As a Sidenote, I Am Still Learning to Be a Culturally Appropriate Representative (Kinosaki Onsen, Part 1)

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Dalia Haymov

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Konnichiwa <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> American University <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2024 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Kyoto, Japan <i>Program provider:</i> Sakura Scholars, AU <i>Major/minor:</i> International Relations <i>Demographics:</i> First-Generation <i>Future career aspirations:</i> I hope to work for the UN regarding human trafficking and child poverty. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1) Learn professional Japanese 2) Explore what Japanese culture has to offer, like food and history 3) Make memories with friends and experience Japan to the fullest

Hello Hello,

ๆœ€่ฟ‘ๆ€Žไนˆๆ ท?

Summer is a 30-year-old woman that came to work in Nagoya seven years ago. I think I had an hour-long conversation with her on how people greet each other in Taiwan. Apparently, it is not common to say โ€˜how are youโ€™, so I hope they wonโ€™t mind my American-self asking when I visit.

I hope everyone had a great last couple of weeks. The weather is slowly starting to change, and my two friends (both non-Japanese) and I considered going quickly to the hot springs before it starts getting too cold. So, this weekโ€™s post is going to concentrate on the contemplation I had on my way to the hot springs.

The trip to Kinosaki Onsen (the Japanese โ€˜hot springโ€™/bathhouse) was a long and tiring one. Although there are multiple ways to get to Kinosaki, including express trains and shinkansen (bullet trains), we opted for the cheaper version. We left the house at around 6am and had to continuously change local trains. Yet, truthfully speaking – the trip there was most of the fun.

On local trains you can truly see the Japanese landscape that everyone admires on the internet. Rivers, changing-color trees, hills, greeneryโ€ฆ the nature is mesmerizing. As we were riding through the countryside on a single-car tram, the ripe persimmons hanging from the branches stood out from the green, and all I could think about is trying to catch one from the window. The morning clouds were starting to fade away, and the sunโ€™s reflection on the dew still left on the leaves was a sight to behold. Before I could stop myself, I already opened the trainโ€™s window and stuck my head out towards the hills. My friend joined me, and while listening to k-drama soundtracks, we enjoyed the autumn air and laughed about our messed-up hair.

When we sat down, I realized maybe that was not the best idea.

Living as a foreigner in a country means that you are quickly categorized as the โ€˜otherโ€™ intuitively, which is true especially for Japan (which has a low number of foreigners). I have been told numerous times that it is embedded in the Japanese society to not be a โ€˜nuisanceโ€™ to the other. Social rules like โ€˜No eating on the trainโ€™, โ€˜no wearing deodorantโ€™, or โ€˜listen to music on low-volumeโ€™ are strongly maintained to not bother the broader society. Making noise, opening the windows, and chatting away in the front of the train while others were minding their own business may not have been the right way to behave.

Therefore, I contemplated โ€“

when is it ok to express your own personality/culture, and when should respect toward the local traditions be prioritized?

Iโ€™ll leave the answer I found to that question for the next part.