Fasci-Nation Part 1

Fasci-Nation Part 1 -

I'll qualify the following lovefest with two thoughts - 1) I am clearly in a honeymoon period in my new relationship with Japan and 2) Everything I see now that could be perceived as negative is simply charming to me right now. WIth these two caveats understood, I'll just tell you that Japan and the teaching I'm about to start are both incredibly fascinating to me. I've already written and showed pictures of a little of Japanese beauty...in its very accessible memorials to history but I've noticed and quickly come to realize some very fundamental differences between everyday Japanese and American life.

The city I've spent the past few days in is Okayama, which is the capital of the Okayama prefecture (basically the equivalent of a state). Okayama's population is around 700,000 - big enough to encompass different facets of typical Japanese life but not big enough to be completely foreignized (I think I made that word up but it's in context, you get it). I'd always heard the two stereotypes of Japanese people - polite and hard working. I don't really think you can appreciate the levels of Japanese politeness or industriousness until you've seen it first hand. This is going to come off as sounding negative towards America, but I think the shoe fits. We, as Americans, are narcissistic and wholly impatient, especially when it comes to dealing with foreigners. I'd love to play the 'not me' card but I've been guilty too. Think of how quickly you've seen Americans lose patience with foreign visitors, especially if they don't know English. While I've always tried to look at things through their eyes, I know I've gotten fed up and thought less of people just because they didn't know the words to express what they wanted.

Flash forward to yesterday afternoon. Five other teachers and I set out on a mission for the 100 Yen Store (yeah, the $1 store!!) and as we continued to walk through the marketplace, we stopped for lunch. We could express that we wanted a table for 6 but that was about it. The entire menu was written in kanji (the tough Chinese picture characters) with a few pictures. Our rule of thumb generally has been...stick to pictures, it's easier and you'll know, for the most part, what you're getting. Naturally we had a few questions - nothing huge, 'how much does this cost? (ikura desuka - ee-koo-ra des-kah?)' or 'what is this? (kore wa nan desuka - core-eh wah non des-kah?). Our waiter tried his best to point out whatever answer we needed or speak with limited English he knew. When he came to a question he couldn't answer, he ran off to check with the manager on how to communicate with us. This isn't really to say no one in America would do this...but in Japan, it seems to be the rule whereas in America, it's the exception. In America, I think we cast off foreigners as inconveniences and, ultimately, we come off selfish and disrespectful. Maybe I'm seeing a facade but even this small example shows first, how polite and willing to help the Japanese are and second, the pride the Japanese show in their work is astounding. Although it sounds like a totally communist philosophy, we were told during our training that a part of our duty is cleaning the branch school with the other employees. Our President/CEO cleans the toilets in his building each day. Japanese advertising and marketing is tremendously different; it's all based on respect. I'm used to seeing smear campaigns and relentless drubbing of competitors as the way things are sold. In Japan, companies advertise the greatness of their product and make no mention of competition, even between bitter rivals - no bad words, no leading statistics, no jokes at their expense - because it's seen as a sign of disrespect.

This all translates into everyday life, it's really right in front of me. Basically to get the main heart of Okayama, we have to exit the annex we're staying in, cross over the train station/market and you're in the center of the business district. Just on that walk you see, plain as day, the differences in everyday life. I can't recall a time in Chicago where I walked a few blocks and didn't hear a car honking its horn or someone yelling something. That just does not happen here. People move equally as fast, the sidewalks are more congested with pedestrians and people on bikes but it has a natural flow without being disturbing. It's surreal to walk down a main street and be able to hear your own thoughts. Walk/do not walk signs are followed religiously (although this appears to be because cars can seemingly come out of nowhere). I love that there are random vending machines everywhere here....they even have hot drinks that come in cans - seems simple but I'm enthralled! Kids here are hilarious...I'm going to have coyly snap pictures of some of these kids - they're either fashion forward geniuses or plain ridiculous...probably both but ya gotta love the freedom of expression but it's quite the contrast to the ultra-conservative Japanese businessman look. That'll make a nice segue into part two of my lovefest about work but it's almost 12:30am and I have training tomorrow, so I'm signing off for now. I'll get off the soapbox you probably think I'm on :)