Thursday, June 3, 2010

Week 4 - The End to our Journey

Within the month of studying Japanese at Senshu University, we are now approaching the end of our journey. Our final exam has been completed and the stress that was like a dark cloud is finally cleared out. It is a sign of how we are finally free from all the school work we had to go through in the past month. The indescribable feeling of happiness did not only appear on our faces but also in the nice weather we got finally. Today was the first day we have ever experience a full day of beautiful hot sun as we are walking our way back down to the dormitory from school. The one month in Japan, we got to see and experienced how the Japanese choose which form of transportation suited best in their daily lifestyle.

The group of us went to further investigate in the area of where we stayed. From the time we leave the dormitory to either go to school or go to the train station, we had to commit ourselves into walking the distance. At first, the distance of walking seems a bit too much for those who are not use to walking anywhere back in Calgary. Some of us who drives most of the time, thinks walking is like a chore. Back in Calgary, walking anywhere is not as easy as you think. The problem lies within the spacious spread from the place you are initially at to the place you would like to go. In Japan, every little space of land does not go to waste. We can all see the difference right away. From the houses in the nearby neighbourhood to the vendor stores by the station, everything is closed in together. Through this perspective, our brain made us believe the time in walking to our destination doesn’t seem like a long distance. Everywhere you turn there is at least something to look at, from the local retailers to the vending machines. The case in Calgary would be complete opposite. With nothing to look at while you’re walking to a short distance, it seemed like you’ve been walking forever with no progress. It would also help if you have a group of friends to walk with. During the rush hour in the early morning and afternoon, we learned ways to sneak through the many crowds of students as they are heading towards the university. We see a lot of them walking closely together or some may choose to bike up the path. We find some people who choose to ride a bike learned to be skillful at it. The danger in trying to avoid hitting other people and trying to get through is a daily strategy. Each of us had summarized the best of the best in this last week together.

Throughout the four weeks I’ve been here in Japan, and as much as I would like to talk about the many good things about subway trains. I would like to talk about the safety of the walking path. All the female students are very aware of the danger in walking alone at night. I can sense the danger they are talking about when I walked with my friends during night time. Near our dormitory, we have to go through a narrow path way if we need to go to the supermarket, train station, and out to places to eat. The inconvenient is always that ten minute walk back and forth. If you really think about it, within the ten minutes, anything can happen. The narrow path in the dark is just as worst as walking in a dark sketchy alley. A Japanese conversation partner had told us to be careful once the sun sets. She had a friend who had been attacked by a “pervert killer” as the female Japanese student describing the attacker. It may sound funny at first as we all laughed at the matter. At the same time, it should not be a laughing matter. The best solution is never walk alone. Even when walking with another female friend, it may not seem safe. As a female student myself, I always look alert in case someone would try anything. Never take your time in walking, when you look like you’re in a hurry, people usually don’t pay attention to you. At least that’s how I see it. Always stick to the usual path, not a good idea if you decided to take a short cut. Overall, I do enjoy the time walking in Japan. Since I am one of the few who drives all the time in Calgary and very much dislike walking, I actually don’t mind walking a far distance. This has been a good experience and I learned a lot through this short journey.

~Mandy ^.^

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