Japan Earthquake

So, this blog is completely after the fact. Looking back, on it all, you think I would have gone into more detail about (or did I even mention?) the Earthquake that happened in Northern Japan on March 11th, 2011. To be honest, it didn't really affect us in Osaka, and since I didn't read the news at that point in my life and I don't really watch TV either, I just heard stories. Everything that they were telling us here is that it was OK. We were safe and we didn't have anything to worry about. Yes, it was devastating, but being somewhat accustomed to earthquakes, this country just picks itself right back up, rebuilds, and keeps moving along.

I rarely saw pictures or video footage and while, granted, the total area of Japan can basically fit into the state of California, the archipelago is spread out over a distance similar to that of going from Maine to Miami. And the distance from where I am in Osaka to where the Earthquake was situated is about like if you were to drive from Providence, RI to Virginia Beach, VA (or for you West Coast readers, driving from Santa Rosa, CA to Tijuana, Mexico)...a good ways away. So that being said, when people were calling me worrying if I was OK or did I see any of the effects, I just kind of laughed and said, "Of course I'm alright!" Why wouldn't I be, having been that far away from it all?

I have realized over time the effects and devastation caused (more-so by the Tsunami than the Earthquake itself) and tonight I watched this video that a few friends posted on Facebook:




I re-posted on Facebook, but I wanted to share this video with everyone. My accompanying statement with the video was, "This is moving in and of itself, but to have lived here and known these people - learned about their culture, their families and friends, their lives - makes it all that much more moving. 日本、ほんとにあいしてるよ！ I'm so glad to have had this experience!!!" The Japanese says, "Japan, I truly love you!"

All of that is so true - as exasperated as I can get with the culture here at times and the fact that there are times that I simply crave my own culture and people who share my own way of thinking, I have really been enriched and blessed by having lived in this country and experienced this culture. And to think of all of those people whose faces were in the video...I see these people every day. They could easily be people who live in my neighborhood or people who I see on the subway. Watching it REALLY moved me.

I don't know how the video will affect you, the reader, but if anything I hope that inspires feelings of hope, courage in the face of adversity, and sympathy for those who lost everything. Perhaps if you feel so inspired you could donate to a worthy charity or get involved in some voluntourism.

The above link should help define voluntourism if nothing else! All of that to say, I think humanity is truly remarkable in so many ways - our similarities, our differences, our resilience, our capacity to love, and our willpower just to name a few.

More to come later! I probably won't get to post again in 2011, so I hope everyone has a wonderful end to their year. Have fun, be safe, and love on each other!

Christmas in the Far East

Today is Christmas in Japan. It feels just like any other day. I'm going to work (and working a 13 hr day I might add), and were it not for the decorations at Universal Studios and various places around town, and Christmas merriment brought mostly by my fellow westerner friends, you wouldn't be able to tell that it's Christmas as we know it back home. I've been spared countless Christmas TV ads, Black Friday doesn't exist here, and holiday parties that lead up to the actual day - with friends old and new - have been virtually non-existent. That may all sound bleak and depressing, but I am happy. I have a great extended family here in Japan and they make me feel loved.

Being in Japan and away from all of the Holiday hype back home, I thought I would be really sad. Yet, when I contemplate this season and what it means to me - why I miss being home at this time of year and why I thought I would be really sad today more-so than other days of the year - I find that the reason this season and this particular day is important to me is not because of presents, commercialism, or even the exciting hype and traditions that comes with Christmas in the States. Family, friends, and love are what is important. The fact that I get to see all (or most) of my family this time of year, the fact that coming home means seeing and reuniting with friends that I haven't seen in a good while, and that from those experiences and people I get such joy and receive such outpourings of love from them all is what this season means to me.

And, if I can feel such love from people who are flawed, I can only imagine how much I am loved by the Divine who loves unconditionally. Who loved me enough to come to earth in the humble form of a man, put himself through the human experience, and sacrifice himself so that I might be redeemed from all of my failures and shortcomings as a human. I do miss home, but I am thankful for a holiday experience where I can actually contemplate on this.


Christmas does exist in Japan, by the way. It is more a holiday about couples - almost like they took Valentine's day fused it with Christmas decorations.

And apparently a meal from KFC is typical this time of year back in America?? Apparently, KFC had a stand set up at several of the Subway stations selling boxed dinners to people passing by. People have for whatever reason bought into and adopted as their own tradition the notion that a fried chicken dinner is what we have back in the states to celebrate this season. Oh, Japan :) Enjoy this day, this season, and love on each other!

Just some reiteration

My most recent post called for Americans to use the voice that they have and it touched on some of my recent political feelings. My friend Max showed me this video at work the other day and I wanted to share it with you. I don't know what this man's plan is about as I'm not a student of finance, but what he has to say otherwise sort of touches on what I said/how I feel about our country and the congresspeople who are running it.

Pardon the crass title to the video...

Stand up!!

So this blog is a bit different than most of my blogs from this past year as it is more about my thoughts and life observances as opposed to actual happenings in my life...and the subject is....



POLITICS!

I am not a political activist. I have never studied politics. I have also never really cared about politics or politicians for that matter. The way presidential hopefuls have "fought for power" with each other in the media, news, and in their various debates (this goes for congressional and governor hopefuls as well); the way that party lines are drawn on legislative issues and neither party budges in the hopes that the other party will cave in and they can then proclaim that they "won" or that they were "right"; the way that the media accentuates this polarization of party politics by using language like "struggle for power" and "fighting" and "winners/losers" that furthers in American minds, perhaps even on a subconscious level, that a democratic government - that is (according to Abraham Lincoln) a government "of the people, by the people, [and] for the people" - is actually a bunch of power hungry individuals that are more concerned with pushing their own agenda's and their own parties' agendas and making money than they are concerned with the well being of the other 99.999% of the nation that they are supposed to be governing (in a manner, I might add, as laid down by our forefathers that forms a more perfect union by establishing JUSTICE, ensuring DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY, providing for the COMMON DEFENSE, promote the GENERAL WELFARE, and securing the blessings of LIBERTY to ourselves and future generations to come); these reasons and more have generally pushed me away from politics.

That being said, I have had the opportunity to live some of my life now in a completely different culture, and while I do love my life in my adopted country for now, being away from America has made me realize more and more that we are truly blessed to live in the nation that we do. Despite the media's wording that slightly over-exaggerates nearly everything, a (currently) very polarized party-driven government, and a general population that seems to be apathetic towards politics most of the time ("if it doesn't affect me directly, why bother?"), we have freedoms that most people in this world don't. One of those freedoms that has stood out to me the most since being away is the freedom to have a voice. In Japan, my host country, whether because of their upbringing, their culture, their government's behavior towards its citizens, or a combination of circumstances, the Japanese people are not very individualistic people. In general, they don't speak out and even if they are being treated poorly by their workplace or their government or their fellow man, as a majority (and a stereotype for sure) they don't stick up for themselves. Maybe they are afraid of losing their job or getting in trouble or being looked down on by others who are more orderly and keep their heads down. And yet, I hear a lot of the people that I work with grumbling about the way things are run in the corporate world - the few workaholics that are in company power positions dictate everyone else's work lives and everyone below these company-heads have to follow suit or put their job and reputation at a company at risk (no matter how brilliant, hardworking, and efficient they are). Japan is a place where the "yes" man is valued and people are expected to put work before personal life, family, and even health (can we say "flu epidemic?") If these grumblers would band together and speak up, change would come. It might come slow, it might take a LOT of people, and there might be martyrs along the way so-to-speak, but if it benefits everyone else in the long run, isn't it important to do?

Now apply that to our American culture and politics. At this point in time we have a voice. As American citizens, is it not important to exercise that voice in a peaceable, responsible, and healthy way? If we remain apathetic to whatever doesn't affect us, even if we don't agree with it, one day that voice might be gone. I would hope that our government and the principles it was founded upon would not allow that, but money talks and greed and power get the better of a lot of people. Little freedoms could disappear without us even being fully aware of it and then one day you will realize that a lot more was taken than "little" freedoms.

Will that honestly happen? I don't know, but the point of this monologue isn't to preach on any hypothetical impending "gloom and doom" of our American culture and way of life as brought about by the government. It is a plea to the American public to wake up and realize that we all have a voice. It is the single greatest agent of change that we have and it is important to use it. How can you use that voice? You could start by familiarizing yourself with our government and formulate your own opinions (and not your parents', friends', churches', or bosses' to name a few) on current issues and what you think would make us a better, healthier, stronger, and hopefully more unified nation. How do you feel about the environment in general? What about the economic situation? If you have a business background or know someone who does, talk (in a non-partisan way) about how best the economy could be boosted and turned around. What about foreign policy/affairs and how America should or shouldn't handle them? Health-care/reform? These are just some of the hot-topics that have been in the news lately (if not the past month, then definitely in the past year.)

Around election time, watch the debates, ignore the TV ads and what talk show and news show hosts have to say (people generally twist, lie, exaggerate, and opinionate that stuff all the time), and if somebody - especially a candidate - quotes something or someone, look the quote up and see it in context - Republican hopeful Mitt Romney has already proven recently that candidates can and will take a quote out of context to make the opposition look bad. Look at where the candidates come from in the world of politics, and look at what stances they have taken on previous legislation. Do their opinions and, more importantly, their actions, in your mind, line up with what you think would serve and benefit the American people the most? Don't just look at the Democratic and Republican candidates either. A lot of great Independent candidates are overlooked just because they don't have the money to support a huge tour of the country, superfluous advertisements, adequate media time to get their stances out there, and views that don't fit one party or another.

Don't forget to vote if you can! Your voice and your choice matter, so make it count! You might have to choose between the lesser of several evils in making your decision, but it is important to make that choice instead of leaving it up to others to make if for you. And once a president or congressperson or governor is elected, keep them accountable to what they said they would do. Write letters, get petitions out, peaceably march or protest a poor piece of legislation, and if that still doesn't change things or keep them accountable, make sure that when their term is up, that you don't vote for them! These are merely suggestions on how to make your voice count and heard and by no means a conclusive list of options or suggestions.

So, am I crazy for politics now? By no means. Am I telling you to go vote Democrat, Republican, or Independent? No. But I am tired of reading about all of the bullshit that politicians on both sides of the fence say and do - the empty promises they make and the false stances they take just so that they can get a group of people's votes - and the citizens of our great country who have a voice and the RIGHT to a voice not using that voice. USE IT! Only YOU can help make our country a better place by exercising your voice. And remember - only YOU can prevent forest fires…