I will take this moment to ask anyone who is setting up a Fantasy Football league to please include me... I always win while I am abroad! send an invite to my d.strich(at)gmail.com address, onegaishimas (japanese for thanks... sort of)
Some people train for marathons by running. Some people practice yoga to help them meditate. There are all sorts of cross-training and preparation that people do to help them get ready for excursions, vacations and living. I should have been more prepared for my arrival in Japan. I know that the language barrier will be huge, but that's something for which I was prepared to be unprepared. The humidity as I stepped out of the airport upon my arrival in Fukuoka, after the Tokyo Orientation. was something else. I was in a suit, shirt and tie... a nice suit, a hot suit. What I should have done, in order to prepare for this experience, was to go to the local steam room, fully-clothed in jeans and sweatshirts. And I should have done this multiple times a day. And for a couple of weeks. Then maybe I would have been better prepared to be unprepared regarding a foreign language.
(Lisa and I at a bar in Shinjuku, Tokyo)Fukuoka is in western Japan... it is on the northern tip of the southern island of Kyushu. And I am 30 minutes south of this biggest city in southern Japan. In fact, I am closer to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, than I am to Tokyo! I am somewhat in the mountains and the beaches are a short train ride away... and the hot springs are all nearby. Tokyo was wonderful... seeing Dan and Lisa (friends from different times in my life) on different nights; exploring Shinjuku (nice area) and Shibuya (Lost in Translation); and meeting cool folks at Orientation. This Jet Programme is very well organized and a great thing to be a part of. [I am listening to the song, "Lost For Words" by Pink Floyd right now and it's awesome... and it's awesome to have ADD too!] Anyhow, this program is set up through the Japanese Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) and they have really gotten this thing down to a science... the orientation ran like clockwork. Quite impressive and makes me look forward to having a steady job that they help set up for me. The JET community- participants (rookies and veterans), support staff, VOLUNTEERS!, and just about anyone who gets involved is awesome... it perpetuates a really good cultural exchange program. I will volunteer for something too, as I have already been helped by so many.
(City government building... uhh, huge)
I arrived with Wendy and Allison (also from my LA flight coincidentally) to Kurume and Johnathan and Kendra, who were here last year, made us dinner... they have been my informal guides/translator/ source of information.. and they have made me quite comfortable in this unfamiliar terrain. They are awesome. My supervisor, Shintani-sensei picked us up from the airport, took us out to lunch and has been taking us around town to get all the stuff done... It is amazing how efficient things have been here. When I feel down or overwhelmed, I just stop and realize that it is a fantastic place to be... because things are so clean and organized... and folks are helpful if I ask!
(Toyko at night, from the 42nd floor)
On a side note: "Shocking" is defined as "going from 1200 (maybe more) rookie teachers speaking English in one of the nicest hotels in one of the world's most expensive cities to three of us arriving in the burbs in western Japan where 'McDonald's' is the only word in English. A "trip" is a pretty good synonym for this word.
So much more to write... i'll get 'er done now... ahh
This is the first day since I arrived that there are blue skies. In about 30 minutes, I am going to ride my bike to the Kurume water festival... considering we have been getting so much rain, this seems like overkill, but it will be something entirely different probably... or it won't. I have no idea... and this is the main thing I got from Orientation... "Try everything." Such a good motto... no hesitation; try different foods; go out when invited; get out there and get active. This is my mantra now, and though difficult at times, especially post-afternoon-nap, I just have to go for it.
Another important motto is: "Ganbate" -- Do your best. Everyone makes fun of "your best" when they quote Sean Connery in The Rock. But this isn't complaining or worrying about trying your best. This is doing your best.... There is no try, there is just do! And this is the point of this paragraph. Perhaps semantic minutia, but to me it is the different between passing through a passive/victim/kvetching life (like many ignorant, rich Americans) versus one that is active /hard-working/exploring.
(Tokyo, imperial palace/gardens in green)
Drew wrote a great blog in which he made some direct observations and commentaries. It was a great reminder that I have to be the outspoken critic that I've been for 25 years. I will not stand on a soapbox, because I don't know what one is (and they are somewhat outdated even though the cliche isn't.) I have to tell things how they are... I want peace in the world and I am done trying to make. I just will do it. Or be it. Don't you try to do it either... simply, "Do It!" I would thank Nike for the use of 'their' motto... but I don't need your 'Just' while you are "Just(ly)" enslaving southeast Asians to make shoes for you at $1 a pair. And corpoorations have trademarked such common and everyday phrases and words that soon we won't even be able to speak because we'll be infringing on someone's licensing/copyright/patent... funny because they didn't even make up this language. Now I can also use this opportunity to thank American lawyers for their rush to make money by creating this gobbolly-gook... Good Ole lawyers and business execs... you have created a mess... why dont you use your millions to clean it up?
(Saved this "Lost in Translation" picture for you if you've made it to the end!- Shibuya plaza)
This blog got out of control, wow. I guess it's a waste of time to hide my passion and feelings and knowledge. And this is the only soapbox I've got, so I will stand on it and preach. Take it or leave it.
More stories and some declarations to come...
Jaane,
1 comment:
keep DOing
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