The Pain
And so it is that my trip back home has come to an end. I begin to feel something all-too-familiar.
It’s the catch 22. The snag. The hook.
Or the cost. It’s the cost of the adventure, the travel.
Lots of people say they love to travel. They love to experience another culture. This is only partially true. It would be more accurate if these people said, “I love to be a tourist.”
There is nothing wrong with being a tourist. I’ve been a tourist in several countries. You learn from being a tourist, and it’s also a lot of fun.
But there is a difference between being a tourist and an alien. The biggest difference is this catch 22, this pain that most aliens know. We never talk about it. Maybe because it’s understood- we all know it, and we all know that it is what it is, and there is nothing to be done about it. It is not heavy, but it is always there. It is our silent passenger. It is the weight in each of our hearts that we hide in every snapshot of us doing something cool.
It is the pain of leaving our families and homes. The price of the adventure is high. But you get what you pay for.
I miss Japan. I miss my Japanese friends, my apartment, speaking Japanese. And when I’m there, I miss my American friends, my home, my family.
But I do love to travel. And this is the cost.
Stop SOPA
Hey everyone- this blog is moving to a host that doesn’t support SOPA. If you are using Go Daddy, STOP NOW and transfer to another host.
You may experience some downtime as this blog is transferred.
SOPA is basically an attempt by corporations to censor the internet. It is parading around as a support of copyright laws. This is false.
I support copyright law. I do not support corporate censorship.
If you haven’t read about SOPA (because most major news networks don’t cover it; their corporate interests support SOPA), you can find more information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
[EDIT: Go Daddy has since turned around their support of policy. They claim to no longer support SOPA. Too late, in my opinion. The blog has moved to Name Cheap.]
Christmas
Christmas in Japan is strange. As foreigners living in Japan, we often comment or make jokes about the misinterpretation of holidays.
But, unfortunately, there is nothing funny about this. Christmas in America is becoming what Christmas in Japan already is- a hollow, commercial holiday. Christmas has been interpreted as a day of giving gifts and getting lucky.
No family.
No Jesus.
I’m not sure if many Japanese people are even aware that Christmas is (used to be?) a religious day. Even with the continued secularization of Christmas in the US, the day still holds a sense of sacredness. There are traditions, stories, and values on Christmas, even for the secular. Family time. Not working. Giving to the poor.
I hope that this lack of depth in Japanese Christmas reflects the novelty of the holiday- and not shallowness. Much like Halloween, I get the feeling that Christmas is an infant holiday, growing at a rapid rate. I want to see the identity of this day grow.
On another note, I was Santa Clause the other day for Elementary School. I was partially sickened, partially angered.
“Do you want me to speak Japanese to the children?”
“No! Santa Clause speaks English!”
I am afraid that Japanese children are learning that Christmas is an American (not Christian) holiday when a fat, white, monolingual man brings people presents. I told a friend that they should make Santa a Japanese man in Japan, and he should speak Japanese.
“But can you really picture Father Christmas as a Japanese man?” he asked.
“They have black Jesuses in Africa,” I replied. “Why not?”
Even the Japanese saying of “Merry Christmas” upsets me. Japan needs to have it own (Japanese) phrase for Christmas.
Futon
I’ve commented on futons before, but I’ve gotten some questions about them so I’ve decided to write a post about them.
Japanese futons are not like American futons. Japanese futons are awesome. This is how it works. You have a foam pad, and then you put the futon on top of that. The futon is best described as “a very thick comforter stuffed with cotton.” It’s like a cotton matt or pad. I think you can buy them stuffed with other things too, but I’m not sure.
This is what you sleep on. And then you cover yourself with another comforter. No sheets, no blankets. I mean, sure, you can use them if you want- but usually just the comforter is enough. The comforter that you put on top, and the matt that you sleep on both have covers. It’s basically like a giant pillow cover. So when you need to wash your futon it’s no big deal- you just take the covers off and wash them.
When the weather is warm and sunny, I take the matt and the comforter outside and hang them over my balcony. I have special “clips” that hold them in place and prevent them from falling off the balcony.
One thing that you have to be careful about with the futon is moisture. Especially during the summer, sweat and humidity can get trapped in the futon, or between the futon and your floor, and cause mold to grow. For this reason, it’s important to fold up and store your futon every day. I put mine in my closet. And during the summer, I air out my futon more often than in winter.
Sleeping on a futon is very comfortable. I like firm mattresses, so the switch to a futon was not difficult. It’s also very easy to move and would make moving apartments a breeze. Additionally, when you fold it up and store it during the day, it gives you more room to do other things.
I bought a new pad and matt when I came to Japan. They cost about $90 total. If you care for your futon, it can last the rest of your life. Sounds better than a bed to me. They’re also much more convenient for guests. When I have company spending the night, I just pull out some additional futons and spread them on the floor, and we’re good to go. Because a lot of us already use futons, sleeping at a friend’s house is just as comfortable as sleeping in your own bed.
And that’s about it for futons.
Culture Shock
I thought I would tell you a little bit about culture shock. Culture shock is most often depicted as the following: you go to a new culture and you fall in love with everything. Everything is new and exciting, and incredibly interesting. Then you see something completely crazy, and you’re suddenly horrified by the culture you’re in. You spend your time alone in your apartment, dreading going outside and being in your new culture. Then you slowly acclimatize, and come to like your new culture again.
This depiction is partially accurate.
Culture Shock is more of a process than an isolated event. It’s not like you get “culture shocked” and then it’s over. It’s a cycle. And it’s not usually triggered by a “catastrophic” event. For example, I’m prone to get culture shock in the grocery store. This is because I don’t know what a lot of the things are, and I can’t read (some of) the labels. I become very angry or frustrated- most likely because going to the grocery store at home was very easy. Here, it’s not as easy.
I can feel culture shock coming on when I get angry very quickly. Or something frustrates me more than it should. At this point, I realize it’s the collective stress of living in a different culture. Maybe it’s better to call Culture Shock “Culture Stress.”
Dealing with culture shock is relatively easy. I go home, eat some peanut butter and watch some American TV. If I can, I will hang out with my English-speaking friends, or stream some American radio from home. After I destress a bit, I’l study Japanese. The effects of culture shock weaken with every new word I learn.
