Ok so last week I went to "Houikuen" Kindergarten and taught the 5 and 6 year olds a lesson on animal names in English. Pretty standard stuff. Songs, games, posters...the works. After I was done teaching we ate lunch. By 12 it was time to go but I didnt want to leave because that would mean trudging up hill back to the BOE (Board Of Education). So I sat in the teachers room with the teachers.
They were creating some sort of medal or pin for each student. They were made out of paper and involved a lot of cutting to get the shapes out (i.e. Stars, Hearts, Flowers, Magical Rainbow Pandas...whatever). I decided I would help out while talking with the teachers, so I picked up the first available pair of scissors and began cutting along the dotted lines.
That’s what I saw it start to happen. That’s when I knew I should have just let it be. "leave the scissors alone" I had told myself. "you dont need to help out" I had said inside my head. But I did anyways. And that’s when the teacher to my left began the slow, steady routine that I've seen a million times. That wasnt what shocked me. It was that she was doing it now, about this.
Let me back-track.
You see whenever I do something in Japan, whether giving speeches in Japanese or simply drinking a glass of water, it is instantly viewed as a marvel...a wonder of the world. At first this was awesome, because I felt like a rock-star. Then it became annoying, and now I try as hard as I can to avoid it. When I came back to America for break to see Ginna, I thought for the first few days that something was wrong with me...No one was looking at me or cared one bit what I did. Then I realized "oh wait this is totally normal" and it felt so wonderful to have my warm and fuzzy "blanket-of-anonymity" (+20 to Americans. When used in conjunction with Japan, player gets a penalty of -1,000)
So I have finally gotten to the point after 7 months that I can usually eat a piece a food with a pair of chops sticks without someone wetting themselves. I thought I was safe.
I was wrong.
So yeah there I was, clipping away at a small green flower, when the teacher next to me slowly began to stop cutting. She was winding down, gripped in utter disbelief. Slowly the scissors stopped moving and the jaw dropped. All the other people in the room became quiet. I looked up at her totally stunned face. She put her scissors down amid utterances of "oh my goodness you are so good at cutting things" and with all the effort a human can muster, she asked me:
"Do you have scissors in America?"
I wanted to scream.
It was like she couldn’t comprehend that anyone non-Japanese could possibly do the things she had learned how to do. I can handle ethnocentrism when its reasonable. Even un-reasonable is fine.
However, it is so far beyond reason to ask someone if their country has scissors that I was at a complete loss for words. I was as equally stunned. I take it as my charged duty to portray myself as an individual and I enjoy the challenge God has given me to express myself and show people that the world is a much bigger place than Japan, and that foreigners aren’t dangerous. I think that’s what Internationalization is all about.
If I had been thinking quicker I would have said what Steve T. had said:
"nope, no scissors. All we have is this one knife" That would have been funny.
I didn’t have to say anything however because all the other teachers instantly began to make fun of her and throw things at her for saying something so crazy. I too was laughing, but I felt slightly disturbed (and still do). I just cant believe that a 35 year old educated individual can honestly believe that Japan is the only country that can use scissors, and whats more is be so dumb-founded to learn otherwise.
All in all I’ve come to realize that my "different-ness" is inversely-proportional to how hard I try to participate. If I actively try to do things here and be a part of the community, then I get treated more wonderfully and equally than I ever have before. However, when I remain aloof and do things on my own, my status as "Strange Wonder From Across the Sea" becomes re-instated. Of course there is a growing period, such as the case with the scissors. Also I think there is a "ridiculousl" period, which doesnt really ever end.
This made me think of other crazy things I have been asked. Here is a list off the top of my head:
"Can you use chopsticks?" (at least 5 or 600 times)
"Do you have chopsticks in America?"
"Do you have wheel-barrows in America?"
"Do you have used cars in America?" (perhaps I missed something in the translation on this one)
"Do you have scissors in America?"
"Do you have shrimp in America?"
The list goes on. At least I will be able to say with complete certainty when I look back on all this that not a single day was ever boring or repetitive.
peace
JB
PS
if you need me, I'll be practicing my scissoring. Its been a while.
PPS
I heard a story from another JET who said her friend (who was a women) was asked by another woman in her office "do you have your monthly period in America?". I didnt believe the story when I first got here, but now...I dont know. Its certainly possible, and thats scary.
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