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2012 JET-MIP ESSAY: CONNOR VEALE

OCTOBER, 2012: BREEZE ISSUE #60
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF JAPANESECONNOR VEALE
Winston Churchill High School
San Antonio, TX
One month ago, I was lying in bed wide awake, excited with theprospect of once again departing my hometown of San Antonio
to ultimately reach Japan. Six days of prior experience in Japan,
including one in Osaka, was enough to whet my appetite forexperiencing Japanese culture in person and give me a basic
idea of what to expect from the JET Memorial Invitation Program.
However, I was nervous about leaving the security of mylocalized life and traveling abroad with 31 unknown others withwhom I had only one guaranteed thing in common: a passion forJapanese language and culture. And on top of 31 new American
friends to make, there was a family of Japanese people
expecting me to speak perfect Japanese with them, or so I
thought. My thoughts raced with Japan's possibilities as well as
my own insecurities that night as I attempted (in vain) to get alittle rest before the big day. I didn't come close to realizing,
however, the full potential of this program and the scale of theeffect it would have on my understanding of the current state of post-3/11 Japan, modern Japaneseculture, and of course the language itself.
Upon arriving in Japan, my nervous excitement continued and built as my fellow students and I got
acquainted with the Institute which served as our dormitory and school during our time in Osaka. The
beautiful campus surrounded by the somewhat familiar yet mysterious city instantly became home and it
was difficult to immediately pick up and leave for Tohoku the next day, although perhaps that was due tothe exhaustion from the over ten hour flight to Japan, our second flight in half a week. Either way, ourhearts went "doki doki" as we boarded the plane from Osaka to Hanamaki chatting about the friendly
airport security agents and silently wondering whether we forgot anything back at the Institute.
The first thing I noticed about the Tohoku region was the color green everywhere. Compared to the major
cities in Japan where I travelled last year, this year's trip illustrated the beautiful landscapes of rural
Tohoku in an indescribable way. The mountains surrounding one area of Rikuzentakata gave the land anappearance of a bowl of green grass, trees, and the undoubtedly Japanese homes. Walking in this area
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was somewhat cathartic, as the land demonstrated a contentedness in the tranquility of nature unheard ofin suburban America and housed people who reflect that. Every person the students walked by either
greeted us with a "Konnichiwa" or delightedly responded to us in a way that made us feel welcome andeven at home, despite full awareness of the devastation left by the tsunami just a few miles from theirhomes.
Experiencing Tohoku's disaster areas was very difficult. Many of my friends cried upon viewing some ofthe devastation, and the rest of us were too shocked by what we saw for any tears. However, we all feltthat it was an important experience for us to understand how Tohoku is coping with the disaster and to get
a firsthand view of actual disaster areas over a year after the tsunami hit. I'm sure all of us were surprised
to find piles of debris as tall as buildings, as the news coverage of 3/11 and its aftermath has dwindled
down to occasionally referencing the pockets of radiation near the Fukushima Daiichi plant. In fact, during
a summit for the JET-MIP participants and students from high schools in Rikuzentakata, many groups
presented a desire to educate their peers in the United States on Tohoku's current state upon returning
home. Tohoku wasn't all a disaster area, however, as we experienced in the cities of Sendai andIshinomaki.
One highlight of our stay in Sendai was free time where groups of four participants were led by two local
college students. Many of the MIP participants saw traditional aspects of Japanese culture such astemples and shrines, but my group experienced some of the youth culture of Japan such as using apurikura machine, visiting a karaoke box, and shopping for Japanese CDs. In Ishinomaki, we had thechance to speak with JET ALTs, Japanese high school students, and Japanese adults involved in an
English conversation club. All of the students had fun throughout the Tohoku trip, but at the same time
most became much less hesitant to speak Japanese and that was an invaluable development foreverybody that contributed to how much we learned from our homestay in Osaka as well as the trip ingeneral.
After returning to Osaka, my fellow participants and I participated in a preparation for the homestay which
included a lesson on Kansai dialect, the Japanese that is spoken in the region of Japan that includes
Osaka and Kyoto. I particularly enjoyed this lesson, not only for its benefit during my homestay but also
because of the engaging style of teaching used by the teachers of the Institute. The lesson stuck andhelped greatly at all times in Osaka, and it was always fun to get a little chuckle out of the security guards
thanking them with “Ookini.” However, I knew I would need to work hard on my Kansai dialect once I met
Ryo, the student at whose house I would spend the following two days.
My two days with Ryo and his family were difficult, but very rewarding. Ryo’s father spoke with very thickKansai dialect and was at times difficult for me to understand, but he and I became very close over thosetwo days. The whole family treated me as one of them and showed me what it truly means to live in Japan.
This experience for me is irreplaceable because of the understanding I have gained about Japaneseculture as well as the confidence in speaking Japanese I lacked before my homestay. I feel thisconfidence will propel me forward in my studies of the language and allow me to prepare myself better forwork with the JET program and beyond in Japan.
Throughout each day of the memorial invitation program, we gained a lot of understanding of how Monty
Dickson and Taylor Anderson grew to love Japan so much. Visiting the towns in which they taught added apersonal connection to the experience and gave us a closer and personal look at the effects of the 3/11
disaster. The legacies of Ms. Anderson and Mr. Dickson have inspired an increased passion for Japan in allof us, and personally I have decided to strive to learn Japanese like Monty Dickson, who according to hisPrivacy - Terms
sister was a dedicated enough man to transition from struggling with Japanese to having mastered thelanguage. Taylor Anderson’s father once told us about his daughter’s optimistic attitude, citing one daywhere her car was broken into and she responded by taking pictures of it all, laughing and smiling in all ofthem. This story touched me and has inspired me to live my life with a positive outlook.
I am grateful to Taylor Anderson and Montgomery Dickson for setting a wonderful example for myself tofollow and others interested in the JET program. I am also grateful to the Japan Foundation who worked
diligently to ensure everything on this program ran smoothly. Without this program, I would have neverlearned about these two wonderful people who proved that life in Japan is nothing short of incredible.

NIPPON THROUGH MY EYES PHOTO SUBMISSION"MOSS ON A WALL"
This picture shows the natural color scheme and the way itrepresent the harmony between man and nature in Japan.

Breeze #62

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2012 JET-MIP Report Part 32012 JET-MIP Essay: Benjamin Johnson

2012 JET-MIP Essay: Carolyn Jeon2012 JET-MIP Essay: Connor Veale

2012 JET-MIP Essay: Corrine QuirkBreeze #59

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