October 16th & 17th. Sad to say goodbye to the Touges. Toyota!

October 16^th, 2006:

• Sad goodbyes to the Touge family.
• Travel day to Toyota City, with a stop at the Ninja Museum of Igaryu
• Meet the Tanakas and their Corgi
• I’m in a bed! I’ve been on futons in tatami rooms for the past 3 weeks. I almost forgot what a bed felt like.

October 17^th, 2006:

• Discussions on Religion and Spirituality
• Lecture on foreign residents. If we think that we have an acculturation problem here in the States, it appears that Japan has it worse. Unlike the U.S., Japan is not founded on the principal of being a melting pot. Here, harmony and order are more strongly valued. As you can imagine, foreigners living here have much to contend with as they are expected to comply with local traditions and ways of life. That’s all fine and well unless you are from a culture that is completely different from the Japanese culture. Apparently, there are strong representations from Brazil, Peru, and China here and there has been some tension between the cultures. The Toyota government has assigned a small task force (?) to help guide foreigners through the Japanese culture and system. My question to our presenters was, basically, “If you have resources to teach foreigners how to understand the Japanese culture, do you have resources going the other way. Meaning, are the Japanese people being educated about the Brazilian, Peruvian, and Chinese cultures?” The response in basic. They have a small education program. This harkens to me the necessity of programs like Up With People. I agree that if you decide to live in a foreign country, that you should learn to abide by that country’s rules. However, I don’t think that someone should lose their own culture in order to be able to live in a foreign country. If there is education and understanding on both sides, then frictions are bound to be lessened. That’s where we come into play. We put “foreigners” into people’s houses and put “locals” into a position where they need to understand their guests. I can’t think of a better way to facilitate communication and understanding. But is our time here enough?
• Jeremy shares his poetry for the Open Briefcase series
  
• Surreal moments: Playing Capture the Flag and Freezetag at Toyota Stadium (which looks like something from out of a futuristic anime show) in Toyota Japan.

Watching Billy Elliot (movie, not the roomie) with Michico