anatsumi wrote...
I was born and raised in California, though I lived in Kyoto as well. In history class we would cover a variety of subjects from a variety of places, but they were a mile wide and an inch deep. When I moved to Japan, I learned that (in my class at least) people were still very isolated, not only geographically, but in thought as well. Much of the history is not just factual, but the matter of heart also came into play a lot of the time.
Between America and Japan, I'd much rather live in Japan. Although the politeness is often mechanical and expected of everyone around them, I feel that since I've lived in America beforehand, it's a welcome change. I'd rather live where I am treated the same everywhere rather than given strange looks if I went to another state. However, I would love to visit many places in Europe, like France. I also want to see what it's like to live in Canada (I swear, I feel like all my favorite North American artists live there and that they have 70%+ of the talent).
I visit the Philippines often, and I don't like it there, even though part of the blood in my veins is Filipino. I can't stand the corruption that goes on, nor can I stand the sweltering heat or humidity, and definitely not the state of the poor. I just want to shake some sense into some of my cousins, who believe that once you're in America, everything gets better. It doesn't. To this day, America is still a place of gold to many third-world countries, and that worries me.
Though I dislike the physical location of the Philippines, I also have some hope for the country. Filipinos all over the world are listening, and not just accepting...but they want to make a difference. The yearly monsoons, the rate of crime, the state of politics there...I have met so many young people like myself who are determined to change the state of these things, and I believe that they can do it.
I do my best not to see one country as "better" than the other. I am fascinated by the very fact that so many cultures can coexist in one world, and yet can still find similarities between them. Unfortunately, that also means that a whirlwind of differences can be picked at, which often leads to disagreements that could be understood if the parties would just sit down and listen.
I wish that people would stop looking over where the grass is supposedly greener, because someone else will always say that their life is harder than yours. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. But it's not a competition, is it? I have known too many people who will always ask me how my day is, and then somehow try to one-up me for one reason or another just to make themselves look as if they are busier or have more problems or whatever. Yes, it would be easier to live as a rich girl. There have been times where I wished I was born into a rich family. But I am just glad that I have my own thoughts, and that I can listen and try to understand what others share with me.
You're very sweet ya know? Of course everyone knows the Philippines sucks, with it's politics and all, but ya know? It's a very blissful country, and everybody is very aware of every crap happening behind everything, yet, the thing I like about my fellowmen is that they really are "today"-minded, and nobody cares about a damn about anything. You see, in Japan, any other countries, people live, to work, that's why, it's almost perfect, but in other 3rd world countries, we work, to live. I had always this dream of someone acting like Lelouch(from Code Geass), or something like that.