The Kanagawa Wrap Up

I have one day left in Yokohama, and then will be headed out to spend two days in Kyoto and a day in Osaka before flying back to the states. (I'll post more about my crazy trip home soon, but let's put it this way: There is a reasonable way to return home from Japan. It invovles a flight across the Pacific and a brief stopover on the West Coast. This is not the way I'm going home-- I'm going the unreasonable way.)I took Rachel and Brett out to the Korean bbq today to thank them for their hospitality, and was once again bowed over by the deliciousness. Meat aside, I'd eat grilled onions all by themsleves.

Just when I think I've got Japan better figured out, I made two mistakes today. I took the train the wrong direction from Yokohama-- a trip I make almost four or five times a week-- towards Mitomirai instead of Kikuna. It was luckily easily fixed, but I am still an embarassment to myself. The Korean bbq place we go to is called Xzcaca (I'm sure it's spelled differently, sorry) but I asked Rachel, "How long does it take to get to Yukata?" Hi boss, how long does it take to disrobe?

Tomorrow will probably be absorbed by packing and cleaning, and then an office party in Tokyo. I found out most of Brett's office thinks I'm pretty cute, which is flattering. Another perk of being exotic.

Japan is my second full-on experience with being in a racial minority, and I don't think I've found the experience as striking or as illuminating as I would have expected. It hasn't really helped me to understand what it's like to be a racial minority in America at all. When in Tanzania, our whiteness and racial difference really stood out to one of my friends, but I felt like we stood out due to our privilege before our race. (In a poor country, I don't think money is any harder to read than skin color.)I was never as conscious of my paleness as I was of the money in my belt. I don't think we should assume race is an inherently meaningful distinction but it assumes meaning in relation to the symbols and history associated with it.

Japan is known for being a relatively closed society, and there are many policies which can apparently make life hard for foreigners. Landlords sometimes refuse to rent to them on the grounds that they won't understand how to properly sort the trash (to be fair, it's a complicated system). Sometimes, their parents have to vouch for them before they can participate in programs, and people often need Japanese sponsors before they can rent apartments. In Okinawa, there are bars where foreigners aren't allowed because of drunken incidents near the bases.

I haven't experienced any of degree of this (and am also not trying to rent an apartment). Every time I consider going clothes shopping, I'm somewhat bitterly reminded of real physical differences, and babies tend to stare at me on trains (this is definitely another perk of being exotic because the babies are so cute). In general, though, I feel like the degree to which I "stand out" in Japan is more complimentary than alienating. I think it's akin to the pretty exchange student from the former Soviet bloc who doesn't speak English treatment.

Language can be a huge alienating factor though. The other day, while we were making our bookings for the Kyoto trip, all the travel agents were mysteriously on the phone when our number was called. The manager bustled over, and when Rachel demonstrated that she could speak Japanese, agents were instantly free. I don't think this is xenophobia; people are just afraid of making a mistake and doing their job badly.

In addition to friends and family, cheese, gym workouts, and my red coat, I'm really looking forward to being able to understand all the conversations and read all the signs at home. Information overload has its own appeal.