The land of the rising sun

I am now into my first month in the land of the rising sun. I think I've finally found a comfortable pace here, but the sad thing is that I have only a month and a half left here. I now realize that to truly experience living in a foreign country, you have to live there without having a specified return date. I realize no matter how much I work at getting the most of my experience here right now, the bottom line is I'm leaving in a few months and due to the circumstances of being a student that needs to graduate, I couldn't stay even if I wanted to. Everytime I meet a new person I usually get the same three questions: Where are you from? When did you arrive here? and Where are you leaving? It's the last question that most directly impacts how the relationship initially develops. After moving from place to place so often, I think I've gotten used to meeting new people, developing relationships and then leaving; it's almost a fact of life for me as strange as that may seem.

Being in Japan this time has really given me the time to see some different angles to life that I've either never noticed before, or didn't have the time to deal with. For instance, recently I was chatting with my host mother about whether it is rare or unusual for a Japanese student to be ambitious the Japanese word that she used was 志（kokorozashi) which is similar in meaning to ambition, but with only the positive connotation. In her opinion, every stage of life in Japan, be it the college years, post college years, 30s, 40s,50s etc. has a goal that can be associated with it. For example, during high school, the ultimate goal that people with kokorozashi work towards is getting into a good college; in this sense Japan is very much like America. Another example she offered was the middle aged salary man (aka. company worker) working towards being promoted to department head. I originally asked her the question referring more to students with a desire or passion to change the world, but I guess that much was lost in translation. Our conversation ended with her offering up her opinion on the situation of women in Japan. In her opinion, most Japanese women don't have this kokorozashi, simply because it is nonsensical in a culture that, one way or another, forces women down a singular path towards motherhood and housewifedom(I don't think that's a real word, but whatever I'm in Japan) I was sad to hear her honest assessment of the state of Japanese women in the 21st Century, but I don't think I've lost hope yet. However, I am still quite surprised by the difference between women in America and women in Japan; of course my opinion is a generalization, perhaps an over-generalization, but from what I've experienced and heard, girls are brought up to not expect a happinness greater than that of marrying well and living a comfortable, happy family life. While this in of itself is a tremendous blessing to have, thinking about the truth of this reality makes me somewhat dissapointed and sad. Perhaps being the type of person raised to chase after pipe dreams and clouds in the sky (thanks dad!) has made my perspective on the "good life" a bit skewed in favor of a passion filled pursuit of nothing less than one's own pie in the sky. I know that at twenty-one, I cannot fathom or understand the happinness and joy that my host parents receive from living a comfortable family life. Perhaps that is something I will come to understand better during my stay here.

Well that's enough of my rambling... As for an update on my state of affairs: classes are good, food is good, play-time is good, sleeping could use some work, film project is well underway, finished writing my script and translating into Japanese, now I just need to finish casting the roles and start shooting next week. Wish me luck!

Tomorrow all the SCTI kids will be heading to Hiroshima thanks, once again, to Mrs. Bing. It will undoubtedly be something to remember, and surely something to write about.

Until next time...