Farewell Japan
the first pic I ever took in Japan, in my Tokyo hotel
And so this tale comes to an end, and what an end it has been. Indeed Tokyo is a world apart from the rest of Japan )and bloody expensive too). Here I got to eat all my favorite foods. I ended it last night with kaiten action and today with churrasco. I think now I am officially fatter than Ronaldo in his miserable world cup performance. But, let us revisit Japan, one last time.
Before writing this last post, I decided to reread my entire blog. It took me about a week, but I did it, and actually quite enjoyed it. It was nostalgic to be sure, but it helped me see how I have evolved in the past year, it was quite interesting to see how my entries sort of gradually morphed as my perceptions did. I want to go back and highlight some things about the blog and Japan.
First, about the nomihodais (all you can drink). I did not do any here in Tokyo, but more than abused of them in Hokkaido. It is a very Japanese thing, and I quite enjoyed them, but I think it is best if the nomihodai practice stay here in Japan. I do want to have a liver, and you know, vision. Anyway, I have often written about them or alluded to them in my blog, but I assure you, I have done more in Japan than simply drink, well kind of…
I said in an early post that the great part of my house was that I would be able to walk around naked doing katas and samurai grunts whenever I pleased. I did not always do this, most of the time it was in my underwear, because of that whole winter thing. But yeah, I am a pro at fighting myself with myself.
Another thing I noticed in my blog is the wealth of references I left. In the beginning, I did not even say they were refs? But then I started doing that hoping that people would comment more just to try and guess the ref. I can’t say it was a huge hit, but every now and then I got some feed back. To be honest most of the time I would either ref Seinfeld, Family guy, Simpsons and you know, biblical stuff. Kudos to Kaki, she was the person who replied to most ref requests. Honorable mentions go to Dom Rafa and Louis who would also regularly answer.
Actually, as far as comments go, when rereading the whole blog, I noticed that people would comment in spurts. Dom Rafa was actually among the first and last to comment, although he would go some weeks without commenting. Kaki and Steph were pretty solid, especially in the beginning. Ju and Mach were also regulars, but on a less frequent basis. Louis, Alex and Leo were sporadic, sometimes commenting 4-5 times in a row, then long spurts of no comment. Dave was a late comer, but then also left his mark. Then there were the sporadic one shots, even strangers who would comment. Finally, there was the spam. At one point it got pretty intense, but for the past 6 months there has been no spam, I guess blogspot is filtering better. The longest comment goes to Francis, who wrote a dissertation. The best comment? Hmm not sure I can tell, but I will give it to Kaki for her caption, it was pretty funny. Thiago was really solid in the beginning and probably had the funniest comments throughout.
I also noticed, at least for me, that the older posts were funnier and more interesting. As time went by I would be just posting pictures and commenting on them. I guess that is why there was more commenting in the beginning. One thing that has disappointed me is that we never broke the 10comments barrier. The most comments we got was 9, on 5 separate occasions. So, I guess this is last chance for you folk to break the 10 mark. Gambatte tabarnak!
Another thing I noticed was the gradual deterioration of the quality of my English. Wow, some of the mistakes I saw were criminal. I am even embarrassed to mention them. This is a downside to the JET experience, the overall loss of English, while ironically being English teachers.
I have mentioned early on how tough it was for me to remember Japanese names. That still holds true today. They are just not easy to remember, at least not for gaijin. I am ashamed to say that there are even some co-workers I could not remember their names. At the Embassy, it was a bit easier, but mostly because I actually had to talk to them and work with them, so after 1 week, I could remember their names, and by chance, the folks I worked with had easier names to remember.
So how was my Embassy experience? Pretty Great! I actually got to do some really interesting stuff. Met and drank with some Canadian sailors. Did some research on fuel cells, ubiquitous networks, Canadian railway R&D, and of course the gaming industry, which culminated in the Tokyo game show. How was the TGS? Awesome! I played PS3, Xbox360 and a bunch of stuff I never even heard of. I am still in awe at the production value of some of the booths, like Microsoft, Sony and other big players. From what I gathered, these companies were dishing out at least 2-3 million per day, for 3 days. Ours was pretty tame in comparison. Also worthy of note, were the booth bunnies. There must have been at least 1000 of them. These birds were hired (and pretty expensive from what I was told) to just stand there in skimpy outfits to say welcome to people. And it works; guys are taking pictures left and right. Some of the outfits were extreme, even by Brazilian standards, and that is saying a lot. I guess sex does indeed sell. But still, it is the video games that steal the show; some of the stuff I saw was beyond belief. I played this game that professional baseball players and formula 1 drivers play to improve reflexes, with 3D visuals and stuff. I took many pics, sadly, I can’t post them here yet because I have already packed my USB cables.
And now? Back to Montreal. I am very happy to be going back. I was asked where would be the first place I would go and what would the first thing I would eat. I am not sure yet, I guess I will mull over it on the plane. I am actually not really looking forward to the trip itself, it will be long and I have lots of heavy bags I do not wish to carry….. ahh, how lazy I have become since coming to Japan. Who am I kidding, I have always been lazy.
So what have I learned from this year? Difficult question to answer. I learned that it is indeed very difficult for very different cultures to adapt to each other. I now better understand why international cooperation simply has not brought the fruits it has promised. But there is hope. While it is not easy to cope, it is possible. I think there are many things both cultures can learn from each other. But there is no point in me telling you, because the other thing I learnt was that unless you experience something first hand, you can never truly appreciate it.
The one thing that to me is universal is sport (well, at least to males). I have lived in 3 countries, traveled to 3 continents, over 12 countries, and seriously, the only thing that is common to all is sport. Even art can’t compete with it. To me, it is the unifying human activity. All my closets friends in Japan have come through sport: Jin through basketball, Hane and Masaki through soccer, Honda through our kendo death matches, and my elementary students through kancho tournaments.
And my impressions of the JET program? Those have varied with time. At first I thought it was a great program, then I thought it was crap, then good again, then useless, and now, I think it is good, but not for English teaching. I have always held that the JET program is better for the JETs than it is for Japan. I still think that, at least on the short term. But on the long term, the JET program is great for Japan. The decision-makers were wise in their vision. Does JET help English teaching? Not really. However, JET will accomplish something in the very long run; it will help Japan bring in capable and competent workers into a desperately aging population. Many JETs choose to stay in Japan, even after they finish their contract. Moreover, with an increasing number of gaijin in Japan, it will help diversify and further internationalize Japan. Finally, the JETs that do go back are often good promoters for Japan. They encourage their friends and families to visit, and perhaps more. So in the whole, JET is good for Japan, but not for English teaching, although, with the continuing number of JETs who stay in Japan, it is likely that English teaching will improve in the years to come.
Well, I have written too much already. I will cherish Shinshinotsu, Tokyo and Japan for decades to come. But it has also made me realize how much I miss Montreal and that it is the only city I can ever really call home. I will miss Japan, I will miss the friends I have made here, but I will leave here a grown person, and I am happy for that. In the end, the one true constant is that alcohol IS the cause and solution to all our problems.
This is dan in japan signing off for the last time, from the land where the sun sets east….
You have reached the terminus.
sayonara
posted by Dan in Japan at 7:52 AM
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