One measly week from now and I'll be boarding a plane set for the other side of the globe. Talk about mind-blowing, right? It's finally becoming a very real thing, as I went through the process of converting a chunk of change into traveler's cheques two days ago. And I'll tell you, jumping through those flaming hoops was something special. I can't tell you how many banks, credit unions, and grocery store branches of banks I had to contact to find out who would sell cheques to someone who isn't a customer at their company. But eventually I got it taken care of and now I hold a bunch of slips of paper I need to sign before I leave.
In addition, I finished paying for the plane ticket this afternoon. Nothing like walking out of a building $700 poorer! But it's definitely happening now. I can't help but get the shakes, getting all nervous over learning (and speaking) more Japanese before I go. I really hope the studying I've done in the past few months is enough to help me at least string together some sentences while abroad. I'm sure it'll come to be more natural eventually... but I'm still (understandably) nervous about speaking in front of anyone. My pronunciation is likely awful =[ I'll need all the luck I can get! Meanwhile, making a full Anki flashcard deck of the vocabulary from Genki that I've learned thus far. Most of it I learned back during the class I took at Santa Ana College two years ago. But there are a few things (きっぷ, ticket) that I wasn't aware of prior to the lesson. So it's been a good fusion of review and new material thus far. Still a week left to focus, but not a lot of free time when one factors in work and last-minute preparations. Moving out tomorrow doesn't exactly help keep the stress levels down either. I'll miss having my own place, without a doubt, but the cost of rent + not having pets is just too much to handle at the moment. If I can find a good-paying job and a place that allows for my lovely snake/cat duo, I know I'll be in my happy place. Growing up is such a complicated thing. Everyone makes it sound like just a "necessary progression of life" that you can't stop, but I've learned that that's not always so simple or straightforward.
Anyways, to keep on topic: Japan. Excited. Money. Pain. Busy! Focus. Determined. Wistful. Bittersweet. Memories.
Life.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Pre-Abroad Post: Day -13
It's absolutely mind-boggling that in less than two weeks, I'll have stepped foot in another country. And not just any country either. I've dreamed of going to Japan since as far back as I can remember. It's hard to trace exactly where my Japan-love stemmed originally from. Was it cartoons/anime like Pokemon and Dragonball Z? Was it the video games that major Japanese studios like Squaresoft and Nintendo released on the Game Boy and PlayStation? All I know is that only recently have I started to better understand what draws me now to the Japanese culture and why I hold it in such high regard.
*WARNING* The following is populated with generalizations. As is always the case, there are exceptions (sometimes in abundance), but one should not deny the existence of common trends in societies. Despite the negative connotations of "stereotypes", they are generally built upon valid observations recorded over a set period of time.
The Japanese are immensely polite and consumed by utilizing honorifics. The language itself shows how ingrained the concept of the social ladder is in the society. At the most basic level, the suffixes of "-san", "-dono", "-sempai", and "-kohai" all exhibit properties reflecting how two people differ in "value" or "worth". This is oftentimes inextricably linked with the concept of seniority, particularly in the education system and the work place. An upperclassman in a school club has more say in club matters than a freshman inductee. There is an intense, complicated, and extremely time-consuming process of making a suggestion to a supervisor at work on how something like productivity could be improved. The act of saying "it might help if we do X instead" is just not how it is done in Japan. The directness can be easily translated into an offensive gesture, implying that things are so inefficient as is and can be so readily improved upon.
I like the Japanese ideology behind politeness and respect because it helps to treat other individuals as fully-realized human beings, and not just means to an end. Too often I feel that we go about our days utilizing the services of others without understanding that a human being, with the capability to reason and emote, is cleaning up our tables after a meal. Or scanning our fruit at the grocery. Being grateful for their services, and their being grateful for our patronage, is an important concept to keep in mind.
The fusion of tradition and modern. Reading a Japanese history book will clue you in as to exactly why there is such a juxtaposition of new and old in this island-nation. Having been essentially forced into becoming a "modern" society by the arrival of Commodore Perry of the USA, Japan had relatively little time to learn from other nations around the industrial revolution. They felt the need to "catch up" to the other major players in the world, and as more technology was adopted, the question of "what does it mean to be Japanese?" became increasingly difficult to answer. What made the Japanese unique in this world of trains, planes, and automobiles? Aided by the honor and seniority system, the elder-most citizens who clung tightly to tradition were held on high, teaching future generations to continue the cycle and honor thy parentage, as well as thy past. For we would not be here were it not for the efforts of those who came before us. So tradition remained tradition and cultural values stayed cultural values, shifting relatively slowly, if at all, over time.
It amazes me that we can look at anything in the USA and say "that's no older than 300 some-odd years old", while going to Japan transforms that into "that's no older than, oh, say a few THOUSAND years old". Sure, we can find this in many other European or Asian countries, but I think the fact that traditions have stuck around so assuredly over time, for example the practice of ikebana (flower art), kyudo (traditional archery), and chado (tea ceremony), gives the country some distinctiveness. There is still much respect (and income) for a professional calligrapher who can properly sweep a brush across a canvas. Honoring the past while embracing the future; another concept to keep in mind.
Finally (so as to not draw this out any longer, because I could go on), I have found my love for Japan, culture and people, as a result of their hard work and perseverance. Yes, we can say that there have been other nations who have had their ups and downs, from civil war to glorious rebirth and all things in between. But Japan stands alone in being a nation that went from a divided city-state smattering of islands to a united empire, from being not allowed to sit at the same global "table" as the big players of the USA and Britain to becoming the second wealthiest nation in the world, and from transcending above the atomic bombs, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes to reaching the height of the technological era. The Japanese are a proud people, as are other nations, but for different reasons. They know what they have come back from, time and time again, and learned from any mistakes made prior. When the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 demolished the lower-east coast of Japan, leveling Tokyo and Yokohama while a nearby typhoon picked up the numerous fires spread, creating "fire twisters" many would refer to as Hell on Earth, the Japanese picked up the pieces and started again. They saw where they needed to focus efforts: earthquake protection. Instead of floundering about in mourning, when the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami wrecked upper Japan, the Japanese got to work immediately rebuilding roads and structures. And perhaps needless to say, after the devastation done to the country as a whole from World War II, they would, as a nation, stand united to help those in need of care. Any age, religion, political viewpoint could be seen during the news coverage of the 2011 disaster helping to free victims from the rubble. The solidarity, determination, perseverance, and collectivism of the Japanese are all concepts I feel we should seek to integrate into our daily lives.
Whew. That was a mouthful. I would love to hear any thoughts, opinions, comments, dissents, agreements, or musings in the comments section below. If you read all that... thank you, and I'm sorry for subjecting you to such a blathering of ideologies. I promise the next post will be more "personal", in some sense of the word.
13 DAYS AHHHHH!!
*WARNING* The following is populated with generalizations. As is always the case, there are exceptions (sometimes in abundance), but one should not deny the existence of common trends in societies. Despite the negative connotations of "stereotypes", they are generally built upon valid observations recorded over a set period of time.
The Japanese are immensely polite and consumed by utilizing honorifics. The language itself shows how ingrained the concept of the social ladder is in the society. At the most basic level, the suffixes of "-san", "-dono", "-sempai", and "-kohai" all exhibit properties reflecting how two people differ in "value" or "worth". This is oftentimes inextricably linked with the concept of seniority, particularly in the education system and the work place. An upperclassman in a school club has more say in club matters than a freshman inductee. There is an intense, complicated, and extremely time-consuming process of making a suggestion to a supervisor at work on how something like productivity could be improved. The act of saying "it might help if we do X instead" is just not how it is done in Japan. The directness can be easily translated into an offensive gesture, implying that things are so inefficient as is and can be so readily improved upon.
I like the Japanese ideology behind politeness and respect because it helps to treat other individuals as fully-realized human beings, and not just means to an end. Too often I feel that we go about our days utilizing the services of others without understanding that a human being, with the capability to reason and emote, is cleaning up our tables after a meal. Or scanning our fruit at the grocery. Being grateful for their services, and their being grateful for our patronage, is an important concept to keep in mind.
The fusion of tradition and modern. Reading a Japanese history book will clue you in as to exactly why there is such a juxtaposition of new and old in this island-nation. Having been essentially forced into becoming a "modern" society by the arrival of Commodore Perry of the USA, Japan had relatively little time to learn from other nations around the industrial revolution. They felt the need to "catch up" to the other major players in the world, and as more technology was adopted, the question of "what does it mean to be Japanese?" became increasingly difficult to answer. What made the Japanese unique in this world of trains, planes, and automobiles? Aided by the honor and seniority system, the elder-most citizens who clung tightly to tradition were held on high, teaching future generations to continue the cycle and honor thy parentage, as well as thy past. For we would not be here were it not for the efforts of those who came before us. So tradition remained tradition and cultural values stayed cultural values, shifting relatively slowly, if at all, over time.
It amazes me that we can look at anything in the USA and say "that's no older than 300 some-odd years old", while going to Japan transforms that into "that's no older than, oh, say a few THOUSAND years old". Sure, we can find this in many other European or Asian countries, but I think the fact that traditions have stuck around so assuredly over time, for example the practice of ikebana (flower art), kyudo (traditional archery), and chado (tea ceremony), gives the country some distinctiveness. There is still much respect (and income) for a professional calligrapher who can properly sweep a brush across a canvas. Honoring the past while embracing the future; another concept to keep in mind.
Finally (so as to not draw this out any longer, because I could go on), I have found my love for Japan, culture and people, as a result of their hard work and perseverance. Yes, we can say that there have been other nations who have had their ups and downs, from civil war to glorious rebirth and all things in between. But Japan stands alone in being a nation that went from a divided city-state smattering of islands to a united empire, from being not allowed to sit at the same global "table" as the big players of the USA and Britain to becoming the second wealthiest nation in the world, and from transcending above the atomic bombs, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes to reaching the height of the technological era. The Japanese are a proud people, as are other nations, but for different reasons. They know what they have come back from, time and time again, and learned from any mistakes made prior. When the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 demolished the lower-east coast of Japan, leveling Tokyo and Yokohama while a nearby typhoon picked up the numerous fires spread, creating "fire twisters" many would refer to as Hell on Earth, the Japanese picked up the pieces and started again. They saw where they needed to focus efforts: earthquake protection. Instead of floundering about in mourning, when the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami wrecked upper Japan, the Japanese got to work immediately rebuilding roads and structures. And perhaps needless to say, after the devastation done to the country as a whole from World War II, they would, as a nation, stand united to help those in need of care. Any age, religion, political viewpoint could be seen during the news coverage of the 2011 disaster helping to free victims from the rubble. The solidarity, determination, perseverance, and collectivism of the Japanese are all concepts I feel we should seek to integrate into our daily lives.
Whew. That was a mouthful. I would love to hear any thoughts, opinions, comments, dissents, agreements, or musings in the comments section below. If you read all that... thank you, and I'm sorry for subjecting you to such a blathering of ideologies. I promise the next post will be more "personal", in some sense of the word.
13 DAYS AHHHHH!!
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