|
|
|
|
See Previous Submission
Jayme Margolin
Japan
July 2004
Almost a Whole New Person
As I was preparing to leave Japan, everything seemed to happen at once. My sensei planned more trips to volcanoes around Hokkaido; I went to Tarumai volcano and we climbed through the restricted zone to summit the lava dome, only to discover that new vents had opened up since the huge September earthquake that I have been studying. I really enjoyed seeing the influence of this earthquake on other volcanoes, not just on Usuzan (the volcano I researched for my project).
In the closing weeks of my grant, we collected more data, which my sensei is now working on. My sensei still has plans to publish our research; however, the distance is proving to make things more difficult that we expected.
I am very happy with the results of my research project. I got the experiences that I had dreamed of before beginning this past year, along with some that I never thought possible—such as presenting my project at a national conference and having people understand my Japanese! I still have some hopes of publishing my paper, and the fieldwork and my new understanding of research techniques will help me as I pursue my graduate studies in volcanology. I also met a number of other geologists and scientists who have been very helpful, and I hope to continue our conversations in the future.
The members of the many clubs I joined here in Tokyo threw me a number of farewell parties. My lab and basketball club farewells were nice, and not emotionally taxing. The farewell with the kayak club was more difficult; the whole club woke up early on the morning that I left for the airport and met me with presents.
As for tea ceremony, everyone involved with the lessons went to our sensei’s house for a formal gathering. I wore a kimono, like with everyone else, and we had both an indoor and outdoor ceremony. It was amazing to feel like I fit in. I knew what I was doing and felt confident…with both the culture, tea techniques and the language. Everyone was very supportive and I really felt very comfortable. Occasionally I would need to slide my legs to the side and get a small break from sitting in seiza…yep, still a foreigner.
The hardest club to say goodbye to was my fight club, Shorinji Kempo. I ended up taking my test shortly before I left and now I am a brown belt. The other members were my teachers and taught me more than I ever expected when I joined the club back in October. Not only did I learn a form of martial arts, but I also learned more about the Japanese culture, Buddhism, Japanese college life, and close friendships that are formed slowly, through lots of patience.
Everyone in Shorinji Kempo helped me with my Japanese; I believe I helped them with their English as well. At the farewell party, many members gave speeches, many in English. When my turn came to give a speech, I was able to say exactly what I wanted using all Japanese…and a large part of my Japanese progress was because of all the friends who were sitting in front of me! It was very hard that night for me to follow the aspect of their culture about not expressing emotion in public…the tears just came.
The goodbyes were much harder than I expected. I came to Japan with only an idea (and money from Fulbright) and left with a new life, new ways of thinking, new experiences, new friends, new education, new sights, new feels…almost a whole new person. Now that I am home, everyone is asking me if I am happy to be back in the States. I’m not sure how to answer that. I still have Japan on my mind much of the time; I miss the politeness and the punctuality of the Japanese. While the United States is my home and I love it, I also see Japan as my home.
I returned to some changes, like poker being the new “in” thing now, but besides that everything pretty much stayed the same. However, I do not want to lose my new positive traits and new views on life’s issues by falling back into my normal America lifestyle.
Even if I want to keep some aspects of my Japanese life, I need to realize America is not Japan and some things will never be the same. On the long plane ride home, I wondered if I would miss the constant staring and questions and pictures, always having attention, and everyone always remembering me wherever I go. Some days in Japan it was annoying; on other days it actually was helpful that people remembered me. Now that I’m back in the hometown where I grew up, I have been doing a lot of thinking about how I got to Japan, my past year, and where I am now. I guess this is my way of dealing with the reverse culture shock.
I am happy to be home, though. No huge adventures every day (going to the bank is so fast and easy!), but I am busy preparing for my next adventure and new life at graduate school. I will only be here in the Philadelphia region for a few more weeks before moving out to New Mexico for graduate school.
I have enjoyed sharing my experiences with you. This past year has been amazing. Just one year ago, I could not have even imagined how many new adventures I would have experienced while carrying out my Fulbright grant. The past year I was able to make the most of anything by pursuing what I found interesting; I found everything interesting and therefore kept a very busy schedule. I loved it all! The Fulbright program gave me this opportunity and I am so thankful; I hope other people realize how amazing this program is and can be awarded this incredible opportunity.
|
|
