-Japanese people are still some of the nicest I've ever met!
Whether it's working in the lab, traveling, sending and receiving mail, ordering food, shopping, or learning karate, everyone I've met is incredibly helpful and nice. Earlier this week when I was leaving Kyoto, a lady on the bus actually walked me from the bus stop to the shinkansen gate of the train station. She even offered to carry my roller bag for me when we had to go down a set of stairs! All in all, the Japanese people are always willing to go out of their way to make sure that your experience is good and that you are taken care of. This is also the safest I've felt while traveling in a foreign country, and I think many people here on the EAPSI fellowship would feel the same way regardless of what city they are in.
-Japanese people think their culture is strange to Westerners
Dr. Iguchi introduced me to one of his colleagues this week who knew Nancy and one of her post-docs. When he asked me if I liked Japan and I told him I did, he said "I think the Japanese culture is a little strange." This seems to be the basic mindset of the Japanese people, which is partially why I think they are so surprised when Westernerns know how to use chopsticks, can speak a few words, and why when we show interest in Japanese things they get very excited. I think the strangeness of some things is what also makes this culture very beautiful and interesting to Western people, but I have had a hard time explaining that when I talk to other Japanese people about their culture.
-All hail the Western Toilet!
I've seen some bad bathrooms back in the USA, namely on long road trips and outdoor adventures. But those places seem like a 5-star hotel once you've experience the squat toilet...I only had to use them 5-6 times this whole trip, but every time I see that it's my only option I get a little frustrated. I think there's a better way to do it than how I do it, but the "beginner's" way is to completely take off the clothes on the lower half of my body and then hoping for the best :I so next time you see a bad bathroom at some dirty old rest stop, remember that at least that toilet is not on the floor!!
-Karate lessons: good for the body and mind
Karate has also been a great way to get to know the Japanese people, and I enjoy going to class every Tuesday and Friday night. There is an adorable yellow belt girl who's about 10 years old and talks to me every time I see her; I think she only recently realized I don't speak Japanese :) I was honored last night to visit the main school in Toyohashi and join their class. It was a 3-hour long class (yikes!) but the time went really fast. After class, I got to talk one-on-one with a karate grandmaster and learn from him about the culture of budo (Japanese martial arts).
One of the coolest things I've learned from karate class is the concept of "rubber vs steel" It was explained to me last week and then the grandmaster talked more about it. In karate, you keep your body loose and rubbery for 99.9% of the time. For that split second when you strike, you become steel. If you're steel all the time, your strikes aren't as strong, and if you're rubber all the time your strikes aren't anything. This really hit home for me and has been one of those life "A-ha!" moments. I've noticed how tense I can be sometimes, not only while doing karate but also just in general. In karate, I try to sense when I'm getting tense and then relaxing my body more when I'm not punching or kicking. In life, I'm trying to be more aware of and more in control of my outlets for tension (namely fidgeting and worrying). My goal after this trip is to continue to incorporate this concept into my life in order to have the most strength (steel-ness) at those critical moments when I need it the most.
I also learned about the power system (power control/rubber vs steel, core strength, and "free" limb movements/strikes) and how this forms the core of the budo. The grandmaster compared the power system to the roots of the tree: the most important part that's never seen. What is seen is the trunk (the stances) and the branches and flowers (kicks, punches, and fancy stuff). He said that when most people think of karate, they think of the flowers of the tree but never see the strong roots that allow those beautiful flowers to grow. And, of course, before your tree can have such beautiful flowers it needs strong roots. Grandmaster also said that the old style of karate didn't have any fancy moves like round kicks or spinning kicks but focused on strengthening very simple techniques instead. The grandmaster had a really great way of explaining the concept of budo and the importance of having strong basic skills before moving on to the advanced skills.
Depending on what schools are in Gainesville, I may try to get back into a martial art (preferably karate based on the old style, which is also what this school uses). I forgot how much I missed doing Tae Kwon Do and how good of an outlet it can be for me. And now I can bring with me a more mature perspective of myself and the importance of forming the foundation before adding the trim. Since that probably won't happen until after quals, I will begin by incorporating these budo principles into my life before putting them into a martial art.
-Nihongo ga wakarimasu ka? Sumimasen ga chotto...
I thought by now that I would be better at Japanese: I was doing exercises in the workbook and on Rosetta stone when I first got here, but then I sort of tapered off when I got busy with other things like karate, swimming at the gym, traveling, going out with the lab/the guys...This has been the one thing that would have been really good for me to continue with but I just ran out of time! It's a fun language to speak and listen to but the kanji is definitely intimidating. I can recognize a few characters (like the name of the Okazaki train station, a good one to know!) and can pick up a few words in conversation but otherwise get pretty lost when people try to talk to me in Japanese. Ahh well, you can't win them all!
Even though I'm not fluent, I've still learned some interesting phrases and words. One of my favorites so far is "oss." We say it in karate class instead of "yes sir/ma'am" in response to commands from the instructor, and from what I could tell by its use it conveyed "thank you", "yes", or "I understand". It comes from two kanji characters: 押忍 The first character literally means "push" and symbolizes fighting. The second literally means "suffering" and symbolizes perseverance. The way that the grandmaster translated its deeper meaning to be was "I have confidence, but I do not brag," and the phrase was used by samurai warriors. I thought this was really sugoi! So even if you don't speak a language you can still learn some cool stuff about it.
Another way I've been able to learn more about the language/culture while still being able to use English has been by reading The Tale of Genji (in English, of course!). The story is pretty racy (Genji is a pretty popular guy, let's just say) but it has a lot of cultural insights into Japanese life in the 10th century. The translator does a great job at explaining the phrases that maybe didn't translate perfectly from Japanese and also gives commentary on the story for those who aren't well-versed in medieval life in Japan. It's definitely been an interesting read, and it's cool to be reading a 1000 year-old book that was written by a woman!!
Well, so much for writing a short post...maybe now that I've got more of my thoughts down my NEXT post will be short? Not likely ;)
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