JET Programme Series: Warm Welcome & New Experiences- Jewell Luke
2024/1/5
A warm welcome, new experiences (atatakai kangei, atarashii keiken)
If there was an official ranking of the most cliche cliches, “life is what you make of it” would definitely be in the top five. However, that doesn’t change how true it is. Over the last five months I’ve been asked the question—“ Nihon no seikatsu ni narete imasuka ?”—by almost every Japanese person I've met. “Are you adjusting to life in Japan?” This is their version of “How Japan treatin yuh?” To which I respond, “Japan treatin me real nice” (but in Japanese).
I arrived in Akita, to a desk filled with origami cranes, snacks and hand-drawn T&T flags by the students I had yet to meet. Arriving in Akita in summer felt like I took a very long plane ride around the world and landed right back in Trinidad. I say this because it was very hot and the scenery looked a lot like home. There were many trees and large mountains overlooking the city that reminded me of the Northern Range. This unfamiliar place felt very familiar so I was deeply at ease for a long time.
Yet still, I continue to be amazed by the simple differences between life in Trinidad and life in Akita. Of course, the fact that everyone around me was speaking Japanese was new, but there were other things such as being roasted awake by the 5:30am sun, rice fields on every corner, crows everywhere (yes just like a 90s horror movie), looking left and right before crossing train tracks, the delicious and humongous grapes that were surprisingly cheap and of course the fireworks! Listen, you have not experienced fireworks until you've seen what I‘ve seen. Sitting among 100,000+ people at a fireworks competition didn’t even make sense to me. But it was truly amazing!
The long summer came to an abrupt end when the daytime temperature went from 24℃ to 14℃ overnight. It was truly a shock to this Caribbean girl. But to be honest, it was nice to get a break from the heat. So until further notice, autumn is my favourite season. I mean, you’d expect a place named Akita to be beautiful in aki (which means autumn). That aside, I don’t think anyone was more excited for the snow than I was. The minute the temperature dropped down to single digits, I was diligently checking the weather forecast. When the day finally arrived, I opened my curtains and I’m sure my neighbours heard me gasp. It was the most breathtaking thing I ever saw! Akita is the perfect picture of a winter wonderland.
While it’s not really fun being cold (all the time) or having to push inches of snow off my car everytime I have to drive somewhere, it’s all part of a beautiful experience. I’ve shared unique Trinbagonian words with my coworkers, I got to play sweet parang for my students and tell them why black cake is the greatest cake on the planet. I got to witness my coworkers in amazement over a glass of sorrel. (Apparently sorrel makes you feel beautiful!) I had lunch everyday with my 3rd grade girls before winter break started. And despite the intense homesickness I had to battle leading up to Christmas in a country where December 25th is just a regular day of the week, I feel so blessed. The way I see it, I would not have the so-called problems, if I didn't also have the delightful experiences. Everything so far has helped me to focus on why I celebrate Christmas and why I’m here in Japan in the first place and the gratitude is just overwhelming.
Have there been challenges? Definitely. Will there be more? I’m sure. Will I continue to overcome them? You can bet I absolutely will. I will continue to simply take each day and season one at a time. So as I said—it is what you make of it.
JET Series: A Warm Welcome, New Experiences (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
If there was an official ranking of the most cliche cliches, “life is what you make of it” would definitely be in the top five. However, that doesn’t change how true it is. Over the last five months I’ve been asked the question—“ Nihon no seikatsu ni narete imasuka ?”—by almost every Japanese person I've met. “Are you adjusting to life in Japan?” This is their version of “How Japan treatin yuh?” To which I respond, “Japan treatin me real nice” (but in Japanese).
I arrived in Akita, to a desk filled with origami cranes, snacks and hand-drawn T&T flags by the students I had yet to meet. Arriving in Akita in summer felt like I took a very long plane ride around the world and landed right back in Trinidad. I say this because it was very hot and the scenery looked a lot like home. There were many trees and large mountains overlooking the city that reminded me of the Northern Range. This unfamiliar place felt very familiar so I was deeply at ease for a long time.
Yet still, I continue to be amazed by the simple differences between life in Trinidad and life in Akita. Of course, the fact that everyone around me was speaking Japanese was new, but there were other things such as being roasted awake by the 5:30am sun, rice fields on every corner, crows everywhere (yes just like a 90s horror movie), looking left and right before crossing train tracks, the delicious and humongous grapes that were surprisingly cheap and of course the fireworks! Listen, you have not experienced fireworks until you've seen what I‘ve seen. Sitting among 100,000+ people at a fireworks competition didn’t even make sense to me. But it was truly amazing!
The long summer came to an abrupt end when the daytime temperature went from 24℃ to 14℃ overnight. It was truly a shock to this Caribbean girl. But to be honest, it was nice to get a break from the heat. So until further notice, autumn is my favourite season. I mean, you’d expect a place named Akita to be beautiful in aki (which means autumn). That aside, I don’t think anyone was more excited for the snow than I was. The minute the temperature dropped down to single digits, I was diligently checking the weather forecast. When the day finally arrived, I opened my curtains and I’m sure my neighbours heard me gasp. It was the most breathtaking thing I ever saw! Akita is the perfect picture of a winter wonderland.
While it’s not really fun being cold (all the time) or having to push inches of snow off my car everytime I have to drive somewhere, it’s all part of a beautiful experience. I’ve shared unique Trinbagonian words with my coworkers, I got to play sweet parang for my students and tell them why black cake is the greatest cake on the planet. I got to witness my coworkers in amazement over a glass of sorrel. (Apparently sorrel makes you feel beautiful!) I had lunch everyday with my 3rd grade girls before winter break started. And despite the intense homesickness I had to battle leading up to Christmas in a country where December 25th is just a regular day of the week, I feel so blessed. The way I see it, I would not have the so-called problems, if I didn't also have the delightful experiences. Everything so far has helped me to focus on why I celebrate Christmas and why I’m here in Japan in the first place and the gratitude is just overwhelming.
Have there been challenges? Definitely. Will there be more? I’m sure. Will I continue to overcome them? You can bet I absolutely will. I will continue to simply take each day and season one at a time. So as I said—it is what you make of it.
JET Series: A Warm Welcome, New Experiences (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives