So if not just to get as far away from his parents as possible, you may wonder, “What in the world would make him want to live there?” Well, at TCNJ, he majored in biology and minored in English, but studied Asian culture and Japanese language. He studied for a semester in Japan, and along with several friends (including his girlfriend from TCNJ, Caitlin, who now lives a short tram-ride away), signed up with the Japanese government’s JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program to teach English. How ironic that he was going to Japan to teach English, a language we rarely heard him speak!
In the few months leading up to our departure, Jason offered meager advice about what we should study and what travel arrangements we should make. Before he left, he had handed us one of his Japanese language textbooks from TCNJ and told us to study some Japanese lettering so that we would be able to find our way around. Of course, we didn’t do that. As our departure time drew closer, he offered more advice over the internet, which in toto, was just about perfect. He made suggestions about conversion of cash, train travel, places to visit and places to avoid, and what to expect in terms of English-speaking people.
The airline tickets were earned with frequent flyer miles, not from decades of travel, but from miles and miles of credit card receipts (more aptly, “Frequent Buyer Miles”). I was concerned about how easy the online ticketing process was, and thought for sure that we’d be bumped, the flights would be cancelled, or in light of recent carry-on restrictions, our seats would be removed to make room to stow more checked luggage owned by paying customers. As it turned out, except for one small incident, the flights were terrific - on time, surprisingly good food, and very pleasant flight attendants. The one small incident occurred after our brief changeover in Chicago. Chris and Adam are both white-knuckle flyers, and as we ascended back into the storm clouds over the Windy City that day, our plane was struck by lightning. It sent the flight attendants scurrying, and after a couple of minutes, the captain announced over the intercom, “You may have noticed that we were just hit by lightning. The flight crew has checked everything, and we don’t see any problems, so we’re going to continue on our way.” I could be mistaken, but I think I also heard him mutter, parenthetically, “(We’ve only got about 6000 miles to go, most of it over open water, so we’re gonna give it a shot…).”
We also experienced time travel, almost like, “Back to the Future.” We initially traveled from Newark to Chicago, then from Chicago (struck by lightning) to Japan. Because of the travel time and the time differences, we left on a Friday morning, and arrived on a Saturday afternoon. On the way home, though, we left Tokyo at 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon, and arrived in Chicago at 1:00 that same afternoon! As we were about to leave Japan, I remarked to Adam, “We’re going to arrive in Chicago two hours ago!”
In addition to flight arrangements, I also made hotel arrangements at four different hotels online, which normally wouldn’t have concerned me, except that the information available about the hotels was somewhat sketchy. During the trip, I sheepishly approached each registration desk, wondering if there would be room at the inn. I really lucked out, though, and almost everything worked out perfectly. The hotels were clean, well-appointed, efficiently small, and staffed by very nice English-speaking people. Most of the hotels were within walking distance of trains, arguably the best means of travel around the country. In fact, in Kyoto, our excellent accommodations, the Hotel Granvia Kyoto, were at the train station.
As an aside, for anyone planning to visit Japan, we heartily recommend obtaining a Japan Rail Pass, which only visitors can obtain, and only by purchasing vouchers at select locations outside the country and exchanging them at select locations in Japan. They don’t make it easy, but they do make it worthwhile. The trains are clean, the bullet trains are spacious, and they are all ON TIME! The rail pass is valid on many of the bullet trains and many local trains, trams, buses and ferries throughout the country. Just flash your pass and you’re on your way! Some of the train stations, including the one in Kyoto that included our hotel, were teeming with people. The choreography of the masses looked like that of a gargantuan ant farm, with people crisscrossing at breakneck speed. A couple of times, I was swept some distance out of my way, as I feared one misstep might cause the whole cast to tumble.
We found it fairly easy to find our way around, particularly in the big cities, and especially in Tokyo. Many signs are in English, and things are well marked. In fact, we had less difficulty following signs and directions in Japan than we did when we returned to Newark Airport and tried to follow the signs to the shuttle bus for the remote parking lot.
Jason and Caitlin met us in southwest Japan on our second day, after we’d warmed up our shiny new rail passes with several legs of the trip from Tokyo. While we were visiting their home town of Kumamoto and then nearby Kyoto, Jason and Caitlin acted as tour guides, taking us to some of their favorite haunts and eating establishments. The scenery was incredible, the food was excellent, and the shopping was amazing. We even went to a karaoke bar. When asked if I would try to sing karaoke, I replied, “There isn’t enough beer in Japan to make me do karaoke!” Well, apparently there is…and allegedly, there’s a video.
Some of the cultural differences we encountered were fascinating. The Japanese seemed almost obsessive about washing hands before eating, handing out wet towels or towelettes whenever we sat down at a restaurant. But they didn’t offer us any napkins, so I guess the idea is to pre-emptively wipe your hands and face. Also, in lavatories, there were sinks, but generally no towels or dryers to dry with. So you either had to wring your hands dry or wipe them on your pants, which of course weren’t dirty because you had pre-emptively wiped your hands at mealtime.
It also seemed as though the Japanese were preoccupied most of the time, because they seldom looked us in the eye unless they were either serving us, or it was otherwise part of their job. Normally, I try to make eye contact and say, “Hi,” as I pass people. In our travels, most of the people either looked down or straight ahead, as if oblivious to us. Maybe they are just overwhelmed by the sheer number of people they encounter every day, and are just operating on overload. When they were serving us, though, they were held in rapt attention and almost tripped over themselves to help us. One exception was a cabbie in Tokyo who, although apparently Japanese, was the quintessential cabdriver from hell, never leaving the comfort of the driver’s seat of his smoke-filled cab, and driving at about 50 mph through the busy streets of Tokyo. He must have gotten his training in New York City!
We also found that many Japanese people smoke cigarettes, and look like they only recently started, ever conscious of this powerful new thing between their fingers, and puffing furiously. At a couple of restaurants, the smoke was so thick that I longed for the smoke-free restaurants in New Jersey. At one place in particular, a young woman chain-smoked, and even the nearby exhaust hood was no match for her.
We were also struck by the young adults, whose dress ranged from school uniforms to western styles. Apparently, school uniforms are considered attractive among students, and play an important part in their adolescent mating rituals. On the other hand, we saw many young men dressed in the gangsta look, with their baggy jeans hanging at mid-butt, and their baseball hats askew. I wondered if they’d one day emulate Jason’s eclectic style of dress – bright colors, plaids with stripes, too-small tee shirts, etc. (I used to say that he shopped at Barnum & Bailey).
The streets and countryside were essentially devoid of trash and graffiti, largely due to the work ethic of the people employed to clean up such things. But keeping these things under control serves as a deterrent to others, who are less likely to create a new mess rather than just add to an old one. I can’t recall noticing any chewing gum crushed into the sidewalks, like so many stars that mark the entrances to our shopping malls, so apparently it’s not a problem either.
After about a week in Japan, we finally began to understand the language that Jason and Caitlin spoke with some fluency. By then, we had mastered, “Domo Arigato,” while choking back, “Mister Roboto.” Perhaps the most useful phrase we learned was, “Nihongo ga wakarimasen,” which means, “I don’t understand Japanese.” But the most important phrase was, “Otearai wa dochira desu ka?” meaning, “Where is the bathroom?” The Japanese vocabulary is a fascinating mix of old Asian and adapted western words. In the Japanese language, there are limited sounds; their vowels don’t have both long and short versions, and some consonants don’t exist, so adapted western words are the closest they can come. For instance, taxi is ta-ku-shi, and milk is mi-ru-ku. In many cases, the “u” at the end is nearly silent, although I think it’s still there (the Japanese don’t waste much). One very popular word is “gozaimasu,” which doesn’t translate well, but is a polite form meaning, “to be.” It’s used in greetings, thanks and instructions, and seems to punctuate a lot of Japanese sentences.
We also learned about currency exchange, with the Japanese yen being about equal to a penny, and figured out how to negotiate with automated tellers to tap our bank accounts back home. The international MAC machines are only found at the post offices, and are lined up like slot machines, with customers queued up to wait for the next available one.
At 6’-2” with a full head of not-too-short red hair, Jason stands out among the crowds in Japan. Though he’s generally quiet, he enjoys a bit of attention, and being firmly in the minority in heavily Japanese Kumamoto, he’s really hard to miss. At 5’-4” with dark hair, Caitlin blends in a bit more. They both live in areas that are safe and secure, even for a city environment. They’re fairly well-paid, and hold some sway in their respective school systems. They’re both enjoying teaching for now, and will probably return home and continue their own education before moving on in their careers. Most of all, though, they’re independent but still have each other to lean on.
The experience of visiting Japan for Chris, Adam and me was an adventure of a lifetime. Visiting Jason was wonderful in so many ways. Leaving him to come home was more difficult than seeing him off in the first place, though. He’s doing quite well, and is proving that he doesn’t need his parents as much as we’d like to think. So I guess we did okay after all…
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Here are a few of our pictures. The rest can be viewed by scrolling back to the top of the blog and clicking on the link, "Bob's Pictures" in the sidebar on the right.
