Mitchell W

11/05/14
The first day started off with my own personal uncanny calmness.  As I got on the plane I prayed thatI wouldn't be that guy who is scared to fly.  That would've been a heck of a discovery on a 14 hour flight.  There is one word that can describe what happened today in the most eloquence and it is, waiting.  I've never been so worn out from doing absolutely nothing.  I have a discrepancy about how effortless it would be to navigate In this country without knowing Japanese. Other than that, I don't feel the usual discomfort associated with new places. Japan immediately felt just like America.  I didn't expect it to be the land of rainbows and gumdrops and it isn't one.  It made life that much easier when I came to terms with this on the plane.
11/6/14
Today I hiked for the first time. After being soaked in sweat, calves burning, we arrived to the top of a macaque infested mountain.  Needless to say, when you have their food, they do not play around.  We road the train for three hours today.  This trip has instilled in me a newfound patience. No amount of waiting will phase me!
11/07/14
I am now the member of a Japanese honey shop.  I feel so special walking around with my flashy gold honey card.  Talking to the shop keeper made time fall away. Now I will spend every penny I get back at home on ordering honey online. That was the most fun part of the trip so far. Lastly I have developed a crush on every rickshaw driver I see. They are highly specialized bronze demons of godly proportions that I would love to be.
11/09/14 - national museum assignment thingy
 I wouldn't say it was a single thing that I felt speak to me, rather it was an entire room. The ancient pottery of Japan room. I have always been interested in the physical things from the past, rather than the actual history.  The pottery seems so ceremonial although it was most likely just a plain object for them.  The first thing I thought as soon as I saw all the deep bowls was Aztec.  They are so strikingly similar, it's astonishing.  They are breathtaking.  I wish I could run my hands over the vases.  Whenever I get close to them. I can imagine in my minds eye being in this time period.  I feel nostalgic even though I've never seen them before.  
Unfamiliar: Portable wine container
This portable wine container just made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.  Just coming from the pottery room where everything is fat and wide, the cylindrical wine container completely broke the continuity.  The way it was juxtaposed completely makes it stand out.

11/13/14
So uhh today we visited our sister school. As soon as  I sat down, I they threw some math in my face.  I felt the double whammy and it was strong.  I knew today would be the hardest day of the entire trip.  Surrounded by Japanese figuratively and literally, I put my game face on and prepared myself for complete and utter embarrassment.  Every thing goes by so quickly. I'm struggling to catch some fish in that sea of words I don't know.    In the end, it was much easier than I first expected.  People were willing to work with me and in total not a lot of people interrogated me. All in all every challenge I have faced so far was seemed a lot harder at the time then it felt after it ended.
11/14/14
We went to a Tokyo mega center mall thingy today. It's been a long time since I've been able to feel like a wide eyed child again.  We were immediately absorbed into a torrent of lights and sounds so strong that I even forgot were in Japan for a second.  After we stepped out into the open air I couldn't stop thinking about the contrast between the first week of quiet contemplation that we experienced.  I felt extremely gracious that we got to see the cultural sights we saw last week.  If I came by myself or with friends, I most likely wouldn't have gone to see them. Now that I've seen the quiet sites I never want to forget them.
11/16/14 
This country is definitely all about resolve.  Nothing is given, all is earned.  The environment has to be a major player in the establishment of this unspoken truth.  Everything is mountainous and a blinding fog suffocates this small town almost every morning.  They don't even really wear coats, and it's always freezing.  I'm seeing true toughness in everything around me every day, in school and in life. 
11/17/14
I'm glad I came but I'm ready to go home.  The longer I'm her, the less under scrutiny I feel.  I probably wasn't under any scrutiny to begin with.  We have been told a lot of things prior to this trip about what to expect.  No matter how much we were told, and no matter how much I repeated these things to myself, I kept having epiphanies.  It takes more than the knowledge of these facts for me to realize things.  It took me multiple days of actual experience of the facts before something clicked in me.  I can rationalize it as this : my body expects things much slower than my brain. I suppose this is the same for most people.
11/18/14
It's the last day with our families, Albeit it feels like every other day so far.  It feels like it's been a life time since I said "See you in two weeks" to my friends, family, and teachers.  I'm sure when I wake up in my bed on Thursday morning and get ready for school, this experience will feel like a dream. Now I have to decide what to do with what I have gained from these two weeks.  These open ended choices are always the hardest.
11/19/14
Today's group farewell was fairly bland for me.  I was dropped off at the train station, given a firm hand shake by my host and his father, and sent on my way with my host Mom by my side.  I had a feeling it would go down in this manner.  There was a whole lot of ground between me and my host.  I I was questioning this whole process of being pushed on somebody for a week and somehow miraculously becoming best friends with them.  I can't wait to get back home.

4 comments:

  1. Hi son, I see that you are totally submerging yourself into the experiences that you are undertaking, I love that about you.As always you continue to make us so proud of you, I miss you.
    Love MoM

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  2. Hay, what happened to the other post??

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  3. Mitch tell us about your host family, what are their names etc.....

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