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2015 JET-MIP ESSAY: DILLON EVANSNOVEMBER, 2015: BREEZE ISSUE #97
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESEDILLON EVANS
Columbus High School
Solumbus, GA
I peeped at the website for the JapanFoundation after my teacher mentioned a “freetrip to Japan,” and I will be honest: I waschecking the website to see if the program wasactually legit, but it was more than legit. It wasextremely life-changing. I also have seenpeople say the MIP is life changing and thatthey are still best friends and they will neverforget going to Japan. I will be honest again: I did not realize just how truthful those statementsare. I add one more word to the mix in order to explain my experience as individually as
possible, and that word is “eye-opening.” Not only has my life changed for the better, but it has
made me want to change others’ lives with the simple knowledge of what the JET program is,what happened and is still happening with the event of the tsunami in Japan, what kind ofpeople live in the country, how I liked my experiences, and how those experiences can reflect
upon the people I speak to, because I very much believe something as elementary as basic
information about Tohoku’s conditions, Japan’s culture, and US-Japan relations can be much
more eye-opening than what people find ignorantly profound in daily American life andshortened news television aspects of situations.
I experienced many, many things while in Japan, and I obviously can’t talk about them all here,
but I will firstly say landing in Japan was very clear to me. I had a window seat on the planeride and saw the coast. It was intimidatingly large, considering I never saw the ocean before
that. The mountains were large near the coast as we arrived in the plane, whereas I saw abeautiful rush of dark blue and even more dramatically darkened white clouds and shore-whitewaters rushing towards those mountains almost as if in a hurry. It was beautiful and only 4:30
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AM with the sun rising before us. If there is one sight I will never forget, it will be of thatamazing coastline. However, Japan became much more than sight-seeing and awe andbreathtakingly spectacular views. It was all of that and an educational program which would
make me aware of my surroundings more than the usual tourist. I took part in many different
aspects of that program, and below, I speak of my most memorable events—the ones that
resonate the most with what I now believe in as crucial to the purpose of the JET program.
On the seventh day of the program, we participated in the High School Summit. With my group,Group 5, and three other Japanese high school students we were to do fieldwork at ourassigned location. Our group was assigned to an AEON grocery store to find ways the store
could be more inclusionary, where the word “normalization” is no longer needed. Upon meeting
the Japanese students, they were as shy as any others we had met before and didn’t rush tostart conversation, but we introduced ourselves and went through the store after departing thebus and after talking about the basics: Have you been to America? What’s your favorite food?
What grade are you in? The guide and volunteer who helped us, Yoriko, helped progress theconversation, but before we could get too far, we arrived at the grocery store. We walked firstin the doors and saw no electric chairs with baskets which the elderly and disabled sometimes
need, no different languages or different sections for other cultures’ food items, and as
opposed to larger city’s stores, no English signs. However, these were our ideas of what ismissing—the American students’ ideas—with one other idea coming from the three of them. I
began to notice quickly the fight against the need for the word normalization would not end
with only the efforts of the native people. In fact, after the trip on Facebook, one of theJapanese students called the activities that day a “fieldtrip.” Maybe it is because I wasparticipating in the MIP, but I saw it as much more than a fieldtrip. This made me exponentiallymore conscious of how I view improvement and social movements at home, because had I
been given a fieldwork assignment during the school year in America, I would have treated it
as a fieldtrip as well, recognizing its importance but only acknowledging it as a day of school. I
do not bash the fellow student for treating it as such, but it helped me be more aware of how
serious Rikuzentakata and other disaster areas’ conditions for improvement are and how much I
want to help in some fashion later in my own life.
While there is much work to be done in Tohoku, I also realized how much culture anddifferentiated values there are in Japan as a whole. One of those values is the bike as a formof transportation; not only did I have the opportunity to bike down the streets of Japan, but I
got to know just how trustworthy the atmosphere is, everywhere. Because it was rainy season
during the visit and the humidity is already high throughout the year in Japan, the skies weregrey for all but two days, and that gray light reflected off of greyer buildings. In America, I stillfind this color to be depressing and de-incentivizing and muggy. However, no matter where I
went, the people were very polite and understanding, the customer service was well above par,and of course the light made colors shine off of buildings much more clearly than I have seen
before. When biking near the Kansai Institute, whether to Rinku Town (a strip mall), the AEON
Mall, or to a 7/11, nothing ceased to amaze me. That is not to mention I was biking with closefriends that enjoyed the experience along with me, and it was not hard to experience those
types of things, because the bikes are so accessible and so normative.
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The most eye-opening experience—probably of my entire communicative life—was thehomestay. I have talked as much as I can throughout my childhood thus far, but I never would
have expected talking to my host family to be as difficult as it was. The time at my host family’s
residence was amazing, and they were almost overly nice with their large dinner, famous Osaka
mochi, generous hospitality, and overall inclusiveness of me within the family for that one nightand two days. I never felt unwelcomed. However, they humbled me. I have always been very
competitive in Japanese at my school, and I strive to be the best speaker at least, but teachers
don’t teach you everything by Japanese II, so I definitely knew my placement and my skill after
talking to a family which had relatively low skill in conversational English. They even jokedaround with me a bit. I did not understand what the rude form of “please” is in Japanese, so myhost mother tells me to ask the sales lady for number fifty; she referred to the rude form. I
looked at the saleswoman and demanded Number 50 (“Go juu ban kure!”). I did not understandwhat had happened when my host mother and brother both fell backwards in laughter at theOsaka Castle shop. Later on, she explained, and we all laughed together. Luckily andsurprisingly, things like that made us closer even within such a short amount of time.
What I have indefinitely learned from this trip is that even a short time can—well, let’s be 三百here—create some pretty cool friendships for a much, much longer period of time. Even if you
are reading this essay five years from when it is published, I will still be talking to the friends I
made on the trip, because we all shared an experience that truly does put us at a higher
understanding than many people we know. I know, for sure, I want to use that higher
understanding of US-Japan relations, tsunami area education, and cultural exploration to tell
everyone I know about what I have seen and heard and encourage them to see and hear it forthemselves. I never could have imagined—even with videos from YouTube—how devastating
and surreal the height of the tsunami waters were at the time of the tsunami hitting the shoresof Tohoku. Hearing the people speak of how it affected them and how much they have moved
on from the disaster with their friends and family seemed so brave and had an impression onme that I will never forget.
The trip allows me to always remember what is important, and as of now I see many things froma different light and appreciate the efforts that people put forth for causes. Specifically, Taylor
Anderson and Montgomery Dickson were obviously so dedicated to what they did and createdconnections and ties that never could be broken or cut. Their stories moved me to the boneand proved what the JET Program and any other efforts for Japan’s international programs areworth. Their enthusiasm, energy, selflessness, and plainly, interest in the culture set afoundation for more people to explore that interest they may or may not have known they have.
I am now one of the people to build upon their foundation and set yet another brick with mortar
into the surrounding walls. Now, we need people to make windows, walls, a roof, and interior.
The ties are long from fully tightened, which is why I wholeheartedly plan on putting my footforth for international US-Japan affairs. I was conflicted between international business ordomestic business for college, but after knowing what such a beautiful country (both inaesthetic and substance) Japan is, I have no other options. I must work towards Montgomeryand Taylor’s dreams in a niche or else I will be failing my own dream of spreading the messageof what I know is an amazingly rewarding and educational path for other people to walk on
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me. To Montgomery and Taylor: Thank you for what you have done and your inspiration for
more involvement. There is still not an end of the road from here. どうもありがとうございます。

NIPPON THROUGH MY EYES PHOTOSUBMISSION“Kesennuma City”
Such a beautiful landscape looks like a tropicalisland, and that's partially what I love about
Japan: no matter where you go, there is amountain and water. However, there are areas
to learn about culturally lurking behind thebrush as well.

Breeze #98

Breeze #97

Japanese Langauge Education Update 24

ACTFL 2015

2015 Teacher Training Program: Sueyon Seo

2015 J-LEAP Report: Ami Kaneko

2015 J-LEAP Report: Seiji Arai2015 JET-MIP Essay: Claire Endl2015 JET-MIP Essay: Dillon Evans

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