Does Japan have a fourth of July?

Of course it does.. It was yesterday July 4th.

I’ve been trying to find the right words for the next post on “Leaving the US- The Global Village.” Mostly I couldn’t think of much until today when I thought about the people (our forefathers) who forged this country out of nothing. There was no “global village” in 1776. Back then there was a war between the european powers– America was fighting piracy off it’s southern eastern shores– and we were slowly but surely forging new headway into trans-atlantic trade.

Today there is little left on this planet that you can’t find something about it. I remember the minute I was told “Mutsu, Japan” I had wikipedia up, google earth, and everything. The global village has connected even the most sleepiest of rural Japanese fishing villages with the modern inter-connected world. Suffice to say the global village is a modern marval that rivals the 7 wonders of the world and all of man’s other creations. However, with such a treasure comes conseqences.

The global village has turned us all into lurkers. People who watch, enjoy, and consume what others do, and put up for us- free of charge. Of course over time the mass of all the content we consume might drive us to slowly contribute to it in a small scale– however in the scheme of things, to call the global village a crowning achivement of our lifetime is a joke… ‘our controbution’ (aka you and me) do not rival that of our ancestors who gave a lot more in sweat, blood, and tears. The fact is we’re fooled by the idea that our a small bit that we contributed is insignificant, but when put together with millions of others it seems like lots and lots of bits of information are being produced and it makes us believe that the internet is always forever now and into the future: perpetually (a)live.  That even could be true– however the significance of our acts is waining.. What I mean is that every tweet, every email, and ever skype call isn’t quite the same as recieving a letter from across the world that’s hand written (or typed) and signed. Sure the former is faster and more informative, but it lacks touch.
In my last “Leaving the US” post I want to first say I believe that your a single post, tweet, or whatever to “the web” actually is significant. In fact, even if your post isn’t read for years one day I— or someone else will find it and think your words are useful. Second, I feel that I could have done more to blog about my life here in America. Life is interesting and the adventure never died– however, my familiarity probably was what kept me the most from blogging. I’m not going to say that somehow “life in Japan” is so amazing exciting then here– it probably isn’t for a native Japanese person. What I will say is that whatever I think needs writing about I promise to write it. Not because of myself, or for future readers, but as villager who understands that if we’re to keep the global village alive… we all need to pitch in and contribute a little more.

Switching gears.. because it’s Saturday and tomorrow is Sunday I’m going to start the next series of posts titled: “Going to Japan.” Here I want to write about things I’m excited about, things that worry me, and anything else that needs to be said about moving to another country. As a reminder– following that will be “What’s my plans for the next year” then “what I expect to accomplish with my time in JET”.

~J out

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