Barack Obama has today announced the end date for one of the bloodiest and most pointless conflicts in recent history. The blessed day is August 31, 2010.
I would think about making a count-down engine, if I could make one. This does not make my welcoming of the news less joyful.
пятница, 27 февраля 2009 г.
четверг, 26 февраля 2009 г.
The art of fitting in.
For some time in the last few months I have tried to suppress my surprise at what I see as the grand paradox of the Japanese society - how such an advanced society could have been built on the shoulders of people with such a limited personal outlook at the world. This country is filled with people who always live by the rules, who cannot even imagine that there might be another way to do something. I know I am indulging myself in one of the most terrible generalisations, but this is what I feel after almost three months of living here. This is a society of taboos - and breaking them is tantamount to social suicide. What is most important here is to fit in, not stand out.
People here are so much afraid of taking responsibility, of standing up and facing the music, to borrow the words of one marvellous speaker (and tango dancer, how could I forget?) Liet. Col. Frank Slade. If you plan to visit your local bank with a question that is not on the day-to-day FAQ list of an average cashier, and, to make the matters worse, your Japanese does not go far beyond “Hello!” and “Nice weather!”, then be prepared to be sent somewhere else to call some number. Which is usually answered, after a few minutes of standing in the queue and listening to stupid phone music, by a Japanese female with a geisha voice and an American accent, to whom you will have to explain everything from the very beginning. And no wonder if at the very end of your long conversation she redirects you somewhere else. Simple things that usually take no time at all are turned into long and tiresome procedures here. Everyday, whereever you go, you face - you feel the walls around you, and sometimes they close in on you. This is where little frustrations start to build one upon another, slowly, day by day. It is very important not to lose your temper in this country - the Japanese themselves always somehow manage to do this.
I more often than ever feel myself a round peg in a square hole here. I haven’t gone so far as to regret my decision to come here, no, but there surely have been some hard times during which I felt short of swearwords. Maybe I should learn Zen or to meditate - maybe the ancient art of healing - acupuncture - will soothe my nerves?
People here are so much afraid of taking responsibility, of standing up and facing the music, to borrow the words of one marvellous speaker (and tango dancer, how could I forget?) Liet. Col. Frank Slade. If you plan to visit your local bank with a question that is not on the day-to-day FAQ list of an average cashier, and, to make the matters worse, your Japanese does not go far beyond “Hello!” and “Nice weather!”, then be prepared to be sent somewhere else to call some number. Which is usually answered, after a few minutes of standing in the queue and listening to stupid phone music, by a Japanese female with a geisha voice and an American accent, to whom you will have to explain everything from the very beginning. And no wonder if at the very end of your long conversation she redirects you somewhere else. Simple things that usually take no time at all are turned into long and tiresome procedures here. Everyday, whereever you go, you face - you feel the walls around you, and sometimes they close in on you. This is where little frustrations start to build one upon another, slowly, day by day. It is very important not to lose your temper in this country - the Japanese themselves always somehow manage to do this.
I more often than ever feel myself a round peg in a square hole here. I haven’t gone so far as to regret my decision to come here, no, but there surely have been some hard times during which I felt short of swearwords. Maybe I should learn Zen or to meditate - maybe the ancient art of healing - acupuncture - will soothe my nerves?
Подписаться на:
Сообщения (Atom)