Memories of Japan (the GREATEST Summer of my life)
Last week marked the fourth anniversary of my return from my visit to Singapore and Japan, and subsequently, the fourth anniversary of the realized sadness in my life that I’m not there now!
Of course, reality is what it is…could my family and I exist in Japan? It’s probable, but not very likely. I couldn’t exist in Japan without my family, so the likelihood of my ever living there is miniscule. I exist in Japan through my Japanese friends, my non-Japanese friends who will soon be living there teaching English, my memories of my visit there, and my continuous self-induced immersion in as many aspects of Japanese culture as I can identify.
In times of stress and confusion, I have turned to “thoughts of Japan” for years, even before my adventure there. Since my visit, the performance of this stress-reduction strategy has increased tenfold; having been there, lived and breathed every essence of what is nihongo possible during my brief stay, seen, smelled, touched, and tasted the experience of Japan…it’s all had such a profound effect upon my life.
Everybody’s got their quirks, and I’m no different…when the road is rough, nothing says “take it easy, sport” like some enka music, a cup of green tea, and a hot bowl of miso. As much work as it is, I really enjoy Japanese cooking (especially rolling sushi) as a ‘diversion,’ plus my kids always want to participate and I think that’s fantastic. Alternately, a hot bowl of udon and a kool chambara flick is a great ‘diversion’ as well…I get the best of both worlds; feudal Japan and tasty noodles!
Probably one of my favorite Japanese ‘diversions’ is watching tapes of Japanese TV shows, especially the music programs. As my understanding of the Japanese language progresses (and I start to FINALLY recognize some of the characters!), this is a great way to hear some great music, watch some fun performances, and also ‘feel around’ the language as most of the programs post the lyrics at the bottom of the screen.
For years, I had a wallpaper on my desktop at work that was a beautiful picture of Fuji-yama with a neat little red torii at the bottom of the frame, dwarfed immeasurably by the majestic peaks. I put something different up some months ago, but the way things are going now (especially now that I realize it’s been four years since I visited Japan), I think Fuji-yama needs to come back…soon…
Of course, reality is what it is…could my family and I exist in Japan? It’s probable, but not very likely. I couldn’t exist in Japan without my family, so the likelihood of my ever living there is miniscule. I exist in Japan through my Japanese friends, my non-Japanese friends who will soon be living there teaching English, my memories of my visit there, and my continuous self-induced immersion in as many aspects of Japanese culture as I can identify.
In times of stress and confusion, I have turned to “thoughts of Japan” for years, even before my adventure there. Since my visit, the performance of this stress-reduction strategy has increased tenfold; having been there, lived and breathed every essence of what is nihongo possible during my brief stay, seen, smelled, touched, and tasted the experience of Japan…it’s all had such a profound effect upon my life.
Everybody’s got their quirks, and I’m no different…when the road is rough, nothing says “take it easy, sport” like some enka music, a cup of green tea, and a hot bowl of miso. As much work as it is, I really enjoy Japanese cooking (especially rolling sushi) as a ‘diversion,’ plus my kids always want to participate and I think that’s fantastic. Alternately, a hot bowl of udon and a kool chambara flick is a great ‘diversion’ as well…I get the best of both worlds; feudal Japan and tasty noodles!
Probably one of my favorite Japanese ‘diversions’ is watching tapes of Japanese TV shows, especially the music programs. As my understanding of the Japanese language progresses (and I start to FINALLY recognize some of the characters!), this is a great way to hear some great music, watch some fun performances, and also ‘feel around’ the language as most of the programs post the lyrics at the bottom of the screen.
For years, I had a wallpaper on my desktop at work that was a beautiful picture of Fuji-yama with a neat little red torii at the bottom of the frame, dwarfed immeasurably by the majestic peaks. I put something different up some months ago, but the way things are going now (especially now that I realize it’s been four years since I visited Japan), I think Fuji-yama needs to come back…soon…
posted by Stevo at 12:23 PM
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