Japan continues to be one of, if not the most, fastest moving countries in the world. Business booms, technology advances and transportation gets more and more startling. Still for all of its breakthroughs in the modern world, the culture and traditions alive for hundreds of years have their place in contemporary society. The ability to synthesize the present with the past and future is simply, sophisticated. But, for being one of the most sophisticated places on the planet, I can't help but thinking that my life here is often congruous to living life as a four year old. I've been keeping a mental list of activities I've participated in or seen , or bits of life I notice everyday that I am pretty sure affect the Japanese as it would a normal child.
- Children are always captivated by cars, trains or airplanes. Who didn't put on a penny on the train track or watch planes takeoff? The hub of every city/town in Japan is the train station. It's not unusual to see fully grown people marveling at the speed of trains or even taking pictures of them when they're stopped. I've done this myself a few times but it's fair because I come from the city with the most embarrassing trains in civilization. That's right...civilization.
- This one may be more about me than anything but I find the Japanese obsession with fireworks very peculiar. I enjoy firework shows for about 10-15 minutes. Japanese firework shows last over an hour and they are never spectacular. As children, we could probably get lost for a few hours watching fireworks...that bit of childhood does not die here.
- Japanese people regularly obey traffic signs. Occasionally there are people who make that brave first step to cross against the light but, for the most part, people gather on both sides of the street and wait for the nice green man, accompanied by birds chirping to tell them it's safe. It's almost the same as 'look both ways before you cross' - except there is too much trust here to look for oncoming traffic. The green man would never steer me wrong.
- Remember the day you were allowed to dress yourself for the first time. You took your favorite things without consideration for their ability to match and threw them on...welcome to every morning in Japan. "I have these awesome pink and brown striped bellbottoms - can't go wrong." "Oh, a belt with silver spikes - yep, the pants have to stay up and I need some protection in case someone tries to touch my no-no's." "This neon green and fuschia tie-dyed shirt with arbitrary English on it - bitchin." "How about these boots - they look like they were pilfered from a gay pirate...y'arrrr I look good...time to get some booty." And you're set, now all you need is to prepare your hair for six hours and you're ready to face a long day of shopping to buy a pen.
- I know that Americans are used to eating and drinking a lot and, by extension, the dishes are bigger. I will never be able to understand how people can finish meals and drink a tablespoon of water from a shot glass. It's like they're handing you a sippy cup and a bib...or you're the guest of honor at a tea party with Malibu Barbie.
- Seemingly every object is met with a deluge of "kawaii"s (cute) and food with "ooishii" (delicious). I am not too aware what the childhood of the typical American girl is like but I imagine everything being cute and an impulse to say so every time.
- Children have it easy sometimes...for pretty much anything they do past pooping and breathing, they're applauded and supported. Similarly, I've never been commended on my pooping or breathing abilities (both of which are advanced by the way) here but for almost everything else, i feel like the most talented person in the world. When I correctly ask a very easy question in Japanese, people act as if I've cured cancer. There is nothing wrong with this - I like people who think I'm great for my mediocre accomplishments.
- I think I was about 5-6 when I remember my dad giving me a sip of beer. Of course, I thought I was drunk. I began to slur my words and take my pants off...after all, I had an excuse. The effect I thought that sip of beer had on me is the actual effect alcohol has on the Japanese...except the quantity of alcohol doesn't drastically change.
- From the ages of about 5-14, I don't think I got anywhere without my bike. From the ages of about 3-death, I don't think people get anywhere without their bikes here.
- "Don't track mud into the house. Take off your shoes!" "Make sure these not-always-so-pristine places (some restaurants, schools, temples, castles, etc) remain not-so-pristine. Take off your shoes!"
- People of all ages love Pooh-san and everything Disney. Even the most hardened of J-dudes sport lion hair and a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. And it's almost as if the Japanese believe the characters are people. I can't tell you the amount of times grown-up people have told me about "meeting Minnie/Mickey". Along those same lines, anything that can be relayed can be done by cartoon. From picking up dog poop to not having your torso severed from your body by train doors...or magazine porn, everything is a cartoon. When I was 4, I am sure everything was joke and I wanted to try everything I was told not to do...do you think adults here have that same impression? "Haha, that cute cartoon tells me not to eviscerate animals on the castle grounds...it can't be that bad because the animal looks rather amused."
- Last one...purikura - picture club. They are little photo booths where you can decorate the pictures with an endless amount of bedazzlers, glittery things, cartoons, hearts, various astral bodies and miscellaneous other colorful enhancements. Sure, these are more geared towards teenage girls but I am pretty sure I drew stars, the sun and various other ornaments on my pictures when I was child - same thing, just computerized.
Ok, so that was the list...it's by no means comprehensive and those who have visited could probably come up with a few more.
Not too much has been happening recently. My countdown to the end of Amity is 96 days and I'll be America-bound in 111. This means that I have to find a new job. I'm being told that the time I am looking to start is good because many people leave Japan around the holiday time and don't come back. There's usually a spike in the available jobs in October/November. I'm not a huge fan of just having this hang out there but I've been advised to remain patient. We have a new teacher in our town and have promised him a beer pong night so I hope to have a report on that...really, the quality of the writing directly correlates to the number of times I play...root for my liver's faltering for your reading pleasure. My friend and I have decided on being hostesses for Halloween - they're essentially escorts. Wish us luck with preparation - and I am really thanking my lucky stars that Halloween is on a Saturday this year. I can't recall if I wrote about this last year but Halloween was on a Friday and I was mildly over-served. Parts of the night remain blurry...and I recall stumbling home on blind luck because I wasn't coherent enough to know which direction I lived. The next day, I had eight lessons to teach on three hours of pass-out sleep. I went to work still drunk and suffered through a floor class pretty successfully but my hangover hit during the second lesson. About thirty minutes I had to excuse myself for a few minutes...I booked it downstairs, murdered the toilet with vomit and returned to teach the lesson. I recall the worst part being that everyone knew why I was sick..which took away my leverage for asking to go home because I was sick. That won't be a problem this time around. Alright, over and out.
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