They Just Don't 'Come Along' Every Day
A strange and wonderful thing happened to me this morning. I was in my bathroom, as I often am at that time of day, when…I had a thought. I love it when this ‘happens’ to me. I use this word because I find it frustratingly interesting that it seems to occur without any intent or effort on my part. I wish I could say to myself, “I think I’ll have myself a profound thought this morning,” and then proceed with some glorious idea. It would be quite a useful ability in times such as the early afternoon meeting (having just come out of a lunch meeting wherein you decided to have that extra serving of turkey) when you’re suddenly called upon to give your expert opinion on the impromptu, yet important matter being discussed. Perhaps in those times, real words would pour forth instead of those ‘fillers’ meant to stall while you frantically search the recesses of your brain for something useful to contribute.
For me, this generally happens in the bathroom. This occurrence was especially surprising for me because there is no ‘bathroom’ in my new home. I used to enjoy rapturously long baths at my place back in Canada where there must have been some direct line to the ‘thought generator’ (I have a feeling it was located behind that square grill on the ceiling) because they seemed to ‘hit’ me quite frequently. Unfortunately, this was the only place this seemed to occur so, obviously, I tried to spend as much time in there as I could to store up for the long, vacuous day ahead. Alas, my Okinawan home is bathless. It barely even has a shower. The top of the nozzle hardly reaches my chest and pours down from there. You can imagine the contortions I have to put my inflexible body through in order to get properly clean. This nozzle placement would be understandable should the room be unaccommodating, however, this is not the case. There remains plenty of hose connecting it to the faucet for the mount to be placed at a more, pardon my French, reasonable location. There is also enough head-space, therefore also wall-space, that I shouldn’t have to duck to take a shower. There is nothing physically preventing me from standing completely upright so why am I having to duck? Perhaps I will one day be hit with a pragmatic thought and vaporize my ignorance and subsequent frustration with one fell swoop and elevate me into the enlightened ways of the Japanese. With that note, I move to the actual topic of this entry (those of you who have read the previous couple entries can see how the task of writing about my experiences in Cambodia would be daunting given the amount of time it has taken me to even begin today’s discussion).
An interesting thing happened yesterday at the close of the jr. high morning assembly. As I can’t understand what anyone is saying I just observe the flow and try to follow as best as I can. After all the formalities and speeches, the students formed lines leading to their homeroom teacher. The student at the front of the line presented himself/herself to the teacher. What I mean is the teacher checked hands for fingernail grooming and general cleanliness, checked that the uniform was clean, without wrinkle, that the female students’ scarves were properly adorned and skirts worn to suitable length. They even took their shoes off so the teacher could inspect their socks.
I learned later, though talking about it with Minako-san (one of the teachers with whom I teach) that this ritual is performed on a monthly basis and that in the summer they even check student’s underwear. Though the students at my school do not tend toward rebellion, this formality is mostly for reminder’s sake. However, at the school in mainland Okinawa, ‘bad’ girls will roll their skirts up so that much of their thigh is showing, both sexes might wear contraband colour contact lenses, have tattoos, or wear body jewelry (colour contacts, and any tattoo or piercing is forbidden). At first I thought this was more than a little extreme, but when I understood the rational, my attitude changed. These kinds of restrictions were set through government initiative to lower the risk of discrimination. If, for example, perms are fashionable (which they are here becoming), and only those who can afford it can ‘sport’ it, the kids having the misfortune of being born into a poor family are relegated to ‘lower society’ by no fault of their own. Group cohesiveness is more highly valued than individual recognition. This social consciousness is reflected in interpersonal interaction.
In Japan, it is respectable to respect others. If someone has done something really well, or achieved some success, it is considered ‘right behaviour’ to recognize this person with some sign of respect. This is reflected in degree of bow as This does not mean that the person bowing lower has less value as a person. It merely a sign of appreciation for what the other has done. Now what is considered successful in a collectivist society is different than in the West. Achievement selfishly attained is not necessarily laudable whereas an achievement that benefits the group is more often highly regarded. A doctor isn’t given the honorary title of ‘sensei’ because he makes more money than the average person or shows great cognitive capabilities, but rather because he has used his aptitude to help others. I would venture to say that we, in the West, tend to give such people recognition because of what they have achieved for themselves (this of course, is not purely our motive for praise. I am here rather comparing the differences between collectivism vs. individualism and therefore emphasizing the subtleties – which sometimes are not so). In the same way, though teachers here do not make money enough to put them in the upper salary brackets, to the individualist mind ignorant of collectivist ways, observation of the respect they are given would suggest otherwise. I would venture to say, though I’m not a teacher in my home country (teachers, please correct me if I’m off on this point), that though there is a certain level of respect shown them, the connection of degree of esteem shown lies more with level of education attainment and performance-based placement than that they are choosing to use their achievements to help others learn. In the education system here in Japan, they protect against this kind of hierarchical thinking by rotating teachers every few years to different schools throughout the prefecture. Though there are schools that provide higher-level academics than others, this does not seem to determine teacher placement.
The American (and I use this term loosely, as in North Americans, to include Canadians as well) version of individualism has done a great disservice to the mental health of members of its society. ‘Leadership’ has come to be viewed as something for which everyone should strive. If you’re not a leader, you have less ability to ‘influence’ (there’s another big individualist term), and thus less opportunity to publicize or flaunt your uniqueness. Remember, if uniqueness is tied to value, it is important to seek every opportunity to promote it. Not so coincidentally, besides earning more respect, leaders generally get paid more. Sure there is more responsibility that is inherent in leadership positions, however, aren’t most individuals who lead of the type who thrive in this environment and wouldn’t have it any other way, regardless of pay? The point I’m trying to make is that in order for someone to lead, there must be others in the system who follow, and thus not everyone can lead. We have created an environment where those who remain ‘unsuccessful’ followers who succumb to this mentality, consciously or not, are highly prone to dissatisfaction. It is not uncommon for many people nearing retirement age to experience a great sense of remorse because they haven’t made a name for themselves (i.e. shown their uniqueness to enough others). I’m not saying that this is the cause of their depression, however severe. I do think it is a powerful influencing factor and though I haven’t lived here very long, I don’t see much evidence of it in Japanese society. Instead of seeing people fight for position, I see people helping each other, in many ways and levels.
I would hope to see Western society learn from collectivism in the future. I am less than optimistic however because of the great chasm of philosophical history that lies between us. It almost seems as though we must have been on separate planets for so many years.
Much more could and should be said, but the sun is shining and it’s a holiday…
For me, this generally happens in the bathroom. This occurrence was especially surprising for me because there is no ‘bathroom’ in my new home. I used to enjoy rapturously long baths at my place back in Canada where there must have been some direct line to the ‘thought generator’ (I have a feeling it was located behind that square grill on the ceiling) because they seemed to ‘hit’ me quite frequently. Unfortunately, this was the only place this seemed to occur so, obviously, I tried to spend as much time in there as I could to store up for the long, vacuous day ahead. Alas, my Okinawan home is bathless. It barely even has a shower. The top of the nozzle hardly reaches my chest and pours down from there. You can imagine the contortions I have to put my inflexible body through in order to get properly clean. This nozzle placement would be understandable should the room be unaccommodating, however, this is not the case. There remains plenty of hose connecting it to the faucet for the mount to be placed at a more, pardon my French, reasonable location. There is also enough head-space, therefore also wall-space, that I shouldn’t have to duck to take a shower. There is nothing physically preventing me from standing completely upright so why am I having to duck? Perhaps I will one day be hit with a pragmatic thought and vaporize my ignorance and subsequent frustration with one fell swoop and elevate me into the enlightened ways of the Japanese. With that note, I move to the actual topic of this entry (those of you who have read the previous couple entries can see how the task of writing about my experiences in Cambodia would be daunting given the amount of time it has taken me to even begin today’s discussion).
An interesting thing happened yesterday at the close of the jr. high morning assembly. As I can’t understand what anyone is saying I just observe the flow and try to follow as best as I can. After all the formalities and speeches, the students formed lines leading to their homeroom teacher. The student at the front of the line presented himself/herself to the teacher. What I mean is the teacher checked hands for fingernail grooming and general cleanliness, checked that the uniform was clean, without wrinkle, that the female students’ scarves were properly adorned and skirts worn to suitable length. They even took their shoes off so the teacher could inspect their socks.
I learned later, though talking about it with Minako-san (one of the teachers with whom I teach) that this ritual is performed on a monthly basis and that in the summer they even check student’s underwear. Though the students at my school do not tend toward rebellion, this formality is mostly for reminder’s sake. However, at the school in mainland Okinawa, ‘bad’ girls will roll their skirts up so that much of their thigh is showing, both sexes might wear contraband colour contact lenses, have tattoos, or wear body jewelry (colour contacts, and any tattoo or piercing is forbidden). At first I thought this was more than a little extreme, but when I understood the rational, my attitude changed. These kinds of restrictions were set through government initiative to lower the risk of discrimination. If, for example, perms are fashionable (which they are here becoming), and only those who can afford it can ‘sport’ it, the kids having the misfortune of being born into a poor family are relegated to ‘lower society’ by no fault of their own. Group cohesiveness is more highly valued than individual recognition. This social consciousness is reflected in interpersonal interaction.
In Japan, it is respectable to respect others. If someone has done something really well, or achieved some success, it is considered ‘right behaviour’ to recognize this person with some sign of respect. This is reflected in degree of bow as This does not mean that the person bowing lower has less value as a person. It merely a sign of appreciation for what the other has done. Now what is considered successful in a collectivist society is different than in the West. Achievement selfishly attained is not necessarily laudable whereas an achievement that benefits the group is more often highly regarded. A doctor isn’t given the honorary title of ‘sensei’ because he makes more money than the average person or shows great cognitive capabilities, but rather because he has used his aptitude to help others. I would venture to say that we, in the West, tend to give such people recognition because of what they have achieved for themselves (this of course, is not purely our motive for praise. I am here rather comparing the differences between collectivism vs. individualism and therefore emphasizing the subtleties – which sometimes are not so). In the same way, though teachers here do not make money enough to put them in the upper salary brackets, to the individualist mind ignorant of collectivist ways, observation of the respect they are given would suggest otherwise. I would venture to say, though I’m not a teacher in my home country (teachers, please correct me if I’m off on this point), that though there is a certain level of respect shown them, the connection of degree of esteem shown lies more with level of education attainment and performance-based placement than that they are choosing to use their achievements to help others learn. In the education system here in Japan, they protect against this kind of hierarchical thinking by rotating teachers every few years to different schools throughout the prefecture. Though there are schools that provide higher-level academics than others, this does not seem to determine teacher placement.
The American (and I use this term loosely, as in North Americans, to include Canadians as well) version of individualism has done a great disservice to the mental health of members of its society. ‘Leadership’ has come to be viewed as something for which everyone should strive. If you’re not a leader, you have less ability to ‘influence’ (there’s another big individualist term), and thus less opportunity to publicize or flaunt your uniqueness. Remember, if uniqueness is tied to value, it is important to seek every opportunity to promote it. Not so coincidentally, besides earning more respect, leaders generally get paid more. Sure there is more responsibility that is inherent in leadership positions, however, aren’t most individuals who lead of the type who thrive in this environment and wouldn’t have it any other way, regardless of pay? The point I’m trying to make is that in order for someone to lead, there must be others in the system who follow, and thus not everyone can lead. We have created an environment where those who remain ‘unsuccessful’ followers who succumb to this mentality, consciously or not, are highly prone to dissatisfaction. It is not uncommon for many people nearing retirement age to experience a great sense of remorse because they haven’t made a name for themselves (i.e. shown their uniqueness to enough others). I’m not saying that this is the cause of their depression, however severe. I do think it is a powerful influencing factor and though I haven’t lived here very long, I don’t see much evidence of it in Japanese society. Instead of seeing people fight for position, I see people helping each other, in many ways and levels.
I would hope to see Western society learn from collectivism in the future. I am less than optimistic however because of the great chasm of philosophical history that lies between us. It almost seems as though we must have been on separate planets for so many years.
Much more could and should be said, but the sun is shining and it’s a holiday…
posted by jonvon at 3:51 p.m.
1 Comments:
i thought i left a comment yesterday but apparently i didnt. have you considered duct taping your nozzle higher on the bathroom wall? i think you should give it a go...could make life a lot better.
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