In my first week of being in Japan, I have been working on maximizing every second of free time with as much exploration as possible. While I have gotten a few stares here and there (some less concealed than others), overall I feel very welcome here.
Because I am interested in the culture and history, I have also been to a few Shinto and Buddhist shrines. Honestly, these have been the most prominent times when I feel out of place. For example, early into my time here, I want to a small shrine buried in the concrete jungle of downtown Tokyo. Because I did not want to be perceived as a gawking tourist nor as someone who is committing offensive acts, I took the stance that I would when entering a church: being very quiet, keeping my head down, not waving my phone’s camera at those in prayer or at the inner places of worship. I noticed a sign next to a large circular door/arch that talked about etiquette for entering the shrine and how to properly worship here. I immediately went to the side and started reading. It included rules like how you are to properly purify your hands with water in a certain manner, then you are to enter the arch a total of three times, looping back around after entering, and then you are ready to approach the main altar. While I was reading this sign, I noticed two foreigners just walk right in, go through the arch, and then stand at the altar, looking around them with a camera in hand (only a few feet from the “no pictures” sign). It made me feel embarrassed as I was now one of three foreigners present, and the local people who came to pay respects at the shrine began to throw their glances my way as well. I felt out of place as not only did I feel as though I was being lumped in with the other foreigners, but I also knew that I was not familiar with the proper etiquette and did not want to commit any faux pas. Looking back on it, there was not really much I could have done. I just gave a short bow to those that were staring at me, and I quickly made my escape. If I had to describe the cultural interpretations at play here using a metaphor, then the culture here was layered like a cake. I had no idea what to do with this “cake” and had never seen one like it before, so I decided to stand to the side and try to examine the layers which were all new to me so I could properly understand what it was before I took my next action. The tourists nearby saw an “exotic cake”, walked up, took a bite, and walked away, never stopping to see what they were even seeing or doing.
Anyways, I have been working on my Japanese everyday and trying to put it to use whenever I can, and I can already notice improvements in my listening and speaking skills. Additionally, I have had the chance to get to meet my coworkers who are at the office that I am interning at. So far, I have met only very nice and welcoming people from Japan, Hong Kong, and America who all work here. In fact, after the second day of work, the other intern and I went out for food and drinks with some coworkers. We got to learn more about their interests, their time at the office, and I got to try monja and okonomiyaki for the first time, and both were great. Everyday at the internship, we have been able to meet fantastic people: from kind coworkers to retired CEOs, I have had such a great time meeting new people.
Lastly, I just want to add a little bit about some of the places that I have seen. So, I am living in Roppongi, a neighborhood known for many expats, foreign embassies, expensive condos, and sketchy nightclubs and jazz bars. But, I have also done been to Shibuya (the place with the crowded crossing), the Imperial Palace (wow, it was huge), Jimbocho (a neighborhood known for bookshops), and Naka-Meguro (a place further afield in Tokyo that has a small river flowing through it). I have done quite a bit of what I call “wandering”, where I will just take off walking in a direction and make it back some time later, stopping at whatever interests me on the way. At the cost of my legs aching all the time, I have been hitting 7-20 miles of walking everyday.
PS: I am writing this nearly two weeks in, and I will update the blog soon enough with my experiences of my second week, so stay tuned. I have been keeping a detailed journal of what I do everyday to refresh the memories too. (I also forgot to add that I went to Disney Sea Tokyo)
