My beloved friend and former tutor saw a man jump in front of the express train today. As you can imagine, she's not taking it very well. For those that pray, please pray that she feels better soon. She can't stop thinking about it and it's really bothering her a lot. And for everyone else that watched it happen too.
I wish I could do more for her. How do you deal with watching someone commit suicide? I can't even begin to think of how I would cope. I told her I hoped she would feel better soon. I said I was sorry that she had to see that. I want to give her a hug. Thinking about how upset she is makes me upset, even more so because I can't take her memory away.
The idea of being in her shoes terrifies me. I pretty much only have one month left. I'm still holding on to the hope I won't have to witness this myself. I love you Japan, but this is too scary for me to handle.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thinking of Peace translates to Bashing Americans
Alright, let me put this into context. Two weeks ago in my Heiwa wo Kangaeru or "Thinking of Peace" class, we watched a Japanese documentary about the Iraq War called, "Little Birds." The focus of this documentary was about both the casualties and fatalities of Iraqi children and the impact it had upon their families. As you can imagine so far, it was very tough to watch. But it wasn't just because the documentary filmed a five year old girl dying while her father sobbed by her side that made me incredibly upset to the point of tears.
It was the way the American military/government was portrayed. They made them look like heartless monsters who killed children and didn't care about collateral damage. And I'm not just blaming the Japanese documentary for showing American's at their worst. I was pretty annoyed (to say in the least) with the soldiers who smirked at people protesting at them or soldiers being mean and rude when questioned. But at the same time, I know I don't act my best in weird situations - I can't imagine how on edge all those soldiers are in that kind of situation. So, when you're on edge like that, you don't say the smartest things or do the best things either.
I'm sure they found some soldiers with decent answers or at least, didn't sound like ignorant fools in the process of filming, but they only kept those that painted the picture of America the Bad.
Oh, and back to the little girl dying. The guy filming...if I could have, I would have ripped the camera from him and told him off. All throughout the film, they would zoom in on the faces of men, women and children who had nothing but the look of despair in their eyes. Their families are hurt or dead, and the person filming didn't have to the decency to treat them like humans. People are sentient. It's not like an animal you can do these kind things to and the animal won't care. These are people, suffering and you're not helping - you're shoving a camera in their face to make the rest of us queasy. I understand that these stories need to be told, but be more dignified about it Japan.
Okay, now that I've finished ranting about that - for class, we had to write a response paper for it the following week. What I said above is essentially what I wrote (in English, the teacher said it was okay) is what I said. Now this week, the teacher essentially told the American exchange students (there's six of us) that our opinions were wrong.
Unfortunately, my Japanese still isn't at the point where I'm able to catch all of this, but some of the other students understood and told me. The teacher also said something along the lines of "war is bad, always, nothing good comes out of it." Our teacher told us that she thinks that Americans are probably mean. She kept suggesting that we must be war-mongering maniacs that think it's okay to kill innocent people for a greater good (which she doesn't believe in either). So next week, we're having a discussion (which, apparently, she planned on having the not-fluent-in-Japanese-yet American students lead the discussion...but she changed her mind).
But I'm not going. For 3 reasons:
1) I wouldn't be able to defend myself.
2) I wouldn't be able to understand the other students either
3) I'd rather not be insulted...again.
What's worse is that the way she says things is in such a nice tone of voice. It sickens me really.
It was the way the American military/government was portrayed. They made them look like heartless monsters who killed children and didn't care about collateral damage. And I'm not just blaming the Japanese documentary for showing American's at their worst. I was pretty annoyed (to say in the least) with the soldiers who smirked at people protesting at them or soldiers being mean and rude when questioned. But at the same time, I know I don't act my best in weird situations - I can't imagine how on edge all those soldiers are in that kind of situation. So, when you're on edge like that, you don't say the smartest things or do the best things either.
I'm sure they found some soldiers with decent answers or at least, didn't sound like ignorant fools in the process of filming, but they only kept those that painted the picture of America the Bad.
Oh, and back to the little girl dying. The guy filming...if I could have, I would have ripped the camera from him and told him off. All throughout the film, they would zoom in on the faces of men, women and children who had nothing but the look of despair in their eyes. Their families are hurt or dead, and the person filming didn't have to the decency to treat them like humans. People are sentient. It's not like an animal you can do these kind things to and the animal won't care. These are people, suffering and you're not helping - you're shoving a camera in their face to make the rest of us queasy. I understand that these stories need to be told, but be more dignified about it Japan.
Okay, now that I've finished ranting about that - for class, we had to write a response paper for it the following week. What I said above is essentially what I wrote (in English, the teacher said it was okay) is what I said. Now this week, the teacher essentially told the American exchange students (there's six of us) that our opinions were wrong.
Unfortunately, my Japanese still isn't at the point where I'm able to catch all of this, but some of the other students understood and told me. The teacher also said something along the lines of "war is bad, always, nothing good comes out of it." Our teacher told us that she thinks that Americans are probably mean. She kept suggesting that we must be war-mongering maniacs that think it's okay to kill innocent people for a greater good (which she doesn't believe in either). So next week, we're having a discussion (which, apparently, she planned on having the not-fluent-in-Japanese-yet American students lead the discussion...but she changed her mind).
But I'm not going. For 3 reasons:
1) I wouldn't be able to defend myself.
2) I wouldn't be able to understand the other students either
3) I'd rather not be insulted...again.
What's worse is that the way she says things is in such a nice tone of voice. It sickens me really.
Monday, June 14, 2010
I Got Misty Eyes as They Said Farewell
Well, this last Saturday was definitely another highlight to my time here in Japan. The Japanology teacher, Yoshiba-sensei, took some students to Kamakura to visit temples and shrines and then finally, to see the firefly releasing ritual held at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040717&id=1230390045&l=58fa579bca
The first temple we went to was called Engaku-ji. One of my favorite things about Japan is the architecture of religious buildings. I think they are fascinating - there's always so much detail and it blows my mind that people are so talented to create something as beautiful as the shrines and temples in Japan. What made the trip even more enjoyable was the fact that the weather was simply gorgeous! Sure, it was pretty hot, but there was always a nice breeze. Oh, and the green! So much green! I went a little crazy taking pictures of trees, flowers, etc. :D
We wandered around there for a bit before we moved on. Due to everyone's pangs of hunger and heavily implied suggestions to have lunch (haha), we only spent a short time visiting two other temples. Soon, we found a restaurant with delicious soba and tempura. Incredibly satisfying.
After we filled ourselves, we made our way to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. However, we had some time to kill before the ritual would actually start so we did some more exploring/hunting for sweets. A group of us went to an ice cream shop that specialized in just a few flavors: vanilla, green tea and sweet potato. I know some people may think the last two flavors are strange, but let me tell you...they're amazing. I like the sweet potato flavor the best. I had vanilla mixed with sweet potato and I couldn't have been happier.
We made our way back to the shrine around 6:45 and were sent to our seats. As it was a ritual, it had a strict order of things. (The following explanation came the pamphlet I received).
First, the priests and attendants' hands and mouths are rinsed (we did that beforehand). Secondly, everyone goes to the ritual site. The priests and the attendants are purified (which, if I'm correct, consisted of a man waving some sort of branch in our direction). The chief priest then bows once in reverence the deity, dedicates the food and drinks offerings to the deity and dedicates the fireflies. The chief priest also reads an invocation to the deity. (Now, I'm not sure who or what this deity is, and I remember these processes with the chief priest taking a VERY long time. Not to mention, in ancient/unintelligible Japanese...no, I didn't understand a thing). The miko (shrine maidens) perform a sacred dance along to music. The chief priest and the representative of attendants dedicate a branch of a sakaki tree. A priest takes the offerings down from the alter. The chief priest again bows once in reverence to the deity. Finally, the priests and miko go in a procession to the Yanaihara Sacred Pond, a very short distance from the actual shrine. The guests, such as us, follow afterward and wait on the other side of the pond. At this point, it was very dark and soon, the priests and miko released the fireflies.
I'm just going to go ahead and sound cheesy, but honestly, it was enchanting. There was traditional music playing and slowly, you could see the fireflies darting around in the air. The point of this ritual is to "recognize the preciousness of life and season' passing, and to thank our deities for giving our life and daily bread."
And while I stood and watched, marveling at all of this, I grew a little sad. It somehow reminded me that my time here is coming to an end. It reminded me that I won't be able to see or experience things quite like this in America. It reminded me of how grateful I am to be here and for all the people who supported me. It's unfortunate that I could not take pictures because flash was not allowed, but I'll always have the image in my memory. :)
(Below is a very brief article about what I just explained)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20100614a4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+japantimes_news+%28The+Japan+Times+Headline+News+-+News+&+Business%29
After such an eventful day, the girls in our group (except for one) made the long trip back to Eda. Some of us got a bit bored and we started getting a little silly. Our silliness cost one of my friends a bit of her dignity though. While lying down on one of the seats across from me, two older men (who I unfortunately forgot about...) starting yelling, "Nee, oneechan! Motto yatte!" ("Hey, older sister! Do more!") and cheering.
For the record, they don't mean "older sister" in a literal sense. In this context, it's more along the lines of baby, sweetheart, honey, etc. - what you'd think a guy hollering at you would say in this situation.....
Yeah. Whoops. She quickly sat up properly and sat back down next to me. After some time, the two men decided to come over and chat with us. In levels of awkward, it over 9,000. But also funny. Don't worry, they didn't try anything. They told her, very enthusiastically, that she was sexy though. We left hastily once our stop came.
All in all, it was a good day.
Unfortunately, the next day, I came down with a cold. I'm thinking it has to do with the fact that the temperature dropped in the evening and my body never likes it when the weather does that. So, I'm sick...again. I was a tired, pain-ridden, snot-dripping, nasally voiced monster at school today. I think I will take off tomorrow to nip this in the butt.
Also, rainy season has officially started. Except for Thursday, every day (for the next 10 days, according to The Weather Channel's website) is either just old rain or scattered thunderstorms. Awesome sauce.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040717&id=1230390045&l=58fa579bca
The first temple we went to was called Engaku-ji. One of my favorite things about Japan is the architecture of religious buildings. I think they are fascinating - there's always so much detail and it blows my mind that people are so talented to create something as beautiful as the shrines and temples in Japan. What made the trip even more enjoyable was the fact that the weather was simply gorgeous! Sure, it was pretty hot, but there was always a nice breeze. Oh, and the green! So much green! I went a little crazy taking pictures of trees, flowers, etc. :D
We wandered around there for a bit before we moved on. Due to everyone's pangs of hunger and heavily implied suggestions to have lunch (haha), we only spent a short time visiting two other temples. Soon, we found a restaurant with delicious soba and tempura. Incredibly satisfying.
After we filled ourselves, we made our way to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. However, we had some time to kill before the ritual would actually start so we did some more exploring/hunting for sweets. A group of us went to an ice cream shop that specialized in just a few flavors: vanilla, green tea and sweet potato. I know some people may think the last two flavors are strange, but let me tell you...they're amazing. I like the sweet potato flavor the best. I had vanilla mixed with sweet potato and I couldn't have been happier.
We made our way back to the shrine around 6:45 and were sent to our seats. As it was a ritual, it had a strict order of things. (The following explanation came the pamphlet I received).
First, the priests and attendants' hands and mouths are rinsed (we did that beforehand). Secondly, everyone goes to the ritual site. The priests and the attendants are purified (which, if I'm correct, consisted of a man waving some sort of branch in our direction). The chief priest then bows once in reverence the deity, dedicates the food and drinks offerings to the deity and dedicates the fireflies. The chief priest also reads an invocation to the deity. (Now, I'm not sure who or what this deity is, and I remember these processes with the chief priest taking a VERY long time. Not to mention, in ancient/unintelligible Japanese...no, I didn't understand a thing). The miko (shrine maidens) perform a sacred dance along to music. The chief priest and the representative of attendants dedicate a branch of a sakaki tree. A priest takes the offerings down from the alter. The chief priest again bows once in reverence to the deity. Finally, the priests and miko go in a procession to the Yanaihara Sacred Pond, a very short distance from the actual shrine. The guests, such as us, follow afterward and wait on the other side of the pond. At this point, it was very dark and soon, the priests and miko released the fireflies.
I'm just going to go ahead and sound cheesy, but honestly, it was enchanting. There was traditional music playing and slowly, you could see the fireflies darting around in the air. The point of this ritual is to "recognize the preciousness of life and season' passing, and to thank our deities for giving our life and daily bread."
And while I stood and watched, marveling at all of this, I grew a little sad. It somehow reminded me that my time here is coming to an end. It reminded me that I won't be able to see or experience things quite like this in America. It reminded me of how grateful I am to be here and for all the people who supported me. It's unfortunate that I could not take pictures because flash was not allowed, but I'll always have the image in my memory. :)
(Below is a very brief article about what I just explained)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20100614a4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+japantimes_news+%28The+Japan+Times+Headline+News+-+News+&+Business%29
After such an eventful day, the girls in our group (except for one) made the long trip back to Eda. Some of us got a bit bored and we started getting a little silly. Our silliness cost one of my friends a bit of her dignity though. While lying down on one of the seats across from me, two older men (who I unfortunately forgot about...) starting yelling, "Nee, oneechan! Motto yatte!" ("Hey, older sister! Do more!") and cheering.
For the record, they don't mean "older sister" in a literal sense. In this context, it's more along the lines of baby, sweetheart, honey, etc. - what you'd think a guy hollering at you would say in this situation.....
Yeah. Whoops. She quickly sat up properly and sat back down next to me. After some time, the two men decided to come over and chat with us. In levels of awkward, it over 9,000. But also funny. Don't worry, they didn't try anything. They told her, very enthusiastically, that she was sexy though. We left hastily once our stop came.
All in all, it was a good day.
Unfortunately, the next day, I came down with a cold. I'm thinking it has to do with the fact that the temperature dropped in the evening and my body never likes it when the weather does that. So, I'm sick...again. I was a tired, pain-ridden, snot-dripping, nasally voiced monster at school today. I think I will take off tomorrow to nip this in the butt.
Also, rainy season has officially started. Except for Thursday, every day (for the next 10 days, according to The Weather Channel's website) is either just old rain or scattered thunderstorms. Awesome sauce.
Friday, June 11, 2010
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...Just Kidding!
Another little fun anecdote from riding the train.
At some point while coming home with Elizabeth and our friend Devin, I noticed a young girl in a high school (I'd like to assume) uniform looking quite concerned. I heard her say, "Gomen nasai! Sumimasen! (I'm sorry! Excuse me!)" and I thought she was trying to walk past me in the semi-crowded train. But that wasn't what she was trying to do. The second time around, she said, "I'm sorry!" and started touching my back. I twisted my head around to notice she was removing a moth that had hitched a ride on me. Needless to say, I was very surprised and immediately said, "Arigatou gozaimasu! (Thank you very much!)" She then made a mad dash through a pretty thick crowd of people, to the train doors and released it. It was quite fortunate that we were at a stop at that time. When she returned, the ladies sitting in the seats in front of us thanked her with big smiles. I also thanked her again.
It was very sweet of her. It was quite funny too. She got to use her English today ;)
Something interesting always happens on the train. From seeing people in distracting and questionable fashion (daily...it's the best), seeing people pass out and watch how the person next to them deals with the fact that a stranger is using him/her as a pillow.
Anyway, some other nice things that happen when riding the train:
People will sometimes move seats for you to sit down. For example, say I was with a friend on the train and there were two seats available. However, there is a person sitting in between the two seats. While one of us sits, the person will notice the situation and slide over to the next seat, so we could sit together. One time a man moved across the aisle so that I could take his place sit next to my friend. People will get up for elderly people and mothers with young children. It always makes me smile when it happens.
I hope you enjoy my train adventures as much as I do. Or maybe at least a little bit.
At some point while coming home with Elizabeth and our friend Devin, I noticed a young girl in a high school (I'd like to assume) uniform looking quite concerned. I heard her say, "Gomen nasai! Sumimasen! (I'm sorry! Excuse me!)" and I thought she was trying to walk past me in the semi-crowded train. But that wasn't what she was trying to do. The second time around, she said, "I'm sorry!" and started touching my back. I twisted my head around to notice she was removing a moth that had hitched a ride on me. Needless to say, I was very surprised and immediately said, "Arigatou gozaimasu! (Thank you very much!)" She then made a mad dash through a pretty thick crowd of people, to the train doors and released it. It was quite fortunate that we were at a stop at that time. When she returned, the ladies sitting in the seats in front of us thanked her with big smiles. I also thanked her again.
It was very sweet of her. It was quite funny too. She got to use her English today ;)
Something interesting always happens on the train. From seeing people in distracting and questionable fashion (daily...it's the best), seeing people pass out and watch how the person next to them deals with the fact that a stranger is using him/her as a pillow.
Anyway, some other nice things that happen when riding the train:
People will sometimes move seats for you to sit down. For example, say I was with a friend on the train and there were two seats available. However, there is a person sitting in between the two seats. While one of us sits, the person will notice the situation and slide over to the next seat, so we could sit together. One time a man moved across the aisle so that I could take his place sit next to my friend. People will get up for elderly people and mothers with young children. It always makes me smile when it happens.
I hope you enjoy my train adventures as much as I do. Or maybe at least a little bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)