What It Means To Be Us
March 17, 2007
This evening the Kochi Rotary Nishi club sponsored the first ever Kochi Rotex Dinner. For those of you who don't know, Rotex stands for Ex-Rotary Youth Exchange Students, or people who have gone on an exchange to somewhere in the world and returned. The event was held at Rotary's favorite place, the Kochi Shin Hankyu Hotel, from 5:30 till about 8:00. Everyone involved in the Youth Exchange process was invited, which included about 10 Rotarians, 12 Rotex, 1 inbound (me), and 2 outbounds (next year's exchange students.) I arrived very early and was greeted by members of the Nishi Rotary Club, men who I had not seen for a long time. I briefly spoke to them, and shocked the heck out of them with my Japanese skills. On floor number 12, Matsumoto-san, my host counselor, greeted me and informed I would be doing a speech. For the first time in my life, I was excited to do a speech in public. It's weird, I have been in Japan for 7 months, and the little things like my feeling on doing speeches has changed so drastically. In August through November, I dreaded speeches and avoided them at all costs. I memorized a tiny speech just so I would be able to not make a total fool out of myself. December through February, my feeling on speeches was neutral. I didn't care whether I had to make one or not, I just preferred to be somewhat prepared. Now I just like talking. I swear I like hearing my own voice or something. My speeches usually don't make any grammatical sense because I kind of just Caveman Japanese through it, but I get out what I want to say. And I can joke in Japanese, which makes everyone happy and remark that I have great skills. For today's speech, I didn't even think about it. Instead I kicked back and greeted the arriving Rotex people. When everyone had arrived, the dinner started with the Rotarians doing opening welcomes. The Julie Garner pampering began when my teachers, Matsuoka-sensei and Kitazoe-sensei were introduced. Kitazoe-sensei talked about her experiences with all the exchange students over the years. They nearly forgot Matsuoka-sensei, and even though he tried to force me to be quiet, I jokingly reminded the Rotarians to make him speak. He talked in all of the Japanese indirectness about how badly last years exchange students were, and how I am "subarashii (wonderful)." Soon dinner was served, which comprised of Seafood Salad, Weird Potato Soup, lots of Bread, and Bacon Wrapped Steak. Then on to the enormous plate of dessert. It was discovered that I am better with chop sticks than with forks and knives, how horrible is that? After the meal it was time for the Rotex to speak about their experiences with going abroad. One of the things I found most interesting was that everyone went to Tosajoshi High School, my host school. Out of the 41 Kochi Rotex student's, only 12 could come to the dinner. I probably should use a better word other than student. The oldest Rotex was in her late 30's, while many of the others were in their late 20's. At first I was a bit annoyed by the fact that many Rotex didn't even come to their own dinner. But when we received the pamplet about what everyone was doing, I soon realized why so few could actually come. Most of the Rotex were spread throughout the world and/or Japan. Many are/or had attended American or Australian Universities. And not just any University in America. I read off the list New York University and Cornell. Those that did not go to University abroad, attended the best schools in Japan. Many were currently living in Tokyo or Osaka, breaking the Tosajoshi tradition. If you ask most girls at my school what they want to do with their lives, most will respond with staying in Kochi. There isn't anything wrong with this, but it is really interesting to me to see girls who got out of Shikoku and got a taste of the world. Those same girls had trouble staying in the rural prefecture, and most of them couldn't. The 4 Rotex from the 1980's, all of whom had gone to Brisbane, Australia, were currently English teachers in Kochi and the surrounding areas. They had all gone to International colleges and were fluent in English. But I found the girls closer to my age to be the most interesting. The exchange student to Austalia in 1998-1999 is a Kochi University student. She speaks perfect English, as well as Arabic. Or yeah, she's a Muslim. I mean full-blown burka wearing Muslim. She was definitely the most interesting to talk to. After all, most Japanese people don't know the difference between a Jewish man and a Muslim man, how could one convert to Islam? I learned that from her exchange, she got really interested in things outside her own country, discovered Islam, and essentially found herself. Another girl, Okayama University student, Akito, who had been an exchange student in West Orange, New Jersey, is studying to be a nurse. She wants to get a job in a big city, where she can use her English as much as possible. And there were so many more stories about how exchanges changed the lives if these girls, who probably would have grown up and stayed in Kochi for the rest of their lives. I came to realize that I needed this dinner, this opportunity to meet people like me. I don't mean like me, in personality, appearence, and lifestyle. I mean so much more. Looking around at all these Rotex, I couldn't help but feel a surge of utmost gratitude and respect. Okay, fine, I'm in a country where you HAVE to repect your senior's, but it wasn't about following culture rules. After all, these girls certainly didn't follow their own culture and expected life course. They jumped on an airplane and lived in another country for a year. And you know? The world needs people like us. People who do something out of the norm, go on an exchange, and teach the world the truth about our cultures. I know for a fact that last year's exchange student from Japan changed the way I see Japanese people. She showed me that not all Japanese people are squinty eyed little geniuses, who eat fish and rish at every meal. (I'm not saying that's how I saw Japanese people, but you get the picture.) Who are the real ambassadors or our home countries? Sure the government sends some fancy guy who speaks in political jargon and thinks he represents a whole country. But the real ambassadors are us. The people who go abroad and want to teach the world about ourselves and our home cultures. And in the process of teaching others, we are learning ourselves. I could go on and on about all that it means to be an exchange student. But no one but an exchange student really would understand all that comes in the package. Last year at my New Jersey Orientation, one of the main Rotarians said something that has stayed with me ever since. "You can tell anyone about your exchange. Mostly you'll get, "Why?" or "Cool!" But a former exchange student will only smile. Words can't describe an exchange."I don't know whether or not exchange students change the world. But I do know that without them, the world would be a little less knowledgeable. Tonight I was surrounded by greatness. The kind of greatness you don't hear about and nobody ever gets credit for. Even though every exchange student ought to get a lot of credit. As the night dirfted on, it was time for my speech. I stood up, all smiles and slightly giggling, began. I talked about school and clubs. And I finished with the fact that I am becoming quite proficient in Tosa Ben, which is the horrible dislect only spoken in Kochi-ken. Nearly everyone wet themselves as this crazy gaijin spoke like a hick. Julie Garner pampering followed. I mean my teachers and counselors went on and on about how good I've been, how I'm trying so hard to learn Japanese, how out of 3 host families, 2 of them love me like their own. Lately al I have been feeling is down about the fact that my Japanese isn't quite good, but flattered isn't a good enough word to describe my feelings listening to them speak. I really did need this dinner more than I thought. As the night ended, I found myself full, happy, and best fo all proud of myself. Tonight, I was surrounded my greatness. The very same greatness that I'm spreading as an exchange student. I hope I'm not sounding arrogant or full of myself. It's just that it's a bit difficult explaining what it means to be us. Exchange students.
