O Tagami – Letter from Japan
We were told by friends who had visited Tokyo “you're gonna buzz out when you get there!” So, of course, we started to picture ourselves surrounded by huge skyscrapers and neon lights, being squashed into crowded trains and relaxing in the karaoke bars we'd seen in films like “Lost in Translation” and in guidebooks eagerly borrowed from the library.
Finally, after months of anticipation, preparation and intensive language training we boarded our Air New Zealand flight bound for the bright lights of Tokyo city. We were expecting to be overwhelmed by the size of the city, the crowds and the language. We were expecting to “buzz out”.
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| Jodie and Nathan Reid, with their daughter Hallie. |
True to expectations the buzz factor set in the moment we stepped off the plane. Finding our way to the arrivals area (by train!) is the first sign that we are not in Aotearoa anymore, and commenting on the size of the airport to an airport employee, they quickly point out that this is the smaller of the two terminals (!!).
After the small town-sized airport and a trip through the metropolis to our new apartment we couldn't help but wonder, “how on earth are we going to survive in this enormous city?”
Friends likened the “buzz factor” to a honeymoon. We would spend, they said, the first few weeks in absolute awe of everything around us and revel in the new experiences no matter how out of place we might feel. “The honeymoon will soon be over” we told ourselves and as we've settled into our new lives reality has also settled in. Nathan has to face the crowds every morning during his commute to language school while Halle, our daughter, and I settle into our new life in Japan. There are things we've started to miss about home and there have been a few frustrating encounters but they're quickly replaced by new discoveries and that ever-present “buzz”.
We know that our time here will differ from previous scholars because Nathan is the first trainee to be accompanied by his whanau. The first notable difference is that we don't get to see as many of the bright lights as we'd expected but we do get the weekends to seek out new sights and new adventures. We're constantly discovering new cities, new attractions, new food and meeting new friends. Sometimes we set out to do one thing, hop on the wrong train or get off at the wrong stop and a new adventure begins. It doesn't take long for the stress of the working week to be replaced by the buzz of the weekend.
Our perception of Tokyo before we came here was mostly of crowded trains, neon lights, sushi and karaoke but we're constantly amazed by everything else that Japan has to offer. The tiny, narrow streets lined with shops and restaurants and the temples and shrines tucked away in the strangest places in every city. Convenience is everywhere; it's pointless to even own a car (although that warmth was sorely missed at Nathan's recent rugby game). The number of pachinko parlours and the noisy metallic clatter as gamblers feed hundreds of ball bearings into the machines, the absence of rubbish bins when you really need them and of course for Nathan, the men who stand on the train platforms with white gloves squeezing everyone on to the trains (no buzz there!), all still astound us.
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| Jodie at a traditional Japanese Garden in Tokyo. |
Nathan doesn't notice the pushing and shoving on the trains so much these days. “You tend to block it out because it's just something that you have to do,” he says. Instead, he focuses on the positives. Like the food, the friendships we are making and the opportunity we have to explore and experience life and work in Japan.
Our journey to Japan was preceded by months of language training and study on the history and culture of Japan. We were confident that we would be OK. But, even with all the practice and preparation nothing compares to the real thing. We could ask for directions in Japanese before we came here, but could we understand the response? Not so well. Nathan has since spent another three months in intensive language training and has improved immensely. And for me it's a buzz to finally have a decent (but by no means perfect) conversation with a stranger.
The honeymoon may be over but the “buzz” is still there.
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