Early Observations about Japan

So whilst living in THE most beurocratic country in the world, you begin to notice things. Just little things, like, but little things that if you were to put them all together, you`d kind of develop an understanding of the bigger things. Shall I explain?

So the Japanese, from the day of conception, are nurtured to be rather somewhat submissive, and institutionalised. And very well behaved. The funniest thing for me is the way they all stand at the lights, regardless of what time it is at night, if there are even any cars on the road, and wait for the Green Man to change. Now, i know I`m not exactly the most rebellious of peeps, and you`ll often find me being on my best behaviour within the confines of the law, but don`t you all agree the red/green man is something that we`re all a little lacsidaisical about within the West. Jay Walking! We love it, (well, I definitely do), because it`s got that element of being naughty without any comebacks, bar obviously risking your life sometimes, but we can cope with that. But you should see the shock it generates - the little gasps and stares of disbelief rippling through the crowd - when I start marching over the road with not a car in sight. Now the thing that tickles, and to be honest sometimes worries me, is how I see my fellow JET`s who have already been here a year behaving like the Japanese. And this is the die hard brits who a year ago marched across regardless, not even thinking about red or green, just with goal in sight. And I do believe it is the first sign of turning Japanese.

Not that this is a problem, or course. For some people. But for me, I kind of don`t want to go down that road. There are a great many things I love about the Japanese, but there are also a great many attributes of the Japanese that I definitely don`t want to develop. I met a dude on the train the other day, who lives in Tokyo. He was travelling around Japan, getting to know his own country. What was surprising was he started a conversation with me confidently straightaway, even though his English was fairly limited. And he wasn`t nervous, or hesitant, or scowly in that too cool for school way most of the boys here walk around with. And he made jokes about the fact that he was an actor! He rolled his eyes and laughed at himself! Now, this stood out because after a month of living here, he was natural and responsive, which I have not yet come across with many of the Japanese I have met. But d`accord, he was from Tokyo! The Tokyo-ites are to Japan what Amsterdam-ites are to the rest of the Netherlands. They are a different species!

Stirling, my friend who lives next door, offers me at least one enlightenment a day on the Japanese. The other day he explained how the Japanese are socially conditioned in so many respects, that when it comes to language, they have all of these rehearsed rapports which they can exist comfortably in, never having to blag anything, or should I say, communicate with new words very rarely. So apparently, when it comes to speaking to the English, it is almost like speaking to a wild animal; it is too unpredicatable, and makes them incredibly nervous and anxious. Stirling explained this is why, although in proximity, the Korean`s are close, in their communication, they are vastly different. There is more room for unpredictability, and natural instinctive response.

I met a guy called Pete in my first days here, who made an interesting comment. The reason the JET scheme exists is for "internationalisation", to internationalise the Japanese (who are sometimes accused of being slightly xenophobic). But Pete suggested, perhaps under the guise of internationalising, we are instead being "Japanised"........ !

So, if I come back all "Ah no sumimasen" and "gomen nasai" and standing at red men flabbergasted at anybody stepping outside of the law at 11pm when there is no traffic on the road, tell me to have a little look in the mirror and have a word with myself. Onegaishimasu!