Thursday, November 27, 2008
Kyoto & Osaka Slideshow
I hope to write about my trip to Kyoto and Osaka soon, but here's some photos in the meantime.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Remember, Remember The Fifth of November
It was surprisingly refreshing to be in Japan during what I heard had been unstoppable election campaigning and endless news coverage in the States. However, there was no way I would let myself fall into apathy during this historical election just because I was half a world away! I was happy to find that the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo was hosting an Election-Results Open House on November 5th, during the time when the polls finished closing in the States. I could imagine it would definitely be an interesting experience, but nothing like what I experienced that afternoon.
Along with my American friends from my university in Tokyo, I supposed guests at this U.S. Embassy event would mostly be, well, from the U.S. However, our assumptions immediately dissolved as soon as we reached the enormous line of Japanese waiting to enter. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes and passing through the metal detectors, my friends Erin and Ryan and I entered a large room with an even larger screen playing live CNN coverage of the election over equally giant speakers. (This was at about 1:00PM in Japan, which was about the time the final polls were closing). As we watched in anticipation, the only other American that looked even close to our age came up to us (also an Obama supporter), introduced himself and joined us as we nervously made short conversations about all the what-ifs and together counted down the seconds to the final closing of the polls... Suddenly, Obama's face and the word "president" flashed before us on the giant screen, the CNN projection of the president-elect. So shocked with this information, the whole crowd stood silent for a few moments followed by a roar of applause! Realizing this was for real, we joined in shouting and jumping up and down surrounded by Japanese Obama supporters chanting "OBAMA! OBAMA!" I had never expected so many Japanese to be so ecstatic about the results; it was almost as if we were all fellow American citizens gathered together in celebration. That day, half way across the world, people in Japan got to experience what it was like to support a presidential candidate in a democracy and celebrate his victory, something we found out later was so contrastive from Japanese politics.
All four of us were dizzy with excitement, barely able to believe it was true, that something so initially improbable really was possible in America. The coverage of the rally in Chicago looked absolutely magnificent on that giant projector screen, and all I could think was how strange yet wonderful it looked to see so many passionate, happy Americans gathered together for a shared cause in pure bliss. For the first time, I could feel and express a great surge of pride for my country and wasn't embarrassed to feel it! We received many congratulations from other Japanese in the room, and were also approached by a Japanese newspaper journalist to be interviewed. With the help from our new American friend (who seemed to be almost fluent in Japanese), we answered questions such as "how do you think this election will affect the rest of the world?" and, "what is the significance of a rally?", questions I never had the opportunity to try to answer or even simplify for someone from a very different political culture. It was truly all a positive and surprising experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. We ended our afternoon carrying left-over red, white and blue balloons from the event through the streets of Tokyo and emotionally exhausted, sat together in comforting relief over bentos for lunch.
Anyway, I really hope to write about my trip to Kyoto and Osaka as soon as midterms finish! This week seems to be prime 紅葉 (ko-yo) season, meaning the changing of the leaves are at their most vibrant colors before they leave the trees bare by next week. It's always so beautiful to look out of the train on my way to school each morning these days (even though I'm squished to an unimaginable extent during morning rush-hour) because the sun shines so beautifully through the golden and crimson colored trees that line the streets below the railway. Funny how only this one week in Fall the ko-yo is so dramatic, then, as quickly as it appeared, it will disappear. This weekend I'm planning to travel to Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) and the theme park nearby with some friends, and the view from the lake we're visiting is supposed to be absolutely breathtaking, so I'm crossing my fingers for ko-yo!
Along with my American friends from my university in Tokyo, I supposed guests at this U.S. Embassy event would mostly be, well, from the U.S. However, our assumptions immediately dissolved as soon as we reached the enormous line of Japanese waiting to enter. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes and passing through the metal detectors, my friends Erin and Ryan and I entered a large room with an even larger screen playing live CNN coverage of the election over equally giant speakers. (This was at about 1:00PM in Japan, which was about the time the final polls were closing). As we watched in anticipation, the only other American that looked even close to our age came up to us (also an Obama supporter), introduced himself and joined us as we nervously made short conversations about all the what-ifs and together counted down the seconds to the final closing of the polls... Suddenly, Obama's face and the word "president" flashed before us on the giant screen, the CNN projection of the president-elect. So shocked with this information, the whole crowd stood silent for a few moments followed by a roar of applause! Realizing this was for real, we joined in shouting and jumping up and down surrounded by Japanese Obama supporters chanting "OBAMA! OBAMA!" I had never expected so many Japanese to be so ecstatic about the results; it was almost as if we were all fellow American citizens gathered together in celebration. That day, half way across the world, people in Japan got to experience what it was like to support a presidential candidate in a democracy and celebrate his victory, something we found out later was so contrastive from Japanese politics.
All four of us were dizzy with excitement, barely able to believe it was true, that something so initially improbable really was possible in America. The coverage of the rally in Chicago looked absolutely magnificent on that giant projector screen, and all I could think was how strange yet wonderful it looked to see so many passionate, happy Americans gathered together for a shared cause in pure bliss. For the first time, I could feel and express a great surge of pride for my country and wasn't embarrassed to feel it! We received many congratulations from other Japanese in the room, and were also approached by a Japanese newspaper journalist to be interviewed. With the help from our new American friend (who seemed to be almost fluent in Japanese), we answered questions such as "how do you think this election will affect the rest of the world?" and, "what is the significance of a rally?", questions I never had the opportunity to try to answer or even simplify for someone from a very different political culture. It was truly all a positive and surprising experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. We ended our afternoon carrying left-over red, white and blue balloons from the event through the streets of Tokyo and emotionally exhausted, sat together in comforting relief over bentos for lunch.
Anyway, I really hope to write about my trip to Kyoto and Osaka as soon as midterms finish! This week seems to be prime 紅葉 (ko-yo) season, meaning the changing of the leaves are at their most vibrant colors before they leave the trees bare by next week. It's always so beautiful to look out of the train on my way to school each morning these days (even though I'm squished to an unimaginable extent during morning rush-hour) because the sun shines so beautifully through the golden and crimson colored trees that line the streets below the railway. Funny how only this one week in Fall the ko-yo is so dramatic, then, as quickly as it appeared, it will disappear. This weekend I'm planning to travel to Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) and the theme park nearby with some friends, and the view from the lake we're visiting is supposed to be absolutely breathtaking, so I'm crossing my fingers for ko-yo!
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