There are so many emotions I have as we finish up our time here. Our last week of class was interesting. We talked about what language can do to our minds, and how language shapes how people perceive us. Some specific examples are how masculinity is shown through language and dialect in Like Father, Like Son, a movie that Idemaru-Sensei looked at with her colleagues and students. I enjoyed seeing how masculinity is changing in Japan and how people are choosing to perceive these changes. We can tell there is going to be a big change in the future, but at this point we aren’t quite sure what is going to happen exactly. With the death of the salaryman, we can only hope there is an incoming focus on mental health.
This last week has also had a lot of personal growth for me. While I always worried I was a lazy person, I am starting to feel better about what I am capable of. I am for sure tired as of now, but I kept going until it was time for us to leave. The last two days were filled with outdoor adventures for me. I took a solo trip to Daimonji-san and climbed it. Everyone was so nice on the mountain, and many Japanese men came up to me to ask where I was from. One ended up climbing to the top with me in solidarity because we were both struggling.
The view from the top was gorgeous. It was great to see all of Kyoto from up high. It has been an amazing home base for this program, and I feel I have learned and grown a lot from the experiences that it gave me. I am a much different person than I was at the beginning of this trip. It is very hard to say goodbye, but I am glad the people that have experienced it with me will be returning to the same city as me come fall.
As I am writing this, a small group of my friends and I just returned from Lake Biwa. Swimming around was definitely something this summer was missing. It was interesting to see how different the beaches here are compared to Oregon. There were a lot of things in place to ensure the safety of swimmers, but no one seemed interested in leaving as a thunderstorm rolled in near us.
The countryside was beautiful and everyone there was so warm and funny. Maybe it was just because we were near a beach, but everyone was louder and less reserved which I really enjoyed. There were also a lot of dads playing with their kids which made me think back to the movie we were researching in class.
This week has also been a time for introspection. Idemaru-Sensei gave us time to reflect in class about how much we have learned and how different we feel about ourselves. Something we discussed was how time overseas can change your perception of people with accents. I am not sure if I had biases associated with accents since I grew up with a father who has a very obvious accent. However, I do feel I have a better idea about how different people can be in other locations and that there is no “normal” way to live or to speak. I thought I knew that, but this trip has made me realize how much I had expected other places to be more like what I am used to.
I really have loved my time here. There were definitely things that were hard to deal with, but I hope to come back one day anyway. Living here would also be amazing, but I am not sure my career goals align with that possibility. Still, I feel privileged to have been able to experience this with Idemaru-Sensei, Eiko-san, and Haruna-san. They made this trip the best version it could have been. My classmates were also a great group to get along with. I’m feeling sad about leaving, but also glad to have experienced this and to take the experience with me in the future.
