Japan - Final Day

I'm vegging out at an internet cafe now and will be heading off to the airport in just a few hours. There's a typhoon heading straight for Hong Kong at about the same time I am, however, which has me worried that my flight will be cancelled or delayed. But, at this point, all flights seem to be on track so who knows.

There really isn't much to report on since the last day in Kobe. I headed out last night with a group of friends from in and around Tokyo and we enjoyed some authentic Katsu Don (the stuff in Melbourne just doesn't compare) and fancy alcohol, including the first sherry (or however you spell it) I've ever had.

So, despite there being nothing really to report on for the last 24 hours, I still felt that a fitting final post was in order, if only for my own benefit. I've learnt a great deal on this trip not just about other cultures but also about myself, which is what I'd always hoped you happen. They say that a bit of worldly travel really does change ones perspective. I wouldn't say that it's really changed mine, but it has certain strengthened it. If nothing else, I feel more prepared for the relocation to London in July because of what I've learnt here.

Finally, there was one thing that I realised I didn't really blog about here, and it is well worthy of a mention. I spoke about the nice people I met and drank with in Japan, but never really spoke about the everyday people that I never said more than two sentences too. The feeling of being a tourist in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan was distinct for each country. But I wanted to stress just how patient and kind the Japanese people really are. And I'm really talking about all of them. Not once did I came across anyone who made me feel unsafe or unwelcome, and not once did I come across anyone who seemed impatient while I struggled to form the sentence I was looking for. While I was in Hiroshima, for example, I went to a convenience store and tried to order a snack, a cooked sausage. Problem was there were three different types of sausages and so when I asked for a sausage, she looked momentarily surprised before politely asking me which type of sausage I wanted and then waited patiently while I fumbled for the words for "any kind of sausage is fine". Trying the same thing in Australia I think would get you rolled eyes from staff and frustrated sighs from customers waiting in line behind you.

This sort of patience that the Japanese people have for foreigners learning their language has been central to the huge improvement I have made in my Japanese since I got here. It isn't because I learnt much new language here, but instead I learnt to change how I approach speaking Japanese. I used to only say a sentence if I was certain I could get it right. As a result, my japanese never really evolved beyond a certain point becuase I was never learning through error, which is really the only effective way to learn a language. Now, I say a sentence even if I know I'll stuff it up. The natives here are incredibly patient and even if your sentence is an incoherent mess, they'll wait with perfect patience while you try again.

My last little comment for this blog will be to advise you all of a big secret that I discovered very early on, and continued to relearn on a daily basis during my travels; I'm pretty much wrong about everything. No, seriously, it's true. I didn't believe it either, but you should come to terms with it. Every one and every place was unlike anything I'd expected. This has motivated me to see the rest of the world for what it really is, not for what I have always thought it would be.

I suppose I'll pick up this blog again when I head over to London and roam around Europe, but for now, this is the end. Thanks to everyone for reading and a big thanks to those that took the time to comment. I did start this thing just for me but I think knowing that other people were interested made me work a bit harder, which is something that I'll personally benefit from when I look back on this in the future.

See you all very soon!
Mike