival where we lift a 1 ton portable shrine. Being one of the tallest/biggest men did not work to my advantage. palpable by the day. As I outlined in last year’s blog, the Japanese have fully adopted the commercial aspects of the holiday, so it is not easy to begin to get into the spirit when there are decorations, Christmas music in the stores, and people feverishly shopping (well, that’s kind of all the time here). I’ve talked to my students about Christmas in America, and have learned a few of the Japanese Christmas customs myself. For example, Japanese people assume that everyone has turkey on Christmas, so they try to emulate it. The problem is turkey is very difficult to get here, so they settle for the next best thing…chicken. But not just any chicken, no no; they come in droves to KFC for their holiday turkey fix. As I’ve said, Christmas is just a superficial holiday here. The much more meaningful holiday is New Year’s Day, called “Shougatsu 正月).
In addition to my excitement to return home, I have to be fully aware of the Reverse Culture Shock that we surely set in. It is safe to say that after 16 months away from home and in a place like Japan where the customs are very different, I
Udon
A beautiful bowl of beef and tempura over noodles. A Kagawa specialty. have gotten used to the way things are here for the most part. Just as I was overcome with Culture Shock when I arrived in Japan, I’m sure to feel somewhat similarly in America. I’m sure that I will, in fact, do some things that will seem very strange such as: bowing incessantly, lifting my plate off the table, making slurping noises when I eat, and saying things like “hai”, “arigato”, “dozo” (go ahead), and “sumimasen” (excuse me). I might also talk about Japan more than people are willing to listen to. I even anticipate a sense of isolation if it seems like there is no one who can relate to what is like living in a place like Japan, where the customs, language, and idiosyncrasies are quite different from America.
So while I feel a small sense of trepidation to re-enter American society, albeit for a short time, the feeling of excitement far exceeds it. For the 12 days I am home, I want to enjoy it as much as possible. In a way, I almost hope that it will be difficult for me to come back to Japan afterward.
This time of the year is the perfect time to reconnect with family and friends, and I hope all of you have the opportunity to do so. I know I feel very fortunate to be able to do so, too.
Happy Holidays to you all!
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