Opened Doors – Access Granted

This isn’t a post about Japan or any funny moments or frustrations. This is simply a thank you to everyone who has read and/or continues to read my blog. When I first started this blog I didn’t really realize how it would help others as much as it did. I’m not sure if it’s a lot or a little but either way having more than 4000 views is something that I am thankful for. I’ve received e-mails from people saying that they have even read and watching my videos with their parents and had discussions with families due to what I’ve posted. With the new semester many people have come up to me to give me a simple, “Hey I used to read your blog. Thanks, it was helpful.” I think it’s really nice and incredible and I appreciate it. I’ve been able to help people from South Korea, Australia, the U.S, and even Japanese people have read my blog simply out of interest. I was in city hall when a Japanese girl stopped me to say she saw me online and reads my blog.

This has allowed me to also meet more people from around the world and learn from them. I have to thank my new Korean friend, Haneul, for clarifying a cultural misunderstanding and educating me so that I may not accidentally make the same mistake in the future.

I’ve inspired a friend back in the U.S to pursue his academic dreams and having him tell me that was unbelievable. I…can’t really imagine having that sort of power to help someone else in such a way. I can’t really fathom it. I know this may not matter to anyone reading who wants to know about Japan but it meant a lot to me so I felt the need to post about it.

Thanks everyone again. I hope that I can continue helping and informing others. Stay with me while I continue to live out my long time dream of being in Japan until it is time for me to return home.

Meet Mika. She is a rarity that I am glad to have discovered in Japan. I am also glad to introduce her to the world for those who are Japanese, have lived in Japan, or are interested in Japanese society and modern culture. Mika is a young adult that represents a new change that is occurring in Japanese society that many foreigners may not be aware of. Mika is bold and honest with her opinion, something that is rather difficult to find in Japan where most Japanese beat around the bush  almost always. Japanese usually will never forwardly state their opinion or feelings, whereas Mika could care less if she is forward or not.

I first met Mika when I was walking around KGU’s campus and her group of friends were staring at me. I asked them if there was something wrong and she was the first to answer out in great English, “My friend says she thinks that you are cute!” Her friend got bashful and retreated while Mika came towards me wearing an outrageously expensive looking outfit, lots of make up, and a nice big smile on her face. Within five minutes she had gotten my telephone e-mail address and walked away happily. The next time I bumped into her was when I was sitting in the computer room. I somehow ended up becoming the person she would go to every time she had an essay to turn in for one of her English classes. Although I knew that she was using me, I decided that I would help her either way which ended up being a great decision. Because of this I was able to better understand Japanese society. I would take my time correcting all of her grammar mistakes and sometimes it would take almost an hour of editing before I was satisfied. Seeing how I would always help her even when I was busy myself caused her to see me as a good buddy and not just some foreigner.

“Chris!! Look at my new high heels, aren’t they cute? I just bought them. They were a little over $100.” I stared at Mika as she modeled off her new red and white polka dotted high heels, all the while wearing an expensive winter coat and an equally expensive purse in her hand. “I have two jobs. One of them is at a restaurant. The other is serving old men drinks and talking to them in Kyoto. I hate that job but it gives me almost $100 in one night so I stick with it!” When I first heard this I was in shock. I had never heard of someone having two jobs to support their fashion taste and desires. Many Japanese live with their parents through college for free which means all of their salary goes to whatever they feel like spending it on. Soon enough I realized that this was rather common between young females in Japan. I couldn’t believe it. Why? Why would someone have two jobs for clothes when there are more important things like paying for bills, food, or helping out your family financially? Was Japan’s youth really so pretentious? Many Westerner’s with limited knowledge of Japan might think that the Japanese are all silky black haired, humble, and studious. This may be true but naturally it is not always the case.

The great thing about Mika was that I could ask her almost any question about Japan and she would answer me as honestly as she could. I asked her why do Japanese care so much about how they look. Her answer was, “I like to look nice and that’s that. I like clothes and I like putting make up on. When I went to America I felt weird not having make up on and dressing down. We like to take time with how we present ourselves.” Fair enough. I explained to her that for a lot of us studying abroad in Japan it’s shocking to see this in Japanese people. In the U.S you have people that go to class in pajamas, without having shaven, or wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans. Mika is a strong female who does not fear being different in someone else’s eyes. One day she wore special contacts to make her eyes larger and when she moved them to show me I freaked out. I told her I was shocked and she replied, “Good! Be shocked! I am a shocking girl!” I didn’t understand how there could be something to alter the size of your iris to appear cuter.

Japanese (and Koreans and Chinese and the list goes on) try so hard to look Western that it sometimes is depressing. From changing their hair to brown and blonde, to undergoing surgery to change the style of their eye shape, and sometimes even changing the texture of their hair to resemble Westerner’s hair. What I appreciate and admire about Asian physical features are the very things that they want to change. Asian shaped eyes are unique and beautiful. I don’t care if there is one eye lid or two, it is beautiful and is a symbol of history, culture, a whole region of the world. Asian hair is envied by people worldwide for being purely black and smooth. Asian skin is clear and smooth and does not to be any lighter or darker than it is naturally. Every ethnicity and race should embrace what makes them that ethnicity and or race. They should embrace it and try to see the beauty that they hold instead of try to bend it and lower themselves by going through extremes to be another race. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. The many ethnicities in Africa, Middle East, Caribbean, South America, Europe, etc.

Being that the standard Caucasian look is valued so much in many countries, I can understand why someone may be inclined to want to be different. I myself went through an ethnic crisis at one point. I used to want blue eyes and pale skin and blonde hair. I used to believe that those features would have others give me more respect. Now I realize that my skin color, hair, and eyes are what make me who I am. Recently one person told me, “How can you think I am pretty when I have a low nose? Westerner’s have a high and pointy nose and mine is flat and low. How is that pretty? My eyes are small.”

Mika also introduced me to another side of Japan’s sex industry. I’m not even sure how to classify this honestly because it’s not actually party of an industry. Mika was walking innocently near a station when a man stops her and says, “I’ll give you money if you take off your clothes and let me take pictures of you.” She even says that she has been approached by a man who said he would pay her if she had sex with him. I didn’t know what to say. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be walking, mind your own business and some idiot tries to get you to do something sexual with him. Some idiot that thinks that money can buy such things as if you are a common prostitute and not a human being. Mika is quite a character though and won’t let someone toy with her. She’s even confronted and yelled at a waiter in a restaurant because she bit into glass in the food that they served her. Yelling at whoever is in charge would typical in almost every country but in Japan it’s still really forward, especially as a female.

“Mika you are so funny.”

“I know I am!! It’s going to waste here in Japan because I can’t be this funny if I am speaking Japanese. I can say whatever I want if I am speaking in English.”

I am grateful to have met Mika and for her being patient with my constant questions. Hopefully I will be able to meet an open and honest Japanese male in the future and get a male’s perspective of Japan and compare. Being a female in Japan seems really exhausting from the work force to societal expectations. I hope that everyone will be able to learn from Mika’s answers as I have. Thanks Mika, have a great year abroad in Australia!

It has been a very very busy few weeks. New incoming students have been filing in and going to orientation. This period is usually always hectic, and I’m thankful I don’t have to go through orientation again. It’s so interesting to see this process through the eyes of someone who has already experienced the initial shock of being in Japan. What is today’s post about? Well initially it’s a sorry because I’ve been so busy that I have had little time to properly continue informing those who are interested in Japan or study abroad. I haven’t had the time to do any proper videos or sit down to write something thoughtful. Secondly and more importantly is that I feel that my time in Japan has opened my eyes. Well, of course this may seem as inevitable. Being abroad will open anyones eyes. Anyone is willing to learn and have their eyes opened anyway. What I mean is it’s given me a sort of knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have acquired.

Recently during winter break  I went to Nagano to snowboard with a few friends. It was freezing, up in a mountain, and there were quite a few families who were on vacation and decided on Nagano. Most of them were Australian and British. It has been awhile since I’ve seen foreigners who don’t have a good understanding of Japanese culture. Other students at Kansai Gaidai usually know something about Japanese culture even if it is a very basic level. Seeing these people who were in Japan simply on vacation made me realize something that will separate those who have a worldly awareness and knowledge versus those who don’t have any at all. These vacationing individuals seemed unaware of how they came off. They were yelling out curse words at each other on the mountain. “Hey faggot!!! HEY!!!” for example. One person was snowboarding down and was trying to tell a group of Japanese children who were training to move. “Hey, move. I’m going to bump into you, uh oh. Yes I am.” That would be more normal in a western country where it’s a little more acceptable to be playful in such a manner. I felt embarrassed to see them act that way in Japan though. They didn’t know how stupid they were coming off. They didn’t realize that their loudness was not something that is common in Japan. The way they expressed themselves in conversation was written all over their face. They were such exaggerated expressions that one seldom ever sees on a Japanese person’s face. They seemed ridiculous. They were ordering at the restaurants purely in English without any attempt at trying to say anything in Japanese, not making any effort. What happens in the United States if someone goes up to a cashier and starts speaking in Spanish or French or whatever language it may be? You’ll have someone somewhere in that room say, “That person doesn’t belong in this country.” The Japanese put on a mask of politeness and maintained their composure no matter how confusing things would get. They replied with a smile at all times when inside they probably were thinking of how tired they are of people visiting their country and having everyone cater to them in English.

Many Americans believe that Japanese people eat sushi every day(more like once a month..if even) and that they are a timid and insecure ethnic group which is so far from the truth. However, because Westerns (in general) see Asians as smaller and only having intelligence you can see that reflected in their actions. The foreigners would hold themselves more highly, as if they were to believe that they were all around better and more able. They would ask for things in English boldly and in such a manner that I almost felt they were trying to show the Japanese that they were a stronger and larger race. I’ve recently criticized Japanese for being spoiled but this made me realize that Westerners are equally as spoiled but in different ways. If you are in Japan it is better to show humility and respect. After being in Japan for almost seven months, I’ve grown to feel that I am the one that is slightly less in this society. Japanese aren’t less. What makes a Westerner think that they can come to Japan and act as though they are higher? The Japanese aren’t stupid and chances are that a cocky and ignorant Westerner will come off more as a fool than a strong, bold, and amazing person. The Japanese also have their aspects. They are polite but if you think that you can walk over them then you are wrong. It’s outrageous to even hear things from Westerner’s mouths like, “Asians have smaller penises.” What does penis size have to do with anything? Excuse the vulgarity but the size of a sexual organ does not justify one race having dominance or power over another. A statement such as that clearly  exemplifies the mental capacity that a person can possibly have. What Westerners should focus more on is the things that Asians and Japanese have that they don’t. Japanese are rarely overweight, have clear skin for the most part, a culture that will make you feel stupid in seconds, patience that others can only dream of having, and the dedication that people would envy. Dedication is at the very core of Japanese culture. On the hand Japanese have gangs, kill each other, make mistakes, build their bodies in the gym, and some can even can be egotistical. What makes them less? They are capable of doing everything and anything that a Westerner can do. What makes an Asian weaker and less able? I don’t understand it. They have an advantage though because the Japanese know when to keep their mouths shut while Westerners do not.

As I’ve mentioned, all of the new spring 2010 foreign exchange students have already arrived and finished orientation and started courses at Kansai Gaidai. Many of these students still haven’t developed the worldly cultural awareness and sensitivity that most of us gain during our time abroad. Giant groups of exchange students will travel everywhere together when Japanese streets aren’t made for groups of people. These streets are very narrow and you can hear everything. Once again everyone has gone wild and gotten drunk practically everyday since they’ve arrived in Japan. People have already peed over bridges, thrown up publicly, or approached a Japanese person while drunk to say something foolish. A Japanese person will do their best to ignore that public display of ignorance. If it was any other country someone would have gotten hurt and a fight would have broken out. There are many awkward individuals who are happily in the clouds now that they are in Japan and have yet to calm down their excited feelings. There are the many proud students who have just arrived and already are bragging about how amazing their Japanese skills are and how well they are able to communicate in the Japanese language. Once they find themselves having a real conversation in Japanese and realize that things aren’t as easy as they thought I am sure that their opinion will change.

Studying abroad has given me the skills that I will need to continuously assure good communication with people from different background and cultures. I have learned that it is better to sit and observe. I’ve learned to take my time to observe how things are done in that country that I may be in. One cannot go somewhere blindly and expect things to be the same as back at home.  I’ve learned that I can’t have any expectations from a country because I will continuously be proved wrong over and over again. I will defend Japan and the Japanese if I ever hear anyone speaking lowly about them once I am back in the United States. Japan isn’t perfect and there are a lot of things wrong with it. I am not throwing a pro-Japan campaign. Japanese aren’t perfect and I will quickly state that in any conversation. However, Japan and the Japanese are not less. They are not weaker. They deserve respect from those who go into their country and equally from those who have never been to Japan. Japanese would help anyone if they had to. If you are lost I am sure that most of the time a Japanese person will walk with you directly to where you need to be or do everything in their power to help you get on the right track. You try learning their language before you think of judging them. You try living a few months in their shoes before you think that they are less. Let go of the ethnocentricity and open your eyes to the glory that another country withholds.

Round Two: The People

Korean and Japanese people are totally different. Don’t let anyone tell you that all Asians are the same because they don’t know what they are talking about. They don’t all look the same either. If you think that Asians all look the same it’s most likely because you haven’t spent enough time around them to begin to pick up the differences. Even within Japan there are variations of their appearance. I’ve seen some Japanese people that could pass as caucasian or South East Asian. During the summer I was surprised to see how well Japanese can actually tan their skin. Some teenagers were just as dark as I was. Also don’t let anyone tell you that all Asians are short because it’s a lie. Maybe it is true that the females in general are much shorter, but I can assure you that there are a handful of tall Korean and Japanese men. Many Korean men were taller than me. My height is the average in the U.S and some of them surpassed it. I can’t speak for the Chinese because I haven’t been to Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, etc.

One thing I noticed was that Korean and Japanese fashion aren’t similar in terms of daily life. One thing that I liked was that Koreans, as a whole, dye their hair less (this is excluding celebrities and the pop culture world). Many girls sported rich, silky black hair. It looked so beautiful and someone I met in the hostel made a comment along the lines of, “They aren’t ashamed of their natural Asian hair like the Japanese.” I am sure that Japanese are not ashamed. They change their hair in an attempt to appear more Western and be cooler because of it. It’s also because they aren’t allowed to experiment during their junior and high school years so once they get to college they change whatever they feel like changing. It was such a relief though to see that natural hair that isn’t all burnt and damaged from continuous perming and dying and bleaching. Also it was kind of in fashion to wear huge black framed glasses and to have bangs (guys and girls). The colors they wore were darker, maybe because of the winter season. I saw a lot of blues, grays, blacks, and neutral colors. The men dressed manlier than Japanese men. The women in general dressed more casually than Japanese women. I saw less high heels. Korea being less superficial might be debatable though because South Korea is known as being the land of plastic surgery. I’ve posted my video on Japanese fashion already so I won’t rehash what I’ve already said but if you’ve seen the video then you would know that this is very different. Koreans were fashionable in their own way, which was less in-your-face. Because of this I feel that it made them look more attractive because they weren’t trying as hard to do too much at once. The females wore less make up and still looked pretty (my classmate quickly said: plastic surgery! Is that the case? I’m not sure). The guys didn’t have outrageous pop star hair cuts to look cool so their hair was naturally acceptable. Their style was uniquely Korean but felt casual enough to not be such a culture shock to a person from the west.

During my stay there was thing that I quickly caught onto: Koreans are merciless. The Japanese say sorry for everything whether it is their fault or not. They say sorry if you help them to the point where saying “sorry” is almost like saying “thank you” in certain occasions. They say sorry if they ask something from you. They will say sorry even at the cash register when they correct you if you get your change incorrect. This happened to me today actually. I gave her 220 yen when the price was actually 210. She then goes, “Ah it is 210 yen. I’m sorry.” Then she returned my 10 yen difference. Some will even say sorry if their drink is being poured by someone else, because they maybe feel that they have inconvenienced that other person. The cashier lady probably said sorry for having corrected me and implying that I was wrong.

 Did Koreans say sorry so much? Definitely not! I had a big culture shock. In Japan I have become spoiled into expecting people to be respectful at all times. I’ve become so spoiled that I expect people to greet me when I walk into stores.  I expect to be treated highly when I buy something. I expect a Japanese person to never show that they hate what they are doing. They’d rather get hurt than show that they hate their job or something. I don’t remember what it’s like to get an attitude from a rude employee at a store. I had completely forgotten. In Korea I walked into a convenience store when some boy my age  was at the cashier register looking so miserable. It was written all over his face. He hated his job. He probably even hated his life. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere but working there in that moment. I was shocked and surprised and confused. He didn’t greet me when I walked in. When I paid he took my money and gave me back my change without saying a word. He didn’t even give me a bag and didn’t hang the bag back to me in my hands. I’ve been so spoiled in Japan! SO SPOILED! Where was my “Welcome!!!”? Where was, “The price is 587 yen! Would you like a bag with this? Thank you so much!”?

Koreans show what they feel. They express it whether someone likes it or not. I’m not used to that anymore. The Japanese seldom ever show their true emotions. In stores they are trained to almost be like robots and all sound and act the same. It is easy to forget that the Japanese have individual identities sometimes. Everyone seems to blend in. You’ve met one Japanese girl and it’s like you’ve met a thousand of them. You’ve met one sweet Japanese girl and I can assure there are thousands and thousands that act the same way that she does. Japanese people will say the same thing, wear the same thing, and act the same way. There is no “being different”. Even if you are a Japanese wearing crazy fashion that may LOOK unique to a foreigner’s eyes, there is a group of other Japanese people doing the same thing. They all get inspired by the same fashion magazines. It seems hard for many Japanese to think outside of the box if they have never left Japan. Koreans seem to have their own personalities and their own desires. I saw Korean girls hitting their boyfriends in a teasing manner and being loud and expressive. I saw Korean teens bunched together all yelling and loud in public. People spat on the floor without a care. I got pushed in the train station. People cut me in line. If there was a seat available on the train, a Korean would not hesitate in taking that seat from you. People actually talked on the train. In Japan no one really talks much on the train unless you are in the city. I was even more shocked when some guy pulled out a cart in the middle of the train and began to try and sell items. He pulled out woven gloves and began yelling out prices and flaunting the gloves in people’s faces to get them to buy. I sat in the “reserved seats” for the elderly and pregnant because no one was sitting in them. Then a Korean older lady comes over, taps my shoulder and points at the sign, and tells me to get up. My mouth dropped! I was like there is no way this is happening!  A Japanese elderly lady would never in her life confront me and tell me to move out of her seat. She would ignore it! Japanese people are amazing at ignoring things. If I were to give up my seat to an older Japanese older woman she would put on a front of being sorry. She would repeatedly say “sorry” and then take the seat and thank me. After getting up for the older Korean lady she sat down comfortably and closed her eyes and forgot about my existence.

I found myself becoming frustrated and feeling amazed all at once. I loved how much more honest the Koreans were. I loved to see their expressions and their communication with each other. It felt so real! It felt like the real world. This is how most people are in the world. They are unforgiving and look after themselves. They know what they want and they go after it. Although it was bad manners for that kid to look as miserable as he did while working who cares?? People are miserable in the world and it is easy to forget that in Japan. Not everyone is happy with life. No one in this world acts the way the Japanese normally do in social settings. In Korea I saw something so beautiful. It was a mom playing with her adult son and beating his back with her mitten to get the snow off of his jacket. Then she started hitting his head and pushing him around jokingly and laughing out loud. In Japan you would never see that public display of affection. I even saw two Koreans kissing and making out in public which blew everyone’s mind. I haven’t seen anyone do that since I’ve been in the states. The Japanese are very unique in that sense. I just can’t help but feel that it’s so unrealistic and spoiled. Japan can be very infantile in many senses. Japanese culture is beautiful but also focuses a lot on being cute. Japanese things are just very cute sometimes. From the drawings in buses or trains, to the way that the people act and treat others, it’s all very childish to me sometimes. I’ve seen firsthand how Japanese parents sometimes don’t even discipline their children. I see Japanese kids at the age of twelve with amazing fashion, their hair styled professionally, and their own cell phones and a cigarette in their hand. It feels like they don’t know what it’s like not to have those luxuries. Poverty in Japan exists but is not very prominent.

You can walk around at three in the morning and nothing will happen to you in Japan. There is no need to really have street smarts. If you lose your purse on the train, people will turn it into the station for you and not steal anything. It’s beautiful to see that purity but it feels so unrealistic and doesn’t represent the rest of the world at all. What about the people dying in Africa or those even in the U.S that are living off of government aid that barely supports a family? Who gives a crap about having amazing fashion and hair when you need money to support yourself and family? Japanese society is good at ignoring the things that are wrong that exist. If someone weird gets on the train and is acting rude and loud, everyone will ignore that person and pretend as though nothing is happening. That is useful but at the same time almost childish. Why not confront the issue like an adult would? Because that simply is not how Japanese culture functions. Confronting something and being forward puts everyone in an awkward situation and it shows your lack of control. If you act differently than those around you then you will be treated lowly for breaking the norm (as in any society but Japanese is a bit more extreme about it). I feel like being in Japan is like being in Disney World. It feels like a fake land. It is almost feels perfect and faultless at first and then the more you look and dig then the more that you realize that it’s very fake.

Japanese sex industry is ridiculous. Porn is pretty much everywhere in Japan. You don’t believe me? Go to a local 7/11 store. Walk in and go to the magazine section. Do you see the porn magazines? Do you see the cartoon girls with their mouths open and yelling out and their legs open? Yes. You are in Japan when you see this. Do you see that old man holding that very magazine in his hands? He doesn’t look very ashamed at all, huh? Go around and walk through Umeda or Shinsaibashi and you will see sex advertisements to go in and watch porn. You will even see gay advertisements if you end up being lucky enough to be exposed to that even more hidden world. Have you ever heard of the magazines with fourteen year old girls in sexual poses, wearing bathing suits? Yeah, you can find these in Japan as well. She isn’t naked but she might as well be with the way she is dressed and posing.  You have high school girls prostituting themselves. You have older men with a school girl fetish because of how it signifies innocence and purity and that turns men on. The Japanese government obviously allows the regulation of the magazines and sex service because it is so easy to find.

After living in Japan and knowing how the sex industry is here, I was surprised to see none of it in South Korea. There weren’t any porn magazines or old men reading them in the stores. Why? Supposedly because all porn is illegal. It’s like the complete opposite of Japan from the looks of it. I asked someone that lived in Korea if it was common to hear of people getting touched inappropriately on trains in Korea. He told me that it isn’t very common but I’ve heard from other people the complete opposite. In Japan it is so common that they have had to make certain carts on a train “women-only” during certain times of the day to keep men from sexually harassing the females. I’ve heard stories of men feeling up on high school girls and putting their hands under their skirts or massaging their buttocks. There are even video games in Japan where you can pretend that you are a rapist and you are able to rape a woman on a train. It even gives you the option of impregnating her. Japanese girls wouldn’t say if someone touched them. They would be too embarrassed to admit that it happened. It is too taboo to even acknowledge. If someone notices that a girl is getting touched by a man, people have been known to simply ignore that it is happening. If you bring attention to it then it makes the situation worse. I’m thankful that I have not seen any of this myself. I want to keep it that way.

To be fair I am sure that South Korea has plenty of societal problems that I am unaware of and have yet to learn about. I was only there for a week and the only things that I have learned are from all of the Korean films that I have seen. S.Korea obviously isn’t perfect either.  However, because I have been babied and treated so properly in Japan I feel that I haven’t gained street smarts. I let people skip me in line in Korea and I was getting really agitated by the rudeness. I felt overwhelmed by the people and how unforgiving everyone was. Japan has taught me a lot, but it definitely has made me kind of a bit of a push-over.  I went to a Korean market and naturally fell into their trap. I went to buy a new frame for glasses and I didn’t even realize that I could haggle at this place if I wanted to. What does that mean? It means that I paid around $30 for a pair of frames that really were probably $10. They know that you don’t know and pretend that they don’t know either. The funny thing was that after I bought the glasses I automatically had a feeling that I had been cheated. Later on my Korean friend was like, “You paid what?? No! That’s too expensive!”

Also another consistent theme was Japanese in Korea. Once you get to tourist areas or even the very markets many things are in Japanese. In all honesty Japan has screwed Korea so many times in history that it’s almost a joke. Does the Japanese government acknowledge this? They definitely do not. My Korean friend took me ice skating right at city hall in Seoul and there are two statues of historic Korean men nearby. She explained to me that the first one was a man who fought against the Japanese when they came over to conquer the country and was considered a hero for protecting Korea from invasion. Earlier that day she pointed at Korean pottery in a store and began explaining that it was a very unique and distinct Korean pottery that was from a certain historic period. She said that it is rare to find any real ones from that time period anymore because when the Japanese invaded they took all of it with them back to Japan. Also she said it’s hard to find someone who can recreate the style because the Japanese took all of the pottery makers to Japan so that they could have the beauty to themselves. Is this propaganda? Maybe it is. Either way you put it is obvious that it is not completely fabricated. South Korea really tries to cater to Japan and it has to be for a reason. If you go to Japan you rarely see the same consideration for the Korean language or people. What’s truly disappointing is to realize that these two amazing countries would be so much more capable if they could simply get over the past and move forward.

Koreans are amazing. They made me laugh and smile with their honest and real behavior. They made me miss having people around me that didn’t hide their feelings so much. They impressed me with their English skills. The bustle of Seoul and loud and wild nature of the city made me feel alive. It made me feel I could freely live my young life. It snowed on Christmas Day on my way to go eat Korean barbeque with hostel friends that I had made. The Koreans there were drunk on soju in that restaurant and were loud and alive and even the women were all in the action. There was so much spirit and personality. I loved it. The Japanese have taught me how to be more respectful and considerate. The Japanese have challenged me and shown me how to be more helpful towards others. They have shown me how to be more respectful and quieter if I must be. I’ve even learned to dress better from them (and Koreans equally). Japan has allowed me to see an entirely new way of life and given more experiences than many get in a lifetime. I like to describe Japan as a best friend. There are the times where I can’t stand Japan and get frustrated with many things. Then there are the times that I love it and I realize how amazing and fortunate I am. One thing is for sure: when I have to go back home I am going to miss it like crazy! They are both wondrous countries for different reasons. It’s a pity that they don’t see each other’s positive aspects and embrace those differences.

I’ve returned from Korea all in one piece and after the happiest week of my life so far. Korea was…phenomenal…amazing! Maybe it was because I was only there on vacation for 8 days. Maybe if I lived there then I would feel otherwise. I’m not sure if I would get sick of it fast or soon be upset with the faults that are bound to arise. Either way I am glad I went because it gave me the best Christmas break that I’ve ever had. Although I was away from family and friends for Christmas I couldn’t have been more pleased with how things turned out. My one advice to everyone is: TRAVEL! Traveling was a breath of fresh air. It educated me and fed me life. I want to keep traveling. I want to go back to Seoul! I didn’t expect to love it so much! Okay…let me stop gushing. I don’t plan on going into a long detailed post of what I did in Korea step by step. Instead I’m going to do a little bit of comparing and contrasting as honestly and fairly as I can. This is me analyzing the differences between Korean language, people, etc and the Japanese. Hopefully everyone can learn something new!
Round One: The Languages
Korea and Japanese language are very different yet somewhat similar. To start off the Korean writing system is called “hangul”. It’s a younger writing system that is strictly Korean and won’t be found in any other country. In Japan, as many know, there is a mix of Chinese characters and hiragana and katakana writing systems. Koreans used only Chinese characters in historic times, which is why many historic places will have many Chinese characters written on temples and palaces (the picture of that Hwaseong Fortress is an example. Underneath the hangul are the traditional chinese characters). Being that Japan conquered Korea countless of times, in my opinion for no justifiable reason at all, some Japanese words have entered the Korean language. For example, kaban means “bag” in both languages and man which means “10,000”. Korea pronunciation is kind of difficult and there are more sounds than the restricted Japanese language. Going to Seoul, all I knew was how to count to three and say, “How are you…my name is Chris” and a couple of curse words….nooot very helpful, right? I was pretty nervous a lot of time, freaking out about how I would express what I wanted and needed while in Seoul. At the terminal in Japan I was one of the few foreigners on the plane going to Seoul. Suddenly I was surrounded by people speaking in Korean and I had a moment of “Ahhh what am I doing??” If a Korean ever spoke to me I would end up responding in Japanese by accident. Thankfully, however, Koreans seem to dominate English a lot better than the Japanese do. It might be because their language allows for more ways to pronounce things. I have no clue. Basically everyone knew more English than the Japanese (as a general whole) and they would pronounce things usually very well. I was surprised when a Korean bumped into me and said, “I’m sorry!” in the most crystal clear accent I’ve heard in Asia so far. In Japan the reaction you would get would be an, “Ah! Sumimasen(sorry)!” On my first night in Korea, I had some random person point at me and yell out, “Hey you!! YOU A HANDSOME BOY!” The hostel I stood at, Backpacker Mr.Sea (shout out!! best hostel ever. Mr. Sea is awesome!) was in a college town so university students were all over the place and drunk at night. Which is probably the only reason that guy pointed at me and said that.

Koreans don’t treat foreigners like children whereas the Japanese tend to do so. I would go to restaurants or even on the train and they would speak to me in Korean mercilessly. They didn’t care if I didn’t understand. They weren’t going to play around and waste time. There was no pity for me being a pathetic foreigner with barely any knowledge of Korean language. They treated me indifferently. I found it amusing and hilarious how forward they were and I appreciated not being babied. In Japan they treat foreigners like toddlers occasionally. The Japanese will speak to you slowly like you are mental, get intimidated if they see that you are foreign and need help, and expect you to understand absolutely no Japanese. This is a very general statement and doesn’t apply to every Japanese person by the way but it’s kind of common. It can get annoying to have someone assume that you won’t understand before you’ve even said anything. You just feel like saying, “I’m not stupid…”

I was taking the taxi from some Korean fort back to the station with some people I met in the hostel that I stood at. The taxi driver was this older Korean man that was just talking to us in Korean as if we actually understood everything he was saying. He just continued on talking about something and looking to see if we followed along. He tried to speak some English words, the poor guy. He managed to pull an “I love Obama!!!” and he even managed to criticize the South Korean president and call him trash. This led to him ranting off in Korean about how much he hated the current man in power. One thing I love about the Korean language is that they do this whiny infliction when talking at times. It’s like someone complaining to their friend or parent. He did a lot of this during this moment, almost as if he were seeking for our agreement or maybe even expressing his annoyance with the politics. After awhile it got awkward because we all just looked at each other because he was trying to ask us questions in Korean that no one understood.  When he dropped us off the man yelled out a warning, “Danger danger danger!” He wanted to make sure we wouldn’t open the door and get hit by an oncoming car. In Japan most older people wouldn’t make so much of an attempt to communicate in English from my experience. Or rather they wouldn’t even know many words to be able to communicate with you.

The Japanese language is a very fast and smooth language in my opinion and that’s what I love about it. It just slips out of the mouth and can keep going as long as you are able to keep it up. But also it’s a very indirect language. The Japanese never fully express what they mean. They even add things to the end of their sentences such as “…I think” or “maybe” so that they are expressing their opinions less harshly and without pushing their viewpoint on the person listening. For example, “This school is run poorly because the man in charge is uneducated….I wonder…” Such endings are ka na, to omou, kamoshirenai. Even when declining an invitation, a respectful Japanese person will say something that gets translated into English as “…a little.” You aren’t saying yes and you aren’t saying no. You are simply saying you “little” want to do it. Indirectly it means that you don’t actually want to do it. If you are forward just say, “No i don’t want to go” it’s really rude, particularly if you don’t know the person very well. The Korean language as a whole is slightly less forgiving and is used more honestly from the looks of it.

I also heard a lot of announcements trying to invite Japanese tourists to come in and buy things in markets and some stores. You see things written in Japanese. On the train they made announcements in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese Mandarin. Although, as a whole, I feel that Japan is more friendly when it comes to having things written in roman characters underneath. In Korea i’d rarely see much written in roman letters underneath the korean hangul writing once I left the airport or train stations. In the United States people complain if they even see one sentence in Spanish. Americans are so close minded a lot of the time. Why are Americans complaining about the Spanish language when the rest of the world has accepted more than just two languages into their country?

“I hate when people speaking Spanish around me because I don’t understand!”

Big deal! Do you really think that Koreans know English, Japanese, and Chinese? No, of course not! In Japan all of the signs in trains have English written underneath and you never hear people complaining about it. I speak English in Japanese restaurants and I doubt anyone even thinks, “I can’t speak English so I think they need to shut up. They are probably talking about me.” America should open its mind and get over it! Look at Europe and learn. The British people that I have met have all taken German in their schools and no one complains so much.

I’m fortunate to be learning a language in Japan (or Asia for that matter). The Japanese generally will not tease you or purposefully go out of their way to make you feel like an idiot for saying something wrong. I can’t imagine what it’s like for people to learn English and go to the United States. My mom struggled so much and had people tell her, “Go back to your country! You don’t belong here.” She had people laugh at the way she pronounced words and people often complained about her at her job. I am lucky to not have to go through that. Most countries are just happy to see a foreigner make an attempt and show that they are interested in learning. My Arabic buddy never laughs at my accent or mispronunciation if I am trying to discuss an Arabic song with her. The Japanese just ignore your mistakes as long as they can understand the basic message of what you are trying to convey. I’m fortunate.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Oh, and Mcdonalds rules the world:

Hiroshima
Hiroshima has been one of the highlights of my time in Japan. It was a breath of fresh air to get away from school and studies and just everything. I woke up early at 5am to properly check out of the seminar house and walk myself to the nearest station (Makino). As I’ve mentioned before I am accident prone and easily get lost and am always confused. I think some may find that endearing and comical but the time that I least want to be either of those things is when I’m traveling. I walked into that dark morning feeling proud and happy to be going on this journey. I felt like I was doing something important even though all I did was catch a bus ride down to Hiroshima. I began to panic thinking I was going to get to Kyoto late and I panicked for nothing because I got there before the bus itself.

In the bus I was the second foreigner, the other man was with a Japanese girlfriend and he did not know a word of Japanese. This made me feel even more proud of myself. The fact that I was doing this on my own, with my own skills of Japanese and no one else’s to rely on. As I’ve mentioned before as well, being in Osaka most of the time makes it easy to forget that Japan has so much more to it. The ride was kind of long if you include the short stops. I’d say that it was around 7 hours or so. Hiroshima, at first, appeared to be a bland town. It was a cloudy day, the houses were all lacking color and dirty, there seemed to be no life. Japanese quit neighborhoods are still a bit of a culture shock just because my own culture is so loud and colorful. With Christmas around the corner my family has been telling me to pull out instruments and start playing Puerto Rican Christmas songs, to bring “el sabor”, the flavor, to the scene. I tell them I don’t have any instruments here and my aunt and mom suggested me make them from other objects. My own culture is sometimes too loud for me and sometimes Japanese culture is too quiet. Is there a culture that is in between? My future one will be! The one I create once I have my own family.

Once the sky darkened, the city definitely came alive with all of its nightlights. High school students flooded the station in their school uniforms, holding hands, bunching into giant groups of the same sex, or riding their bicycles wild enough to almost hit someone. I hadn’t seen so many school teens in one area like that. After getting lost a bit I found my hostel and didn’t feel satisfied with just staying there. I went to go try Hiroshima okonomiyaki, a famous dish in Osaka, to see what the difference between the two types really is. I ended up recording the cook as he made it for me, and I asked him from when he became interested in okonomiyaki. His reply was fast and slurred…so…I had no clue what he told me. I just replied with an, “Ah”. All I caught was something about “since ___ I’ve liked it.” They were all really nice to me at this place. Another one of the cooks came out and started asking me where I was from and what was I doing in Osaka and what brought me to Hiroshima. He then proceeded into trying to teach me Hiroshima-ben (dialect) words which was fun. They were super welcoming and all around my age. I had a great experience even if it was pricey.

After that I jumped on the city tram randomly because I still wasn’t ready to go back. I decided I would try and go see the Peace Park, dedicated to World War II. It is lit up at night. This was a moment that I truly appreciated probably because I was alone and one of the only ones in the entire park. I could freely interpret it all however I chose to.
One thing that truly touched me was when I read the various signs promoting peace.There are monuments dedicated to the ashes of the many that burned and died, monuments to the children killed during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, etc. No one was left unacknowledged. Even in the Peace Museum the abuse of Zainichi Koreans (Koreans raised in Japan) and normal Koreans and Chinese was acknowledged. It also listed an estimate number of the foreigners that died while living in Japan during the atomic bomb.
One of my favorite messages has to be that of the Bell of Peace. It made my chest fill with emotion to see something like this come from a devastating event. I admire the people of Hiroshima. I admire them for having the strength to move forward and for ultimately forgiving the United States. You see Hiroshima now and it’s hard to imagine that a bomb truly destroyed the main bulk of the area. There are buildings soaring in the sky, lights flashing and advertising gambling and karaoke places, and everyone going on about their lives with new motivations and desires from this new world. I mean…I didn’t expect to find everyone moping around still sad over something that has happened quite awhile ago. But it’s still admirable. Can you imagine everything you owned, your family, your home, and every bit of dignity you had just being blown into pieces? Can you imagine finding your sister dead and in her school uniform when she had been running around happily that morning? Can you imagine walking down a street that held so many good memories to see people’s skin burning off of their bodies? I can’t imagine the pain that they had to endure. I can’t imagine having to find my mother’s dead body and not being able to do anything to help her or bring her back. I can’t imagine finding my school friends limp and burning all around me. I don’t think anyone can imagine what that is like unless one has been in that situation before. For this reason I almost found it hard to really empathize. It wasn’t until I saw clothes that family found of their dead children. Each item of clothing had its story. For example (off the top of my head, not entirely accurate):
This school outfit is that of Kenchiro Yamada, who was in his first year of middle school when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. His mother found him completely burned to death, clutching his lunch box against his body. His lunch box, to this day, contains the burnt material of his uneaten lunch.

I put myself in the situation. Finding my cousin like that. What is there you can do to help? You can’t pull out a vaccine and make it okay. You can’t whisper words that will magically make it better. People wonder what hell is like but hell is on earth every single day. Survivors of the attack drew pictures of what it was like. Fire everywhere, people walking around with their skin completely melting off of their faces and arms. What is the point of all of this? These people that died had no clue what was going to happen. Many were walking to school, at their jobs, in their homes, living a typical day. The government’s selfishness led to the death of its own people. I don’t understand why a government uses its own people as pawns to fight its battles. Do you think someone farming on a field really cares whether or not a country is about to conquer another country for more power? No. That person is trying to make it through another day in life successfully.
Hiroshima is a teacher. Hiroshima should be a teacher to the world. They went from having a civilization one moment to having absolutely nothing the next. Now how are they? They are doing just fine. They’ve recovered and did not let anything stop them from reemerging. That is fearless. That is courage. Not every city or country can recover from such blows. Some countries are still fighting the same battles they have been fighting for centuries. Some countries continue to let the death and wars go on. If I were from Hiroshima I would be proud to come from a place full of persevering survivors.
Aside from the historical side to Hiroshima I felt relief because I felt that the people were simpler than the ones I’ve been exposed to before. I saw less ridiculously expensive fashion. I saw fewer girls wearing skirts so high you can see her entire bare leg. I appreciated their casual sense of being. However, this is only judging from the two days I was there. I can’t really know unless I lived there for as long as I’ve lived in Osaka.

Hiroshima is a must for everyone. You can also catch a ferry to Miyajima island which is an amazing and beautiful island. That was totally worth visiting as well and you’ll find deer roaming around just like in Nara.
And now…after returning from Hiroshima by bus and train and sleeping (or…lack of sleeping) in a karaoke room for 6 hours I am exhausted. I am exhausted but here I am at the airport ready to go South Korea. I would have never thought I would be doing this. The only Korean I know is a string of bad, insulting words that I picked up from the 60 odd Korean movies that I’ve seen lol. I don’t think that’s going to help me much.

Stores…restaurants..pretty much anything that is selling something. The manner that they greet customers is amazing and interesting. Not only do they greet you with a loud, high pitched, and nasal “Welcome!” They also give you great service. They love taping things. They tape up the bag for you as if it’s something delicate that could break open and spill whatever you bought. They count your money and change like professionals. I’ve never seen something like that in my life. They seriously count the money in a way that would resemble a dealer at a gambling place. They sometimes hand the bag to you just perfectly. They use honoric language, keigo, at all times when speaking to you. Some even go all the way and bow to you after you have paid and are leaving.

What gets me is their nasal voices. Thankfully Japanese people don’t normally speak like that…if they did I think it would bother me a lot. Sometimes their voices are so exaggerated at stores that you either laugh or say, “What was that???”

This was actually supposed to be a different video about the Japanese perception of beauty but the Japanese girl I’m going to be interviewing was busy and wanted to look pretty for the interview…soo thaaat’s gonna wait. In the meanwhile I threw this together. It’s a bit rushed but I figure it’s better than nothing

Japanese fashion is always fun to look at it. You can’t really help but look and stare and wonder lol. It’s also surprising when the girls will say stuff like, “I want to look like Nicole Richie”. It’s interesting to see how much make-up they put on or the fake eye lashes they put. Also the infamous strips of tape or other things that make Japanese girls (and some guys who also use it) have a double eye lid rather than a single “Asian” eye lid. People have this image of Japan as full of black, silky straight haired females who dress and act very shy and reserved. It is true to an extent, all stereotypes have some sort of truth, but things are changing. Japan isn’t the closed off place that many people with no knowledge of Asia believe it to be.

Some guys wear baggy pants and perm their hair to make it look like a gangster rapper’s hairstyle. I was so shocked when I first saw a Japanese guy with curled and kinked up hair that looked like Lenny Kravtiz’ hair. Unfortunately I didn’t record any of the ghetto wanna-be 50-cent Japanese, but it would’ve been really interesting for everyone who doesn’t know that that exists in Asia to see. That in itself is a long debate because it isn’t just being “ghetto”. It’s an actual culture that has it’s own distinct reasons for being the way it is. I’ve heard people argue that they don’t understand why the Japanese would try to be “black” or what they think a black person is when they don’t truly understand the culture behind it. To each is own. I’m still formulating my own opinion so I won’t say anything yet. I can empathize though with those that are passionately against it. But I also believe that the Japanese mean no harm when they are trying to copy that type of look and/or lifestyle. They simply think it is cool and Western and that is enough of a reason to want and do it themselves.

I’m going to bring up the topic of beauty in Japan more again in the future just because it’s verrrrrry interesting to hear when Japanese people talk about it.

I’ve been writing too many serious blogs lately about things to expect and disappoints and blah blah blah. So to lighten up the mood a little I figure the best thing to do is share some of my embarrassing moments while I’ve been in Japan. I’m..naturally accident prone. Anyone who has truly spent a lot of time around me will know that I easily lose things, trip, and am pretty disoriented. There is this on going joke with my friends that if I’ve lost my phone, it’s usually in the pockets of my pants or in my backpack.

- I guess this one is general. It was when it felt really hard to really say much of anything in Japanese. At restaurants for example…the first week I went out for some sushi with a group of people and apparently no one had a very high level of Japanese (or confidence) so somehow I got stuck with trying to tell the lady we wanted to pay the bill. It was at a conveyer belt sushi place and we had no clue how to call her over. There is this touch screen where you can order yourself and supposedly call over the waitress. We touched random buttons and she came over and we sat there for awhile kind of disgruntled and I spit out a “we finished…i want to pay” which probably was really forward and rude. Also I’ve mentioned in one of my earlier posts we got glared at by an old lady at another table for who knows what reason. Then some Japanese boys whispered to us “gaijin!”  (which means foreigner if anyone doesn’t happen to know and for my family: gringos)as we walked by. They also started laughing at the sight of one of us. I don’t know who they were laughing at but they kept turning around to laugh some more.

-Being loud and having a security guard tell everyone to shut up at the park. It’s common for everyone to meet in the park near the dorms and pull out beer and everyone drink. The first week here…no joke…I think everyone had gotten drunk most days of that week. Somehow a huge crowd formed in the park and people were running around chasing each other drunk and yelling. Then some guard had to come over and tell everyone to be quiet because the neighborhood complained. It’s embarrassing when the people around you don’t have control over their actions, and don’ t seem to understand that Japan is ridiculously quiet. It was embarrassing just to be associated with the whole thing.

-Eating rice like a dog. I think I’ve mentioned this before as well. It’s common to mix green tea in with the little bit of rice that remains in one’s rice bowl. The Japanese don’t like to waste food. There are some restaurants that will even charge you if you have left a lot of food( i think these places are all-you-can-it or 食べ放題 tabehoudai restaurants).So I thought I was going to do something impressive when I mixed miso soup with my rice so that I could drink every last grain. My otousan just laughed at me and I figured it was because he was satisfied. Turns out that you feed left over rice to dogs by mixing it with miso. I feel like an idiot lol.

-Making a mess at the dinner table. When we had to eat all out of the same pot or something I would always be the one that had sauce dripping off from the side and all over my little plate mat and having to use three tissue papers to clean up

<— This is usually how it looks before I splash and mess my side up.

-My host mom heard me singing in my room and the next morning implied that I was loud. She said something along the lines of, “Is that your favorite song? You sing it a lot.” I was embarrassed and didn’t sing again in my room.

-Attempting and failing to say something in Japanese to my host mom. She would look confused and I would end up laughing at myself and then she would laugh awkwardly, not knowing what I found funny about the situation.

-Trying to say 友人-yuujin(friend)…instead of saying that i said 主人-shujin (master/husband). My host mom stared at me confused. She then goes, “….master?” How did I mix up the word for friend and master/husband like that? I was laughing and yelling at myself inside all at the same time.

-Asking my host parents what they thought about 男女平等-danjyobyoudou (gender equality) in Japan. This lead to the most awkward and uncomfortable situation ever. My host mother was shocked because she felt that I was implying that she didn’t do enough in the house (which of course wasn’t what I was trying to say!) I simply tried telling her that usually people think of Japan and think of the women being house wives while the man is off at work all day. While my host parents were the opposite which I found surprising. He would cook and clean and scrub the bathroom floor and do laundry. She would come home later and cook if and when she had the time. So she seemed upset and started explaining herself, “I clean every time I come home. I vacuum every morning. I clean every weekend. I cook sometimes too.” The whole time I was just like “fuck fuck fuck fuck why did I listen to my teacher??” Yes…this genius idea was thanks to a teacher that will remain unnamed. This teacher thought it would be a good topic to talk to my host family about. NO. It was NOT. I told my host mom I was sorry so many times out of embarrassment and shame. Then I fell asleep and dreamt that they had sent a complaint to the school about me being a bad host student.

-Falling at the train station. I’m a mess. I fall a lot. But…falling…at the train station in the location I fell? I’ve never heard of something so ridiculous until I did it myself. This is actually a hilarious story.

(This is not my picture. The picture is from photopassjapan.com. I’m not taking credit for it.)

Okay. Now do you see the gap between the train and the platform? Yes…one of my legs…fell right in there. The train wasn’t moving so I still have my leg thankfully. I had walked onto to the train to say hello to someone that I knew and then I stepped backwards to get out of the train and one of my legs completely fell into the gap while the other leg was hung up on the platform. So much pain went rushing all over. I lifted up my leg and pulled it up and sat there for a max of two seconds before I tried composing myself and walking away. The station was semi-empty since it was around 8am on a local line. One lady turned around and saw me on the floor but ignored it. Japanese are pretty good at ignoring things by the way…many things. I hopped onto another car and sat there letting the pain subside.

Then…I thought back and pictured myself falling over again. I felt this laughter and suddenly I was sitting there cracking up in an empty car on the train. I had to tell everyone the story because it was too funny not to share. I told a Japanese girl and she bursted out laughing, clapping her hands in amusement. Apparently not many people accidentally just end up with a leg half way in there. After controlling their laughter, my friends simply said: Only you, Chris. Naturally the only person who didn’t laugh was my own mom: Ave maria como te caiste por ahi?? Te podias haber matado! Ay, tu siempre! Pon atencion! Estas bien?? No te paso nada?? Si algo te hubiera pasado….muchacho me vuelvo loca por aca! (Jeez, how did you fall in there?? You could have killed yourself! You always…(do this). Pay attention! Are you okay? Nothing happened to you? If something were to have happened to you…man, I would’ve gone crazy over here!)

- Forgetting Japanese people’s names. Not only do a lot of the names sound similar, Japanese people seem to remember the faces of foreigners better than we do theirs. Sometimes random people wave at me and I don’t know WHO they are or WHERE I even met them. They’ll be all happy and say, “クリス！！おひさしぶり！私の名前を覚えった？？忘れた！？” Or “Chris! It’s been awhile! Do you remember my name? You forgot!?”

After my a capella performance this happened more than usual. I had some Japanese guy stare at me as I was walking by and then he got all of his friends to look at me. It was so awkward. Or people that I supposedly met at karaoke and sang songs with..after I had a few drinks…and completely forgot their names or who they were with. I had asked this one guy to tell me his name more times than what should be allowed. So to avoid having to tell him I forgot his name again, I cheated and went to someone to read off the kanji of his name for me from my phone.

-Falling in a gutter. Yeaaaah…my falling stories are all ridiculous apparently lololol. This was just a few days ago. The gutters in Japan are really deep and effective because of that. The sewage system here is SO MUCH better than the one in my town. Anyway..from the moment I saw these gutters i KNEW one day I would fall in one. I would be scared to ride a bike and fall in one. So I was trying to show a friend this weird, creepy statue of a dog in front of someones gate to their house when I take a step forward and my leg completely falls into the gutter. Why? Because it was covered with leaves! So I fell on my ass while my leg was all in.

<—I’m not sure if you can see the indent where I fell. This was at the side of a main road and it was too funny so my friend and I just sat there laughing for a few minutes before we could compose ourselves and move on. Ahhh…my clumsy personality serves as entertainment I guess.

-Last but not least…another language mishap…I was going to say　女性 jyosei (female) and accidentally said 受精 jyusei (insemination/impregnation). This had every Japanese girl sitting there stare at me confused until they cracked a smile and said, “何って？？” (What did you say??). They pulled out their little electronic Japanese-English dictionary gadgets and showed me the meaning of what I had just said and laughed.

I was talking to a friend of mine today and she tells me, “I wish I would have known this before I came here. I wish someone could have told me.” What could she mean? Well, she was referring to the fact that Kansai Gaidai can unfortunately resemble high school. I’ve hinted at this before and made comments pertaining to this opinion. Let me make sure that everyone reading understands that this is an opinion and in no way is being presented as a fact. This varies with everyone’s situation. Not everyone will feel the same way because everyone will have their own experience. Also opinions are subject to change. After another semester here this opinion may change. But for NOW let me explain…

Kansai Gaidai is a really small school in terms of the international students building (the CIE). At University of Florida there are like 60,000 students in all (including graduate students). Going from something that huge to having only like 1,000 international students or so is a big difference. Even though a 1,000 sounds like a big number that is the equivalent to a high school. You will become familiar with most everyone’s face. You have classes with some people every single day. The area where you hang out will probably be the same hang out spot for other people…and you’ll probably see those same people near you all the time because of it.

You might go out to karaoke and people you know will be there. You might go out to eat and then you end up bumping into them there as well. Now what was it that happened in high school or even middle school? When you see people every single day you start to pick up things that they do.

“That person looks so awkward! Look at how he is dressed.”

You start to notice how they present themselves. When people notice things about someone, then naturally they will get together with a friend and talk about it together. This semester it got to the point of some girl being labeled as rude, nerdy, and then once it was revealed that she was a lesbian that spread around too. I don’t care if she is a rude or nerdy, but to me talking about someone’s sexuality like that is not allowed. That is something personal and private. She might have deserved scrutiny from others but I do not feel someone should be disrespected in that manner.

“She is an anime freak. Why did she come to Japan? Did she REALLY think that Japan would be like what she sees in anime?”

People quickly will categorize those that came to Japan for games and anime and such. They will be associated with awkward personalities. It is a very very difficult and complicated situation. Everyone has their own reasons in coming to Japan so is it fair to judge someone for having their own reason? No it isn’t fair but it happens. Some feel these people need a reality check because Japan is not perfect or bubbly or bright as an anime may make it seem. Or sometimes it’ll be…

“I heard that she just came here to fuck Japanese guys. She was saying the other day that she wanted to get on Wada and ride him. She’s a slut. Why would you come here for that?”

It’s so easy to say this. Humans say these things and usually not with malicious purposes but simply because it is what they feel. In reality many people come to Japan for party and sex and fun. In the first few weeks here people already had affairs, were actively looking for a Japanese boyfriend/girlfriend, and partaking in outrageous activity they probably normally wouldn’t have. Maybe it is because of how exciting it must be for them to be in a new country? Either way those people will become easy to pick out. Why should I matter though? If someone is in a country to play around then that is their business. Unfortunately it isn’t that simple.

When I was sitting in the lounge of one of the seminar houses here a group of girls all got together in a room to talk about another girl. Some will say girls will be girls and gossip. I don’t know though. My best friend is a girl and never gossips like that. It turned me off to see that. It made me feel sick. As someone who has been gossiped and talked about various times in my life… I understand how painful it is to be on the other end. That treatment is so unacceptable but what else do you think is going to happen in such a small social setting? It’s bound to happen. It’s easy to suddenly find yourself annoyed at everyone around you for a time. People start changing from when they first arrived to the country as you start learning more about them. The more you learn about them the more you either like them or dislike them.

In the end…don’t take what I’ve said to heart or believe that this is how your experience will be. It will vary from person to person from year to year. This is simply what I’VE noticed. This is also coming from someone who went to a much larger school than Kansai Gaidai. Also when you first arrive everything will seem to be amazing, new, and fun. That feeling eventually goes away once you sit back and analyze the situation, society, people, school, etc. Some people don’t analyze as much which is good. Some people are happier that way. However for me it is how I grow even if it means analyzing too much. Lately I’ve been feeling tired, frustrated with Japanese society, upset with the people that surround me and the things that they do that rub me the wrong way.

Am I complaining? Yes I am. I am complaining on the Internet to let others know that this feeling will be normal. When and if you feel this emotion just know it is normal. Lately I’ve been talking to other foreign exchange students who have been feeling the same way and it makes me feel better to know I am not alone. Being abroad is an emotional roller coaster. Then again I guess it depends on how you were raised. My whole family is a very emotional bunch of people.

Either way, good luck prospectives!