I've lived most of my life in the Southern U.S., and most of my life in the South was spent in Alabama. As every American knows (or should know), Alabama is famous for its history of discrimination against minorities. However, in all my years there, I've never experienced any direct racism of any kind. Maybe I was lucky enough to be surrounded by people who didn't judge me by the color of my skin. My experiences in Alabama (hey, everywhere I've lived) were pretty good on that front.
So, when a female student called me the closest Japanese equivalent of the n-word in one of my classes during a recent short stint at a high school in northern Osaka, I have to admit that I was very shocked. I never actually heard her say the word; the class in question was pretty noisy. I would have never known that anything had happened if the regular teacher of that class hadn't called me later and told me. According to the teacher, the girl was trying to get my attention in class. She used the term because she thought it was a friendly gesture. After the class, the teacher and the principal of the high school confronted the girl and told her that such language was unappropriate. I was surprised and disappointed to hear all that.
What happened after that was very awkward for me. I had a meeting outside of school with the principal and teacher, who both apologized to me in person. Then, when I returned to the school, I had another meeting with the teacher (who apologized again) and the girl who said the word. She was a pretty young woman with a great smile - someone you don't expect to utter racial slurs. She looked embarassed and ashamed to have said what she did, and she gave an authentic apology. She went as far as to promise to study more about African-Americans and minority groups in general. I don't know if the teacher put her up to that or not, but the student certainly made a sincere effort to show that she was sorry. I told her that I forgave her, but what she said had hurt me very much, and I hoped that she would show more consideration in the future.
In the end, I suppose the whole incident did some good. The teacher and principal decided to use the incident to develop what they called a "civil rights education" program to teach not only the students, but the teachers on how to show the right respect towards other races. As for the girl, I've heard that not only is she really trying to learn more about other cultures, but her grades at school have risen dramatically (especially in English class). Me? Well, I don't hold any grudges about that. It wasn't something that was said out of hate; it was just ignorance. I'm sure she's not going to say that word again. Yeah, I was disappointed, but I've moved on. If anything, the incident helped make me stronger as well, because it caused me to reaffirm who I am and what I represent.
30 May 2005
15 May 2005
My Trip to Shikoku
During the past Golden Week holidays, my girlfriend and I decided to go on a 4-day driving trip to Shikoku, one of Japan's 4 main islands. It was a lot of fun!
Day 1
First, we drove three hours from Osaka to the Seto Bridge, one of 3 bridges that go to Shikoku from Honshu, Japan's main island. The view from the bridge was beautiful! There was a place for us to stop and admire the landscape. Wonderful.
After driving over the bridge, we arrived in Kagawa, one of Shikoku's four prefectures, or states. Kagawa is famous for udon, which is thick Japanese noodles. The first thing we did when we got there was to find one of the famous udon restaurants and slurp away. It was delicious, I tell you! That was good eatin'.
Full off of udon, we went to a famous temple called Konpirasan. It is located near the top of a mountain, and to get there, you have to climb up about 900 stairs! We made it successfully, but we were dead tired, sweaty and we had drunk all of our tea. After we made our way down, even though it was 5 pm or so, we went straight to the hotel. We were too tired to do anything else.
Day 2
We began the day with a nice, delicious breakfast of... udon. Yep, udon for breakfast, too. Hey, we were in udon heaven. Might as well make the best of it. This was the best udon I had by far. We went to the place about 9 pm, when it opens. However, because there was such a long line, we didn't get in until a quarter to 10. That's how famous this restaurant was. It wasn't even really a restaurant. It was like a hole in the wall in the back of someone's house.
After that, we left Kagawa and headed to Iya Valley. Iya is a very very beautiful canyon, kind of like the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and Washington state back in the U.S. We did two things there. First, we went on a short boat cruise along the river that carved the canyon. Second, we went across a suspension bridge made of vine and tree branches. That was interesting! Although we were not that high, it still looked scary to look down onto the river below. Women were screaming out of their minds! I had fun.
Next, we drove an hour and a half east to a small city called Tokushima. By that time, it was nighttime, so we just went to a famous chicken restaurant for dinner, then headed to bed. I was tired from all the driving.
Day 3
For day 3, we had planned to go see the nearby Naruto whirlpools, some of the largest whirlpools in the world. However, Mother Nature did not cooperate with us, as there was a windy rainstorm. It was too dangerous to ride the boat to see the whirlpools close up, or go to the overlook point under the Naruto bridge. So we headed back to Tokushima. We weren't sure what to do, so we went to this place called the Awa Odori Theatre. The Awa Odori is some kind of local dance, and Tokushima people do it during the festival of the same name. However, at the Awa Odori Theatre, there is a dance troupe that does it every day. We saw the dance, then they asked for volunteers to dance with them. My girlfriend volunteered me, so I went down there and experienced the Awa Odori up close and personal.
With nothing else to do in Tokushima, we spent the afternoon driving back up to Kagawa to eat more... yep, you guessed it... udon. That restaurant, however, was not that delicious in my opinion - not like the two other restaurants. After that, we went back to Tokushima and called it a day.
Day 4
The weather was more cooperative today, so we headed up to Naruto to see the whirlpools. We went on a boat cruise out to the whirlpools. However, the tide was not good enough for the whirlpools to form at that time, so we didn't see anything - a waste of money. Despite that, the views from the straits were gorgeous.
Afterwards, we went over the Naruto bridge to Awaji Island, near Kobe. There, we went to a public ranch called England Hill. We petted rabbits, saw a sheep show, bought freshly-picked vegetables, and other fun things. Not bad. Once we finished that, we drove along the west coast of the island and stopped to watch the sunset. Then we headed over the famous Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world - longer than Golden Gate Bridge. We drove through Kobe and headed home. Overall... a good vacation.
Day 1
First, we drove three hours from Osaka to the Seto Bridge, one of 3 bridges that go to Shikoku from Honshu, Japan's main island. The view from the bridge was beautiful! There was a place for us to stop and admire the landscape. Wonderful.After driving over the bridge, we arrived in Kagawa, one of Shikoku's four prefectures, or states. Kagawa is famous for udon, which is thick Japanese noodles. The first thing we did when we got there was to find one of the famous udon restaurants and slurp away. It was delicious, I tell you! That was good eatin'.
Full off of udon, we went to a famous temple called Konpirasan. It is located near the top of a mountain, and to get there, you have to climb up about 900 stairs! We made it successfully, but we were dead tired, sweaty and we had drunk all of our tea. After we made our way down, even though it was 5 pm or so, we went straight to the hotel. We were too tired to do anything else.
Day 2
We began the day with a nice, delicious breakfast of... udon. Yep, udon for breakfast, too. Hey, we were in udon heaven. Might as well make the best of it. This was the best udon I had by far. We went to the place about 9 pm, when it opens. However, because there was such a long line, we didn't get in until a quarter to 10. That's how famous this restaurant was. It wasn't even really a restaurant. It was like a hole in the wall in the back of someone's house.
After that, we left Kagawa and headed to Iya Valley. Iya is a very very beautiful canyon, kind of like the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and Washington state back in the U.S. We did two things there. First, we went on a short boat cruise along the river that carved the canyon. Second, we went across a suspension bridge made of vine and tree branches. That was interesting! Although we were not that high, it still looked scary to look down onto the river below. Women were screaming out of their minds! I had fun.
Next, we drove an hour and a half east to a small city called Tokushima. By that time, it was nighttime, so we just went to a famous chicken restaurant for dinner, then headed to bed. I was tired from all the driving.
Day 3
For day 3, we had planned to go see the nearby Naruto whirlpools, some of the largest whirlpools in the world. However, Mother Nature did not cooperate with us, as there was a windy rainstorm. It was too dangerous to ride the boat to see the whirlpools close up, or go to the overlook point under the Naruto bridge. So we headed back to Tokushima. We weren't sure what to do, so we went to this place called the Awa Odori Theatre. The Awa Odori is some kind of local dance, and Tokushima people do it during the festival of the same name. However, at the Awa Odori Theatre, there is a dance troupe that does it every day. We saw the dance, then they asked for volunteers to dance with them. My girlfriend volunteered me, so I went down there and experienced the Awa Odori up close and personal.
With nothing else to do in Tokushima, we spent the afternoon driving back up to Kagawa to eat more... yep, you guessed it... udon. That restaurant, however, was not that delicious in my opinion - not like the two other restaurants. After that, we went back to Tokushima and called it a day.
Day 4
The weather was more cooperative today, so we headed up to Naruto to see the whirlpools. We went on a boat cruise out to the whirlpools. However, the tide was not good enough for the whirlpools to form at that time, so we didn't see anything - a waste of money. Despite that, the views from the straits were gorgeous.
Afterwards, we went over the Naruto bridge to Awaji Island, near Kobe. There, we went to a public ranch called England Hill. We petted rabbits, saw a sheep show, bought freshly-picked vegetables, and other fun things. Not bad. Once we finished that, we drove along the west coast of the island and stopped to watch the sunset. Then we headed over the famous Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world - longer than Golden Gate Bridge. We drove through Kobe and headed home. Overall... a good vacation.
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