Crossing Paths With Japan
Introduction
This page is supposed to be all about journal entries from pre-depature. The current column you are reading was written 6 months after I arrived in Japan. Call me a cheater. But really this article is a year in the making. I've been trying to get it together with bits of words I've discovered throughout my saved papers and stuff. This is story of all the times I have crossed paths with my host country, and never thought much about it.
February 24, 2006- February 27, 2007
I'll be the first to admit that I never beyond my wildest imagination thought that I would one day be living in Japan. And yet here I am sitting at my lap top in a lovely but a bit crazy household in a suburb called Kouda of Kochi City, Shikoku, Japan. From February 2005, when the dream of becoming an exchange student materialized, to November 2005, which was when my interview for the Rotary Youth Exchange program happened, I contemplated day and night about where I wanted to spend my year abroad. I can remember one time in late August 2005, wishing I could just look in the future just to see what country I ended up with so I wouldn't have to keep trying to decide. And in those 8 months, the idea to choose Japan came up only once, and it was almost immedately squashed. But fate has a funny way of playing around with us. Most exchange students who come to Japan do so because they think they know Japanese culture. They think that Japanese teenagers live, eat, sleep, and breath anime and manga. Sometimes you'll meet an exchange student whose idea about Japan was Geisha running through the streets, Mt. Fuji steaming in the background, and wicked Anime direct from the source. Every single one of those students leaves Japan with some regret and realization that Japan is nothing like the stereotypes it carries. Expectations always get crushed when it comes to Japan. And that's why I think I love this place so much. I came to Japan with nothing,no language skills, knowledge of the culture, or unreachable expectations. Being here as taught me things that stereotypes only scratch the surface on. Now that I have been in Japan for about 7 and 1/2 months, or more than halfway through my beloved exchange, I'm really beginning to see things more clearly. Now I don't mean to sound like one of those freaky annoying philosophical loons. But I'm beginning to realize that I was meant to be here. And through all those months of country selection, I never really considered Japan. But it didn't matter, because I was going to Japan. I just never knew it. My first memory that concerns me crossing paths with Japan occured in 2nd grade. Mrs. Pietz second grade class was taking a trip to an Asian food market to learn a little bit about the culture of Japan. Prior to going, the teacher wanted us to learn a little about children in the Far East country, in which we were studying. So we watched a movie that gave us all more stereotypical facts- School is 6 days a week, everyone wears dreadful uniforms, studying 24/7 is mandatory, Tanaka-san cries when he gets a 98 and not 100, and some girls drop out of school to study as Geisha. I can clearly remember turning to my friends and saying, "I'm SO glad I don't live in Japan. I can't imagine living like that!" And that was that. Neither the video, or the trip to the Market, sparked any interest in Japan. Though I guess in a way that was a good thing, I never picked up any expectations on Japan life. The funny thing to porve I was about as interested in Japan as a Cheerleader to a member of the Math team, was the souvenir I purchased. While at the market, my classmates bought fake chop sticks, paper fans, and toy Katana's, I sent my money on a giant Titanic poster from a cheap flea market stand. Over the years I never ever thought much about Japan. Or travelling at all for that matter. But about Japan, we briefly learned about it in 6th grade. We read some books on Hiroshima, that were probably too one-sided to make me research more about the country. I did a report on life in the city before and after the bomb hit. The research made me think at one point, "I'd really like to see that Bomb museum." But it wasn't until I had decided on going on an exchange that I really began drilling myself daily on where I should be going as an exchange student. Europe was always the place I figured I would end up. Above all of it's beauty, Europe, for me, was a safe option. I knew a fair amount about the people, history, culture, 2 of the main languages, and I had family in Western Europe. I had settled on Belgium, and later Austria. I never considered Asia, until about July I made out a list of all the countries in the world I could picture myself living in. I seriously mean, ALL of the countries, which was pretty much all of Europe, Thailand, Costa Rica, South Africa, and Japan. When I showed the list to my Mother, East Europe suddenly ceased to exist on the list, along with Bird Flu Thailand. She took a moment on Japan, but eventually told me to cross it off. Her reason was that people in Japan are a 'cold.' I listened to her, and probably agred with her briefly. It was crossed off the list. It wasn't until my November 2005 interview with Rotary, that Japan suddenly became more than just ba country crossed off a list. It became a large possibilty. I was given a list with a small list of country choices, with only 3 slots that I could write down. 3 slots and a whole world to chose from. My first choice, as preplannese was Austria, followed by South Africa. From the words of the majority of the Rotarians at the interview, I was almost instantly informed I would be most likely heading to South Africa. But I still had one more slot to fill in. My pencil was on top of Thailand. That's what I wanted to put as my third choice country, but I looked at my Mom and I knew she would not let me to Thailand. I sat in the chair and quickly tried to sort through the countries where I could see myself. All I could think about was South Africa. But I remembered that my father had briefly mentioned that Japan would be an interesting country. And so, thinking that my chances of getting it were slim to none, I jotted down Japan. I didn't mention it again for the rest of the interview, and then for those 2 months of waiting to find out what country Rotary had assigned for me. I never mentioned Japan, but I thought about those choices everyday. I even dreamt about them. One dream in particular found me at an airport about to get on a plane to Johannesburg or Tokyo, but I couldn't figure out which one was which and so I just picked one. I woke up before I found out where I ended up. But in January, I found out that the plane I picked was Japan. Right now, at this place in time, March 1, 2007 at Yano homeroom on the 3rd floor of Tosajoshi School in Kochi, Japan, I have a hard time imagining myself being anywhere else. Life here has been an absolutel dream, though not without it's occasional nightmare. Lately I have been having these strange Deja Vous from all around my life in existance. Call me a dreamer but I believe in fate. For some weird and unknown reason, I was meant to be here. If only to learn and see than so be it. That's not to say I fit in here. Actually I will never fit in here, because I'm not Japanese. But I'm not bothered by this. I'm here, living and experiencing, a culture that has more faults and accomplishments than most. A culture that I have fallen into. You know, I don't have that Titanic poster frame anymore. I do however, have more knowledge on a country that no classroom can even begin to get into. I like to think of what the 2nd grade version of me would have said if she was told she would be living in Japan for a year.
