My India photos have finally been uploaded to this blog! You can view the gallery by clicking here. (There are more than 200, so take your time. I'll add captions at a later date...)
Also, I'll soon be posting my travel journal entries (with relevant photos) here. Stay tuned for some really fascinating stories!
Happy New Year everyone! May you find peace, happiness and prosperity in 2009!
-Michael
Hello everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that I'll be out of communication during most of the holiday break. I'm going to be in India from Dec. 20 - Jan. 4. (Internet access may be limited.)
I signed up to be a volunteer English teacher in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, which is where the Dalai Lama lives. I'll be teaching English to Tibetan refugees and will probably also do some work with Tibetan kids and other relief organizations.
I have a night and a day in Delhi, but probably won't see much because I'm only flying in and out of there.
In light of the horrible events that happened in Mumbai during the end of November, I want to reassure everyone that I'm not traveling in a dangerous area. And I'm being picked up at Delhi airport and Dharamsala bus station by members of the organization I'm working with. In a nutshell, I'll be in good hands!
But if anything were to happen while I'm in India, I'll do my best to post an update on my Facebook profile as soon as possible. So check my Facebook profile if anything were to happen.
Peace!
A lot has happened since my last post. Apologies for not posting updates as often as I should. But again, life's been busy!
December has been a busy month so far. The month started with the Mid-Year JET Conference here in Sapporo. Each year in early December all Hokkaido JETs and some Japanese English teachers have to attend this conference. It's held in Sapporo at a fancy hotel.
In some ways, the mandatory conference is boring. We have to wear suits, there's often a lot of stuffy speeches, boring lectures on English teaching in Japan, and unhelpful workshops on a variety of topics. To top it off, some presenters aren't very good at teaching English, yet they're trying to teach others how to teach! It's a vicious cycle...
On the plus side, all the JETs in Hokkaido come together for two days, so it's nice to see everybody again. Also there's plenty of drinking parties and whatnot, and it's a great chance to get to know the new first-year JETs.
For example, my friend Emma threw an "ugly sweater" party at her apartment. TONS of JETs from out of town showed up. We we so loud that I was surprised the cops didn't come to break up the party! The party was awesome, and lots of people got creative and found some hideous sweaters to wear.
I went to a second-hand shop and found a really ugly one that looked like it belonged to Dorothy Zbornak from "The Golden Girls!" It was a woman's black sweater with braided gold trim down the arms and the button area. I thought that it might be the ugliest at the party, but Ross beat me out: he found a really flashy gold "lighting bolt" sweater on E-bay. He actually had it mailed from the U.S.!
Overall, it was a great party. But this party was balanced out with what most of us were dreading the next day: another boring Mid-Year Conference. I remember the 2007 Mid-Year Conference was really, really boring. I actually don't recall very much of it because I was busy hooking up with someone and my mind was "preoccupied". But other JETs confirmed my feeling that the conference was unhelpful and was a waste of time.
So when I thought about how boring another Mid-Year Conference would be, I decided to do something about it: I signed up to be a presenter at one of the workshops. Also, since I'm the HAJET representative for Sapporo, I was involved with some HAJET activities after-hours. (more on that later...)
My workshop was titled "Making Worksheets Work." The goal was to give some practical and helpful advice for making worksheets fun, interactive and interesting.
Let me digress here for a moment and talk about how this idea came to be. One of my Japanese English teachers always made students do these really boring, unhelpful worksheets in class. I didn't feel the students were actually learning anything because the worksheets were basically blocks of solid text. And over half of it was in Japanese! No pictures. No interactivity. No fun!
Looking at all the bored faces in the classroom, I wanted to do something that would perk up the students' English lessons. Usually JETs do this by playing games or doing other interactive activities with students. But at this school I faced a hurdle: this particular teacher only wanted students to do individual, written work. No games. No group work. No fun activities. (What a drag, man!)
So I started thinking about ways to make individual, written work more fun and interesting. I combed the Internet for word games, word puzzles, listening exercises and other activities that target different learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic).
I experimented with different activities on worksheets. Eventually I found that a mix of different activities/exercises on the worksheet helped different types of students learn more effectively. For the visual learners there were crossword puzzles. For the auditory learners there were listening exercises. And for the kinesthetic learners there was drawing and sentence writing.
Over time I refined these worksheets and activities, and I asked my Japanese English teacher for some help translating worksheet instructions into Japanese. Eventually I created a plug-and-play digital format for creating worksheets. With this tool in hand, anyone can create a variety of fun, interesting worksheets for any grammar point in about an hour.
When the organizer of the Mid-Year Conference asked for volunteers to present at the workshops, I offered my knowledge and assistance. I didn't want conference attendees to suffer through another boring workshop like I did last year. Plus I had a wealth of knowledge and a trove of valuable activities to share. So I figured, why not help other people?
Because I had heaps of free time as school, I put together a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation with lots of graphics and worksheet ideas. It ended up being about 45 slides long, but it was packed with design tips, detailed activity descriptions and resources. I even had a Japanese English teacher from another city translate the entire presentation word-for-word!
The Japanese translation was key, because a lot of the Japanese English teachers who attend the Mid-Year Conference don't have very strong English skills. In fact, many of them sit in the audience and only understand about 20-50 percent of what's being spoken.
I didn't want to leave anybody out, so that's why I had my presentation translated into Japanese. It turns out this was a good move because my presentation has since been spread all over Hokkaido and probably other prefectures too! Many Japanese English teachers are now adopting my worksheet ideas, and hopefully they will alleviate boredom in English classes all over Japan.
I also received a lot of positive feedback from people who attended my workshop, and my boss commended me too. (I felt famous for a short while!) We ran out of photocopies of the presentation, but luckily the whole thing was uploaded to the HAJET website so that anybody could download it. (You can download the English version by clicking here. And here's a link to the Japanese version.)
After the presentation many people came up to me and told me that it was the most helpful part of the whole conference! I had no idea that my little old presentation would turn out to be so helpful! So that was the "career highlight" of this year's Mid-Year Conference for me.
Between the first and second days of the conference HAJET held a Winter Ball. This was a lot of fun, and it was something HAJET had never done before. It was akin to a college formal, only less formal. The tickets simply said "dress to impress. (Whatever that means to you!)"
Needless to say, we had quite a variety of different attire there. I dressed in "retro-geek style". I wore a 70s blue butterfly-collar shirt, some tight black pants and a skinny tie. Other people wore their suits. And yet others, like Nina, wore ball gowns and fancy dresses. It was a wonderful eclectic mix, and everybody literally had a ball!
About 90 people showed up, including some Japanese English teachers and other Japanese friends of ALTs. We had a big food buffet and an all-you-can-drink plan for three hours. Wayne, one of our HAJET representatives, was our DJ. The event was held at a downtown hotel, and it had a very nice dance floor, bar and sound system. The staff was also very friendly.
Like a high school prom, attendees voted for "Ice King" and "Ice Queen." There was also an auction of homemade baked goods for HAJET's annual Hokkaido English Camp charity. Plus a portion of the ticket sales went to this good cause too.
Here's an interesting back story to the winner of the "Ice Queen" award. When I was in San Francisco in October, I bought two retro dresses from a second-hand shop for my friend Nina. She asked me to bring back two dresses, so I grabbed one from a rack called "80s Prom Dresses" and another from the "80s Soap Star" rack. I tried both on, knowing they wouldn't fit me properly. But by trying them on, I cold gain a better idea as to whether they would be too big or small for Nina.
Turns out I was right on the money. Both dresses fit Nina perfectly! For the Winter Ball, she chose to wear the 80s prom dress, which was this wonderful puffy silver and black dress. She took up the long skirt so it showed off her legs and was puffier. Voila! She had an awesome, unique dress to wear to the Winter Ball!
After all the votes were cast, Nina was voted "Ice Queen"! This was so funny, and I was so proud that I bought her dress (which probably influenced the voting). All in all, it was a great time to dance with friends, have some drinks and just have a great time. Where else in Japan can you attend a party that reminds you of your high school prom?!
So that's how Mid-Year Conference turned out this year. For me, it was much more fulfilling than last year. And I got to party down with my friends, which is always fun. In addition, I feel like I may have made a small difference here in Japan. Perhaps I left a bit of a "legacy" here. If not, at least I've given some people some useful information to digest and use in English classes.
On a personal note, it feels good to make a difference beyond one classroom or one school. And I'm very thankful for the opportunity to share the teaching knowledge and talents I've cultivated since I came to Japan 16 months ago.
Yesterday something disturbing happened after class. An eighth-grade student (who has a psychological disorder) came up to me and said, in perfect English, "You don't need me in this world."
First, I couldn't believe he said that. Second, I was shocked at how well he said it in English. Obviously he had been thinking a lot about the idea and the sentence before he actually said it.
Then I recalled that he made a similar comment a few days earlier. Something like: "I'm not needed in this classroom."
So I lightly put my hands on his shoulders, looked him in the eye and said, "That's not true. Everybody needs everybody. I need you. You need me. This class needs me. And I need this class. We all need each other."
Then he looked me in the eye (which is a big deal here in Japan) and asked, "So ... you need me?"
In a gentle tone, I said, "Yes. I need you. And I want you in this class. I want to see you tomorrow too. You are good at English. You are a smart boy. And you work hard."
The light in his eyes seemed to return for a moment, and he smiled at me. I gave him a pat on the shoulder and he went off to talk with his friends.
The English teacher I work with was standing nearby and overheard everything. She said to me, "I'm sorry. He often says such things."
Again, I was shocked. Here was a 14-year-old boy struggling with the everyday social pressures of middle school, PLUS a psychological disorder. And to top it off, he's going through puberty, which is never easy on a person's body or mind.
In my culture, such speech would be a red flag that a student might be depressed and/or suicidal. But unfortunately in Japan "suicide talk" is common, so I think people dismiss it easily or don't treat it properly.
After my conversation with the boy, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him in the future if he turned suicidal. While Japanese schools have a counselor who visits the school once a week, I don't think that they're trained very well. Nor is a counselor available to students every day. So students are basically on their own, unless they have sympathetic family members (which is often NOT the case).
Will this boy slip through the (wide) cracks and become another statistic in Japan's huge suicide rate? Or will he receive the help he needs from someone? All I could do was be supportive at the moment and wish him peace and happiness in the future.
As an English teacher in Japan, I've come into contact with many students who have untreated psychological issues. I'm not an expert in psychological diseases, but I have noticed a prevalence of depression, AD-HD, mild autism and social anxiety disorder.
As far as I know, these students are rammed thorough the school system with their kumi (class) as if nothing's wrong. Yet it's clear to these students' classmates and teachers that there's a problem.
Perhaps there's some sort of treatment or method of dealing with students' psychological problems that's going on behind the scenes. I can't be sure, though, because I don't speak Japanese and it's not my place to ask about it.
One thing I am sure of is these kids (and all kids, really) need someone in their life who can reassure them. For whatever reason, it seems easier for (some) Japanese students to turn to a fresh face or a "fellow outsider," like a foreign English teacher. They seek someone who realizes what it's like to be an "outsider" and who understands that it can be difficult to be a human being.
Whether you have a psychological disorder or not, being a person can be difficult. A person has lots of hopes, fears, desires, aversions and neutral feelings every hour of every day.
I think it's important for all of us to remember this when we come into contact with another human being. No matter if their actions are skillful or unskilful, the other human being is just trying to be person too. They have many of the same hopes, fears and desires as yourself.
So when this 14-year-old boy came up to me and said those disturbing things, my own understanding and compassion for him gushed forth. I spoke some kind, reassuring words. Then, in my mind, I wished him to be happy, safe, and free from suffering. I have no idea if anybody else has ever done such a thing for him in his life. But I'm just glad that I could be there for him at that moment in time.
Unfortunately this story doesn't yet have a happy ending. I'll never know if it ever will, though, because he'll go on with his schooling and life long after I leave his school in January.
The following day I had the boy in class again. He was really quiet and disinterested. He wasn't necessarily depressed or unhappy - just sort of spaced out. I have a feeling that his parents (or someone else) put him on strong medication to control his "suicide talk" and to "fix the problem".
What remained was an empty shell of a boy sitting at a desk in his classroom. Because of the drugs, there was no light in his eyes, and he was more interested in picking his nose (literally!) than learning English.
This is a shame because he's a smart boy who's good at English. I just wish someone other than me would pay more attention to his human needs, rather than simply treating him as "problem." We all have an amazing capacity to practice compassion. If we actually did it more often, being a person would become a lot easier for ourselves and everyone else.
It's been another long time since I last blogged, but here's an interesting story about a trip I took to America in the middle of October: (click here for pictures from this trip)
In mid-October, I took an 11-day trip to the U.S. because a friend of mine got married in Boston. I wasn't in the wedding or anything, but I knew a lot of my friends from D.C. would be there. Also it was a great excuse to get out of Japan for a while...
First Sunrise
The trip started before sunrise on a Saturday morning. Fall had just arrived in Sapporo, and it was a little chilly as I waited for the bus. The sunrise was more beautiful than usual, though, because the trees were starting to change colors. As I watched the rays hit the leaves, I was reminded of what a beautiful place I live in, and how many friends I've got here.
The night before the trip I went to a potluck dinner at a friend's house. The food was excellent, and most of my best friends were all there. In short, it felt cozy and comfortable. That feeling sparked a thought about how "settled" I had become in Sapporo, and how I've managed to carve out a little niche for myself here.
To be honest, I've never thought of myself as feeling very settled here in Japan. I've always felt like an outsider (because I am!), yet it's amazing how that condition can grow on a person. Soon, feeling like an outsider becomes the norm, and everything else kinda falls in place.
Anyway, I partied pretty hard at the potluck party because I wanted to sleep a lot on the 14-hour plane ride to America. Standing there waiting for the bus, I thought about how interesting my life is here, and how little things - like potluck dinners, autumn colors in Hokkaido, etc. - won't mean very much to anybody else when I return to the U.S. for good.
But all things change, so I was just eager to get on with the trip and see what lie in store for me in America for the next 10 days. The bus picked me up, and I made it to the airport with more than enough time to check in, etc. As the plane took off, I looked out the window at the beautiful Hidaka mountain range in the distance. Strangely, I kind of missed Hokkaido already. But I was also excited to get out of the "bubble" and return to my own culture for a while.
I made my connection at Tokyo's Narita airport and was soon off to Chicago. Due to the economic crisis that was unfolding at the time, almost half the plane was empty. I had nobody sitting next to me, so I was able to stretch out and have a very relaxing flight. Time flew by really fast, actually, and I caught up on a lot of sleep.
One of the coolest things about the flight, though, was seeing the same sunrise over southern Canada - ON THE SAME DAY! I left Sapporo on a Saturday morning and landed in Chicago on a Saturday morning. I saw the sun rise TWICE on the same day. How cool is that?
(Reverse?) Culture Shock
When I got to Chicago, I remembered how much of a pain in the ass U.S. Immigration and Customs can be. Compared with Japan, customs officials in America can be really rude. But luckily this was Chicago - where people tend to be friendlier in general. The agents were kind to me and just waived me though without any questions. I couldn't believe it!
I got my first jolt of (reverse?) culture shock as I made my connection at O'Hare airport. I looked around and saw a lot of white people. I automatically had this notion that all these white people around me were my friends (or could easily become my friends). I had to stop for a moment and get a grip on reality: these people weren't my friends - they were just travelers passing through an airport!
Allow me a moment to explain my frame of mind: I had to break of of my Japanese "bubble mode." In Japan, when you see another foreigner, you:
1.) can immediately pick them out in a crowd from a long distance away.
2.) can approach them and easily strike up a conversation, usually in English.
3.) probably both teach English, or know someone who does.
4.) might already be friends with them, or realize they're a friend of a friend. In a nutshell, it's a small world here!
This is the reality of living in a culture that's (mostly) ethnically homogeneous. You make friends quickly with people who are also different. So when I got to Chicago, I forgot to "turn off" this mode of thinking. When I realized how ridiculous it was, I laughed at myself.
"I miss black people!"
A another funny thing happened at O'Hare: I was enthralled to see black people, Hispanics, gays, lesbians, Indians, Muslims, etc. I wanted to run up to some black people and give them a big hug and say, "OMG! It's soooooo good to see you!" That of course would have landed me in a heap of trouble! So again, I had a good laugh at the expense of myself and I thought about how much I missed diversity.
Diversity "on a Pedestal"
That leads me to an important realization I had during this trip: I love the diversity of America! Sure, America isn't without its racial, cultural and economic problems, but at least we have many different types of people within our borders. Each person brings a different culture, outlook and world perspective to the table, and that makes America a fascinating place. (If you break out of your own cultural bubble, that is!) A lot of people in the world don't have the opportunity to experience such diversity in a single place...
For the first time in a long time, I felt lucky to be born in the U.S. Growing up in America (with the help of open-minded family and friends) has enabled me to come into contact with many different types of people. That the world is diverse is a lesson that's been ingrained in me since I was a child.
Unlike many of the Japanese students I teach, it was the norm for me to recognize and live with people who are different from me. When I moved out of my white, middle-class, rural bubble in Pennsylvania, I got an even larger dose of diversity in Washington DC. Today my friends are a beautiful mix of different races, faiths, sexual persuasions, economic backgrounds, etc. This is something I took for granted, until I started living in Japan...
I don't mean to exalt America or my life too much. (I've led a very privileged, comfortable life burgeoning with opportunity.) We all know that the U.S. immigration "experiment" has a very checkered past. But where America has arrived at today (in terms of diversity, cultural progress, etc.) is amazing when you compare it to a place like Japan.
This is difficult to describe, but in America differences are more the norm. For better or worse, we try to cater to everyone's individual wants, needs and desires. Our society is based in individualism (again, for better or for worse), backed up with capitalism. It seems everyone is a "special case," so we've created various systems and customs to address cultural, racial, religious, economic, etc. differences.
One Size Fits All
I'm generalizing here from a narrow viewpoint, but Japan is more of a "one size fits all" culture. Any kind of "outlier" is strange and is to be avoided if possible. People do learn to tolerate individual differences, but they tend to do so at the group level, and they try to keep adjustment issues quiet and out of view. I see this happening every day in the schools, and I've come to recognize the positives and negatives of it. (See my post about the social goals of the Japanese school system by clicking Morals vs. Math.)
After spending 10 days in America, I learned a lot more about my own cultural viewpoint. From the autumn foliage in rural New England villages to San Francisco's "anything goes" Haight Street, I was constantly reminded how diverse America is. And, ironically, I also realized how most Americans tend to live in their own cultural "bubbles," despite the wonderful diversity present in the country. Even though America definitely has its problems, I decided that I'll take diversity over uniformity any day...
A Skewed Perspective
When I got back to Japan, the dearth of diversity here became jarringly apparent - and I missed it. For whatever reason, I decided that Japanese people were too close-minded and that they don't have much of a capacity to tolerate diversity. At a dinner party, I told this to some (foreign) friends and then proceeded to lay out a pretty negative argument against modern Japanese culture. In short, I felt like Japan was far behind the curve and that many Japanese people harbor anti-foreign sentiments just below the surface.
But who am I to know what a nation of 120 million people is actually thinking? Even though I've lived in Japan for a year and four months, how could I really know this? Obviously I was a victim of a skewed perspective, and I was coming off a post-trip "diversity high." In such a frame of mind, even the things I've previously come to terms with can seem out-of-place.
Synthesis
For example, when I first got to Japan I was amazed by how nice people were, their level of patience, how everything ran on an exact schedule, and how safe the nation was. I was quick to put down America and spoke highly of Japanese culture. But as time progressed, I realized how high a cultural price the Japanese pay to maintain this type of society. There's a lot of unnecessary stress at work, social exclusion, time wasted on "useless" procedures and ceremonies, and there's little room to accommodate special needs.
When I returned to America, I suddenly saw many things I've missed, such as diversity, individualism, straightforwardness, flexibility and a basic ability of (many) Americans to recognize and live among people who are different from themselves. But the price tag for this type of society is also high and includes: a huge wealth disparity, abject public poverty, fierce (and often unfair) competition, materialism, crime and isolated cultural "bubbles within bubbles."
Second Sunrise
So what did all this comparing and contrasting result in? Not much, really. Just like watching the sun rise twice in the same day, I arrived back at the same spot on the wheel of thought. At the dinner party, I took a moment to step back and realize how many times my opinions about America and other cultures have flip-flopped in the past. I finally broke out of that mind state and understood that every culture has its positives and negatives, and that we are the ones who inject a perspective into them.
This journey of thought had taught me a lot about thinking: thinking can sometimes get you nowhere! After my comparisons, analysis, and the resulting stress of it all, I arrived back at the same place I started from. What's the point of arguing or valuing one culture over the other? They are just inherently different from each other. I could have easily been born into one or the other...
So what useful things came out of this circular thinking? Well, it's been an excellent opportunity to learn more facts about two different cultures. And I've learned not to jump to conclusions or make strong black-and-white comparisons during this discovery process. It's an easy trap to fall into, and we all do it from time to time. But being aware of your thinking is the key. In many ways, it's like noticing if the sun rises twice in a single day...
I wrote this the other day...
Thoughts Like Clouds
Thoughts are like clouds
They swirl around above myself
Sometimes moving fast, sometimes slow
Ever-changing in an afternoon's warm glow
Sometimes they combine with each other
and sometimes they cleave from one another
Sometimes they clump together in a hurry
and rain down in a fury
And sometimes there are clear days
when there's not a cloud in sight:
Clear
Sunny
Peaceful
Unconditional
And then there are days of turbulence
With nothing by clouds above:
Dense
Dark
Chaotic
Contingent
These days, like all others,
Eventually pass, marking transitions
The clouds always keep moving
Because conditions always change
But the self who realizes this
is the one who truly has changed
They made me "JETmate" of the month! Every month HAJET publishes a newsletter called the Polestar, which is distributed to all HAJET members across the island.
Back in August, (when I was totally bored at work) Nina and I typed up profiles for the Polestar. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun writing them. They published mine this month, so here it is:
Fabulous September Playmate
(I thought it was supposed to be JETMate?)
TELL IT LIKE IT IS:
1. Age: 27, but with a baby face!
2. Location: Sapporo City baby! Love it here!
3. Starsign: Pisces – on the cusp of Aquarius
4. Dragged up in: Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, USA
5. Current dwelling: A high-rise Soviet-style danchi in Sapporo: Ugly on the outside, nice and big on the inside.
6. Position held: HAJET Sapporo City Rep., Stonewall queer Hokkaido Rep., genki Jr. High school English teacher, karaoke freak, onsen addict, the Pied Piper of Susukino.……
TIME TO GET JUICY:
1. What’s the first thing most Japanese people do/say when they see you? “Wow! You’re so tall! What do you eat?”
2. What’s your favourite Japanese word? “wabi” – (1st meaning) an apology; (2nd meaning) taking pleasure in simple
3. things. (Unfortunately the first meaning of this word applies more often than the second!)
4. My life in Japan is… Awesome! I love it here, and am thankful to be here every day!
5. My job in Japan is… 5. If Michael were a colour, what colour would he be? The rainbow!
6. Is there anything you’d change about your current living arrangement? I would arrange a sham marriage to get a larger apartment and 5 extra days of nenkyu.
7. My favourite thing about my town in Japan is… It’s the largest city in Hokkaido! It’s very beautiful, and there’s no shortage of things to do every day. Plus we have nearly everything Tokyo has, but without the heat, humidity, crowds, high prices, and crammed spaces.
8. What are you listening to now? Feeder, the Kooks, the Junior Boys and Radiohead.
9. Life before JET? Direction-less. Caught in a traffic-jammed, high-paced, expensive, money-grabbing, mine’s-bigger-than-yours rat race in Washington, DC. Hated my job, but loved my friends, and needed a break from it all. So…hey…Japan! Here…I…am!
10. Life after JET? Much more relaxed. I’m able to hear myself think, people are friendly, and I discovered that I like teaching. When I return to the US, I plan to become a teacher and warp young minds…
11. My most embarrassing Japan experience is… After being groped inappropriately by a student, I took a hold of his hand, raised it high in the air, and shouted “chikan!” (pervert!) Afterwards there was laughing among the students, but it was followed later by murmurs of “Snyder-sensei” and “chikan” in the teachers’ room. Whoops!
12. I really suck at… Singing, yet I love doing karaoke. I also suck at math.
13. …but I rate myself when it comes to… Cooking, organizing things, lettin’ loose, helping people, teaching, giving directions, navigating Hokkaido roads.
14. I don’t understand why Japanese people… Speak in “katakana English”; can’t maneuver out of the way when you’re both about to collide on a sidewalk; girls do the “pigeon walk” with bent-in toes; are scared to leave the “bubble” and see the rest of the world.
15. I miss... New York style pizza, European-style crusty breads, the directness of people in my home culture, my friends in the US.
16. My favourite thing to do in bed is… Share it with someone. ;-)
17. The biggest/worst lie I’ve told a Japanese person is… “Sorry! I’m married.”
18. My town mascot is… It’s a toss-up between a clock tower and Susukino Hello Kitty
19. How do you rate it? Clock tower = lame. Susukino Hello Kity = hot!!
20. Movie that pleasures me… A Dirty Shame
21. …and one that wasted a smidgeon of your life… It’s a tossup between “Reign of Fire” and “Tristan and Isolde”
22. My favourite underwear… Skimpy bikini briefs… or better yet, tight striped boxer-briefs.
23. One thing I wish I knew before I started life in my town is… How bureaucratic my BOE is. We can’t get away with anything!
24. Japanese food you just can’t stomach? Uni! yuck!
25. Japanese food you can’t live without? Takoyaki, tuna-mayo onigiri, soba noodles.
26. Seicomarto, Lawsons, Sunkus or 7’11? Seicomarto: the onigiri are fresher, they always have veggie/fish-friendly snack options, and their stores are usually cleaner. Also you can get a piece of bread smothered in mayonnaise with corn kernels on top – one of my weird-food “guilty pleasures” in Japan!
27. Bad habit? Drinking.
28. Worse habit? Drinking and smoking.
29. Fav morning routine? Shower!
30. Love and romance in Japan? Not looking for it. But if it comes my way, I’ll consider it at the time.
31. Traumatic childhood experience? Being forced to attend one of those American non-denominational Christian churches every Sunday. Blah!
32. Scariest Japan realization moment? That I actually live here now, and have to learn to read and understand basic Japanese!
33. Most amazing experiences thus far? Hiking in the mountains of Hokkaido, meeting new friends, learning how to remove my “self” from the equation of life and teaching Japanese kids my language.
34. Advice you want to impart to anyone who cares? Don’t worry about yesterday or tomorrow. The only thing in life you are 100 percent guaranteed of is now. So learn to live in the now.
35. Other JETs are going to talk about me for years to come because… I hope not!
Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog, but there's a good reason for it - life's been incredibly busy!
Now that I'm the Sapporo City HAJET representative, I've been involved in a lot of HAJET stuff. For instance planned a welcome party, and I pitched in to help make the Central welcome party work. Plus there's the business of everyday life, hanging out with friends, work etc.
I've been out of town every weekend since late August, attending HAJET welcome parties all over the island. During the last weekend of August, I went to the Northern party in Shosambetsu. The next weekend was the Central welcome party. The weekend after that I went to Asahikawa for a night at a love hotel, and then attended the Sapporo Rainbow March (gay pride parade) and after-party on Sunday. Oh, and I experienced my first earthquake (while fully awake)... Then there was the Southwest welcome party, followed by the Sapporo City welcome party during the last weekend of the month. As you can understand, I've been quite busy lately!
But I'm certainly not complaining! Life's been a blast, and I've met some really awesome people and have done some great road trips. In fact, so much has happened that I'll just post some recaps below:
Northern Welcome Party (Click here for the photo gallery)
My busy month kicked off with the Northern Hokkaido HAJET welcome party in Shosambetsu. The party was held at a campground (as most welcome parties are) next to the Sea of Japan. The location was excellent because Shosambetsu has beautiful, tall cliffs that plunge down into the sea. (It kind of looks like the southern coast of England.) Also the area has black sand beaches and the water is clean and relatively warm.
My friend Katie drove me, Nina and a new JET named Marc there. (Marc and I met at Hokkaido Orientation a two weeks before.) When we left Sapporo the weather was terrible, but luckily up north things were clearing up.
The typical format for welcome parties is: arrive, set up tents, BBQ, fundraisers and wacky games for charity, followed by boozing into the wee hours of the morning. And this is exactly how it went at the Northern party. Katie's boyfriend Wayne (who is the Northern rep.) did a nice job with getting food for the BBQ. We had yaki-soba, gengis kahn (grilled lamb, onions and cabbage with a special sauce), yaki-tako (grilled octopus), and salad.
After the BBQ, we held a fundraiser for HEC (Hokkaido English Camp.) HEC is HAJET's big annual charity event. Students enter an English contest, and the finalists get to attend a free week of summer camp (all in English!), which is run by Hokkaido JETs. And the top winner gets a free homestay in an English speaking country - usually in England, New Zealand or Australia. Throughout the year we hold lots of little fundraisers to help defray the cost of running the camp and the homestay prize.
Tradition has it that each welcome party holds HEC fundraiser events. At the Northern party we played "Chubby Bunny" and "Boat Race." Chubby Bunny (500 yen to play) is a contest to see how many marshmallows a person can shove into their mouth without chewing or swallowing.
Contestants line up and each put a marshmallow into his or her mouth. After each marshmallow goes in, the person has to say the words "chubby bunny" audibly so that the audience can understand. (They can't chew or swallow the marshmallow though!) If the crowd can't understand the words "chubby bunny," the contestant is disqualified.
It was really funny watching folks try to cram so many marshmallows into their mouths. It got pretty gross too, as a lot of people had to spit out the gooey, white mess into a trash bag! Until that night, the record stood at nine marshmallows. But Marc was able to fit 12 into his mouth!
After "Chubby Bunny," we played a drinking game called "Boat Race" (500 yen to play). It was basically a team beer-chugging contest. Two teams of five people line up and face each other. The referee shouts "go!" and the first member of each team starts chugging a beer. When they're done, they have to put the cup upside down on their head. Then the next person may pick up their cup of beer and chug it. The first team to finish wins. The prize was a six-pack of beer and a bottle of booze.
I played, but unfortunately we narrowly lost because our starting person was slow. (But hey, it was for charity!) The game was fun though, because it felt like being back in college! (Oh how I sometimes miss my fraternity days.....)
After the fundraiser, it was time to kick back and have a few more drinks. Everyone packed up their chairs and headed down to the beach where Wayne had built a large bonfire. We all sat around the fire and got wasted. Marc got pretty drunk actually, and he ended up puking. It didn't bother me at all, because it's happened to me plenty of times before! However, after he puked, I led him to the campground bathroom to clean up. But he started drinking water from the sink faucet in the bathroom. I wasn't sure if that tap water was safe to drink, but by the time I saw him doing it, it was too late.
Turns out the tap water was not drinkable, so the poor guy had terrible stomach pains all night. He was groaning pretty loudly, which woke some JETs camping near our tent. Luckily one of them had some stomach medicine, which helped reduce the pain. The illness ran its course in a few hours (I knew it would, as I had the same thing happen to me in Thailand), and he was able to get some rest.
The next day was beautiful. Marc was feeling better, and the sun came out. As people stumbled out of their tents, most of us ended up down at the black sandy beaches below the campsite. The water was clear, and the shoreline was fairly shallow, so many of us went for a swim. I didn't have my swimsuit, so I just went in in my underwear, as did Marc. The water was very salty, but it was surprisingly not very cold. In fact it was very refreshing!
I stayed out in the sun a little too long and got sunburned, but it wasn't too bad. I was just happy to be outside in the fresh air, swimming in the Sea of Japan!
After swimming, we decided to go to an onsen (natural hot spring) before driving home. Luckily there was one next to our campground. This onsen looked out over the cliffs and the sea, and it featured a special saltwater bath. Believe it or not, this saltwater bath is wonderful for your skin! Marc and I both enjoyed it very much. (He especially did, as it was his first onsen experience!)
Squeaky clean, Marc, Nina Katie and I grabbed a bite to eat before making the three-and-a-half-hour drive back to Sapporo. Then we had to stop in the town of Rumoi because Katie was exhausted and needed a 30 minute power-nap before driving any further. So Marc and I took a short walk down by the beach as the sun began to set. It was a very beautiful location, and was a great way to end a wonderful trip!
Earthquake!
During the week following the Northern party, an earthquake struck eastern Hokkaido. Luckily it wasn't too big (a 6), and the epicenter was offshore in the Pacific with only a small (50cm) tsunami. But it was big enough to be felt here in Sapporo (only a 3 in Sapporo). It struck during the morning, at about 9:30 AM. I was sitting at my desk in the teachers' room and I began to feel a bit dizzy, like I was on a boat in the ocean.
This was the first earthquake I felt while fully awake (during my first earthquake experience I was asleep and barely noticed it...), so that's why it stands out in my memory. I had been at the Northern party and was tired, so I thought to myself, "Man, I must be really tired or something. The room's swaying!" But then I looked up and saw the electric cords above my desk swaying slightly, and many of the teachers paused and stared around the room. Then I heard one of them say the words, "jishin" (earthquake) and "tsunami." One of the teachers checked the Japan Meteorological Agency's website to see where the quake had hit and how big it was.
Everything was fine here in Sapporo, but it was a strange experience for me. Being from the East Coast, I had no idea what to expect. I thought earthquakes meant violent shaking, whereby coffee cups jump around on your desk like Mexican jumping beans. And I thought for sure that things had to fall down from the ceiling and windows had to break, etc.... (Thanks, Hollywood!)
Turns out that it actually feels like you're drunk (for a magnitude 3 at least. Maybe it feels different above this level). The room starts to sway slowly, and your head feels a bit light. It's almost like being tossed about in a boat, but not too violently. I didn't feel sick or anything - just strange. Earthquakes release a lot of energy in the form of vibrations, which your body picks up on. (Interestingly, animals usually detect this energy a few minutes before a quake strikes.) After it was over (about a minute), your body feels a bit "off"."
Afterwards, my friends texted me to see if I felt it too, and to make sure that we all weren't crazy. Maybe this is old hat to those that have lived in earthquake-prone areas before. But for me it was an interesting experience, and I'm just happy that nobody in Japan was killed or injured by it. Also my students didn't get scared or anything, probably because they're used to it.
Central Welcome Party (Click here for the photo gallery)
The Central Party weekend actually turned out being a fairly stressful one for me. The party organizer had a lot of bad things happen to him in his personal life, plus he had no car to get things to and from the campsite at Lake Shikotsuko. So at the last minute, my friend Katie pitched in and offered to make some trips to CostCo and deliver people to the campsite. And to top it off, the weather was rainy.
On the Friday night before the party, I went with Katie to the campsite to drop my stuff off there. We also brought the party organizer and the food. The reason I did this is because I volunteered to lead people from Sapporo to the campsite. Many of the new folks didn't know how to get there via public transportation, so I led a group of nine to a little resort village by the lake. The only tricky part was getting from the little resort village to the actual campsite. There is a nature trail that's passable, but it was technically closed by the park service. Moreover, many folks were carrying too much stuff for a hike.
The the only other option was to have JETs with cars ferry folks to the campsite. This is a real pain in the ass for people who have been driving hours to get there, but luckily a few volunteered to do so. To be honest, I was a bit frustrated that nobody thought to arrange transportation prior to the party. Katie and I had to do it all at the very last minute, and there was a lot of grumbling among the drivers (for good reasons!).
In the end, it all worked out, and the party actually came together quite nicely. In fact, many people didn't know that everything was planned at the last possible minute! Needless to say, though, Katie and I were very tired!
As night fell, we cooked up some food and BBQed. Then it started to rain off and on, so we started drinking under a nearby pavilion. I probably should have gone to bed early, but I ended up staying up till about 2 or 3AM drinking. That's NOT what my body needed, so I ended up sleeping in till 10AM the next morning. (Usually I'm one of the first people up!) Then I packed up my stuff and tried to find rides for people to return to the little resort village. This wasn't as bad as the day before, though, because a lot of folks arranged rides on their own the night before.
Still, I was ready to leave, and it was starting to rain. So I packed up my tent and caught a ride with Katie to the little resort village and then took the bus back to Sapporo with some of the newbies. After I got home I dried out my tent and clothes and got ready to meet Marc for dinner and a movie. We went to see a Japanese animae called "Poiniyo" by a famous Japanese animae director. It was really weird and I didn't understand everything (it was only in Japanese, but the Japanese wasn't very difficult to understand), but it was nice to be at the movies for a change. Visually, the film was pretty trippy, but it was also creative.
A Love Hotel and a Gay Pride Parade (Click here for the photo gallery)
After the stresses of the previous weekend, I was looking forward to some R&R during the next three-day weekend. (The Monday was "Respect for the Aged Day" - a national holiday here in Japan.) Katie had an idea to go to Asahikawa (the second-biggest city in Hokkaido) and rent a room at a love hotel for the night. (Love hotels are places where you can rent a "themed" room for a few hours or for a night. They are designed for sex, and they're anonymous so that you can safely cheat on your spouse!)
When we were in Asahikawa back in December, Charlotte showed us a love hotel that offered a huge room with a pool table and hot tub in it. Ever since then, Katie's wanted to stay there for a night. So she thought the long weekend would be a good opportunity to do so.
So me, Katie and Marc drove there Friday night after work. We planned to meet Katie's boyfriend, Wayne, in Asahikawa because the city's about halfway from where he lives to Sapporo. Also, it's always a good idea for folks like Wayne who live in small towns to NOT be seen going in to a local love hotel - Japanese people LOVE to gossip!
Unfortunately the love hotel with the pool table room was fully booked, so we had to find another. Luckily we found one called "Hotel XO" not far away. We parked the cars (which was an experience in and of itself!!) and then chose our rooms from a "menu" in the lobby. Like a McDonald's value menu, there's a big lit-up panel displaying pictures of the rooms currently available and their prices. Rooms usually have some kind of theme, and then there are "super-themed" rooms, like spaceships, under the sea, roadhouses, heart-shaped beds, S&M dungeons, fairy tale rooms, round beds, etc. You select which room you want, and for how long you want it (2 hours, 4 hours, or an overnight stay. Each is priced accordingly.) then go up to the room. There are no room keys - the door is simply open when you first arrive. When it closes behind you, you are locked in until you pay!
None of us knew love hotel procedures, but luckily Marc was able to translate a bit. We all wanted to see Katie and Wayne's room first, because they choose a super-themed room, which was a 50s/spaceship/roadhouse room. But after we all went in, the door locked behind us! We were stuck in there together! So Marc picked up the phone and asked the reception what we had to do and what the procedure was.
Here, in a nutshell is what we learned: After you're locked into your room, you have to pick up the phone and tell them your length of stay. Then you have to pay before they'll unlock the door. But there's no front desk, so you put cash into a vacuum tube (just like at a bank!) and it goes from your room down to the reception. They make your change and send it back to your room. On the wall there's a little digital time counter showing how long you've been in the room. If you go over your allotted time, they'll charge you more. If you're doing an overnight stay, you have until 11AM to leave. When you're done, you simply leave the room.
We wanted the ability to exit and enter the room, though. So we asked what we had to do, and the procedure was: pay first, then leave whenever you want to (the door locks behind you). When you return to the hotel, there's an intercom button you push and you tell them your room number and they buzz you back into the room. So complex!
But also so worth it! The room Marc and I got had a beach theme. Painted on the ceiling was a mural of a beach and dolphins swimming in the sea. We had a huge bathroom too - complete with shower and tub. In one of the closets there was a "sex vending machine," which was fully stocked with vibrators, lube, condoms, genki (energy) drinks and God knows what else... You simply put in some cash and you get whatever you need. Talk about convenient!
The room was very clean, and nothing was disgusting or shabby (in the U.S. this wouldn't be possible!). Also they had a radio system with literally HUNDREDS of radio stations from all over the world! Whatever your mood, they had the music! Marc found Voice of America English language lessons! And then there was an all-Weezer station, a latin samba station, J-Pop stations, etc.
Needless to say, we had a lot of "fun" that night in Asahikawa. The stress of figuring out the love hotel system quickly faded away, and we all were very happy the next morning. A few other JETs happened to be in Asahikawa too, as they were headed out to the Eastern Welcome party. So we had pizza with them and then drove back to Sapporo on Saturday afternoon.
The next day was Sapporo's 12th annual Rainbow March gay pride parade. I went last year to the parade and had a ball. This year I was hoping to go with Marc, but he had an enkai (party) with coworkers the night before and was in no fit shape to march the next morning. Also a bunch of my Sapporo friends went out the night before (I went with them), but they were too hungover to make it too. Luckily, though, a lot of out-of-town JETs were in Sapporo and attended the parade. We all marched together and had a good time.
It was cool to see the same drag queens from last year - only they were wearing different costumes. Again, creativity flowed forth! Also there were some familiar faces in the crowd, and some of the people actually remembered me from last year! The parade lasts only about an hour, and it's real small by U.S. standards. But the mere fact that Sapporo has its own gay pride parade is HUGE for Japan! (Homosexuals "don't exist" here, and when they do, nobody pays much attention...)
After the parade I went home and slept because I was tired and knew how late I was going to be out later that night. After the parade there's always a huge after party at a local club. Just like last year, it was held at A-Life. I met Sven (the German CIR who I teach German with) at the club. Unfortunately all but one of my friends cancelled on me at the last minute, so I almost didn't go. But Sven convinced me to go and make new friends, which I did. I met a cool Japanese guy named Hidetaka who's friends with some of my fellow Sapporo JETs. I also met a cool guy from Russia who's a university student in Yokohama. And of course there were fabulous drag queen shows throughout the night, rainbow balloons, great DJs and lots of booze. It wasn't as fun as last year's after party was, but I ended up having a good time anyway.
I didn't get home till about 4AM the next morning, so I slept in real late on "Respect for the Aged Day." (Thank God for old people!!) I couldn't think of a better way to respect old people than to hibernate in my apartment, stay out of their way, and silently wish them the best... hehehe. Nah, it was really nice to have the day off, especially given how busy I've been.
Southwest Welcome Party (Click here for the photo gallery)
The Southwest Welcome party was held at Shakotan, which is a peninsula on the west side of the island that juts into the Sea of Japan. It's a very beautiful coastline that has huge, sharp cliffs that drop down into the ocean. The water's fairly clear, and natural, sandy beaches dot the coastline. The party was held at one of these beaches, which faced west so we could watch the sun set into the sea.
Like the other welcome parties, we camped. Also like the other parties, Katie drove me, Nina and Marc there. We set up our tents just above the beach, and then watched the sunset . It was beautiful! We had fairly clear weather, so it got cold after sundown. So some folks luckily gathered some firewood and we had a bonfire on the beach.
The food was pretty good too. The organizer decided to do something a bit different with the food too. Rather than having the same old welcome party fare of yaki-nikku (grilled meat), salad and yaki-soba, she decided to do Tex-Mex. So we had burritos, rice, beans, tomatoes, salad and ground hamburger (for the meat-eaters). The food was great!
After dinner, everyone gathered around the fire and proceeded to do what they always do at welcome parties: drink and be merry! There was also a raffle fundraiser for HEC (Hokkaido English Camp), and someone brought a guitar. The stars were bright in the sky, and a lot of the folks from New Zealand and Australia were very interested in the different constellations in the Northern Hemisphere night sky. I enjoyed pointing out the ones I knew, and also talking about ones I've never seen in the Southern Hemisphere, such as the Southern Cross. Overall, the evening had that nice, warm feeling of friendship that spontaneously appears when people gather round a campfire and stare up into the sky...
The next morning was beautiful. Although it became a little cloudy overnight, the haze burned off around mid-day. It got warmer and the sea was calm, so a bunch of us decided to go swimming. The water was cold, but your body got used to it after a few minutes. It was so nice to go swimming one last time before winter set in! Also we goofed off in the water and just had a plain-old good time!
After swimming and packing up our tents, we headed to nearby Cape Shakotan. It's the western-most point of the peninsula, and there are many beautiful cliffs, rocky beaches and interesting rock formations there. It's also one of the most famous natural places to visit in Hokkaido, and there's a wonderful onsen (hot spring resort) nearby. At the Cape, we walked through a tunnel, then down a series of steep switchback stairs to the beach. It was a wonderful view! Then we walked around the side of the beach to a spot where these beautiful yellow-ish cliffs dropped down into the sea. There were lots of rock debris scattered throughout, and therefore a big warning sign that said "Beware of falling rocks." But luckily none fell on us. We spent about an hour there, just enjoying the scenery and the peacefulness of the beach, the sea and the rocks.
After seeing the Cape, we drove to the nearby onsen. It was at a lovely hilltop that overlooked the beach we camped at. We got there just before sunset. There's nothing like watching the sunset while you're naked, outside, sitting in a pool of hot, natural spring water! Also, after camping it was nice to get clean and have something to eat.
Then it was time to go home. Luckily this welcome party wasn't as far away from Sapporo as the other ones were, so the trip back wasn't too long. Overall, it was an awesome way to end the camping season!
International Party
You might think that my this time in the month I'd be exhausted - and you'd be correct! But I still had a lot of other social events on my calendar, including my friend Ido's birthday dinner and attending an international party at a club called A-Life. It was a Monday night, but the next day was a national holiday called Autumnal Equinox Day, so we could all party late and not have to go to work the next day.
About 15 of us met at an excellent Indian restaurant called Royal Indo. (I do loves Indian food too!) After that, we all headed to A-Life and danced until about 3AM. Because it was International Night, a lot of the other foreigners in the city showed up, along with Japanese people who could speak some English (or were just interested in foreign men/women!) I was exhausted, but it turned out to be a fun party, and I knew a lot of the folks there.
Sapporo City Welcome Party (Click here for the photo gallery)
Until this year, Sapporo never had its own HAJET representative. But I lobbied for us to have one, and was elected to be the representative this past August. (See this previous post about it.) One of the representative's duties is to hold a welcome party event once a year. So I had a month to work out a plan and organize everything.
As this was the first time to have a Sapporo welcome party, I wanted to do something that set it apart from other welcome parties. Instead of camping (because we live in a big city), I decided on a BBQ in a nice park called Monami Kouen next to the Toyohira River. Also, instead of the typical welcome party fare, I decided to have Indian food and Gengis Kahn (grilled lamb with cabbage, onions and a special sauce). And because a simple BBQ in a park probably wouldn't be enough to draw people to the city for a weekend, I also arranged for folks to go to a place called Leisure Sport after the BBQ. Leisure Sport is a huge indoor amusement center, complete with indoor batting cages, golf, darts, a mechanical bull, an obstacle course, gladiator ring, and lots of arcade games. You only pay 90 yen per 10 minutes, and all games are free! After that folks formed groups and go out to bars and clubs in Susuinko until the wee hours of the morning.
Leisure Sport was a hit, as lots of people had a good time and stayed until about 11PM. I left with another group a little bit earlier so that we could go to a gaijin bar called TK6. It was the bar's second birthday, so there was a big celebration there. When you buy your first drink, you get to reach into a bucket and pull out a prize ticket. Some prizes where free drink coupons. Other were a free bar tab of a few thousand yen. I happened to draw a 2,000 yen free bar tab! After that I gathered up some friends and we all did free tequila shots! I figured why not share the wealth?
The free drinks and good times were exactly what I needed after a long, stressful week of organizing the welcome party. But it all paid off: we had folks from all over the island attend. About 40 people total attended, which was excellent turnout for a party that never existed before this year! This made it one of the best-attended welcome parties, and folks were raving about the food. The night before the BBQ I had 10 helpers over to my apartment for a cooking party. We cooked Indian food until 2AM! One of the best things was that I shared the secret of making Indian curries with folks. Then next day I had volunteers working the grills, and lots of people came out of the woodwork to help in small ways that made the party a success. I couldn't have pulled this thing off without their help, so I am so grateful to those who donated their time and energy to make other people happy!
I won't lie to you: organizing this event was stressful: I had to check on a location, decipher kanji, make sure it was OK to BBQ in the park, type up detailed directions for people who were coming by car, by subway, on foot, or by bicycle, and find accommodations for out-of-town folks. Then I had to check bus timetables, the procedures at Leisure Sport, buy all the fresh food items, decide on recipes and cooking jobs, cook 4 types of Indian curries for 40 people, and organize people to work the grills and lead people to Leisure Sport. It took a lot of time to get all this stuff done, considering that I wasn't home during any weekend from the end of August until the end of September!
In the end, though, it was all worth it. Folks told me that the food was excellent, and that the idea of going to Leisure Sport was a good one. It was a nice way for people to mix and get to know Sapporo City JETs better, which was the whole reason for having the welcome party and creating the Sapporo City HAJET representative position. Sitting back and watching people have fun relaxed me a lot, and I felt like I did done something good for a lot of people. And that feels awesome!
Today I'm back at work. The last thing on my social calendar is going to a baseball game with some of the teachers at my school. We're going to watch the last Nippon Ham Fighters game of the season, which is apparently sold out. Luckily they got a bloc of tickets at a discount price!
So, to wrap up, it's been a very busy month! But to be honest, it's been one of the most fun months since I moved to Japan. I won't forget all the good times I've had, and all the new people I've met. It's also a reminder that I've come a long way since last September. Last year I was just starting to settle in to life in Japan. I only new my fellow Sapporo City JETs and a few other people. But now I know so many people across the island, and I feel like I've carved out a little space in the community here. A lot of people (JETs and non-JETs) know me, and I'm so happy to be involved with things like the welcome parties. It feels good to do good, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here right now.
Here's an interesting article I came across on Yahoo! Finance. It echoes some of the reasons why I needed to get out of the rat race in Washington DC, and why I came to live in Japan for two years.
If you're ever on the fence about what to do next in your career or life, this article may give you some insight. At the very least, what the author says will indeed make you a much more open and well-rounded person -more so than any liberal arts program ever could...
I'm going to step back from economics for a moment and write about teaching economics to both undergraduates and graduate students. Based on that experience, I have some advice for talented high school students: Don't go to college.
And advice for talented college graduates: Don't get a job.
A Complete Education
Of course there is a caveat. You should do both of them eventually, just not right away. Take a year off, either after high school or after college.
Use that year to do something interesting that you'll likely never be able to do again: write a book, hike the Appalachian Trail, live with your grandparents, trek in Katmandu, volunteer at a health clinic in India, or serve your country in the military.
Just do something that will make you a more complete person. I suspect that it'll also make you appreciate your education more (and, ironically, make you more attractive when you do apply for college or enter the job market).
Rules of Engagement
I have two rules. First, you have to support yourself. If you're writing that novel, then you need to be waiting tables when you're not at the keyboard. If you're traveling across India, then you've got to earn the money before you go. This isn't about Mom and Dad funding leisure travel. The time will only be meaningful if you have to work for it, literally.
And second, this experience can't be one of those uber-competitive kinds of programs that are designed as a means to get you somewhere else -- like NASA physics camp or 14 hours a day of intensive gymnastics.
The World a Classroom
Why should an 18- or 22-year-old head for Nepal instead of the University of Illinois or Wall Street?
For three reasons. First, because you can. Because the world is an interesting place, life is short, and there just aren't that many opportunities to take long stretches to do really cool things.
Second, and perhaps more practical, it'll make you appreciate your education more, whether you do it before or after college. I remember the first time I saw terraced rice paddies in Indonesia. I'd taken a course on monsoon Asia in college but the concepts seemed remote and academic. But when I was standing in Bali, staring up at the remarkable green fields carved into the mountainside, I finally understood all the facts that I'd memorized for the exams.
Book-Smart, Life-Ignorant
Last, it'll impart perspective and maturity. I've encountered a small but growing number of students -- amazingly smart and talented people -- who just seem intellectually immature and even emotionally unhealthy. They're obsessed with grades more than learning (because good grades are necessary to do the next hypercompetitive thing).
Despite enormous talent, I fear that these students aren't prepared for a world in which the best path isn't always the most competitive one; where failure is a precondition for success; where there are no letter grades to signpost success. They are smart but not wise -- and more life experience, both the waiting tables and the trekking in Nepal, would help that.
I imagine this kind of immaturity is an inevitable part of growing up, but it feels more common to me these days. Perhaps this is what comes of a generation characterized by parents who made extraordinary efforts to get them into the right preschool.
Hitting the Road
In any case, when it comes to taking a year off, I write from experience. When I was a senior in high school, I told my principal that I wanted to take a year off before going to college. He talked me out of the idea, but to his eternal credit he persuaded me to do it after college.
So I did. After graduation, I spent four months working at a law firm where I was paid a relatively large hourly sum to put 50,000 production documents in chronological order. I lived at home and caddied on the weekends. (In one of life's little ironies, the last guy I ever caddied for -- after a 13-year looping career -- was George W. Bush. Go figure.)
When I had enough for the trip, I left for Colorado, then California, then Tahiti, then Australia and New Zealand -- and so on, across Southeast Asia, China, India, Europe, and home. People often tell me how lucky I was, which is true in a broad sense, but not when it comes to having done this trip. The whole journey -- with a budget of $20 a day -- cost roughly as much as a Honda Civic at the time. Have you ever told a college graduate that he was lucky to be able to afford a Honda Civic?
Meeting Resistance
Curiously, most people -- including my college peers -- thought that taking a year off to travel was a terrible idea at the time. One relative told me that I would be "a year behind," a comment that only makes sense if you believe that life consists of checking off a series of boxes -- job, kids, house, vacation home -- and then ringing a bell.
There are two common arguments against taking time off to do something off the beaten track. The first is that "you can always do it later." I find that kind of sad; to quote Langston Hughes, a dream deferred is a dream denied. How many people do you know who have hiked the Appalachian Trail, volunteered at a clinic in India, written a novel, or done any of the things I mentioned above? These kinds of things don't get easier when you have kids and a mortgage.
The second is that this is some kind of elitist boondoggle. That's just nonsense. My wife (who as my girlfriend at the time) made the around-the-world trip with me. She graduated from an Ivy League school with a full load of student loans. She worked as a waitress on Nantucket (living in a bunkhouse behind the country club) until she'd earned enough to travel around the world for nine months and pre-pay her loans for a year. Then she came back, got a corporate job, and paid off the rest of the student loans. Not bad for someone with three siblings, all raised by a single parent who taught preschool for a living.
A Leg Up
The irony of taking a year out is that it's a pretty good career move, too. You get a unique life experience, and a year later, should you so choose, you can still apply to Harvard Law School.
Only in that pile of applications, you're the one who wrote a book or went around the world. That's who I want in my classes.
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