Stinking in the rain

May and June are a funny couple of months in Japan. April is a month of great change and upheaval - it's the end of the business year, the school year, and it's when cherry blossom arrives heralding spring. By June, the blossom is long gone, changes at work lose their novelty and everyone settles into their old routines. Just to add insult to injury, June is when the rainy season hits Japan. It rains a lot in Japan, but in a different way to Scotland. Here, when it rains it pours. I think (and Google me if I'm wrong) that it's something to do with the hot air working it's way north across the sea and then hitting the mountainous chain of islands that is Japan. The moist air is forced upwards and falls as what you and I call "rain." So, at the moment it's raining a lot and it's really humid, in a two-showers-a-day type way. I drove to school the other day and when I got out my glasses steamed up, that's how humid it is. The younger students are quite sensitive to the weather - it drains their energy and it's really difficult to motivate them while they are sat bathing in their own sweat. This weather shouldn't last more than a couple of weeks though, as it moves it's way across the country just like the cherry blossom did in early spring. At least I can put off washing my car for a big longer. Every cloud...

Let's get reflective

I started this blog three-ish years ago. Stepping off the plane at Tokyo's Narita airport, everyday brought a new adventure - a new taste, a new cultural experience, a comedy anecdote, and many moments lost in translation. As my visa was stamped at immigration, I was reduced to being a child. Bear in mind that I had no previous experience of this country. This has more meaning when the country in question is Japan, as opposed to America, Australia, or Germany for example. Japan is famous around the world for having a unique culture, cuisine, etiquette and language. I couldn't use chopsticks, I had never used a squat toilet, I didn't know my karate from my karaoke and I certainly couldn't speak, read or write. This meant that your average three-year-old walking down the street could function better here than I could. It's a very humbling experience. You are completely at the mercy of other people. Even if you came to Japan for a short visit, perhaps to Tokyo and Kyoto, then you would have some understanding of my situation. However, being in those cities you are among the most cosmopolitan Japanese - you might actually find people who can help you with their stumbling English. Get on the bullet train and whizz out west for three hours, get another train for an hour and the English level drops a notch or two. I don't demand that those around me speak English - when in Rome, and all that - but being without a language to communicate in does make those first few weeks and months a struggle. It was a very steep learning curve and an amazing thing to experience It gives you a shake (the graph here gives an idea of how your emotions change during these months - note that the same process occurs on re-entry to one's home country, "reverse culture shock").
You develop a new understanding on interpersonal relationships. You discover what it is like to be in the minority. You find things you can't imagine you have been able to live without. You begin to remember the things you miss from home (curry and cereal for me - not at the same time, though (but I would probably eaten it if it had been offered up...)). You learn how to function in your new surroundings - how to buy a train ticket, how to use the ATM, how to eat (sounds strange, but lifting your bowl to your mouth to shovel food in, and slurping your noodles are the norm here and us foreigners have to learn how to do it). There are lots of don't dos in Japan, too. Don't point at people, don't pour your own drink, don't stab your food with your chopsticks, don't wear your shoes indoors, don't make eye-contact when you bow, don't forget to say "itadakimasu" before your eat and "gochisosamadeshita" when you finish, don't talk on the trains, and don't mention the war...
Japan being the oldest population in the world, there are still many people living near me who remember the war, the hardship and food shortages that followed it. They may even have relatives who died during the war. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki mean that many Japanese will view themselves as victims, and the history books in Japan often don't convey the true actions of the Imperial Army. These are wounds that take time to heal, but textbooks which run a little short of the truth certainly don't help matters. The English third grade English textbook tells the story of people living peacefully in Hiroshima. All of a sudden and for no apparent reason a large bomb falls on the city and the young girl in the story never wakes up. I am not going to justify the actions of the allied forces, it is above me to make such justifications, but a balance is required. Propaganda exists everywhere, however, and the UK is no exception. Communication is the key. Japan is very cut off from the rest of the world. Being an island and speaking it's own island, communication has several barriers to overcome. This has led to quite an ethnocentric society. Often I am asked - "what is your favourite Japanese food?" "where have you been to in Japan?" "can you use chopsticks?" "do you know sumo?" Such questions heavily outweigh questions like - "what is your hometown like?" "what sports are popular in your country?" "what did you study at University?" This naval-staring can be seen as arrogance, but I think it is more insecurity - it's the girl who is always fishing for compliments to boost her self-esteem, it's the child pulling on your shirt tails for attention. The Japanese have a misguided sense of their own uniqueness, but many of the famous Japanesey things have they origins in other countries - sushi, sumo, ramen, Buddhism, kanji, rice farming, green tea, martial arts, and my favourite - "Japanese curry". Needless to say, mentioning the origin of these items doesn't go down well... The Japanese consider themselves Japanese long before they say they are Asian. This reflects attitudes in the UK - before the EU, how many Brits would have been comfortable with they term European?
Japan has been a revelation to me. It has opened my eyes to many new experiences and taught me many new skills. I believe I am a more patient person (as much a result of teaching as living in Japan), kinder, culturally sensitive, better at communicating. I will remember the smiles of my students and their desire to have fun. I get the feeling that kids back home are more jaded than the ones I have taught here. There is still a degree of innocence among Japanese children and (without trying to sound like a dinosaur) young people do respect their elders more...
I don't want to turn this into a rant. It's more a way to fill the last 45 minutes of my day. Japan has been very good to me and I will treasure my experience and the friendships I have made. The place and it's people will always have a very special place in my heart. Visitors and short term residents almost always leave with a love for Japan. Long term residents often have a love-hate relationship with it. One explanation I have heard is that the Japanese are always kind, but rarely warm. To make a good Japanese friend takes a lot of work and time, something that sound a bit redundant to those who haven't lived here. To be invited into someone's home, for example is a major event. I have been in three Japanese homes - that's one for every year I've lived here. Longterm residents may tire of always being treated as the guest, despite the length of time they have lived here. At times, special treatment is nice, at times it can have a dividing effect - you just want to be treated like everyone else. Then there is the discrimination. Certain things are waived for you, as you are foreign and you wouldn't understand, or you don't know Japanese. Refusal from a guesthouse, not being told about events happening at school, your BOE telling you to just pay X, Y or Z without listening to the reasons why you shouldn't have to, and there is a list of assumptions as long as my arm that people make about you as a "gaijin" (outside person). These are the things that develop your patience, and I hope I never forget them.