Recently, I had the honor of meeting a Chinese exchange student studying Japanese at a university in my prefecture. She and I spent nearly an hour talking about studying Japanese and living in Japan and parted ways as new friends. It was not until after we said goodbye though that I realized that neither of us, during the entire conversation, had spoken in our native tongue. She cannot speak a word of English and I certainly can't speak any Chinese, yet we were able to communicate in our new language quite comfortably. I think it's easy to forget that when you learn a new language that it will allow you to communicate with more people than just native speakers of that language. If it hadn't been for the fact that we both could speak Japanese, we would have never been able to communicate. It's unbelievable to me that somehow, in only a year, I have gone from being virtually mute, to being able to talk about deep subjects in Japanese and connect with so many people. I somewhat feel like I can relate to toddlers more because, like them, at first I was unable to communicate what I wanted. I had to repeat saying words a million times to learn them, make many mistakes, and most of all be patient. Somehow though, it eventually clicked. And if that's not the most magical thing in the world, I'm not sure what is!
These last few weeks have been the best of my exchange. I suppose I say that every time, because they just keep getting better, but I honestly mean it! Every morning riding my bike to school, I swear it becomes that scene from beauty and the beast where literally everyone in the town is saying "bonjour" to belle. (I'm belle on a bicycle in this situation.) I honestly wonder how every single Japanese person seems to show so much kindness and respect for others. I have had people help me in all sorts of situations, when I was lost or my bike tire went flat, and each time I am left feeling like there is no way to repay them for going out of their way to help me. My rotary club, host families, teachers, and school mates are so fantastic, I could give them everything I have and still feel indebted to them. They truly inspire me to treat every person with respect no matter our differences. I only have one month left here, so I intend to make it the best. To all my Oregonians, I'll be back before you know it.
Moving on to a topic I would like to discuss a little more: the recent soccer game of the U.S. vs Japan. If you did not see my short post on Facebook, here is what I said:
「I wanted to write a short post congratulating the U.S. and Japan on their game today, but now I would like to address something more important. Since the U.S. won the game, a great number of ignorant people have made posts on Twitter talking about the win using the hashtag Nagasaki and Pearl Harbor. I am appalled by the ignorance and unbelievable disrespectful of the people who have written these posts. Those two events are incredibly tragic and sensitive parts of both the U.S.'s and Japan's history and the fact that you would use those to relate to a SOCCER GAME is offensive, unintelligent, and makes me feel awful for any of the people of Japan who may read these posts. If you want to celebrate, fine. Just don't be an idiot and refer to tragic events that you cannot comprehend like it okay. It's disgraceful. Thank you.」
I am normally a person who keeps out of Internet debates and does not post my opinions on the Internet for a number of reasons, but this was different for me. As you most likely know, I am an American woman living in Japan and I consider this country my second home. So seeing this trending on Twitter hurt me. I am an optimist but when things like this show up, its very easy to get down trodden. There are many reasons why this is not okay, but most of all its because it's disrespectful. People died. Both acts were in a time of war. In my opinion, there is no excuse for either but whatever your opinion on that is, I think we can agree that times have changed and neither of our countries are the same as they were then. So people using these events to relate to a soccer game win is unbelievably ignorant. I have encountered people before who think it's okay to use these events as an excuse to hide their secret prejudice and hatred when talking about present issues and events between the two countries. I have met some who even told me that I was ignorant for going to Japan and for "forgetting what they did to us". I do not forget. I do not praise what either country did in that time but I will not keep it from letting me learn about an amazing country that has done a million things to try to erase that past. Holding on to hate and prejudice can only lead us to more of it. Letting go and seeing how we can redeem ourselves is the only way to peace. As I said before when I wrote about Hiroshima, that is why I am an exchange student. I am here to build new bridges and to create new connections with another country's people in hopes that I can help erase past grudges, scars, and hatred. That is why I am disgusted that people would try to use tragic events of the past as a joke about winning the World Cup. Those who have need to open their eyes. Maybe even go on exchange! I pity their ignorance and hope one day that they will meet a Japanese person and realize what they said was offensive to another human being. I hope that they find their humanity.
That's all for now. Until next time, this is Summer: proud to be an exchange student to Japan.