Pre-Departure Seminar

Yesterday was the pre-departure seminar in NYC for JETs leaving out of New York. I had to wake up at 4:45 to make it to the bus station in time for a 6am bus into the city. Ended up sitting around in a Starbucks from 8-9:30 waiting for registration. Survived the rest of the day on a caffeine high....

I ended up really enjoying the event, but not as much for the reasons intended by the coordinators. While the event was designed as one big, repetitive Q&A, I personally found it most rewarding to attend because it was a chance to put faces to the personalities I've been talking to on forums and such. It was also a chance to talk with other people in the same boat as me, putting the waiting and anxiousness into perspective and driving home that I'm not in that boat alone.

It was especially great getting to know some of the people who will be in the same prefecture, who I'll probably be seeing a lot more of in the future. They say that having a strong support network in Japan is important for maintaining sanity when culture shock and depression are at their worst, and I can really see how that could be the case. I'm really looking forward to getting to know the people I've already met as well as the others in my prefecture from around the world within the coming months.

At this point in time, I'm very restless, anxiously awaiting the beginning of this next chapter of my life. I received my contract in the mail, and I'll be signing and mailing it back this week. I should also hear details regarding my specific placement, travel itinerary, etc. in the next week or so. I'll definitely be updating once I've found out some of that info.

Blue means go???

I'm waiting at an intersection in Tokyo a couple years ago, speaking with a friend. She looks up, and says "Oh, it's blue, let's go!" referring to the pedestrian traffic light. "Don't you mean green?" I say as we hurry to cross the street, double checking to confirm that I haven't missed a major difference in Japanese traffic signals. The light is in fact the exact same shade of green I'd expect from back home in the U.S. "No, no, street lights are blue; red, yellow, blue." From this exchange, I wondered, do Japanese people have some unique sensory perception where in specific contexts only, they perceive the world in a different color than everyone else?

Well, the reality is, in the Japanese language, traffic lights are 赤 (red), 黄 (yellow), 青 (blue) while their actual physical colors remain rather consistent with international standards (in English: red, yellow, and green). This especially came as a surprise to me because I knew that there existed a word for green in Japanese, 緑 (green).

As it turns out, there are a number of languages around the world that do not distinguish between green and blue. To speakers of these languages, you would use the same word to describe the color of a leaf and the color of the sky, or else you would qualify it as "leaf blue/green" or "sky blue/green". Linguists use the attractive word "grue" to describe this unspecified blue/green color designation.

For Japan, this very phenomenon was the case, only having the word 青 (read "ao") which today is used effectively as blue. Prior to World War II, this word was used to describe everything we would regard in the realm of blue and green, and it was not until the occupation following the war that linguistic distinguishment between green and blue arose. It is from this era that the word 緑 (read "midori") arose as more than just a shade of "ao" and instead came to distinguish green colors as different from blue ones....for the most part.

There remain a few culturally lasting exceptions where the traditional term "ao" is still used to describe what would technically/perceptually fall under the category of green. These exceptions include traffic signals, grass, leaves, as well as a few others. So, when a Japanese person says that a traffic light is "red, yellow, and blue", they are literally translating a culturally lingering linguistic vestige, not indicating a unique sensory perception.

For more information regarding linguistic distinctions of color, as well as descriptions of various languages that have their own versions of "grue", click here.

懐かしい思い出 - Fond Memories

I was looking through and organizing all of my old photos from the last time I visited Japan, and ended up digging up a lot of great memories and nostalgic feelings. You can take a look at a slide show I made of some of my favorites here.

During the spring semester of 2007, my sophomore year of college, I studied abroad in Tokyo. While I was there, I took numerous classes related to Asian Studies, mostly because they didn't offer any courses that would count toward my Physics major. It was during that semester that I discovered my true passion for the Social Sciences. As a result, I graduated with a double major in Asian Studies and Physics. Now I have a job I'll be starting in Japan. The direction of my life definitely did a 180° as a result of my experiences there, and I really can't say I have any regrets.

While there, I did the big touristy thing and saw various shrines and other historical locales. I took a trip up to Sapporo, Hokkaido and had the awe-inspiring experience of seeing the annual Snow Festival (雪祭り). However, the greatest experiences I had in Japan involved going out of my comfort zone and befriending native Japanese schoolmates. It was through those friendships that I really found the Japan beneath the surface, the elements of Japan that tourists just don't get a real feel for. The deepest and most meaningful memories are the ones made through relationships with others, through adventures off the beaten path, to the world that's not set up for advertisements on a billboard or in a travel guide.

The best advice I can give to anyone who travels to another country, another culture, hoping to get a feel for a whole new world, the best advice I can give is this: Find people, not just buildings, landmarks, and museums; they have a lot more to say. Communicate with them as best you can, whether you're fluent or not. You'd be surprised how many emotions, sentiments, and basic human behaviors are universal. Be open to new ideas, which includes a realization that the way you might be used to doing things is not necessarily the only way or the best way. Lastly, realize that no matter how much you study, research, and experience, your comprehension and appreciation for a foreign culture will never reach the thoroughness or depth that a native has. Be sensitive to the fact that you are student in this world and qualify yourself accordingly.

1 month, 16 days to launch!

First Post! Introductions & 1st Vlog

This is my first blog on this website. To everyone reading this, welcome.

From my profile:

I am E, and yes, that is my real, complete, original, unabbreviated first name. I've attempted blogs in the past, but this is something a little bit different. First, I plan to integrate various mediums of content. There will be regular textual blogs, posting of pictures, etc. as well as videos I generate which will include video blogs (vlogs). The other big change is that I have graduated college, and I hope to capture a little bit of my life and experiences here as I enter into the real world.

I am participating in an English teaching program in Japan known as the JET Program. This program is an opportunity to bring a native speaker of English into the classrooms of Japan, as well as affording the opportunity for exchange of culture. For me, this is an opportunity to obtain training and experience in teaching while also giving me the immersion experience necessary for mastery of the Japanese language.

That being said, my experiences, observations, and adventures in Japan will likely dominate the content here. I welcome all who happen to visit this blog, and look forward to your comments, questions, advice, and constructive criticism.

I will be leaving for Japan on July 25th, and until then, I'm anxiously awaiting this momentous next chapter in my life.