Japan

This is a potentially offensive post.  But it's my reality.  It's also my initiative to figure out how to best adapt to Japan in a manner that I can be proud of for myself and for others to accept me as well. I can't help but feel that I treat Japanese people differently than I would treat anyone back home.  I suppose that's natural, since we have a cultural, societal, and language barrier between us.  But there's something more to it than just that.  I've met other foreigners before who did not share the same language as me, and though I may have treated them differently, it wasn't to the same extent that I treat the Japanese.  So this feeling that I had of my treatment towards Japanese left me a bit perplexed, to the point where I decided to do a bit of research to attempt to uncover what I was feeling. Maybe my imagined treatment began in the classroom and how I dealt with Japanese English Language Learner students vs. Hawaiian Language Arts students.

I haven't posted in a long while.  That could mean one of two things... Either I've stopped caring and forgot about this blog, or that I've been too busy to find time to write. In this case, it's the latter. So let's do a quick summary of the recent past... - I've settled in quite nicely here in Iizuka.  I like the place, I like the people, and I like work. - I went home to Hawaii for about 5 days in late September.  Why?  To race the greatest race in Hawaii, 24 Hours of Hell.  I didn't do well, not at all, but that's okay.  On the way home, I had to fly to Korea, yes it's backtracking, but the flight was cheaper that way.  Anyway, don't go to Korea unless you like Korean things.  Needless to say, I was sick pretty much my entire time back home and I think I contracted some sort of illness during my short 7 hour stay in Korea. - Summer is finally over.  With that comes pleasant temperatures, survivable humidity levels, and the death of

The start of my post this time around is more of an observation and possibly a critique of Japan society and culture.  I'm not far enough removed from school as I found myself quoting a source or two in this portion below.  Feel free to skip it, but if you have an inquisitive mind for my own mind,  then please mind to read the portion below as I don't mind. I'm starting to accept life here, but I'm not so sure I can say I've adjusted quite yet.  I think it's quite obvious that when moving to a new country and city that's 4,393 miles away [I looked it up and Google says that's the exact distance from Honolulu to Fukuoka], speaks a different language, and has different societal and culture norms, you won't adjust over night...and even 3 weeks. When I first looked through the JET handbook I laughed at a page that talked about culture shock.  I thought that being from Hawaii, there's no way I would experience culture shock to the same degree as s