So we took an eight hour bus ride from Tokyo to Fukui today. We stopped at some rest stops. For lunch you choose a meal, press the button on the machine and then go pick up your food. Unlike anything I could think of in the states.
The scenery was GORGEOUS will lots of hills with trees and the Pacific Ocean! I could get used to this.
From Tokyo, a few random thoughts on things that I haven't seen/are new to me...1. in the convenience store they had a hot "cooler" warming up drinks. Never saw that. 2. And in the hotel room there was one part of the mirror that didn't steam up when you took a shower. 3. A lot of men carry purses/bags. 4. drinking is ok on the streets.
One of our advisors asked me to give a speech in Japanese in front of a group of supervisors on Friday! He knew I had studied (a little) Japanese because I had talked a bit with another supervisor. This is going to be nervewracking but a good challenge too! The good thing is it is all writen out in romanji and hiragana.
So this whole idea of America vs. US is becoming more and more prevelant. Some people say we should introduce ourselves as American and people in Japan will understand that that means the US. On the other hand I like to stay I'm from the US (although I don't even know how to say that in Japanese) because there is also Central America, South America, etc.
So at our Tokyo orientation we talked about the phases of culture shock. The first is euphoria but I think I am already in phase two which is irritability. Long story short I got into a conversation with another JET about race. He interrogated a girl who said she was from Canada but because she appeared to be Asian he had to know more details. He said she should be prepared to answer this many times while in Japan. I told him that he should just ask straight out if he wants to know someones ethnicity instead of guessing or pushing. For example many people ask where are you when they mean what is your ethnicity or where are your ancestors from. I also said people should be able to identify themselves and this should be enough. All in all it was an uncomfortable situation for most people at the table so we ended it. I was just frustrated and am sleep deprived. I guess I just thought people on the JET program would be more culturally sensitive. I am really going to have to reevaluate my own identity while I'm here too...
The scenery was GORGEOUS will lots of hills with trees and the Pacific Ocean! I could get used to this.
From Tokyo, a few random thoughts on things that I haven't seen/are new to me...1. in the convenience store they had a hot "cooler" warming up drinks. Never saw that. 2. And in the hotel room there was one part of the mirror that didn't steam up when you took a shower. 3. A lot of men carry purses/bags. 4. drinking is ok on the streets.
One of our advisors asked me to give a speech in Japanese in front of a group of supervisors on Friday! He knew I had studied (a little) Japanese because I had talked a bit with another supervisor. This is going to be nervewracking but a good challenge too! The good thing is it is all writen out in romanji and hiragana.
So this whole idea of America vs. US is becoming more and more prevelant. Some people say we should introduce ourselves as American and people in Japan will understand that that means the US. On the other hand I like to stay I'm from the US (although I don't even know how to say that in Japanese) because there is also Central America, South America, etc.
So at our Tokyo orientation we talked about the phases of culture shock. The first is euphoria but I think I am already in phase two which is irritability. Long story short I got into a conversation with another JET about race. He interrogated a girl who said she was from Canada but because she appeared to be Asian he had to know more details. He said she should be prepared to answer this many times while in Japan. I told him that he should just ask straight out if he wants to know someones ethnicity instead of guessing or pushing. For example many people ask where are you when they mean what is your ethnicity or where are your ancestors from. I also said people should be able to identify themselves and this should be enough. All in all it was an uncomfortable situation for most people at the table so we ended it. I was just frustrated and am sleep deprived. I guess I just thought people on the JET program would be more culturally sensitive. I am really going to have to reevaluate my own identity while I'm here too...
1 comment:
fukui seems beautiful...please take LOTS of pics (i know you will) and could you post them?
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