It's my last night in Japan. I started this post maybe two months ago and have made small edits to it along the way, but I just deleted most of that. I haven't really thought out how I want to organize this, so I guess I'll just make a list. Simply put, this is a list of things that I would not have been able to say a year ago.
1. Never before- not even in my small liberal arts college campus- have I felt safer than when I spent this year in Japan. Not even just in Matsue, either. I have felt safe all over Japan. I had no problems with the idea of traveling around by myself, because I knew that the majority of the people in this country are good people. Even those who aren't "good people" are unlikely to bother me. People are so helpful. During my trip to Kansai by myself, I was looking at a map, plotting my next move, and an old man stopped and asked if I needed help. That might not sound strange, but there are so many stories circulating of people who look at a train map looking a bit confused and someone will come along and ride with them until they get to their destination. I don't know where else that happens.
2. Maybe it's being an expat. Maybe it's living in a small city. Maybe it's expanding my horizons. Mostly, I don't know the reason. I have become close to some of the most fantastic people this year who have such different backgrounds than I do. Of course, I have my fellow ESL teachers who are mostly within 10 years of my age. Generally, we are somewhat similar because we were looking for something new outside of our country. Of course, from that group of people, I made some really amazing, life-changing friendships. Branching out from that, one of the first pieces of advice in Japan I was given was to become a regular somewhere. I became a regular at an Irish bar, truthfully at first solely because the bar tender was Canadian so I could talk with him. He ended up becoming one of the most special people in my life. I met so many different types of people at that bar and realized how different people can be. I also learned that not all friendships have to be based on the ability to converse with people. There were many people I saw so regularly and were friendly with who I never spoke a word to. One of my favorite people in Japan was a woman I met at the gym. She is 80 years-old and the sweetest woman ever. She and her husband invited me over to their house and I got to play with their grandchildren. Maybe I could call her a half-friend, half-grandmother.
3. Community is such an important thing. I got to know some of my neighbors and the people who work at the shops near my house. One of my neighbors became such a wonderful part of my life and I even got to visit her when she moved to a town about an hour and a half (on the fast train) away. I also got to know the woman who owned the flower shop around the corner from my apartment. One time she made me the cutest bento for lunch. Things felt so much safer when I knew the people who lived close to me.
4. The idea of family and home for me have changed so much. My family has grown so much over the past year. I have another place I will always call home.
5. I learned so much this year about the types of people I want to surround myself with. A lot of this came from the bar I frequented. Things there were fun. So many of the rules of society that I learned in America were nowhere to be seen there. Jokes and good times never stopped. It was there that I truly learned not to be afraid of being myself because I found people who truly appreciated me.
6. There is such a huge stereotype of Japanese people. I'll describe it. The typical Japanese man is a businessman. He works around 15 hours a day without asking for overtime pay. He falls asleep on the train on the way home. The typical Japanese woman is a housewife. She cooks food, cleans, and takes care of the children. She listens to her husband and has little power in the family. The typical Japanese child has their nose in the books, goes to cram schools after school, and is a part of various clubs. Their days begin very early and end very late. -- Although some of these statements are true for some, there are so many people I have met who are very much the opposite. I learned about how some people in Japan stereotype Americans. I once heard of someone whose windshield cracked and they temporarily fixed it with scotch tape, calling that "the American way to fix it." Stereotypes are lame!
7. Japanese food is so fantastic. Starting with sushi... to my American friends: real sushi in Japan is almost never a roll. Nigiri. Gunkan. This post is the only time I want to say that because it feels pretentious. It's so true though. American sushi is rarely relatable to that found in Japan. There are so many great kinds of food here. I only ever tried two things I didn't like - uni (sea urchin) and natto (fermented soybeans). I made a deal with myself when I left that I would try anything served to me, which I think may have been one of the best decisions I made.
8. This feels right to be the last one. I learned that I want to keep traveling. As long as I can, I want to travel and be involved with international people. I think that seeking out experiences in different cultures can be such a fulfilling thing. My time in Japan has been so wildly different than anything I could have imagined. The values, traditions, how the culture is tied in with everything is so fascinating to me. Even the way the language is composed- I feel like I can sense a relationship with how people act. It feels quite different and beautiful.
I lived only one year in another country and learned so much. I can't wait to learn so much more from my future intercultural experiences.
Tomorrow I set off to Thailand, where I will travel through Chiang Mai, Pai, and Phuket for two weeks. After that, I will head to Goa, India where I will stay for five weeks and get certified to be a yoga instructor. By the end of March, I will be back stateside, and by April 1st, I will be home. I hope to be able to keep up with posts while I am abroad, but I may have to live in the moment instead.
I hope anyone who has read my blog has enjoyed reading about my adventures and maybe learned something. I'm hoping to keep blogging somehow in the future, so I'll keep you updated.
Sayonara!
