109) Japanese Heritage

My father and youngest brother visited Dallas this last weekend.  Recently, Kunio has adopted a new workout routine that consists solely of walking around the neighborhood for 1 hour.  He sets his watch to ensure he does not short change himself.   With hour long walks scheduled for each day, we got lots of good talking time in.

Among our many conversations, we discussed Japan and our Japanese Heritage.  David began the conversation by telling us about two lesbian friends who considered asking him for a sperm donation in order to take advantage of his Japanese genes.  Not sure what they were thinking...but whatever.  Due to my father's discomfort with lesbian talk, the conversation quickly changed to Japan and how Kunio is considering buying land over there and building a mission so that he can help spread the holy word to a country in need of christianity.  I will not be entering religion talk just now, as that would be a long and arduous post that I do not feel like messing with on a Monday.  However, I will spend a moment discussing the possibility of moving to Japan.

I would like to live a portion of my life overseas, and each international vacation I take, I  make a pros/cons list (rachel-style) for consideration on whether or not I could live in that country for an extended period of time.  Following is my list for Japan:


Pros:

• The People: The people are remarkable!  I know it is difficult to talk about an attitude or personality traits of an entire culture without making gross stereotypes, but there is an overwhelming sense of respect, politeness and consideration for others that you see on a grand scale in Japanese people that you do NOT see in Americans.  I tell this story a lot because it had such an effect on me, but one afternoon we walked around the geisha district in Kyoto.  The streets are narrow and the homes/buildings are close together, creating a maze of alleys and paths through this ancient looking Asian village.  Without warning, a storm hit.  L. and I crouched close to a building, hoping to stay as dry as possible until the rain let up enough for us to find a coffee shop or restaurant.  We stood against the wall for five minutes until a man ran through the rain from several houses down in order to bring us an umbrella.  He handed it to me, smiled, bowed and then quickly ran off back into the rain.  This does not happen in America, and it made me want to live in a place where people look out for each other.  If I had been in America, someone would have purposely swerved in our direction with the hope of spraying us down with curbside water.  
• Average Height: I would instantly go from being one of the shortest men in the room to being one of the average height men.  Perhaps even on the taller side of average.  I know this is not really that important, but it would make a huge difference when I go out looking for pickup basketball games.  
• Universal Healthcare: They have government healthcare, which means when you get sick or you hurt yourself, you go to the hospital and they take care of you.  The first time I went to Japan I had an allergic reaction to something I ate.  I broke out into a serious rash that covered my arms, legs and torso.  My uncle took me to the hospital where within an hour or so I saw a doctor, received medication and was taken home.  And I was a foriegner.  This leads me to believe that a government healthcare system could work, if it is done correctly.  
• Public Transportation:  The country has an excellent system of public transportation.  I would like to live in a country where you do not need a car.  The only downside I see to this is grocery shopping.  When you come home with groceries, you must carry them farther than would be convenient.  

Cons:

• Expensive: It is expensive to live in Japan.  Rent is insanely expensive.  And I mean insanely expensive.  We know someone living in a 2 room efficiency apartment that was the size of our living room and paying more per month than our mortgage.  Considerably more.  Housing is small and there is no chance of getting a yard, unless you are part of the wealthiest 2%.  
• Food:  I am not the biggest fan of authentic Japanese food.  For the most part the most convenient  and prevalent food choices consist of noodles in a broth that tastes sort of like dirty dish water, rice, and fried vegetables.  These are the staples similar to our tacos, pasta and red sauce and pizza.  
• Grocery stores: The grocery stores are small and have very little variety.  The grocery stores in America rock.  You can find almost anything you want.  I went to a handful of grocery stores in Japan and each had the same problem.  Felt like trying to shop for food at a pharmacy.  
• Earthquakes:  They have earthquakes that cause major problems every few years.  The problems are in the form of devastated cities, exploding nuclear plants and tidal waves.  Japan is not a healthy place, seismically speaking.  While staying in a small village up in the mountains, an earthquake caused our bed and breakfast to shake ferociously.  There was a good 6-7 seconds where I held my breath and wondered if the ceiling might collapse on us.  Found out the next day that an earthquake registering a 7.1 on the Richter scale hit that area that night.  Also learned that there are earthquakes that can be felt almost monthly.  Sometimes the earthquakes are so mild that you do not consciously notice them, but you fall over and are not sure why.