I don’t like using exclamation points! Whenever I read a text that includes a lot of exclamation points, I feel like the person who is writing is trying too hard to convey to the reader that what they have to say is really important! Happy Fourth of July!!!
See, there is a funny joke that I learned in elementary school, I think in Geoff Ruskin’s class, that went a little something like this: Is there a fourth of July in Japan (I think the example country was Britain, but for my sake I’ll use my current country of residence)?
Well of course there is, there is all around the world…yeah, I guess you had to be there…and be twelve years old in order to understand the true hilarity in the joke simple meaning.
Today is the day that I looked forward to as a child. The day where family and friends come together, eat drink and spend time together. A time to blow shit up in honour of our still young nation’s founding. As the day progressed I began to think about why it took me almost half of the day to remember that today, a day that holds so many wonderful memories, was my country’s independence day. First of all, I am thousands of miles from any true American media, besides that music that I have on my computer and the Americans that I live and go to school with. Second, since I always celebrate the Fourth during my summer break, it was hard to make a connection to the day of remembrance while in the middle of a regular academic term.
On the other side of my complete oblivious united state of mind, there are so many other important things that happened on this day aside from the 1776 Declaration of Independence and John Hancock’s famous signature. Let us reflect on a couple of monumental historic moments that also fall on this Fourth. In 1903 Theodore Roosevelt opened the first Pacific cable from Manila to San Francisco. More ironically, though, is the fact that today in 1946 the Philippines ceased to be a United States colony. Talk about a day to remember independence! Oops.
At the beginning of this week I had the pleasure of meeting my high school Japanese teacher, Tashibu Sensei, in Kyoto during here annual summer/spring trip to Japan. Accompanied with two handfuls of recently graduated Roosevelt High School students, I immediately sensed the presence of exhaustion in Sensei’s voice when I made my first call to her last weekend. “Would you please take the kids out for a night on the town Asher?”, Sensei kindly asked. Aside from my genuine interest in showing visitors around Kyoto, I could not pass up an opportunity to provide Sensei with a small slot of time for some rest and relaxation.
I planned to take the children out to dinner at a well-known eatery in the Ritsumeikan neighbourhood, followed by a healthy session of karaoke. However, I started to doubt my plans when the first group of kids met me with their hands full of MacDonald’s. Also, I told that one of the students had “disappeared” and whose whereabouts were still unknown. What else is one to expect from high school students? So as I rode the city bus from the middle of Kyoto to the university neighbourhood, with a group of half satiated high school students, missing one friend, I decided go with the flow and not change my plans. After a nice meal we took a nice stroll in terribly humid weather and proceeded to a nearby karaoke box. Two hours later I had a group of karaoke-hungry children planning their next outing that I assume will include more screaming and middle school nostalgia. The lost child was found and experiences varied.
I am climbing a mountain tomorrow. Kanagawa marks the most western part of the Kanto region of Japan, which includes the national capital of Tokyo. Lying between the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures stands a majestic dormant volcano. My destination, along with 79 other exchanged students and Japanese students, is Fuji-san (Mount Fuji), towering 3,776 m (12,388 ft) above sea level. I have only reached the summit of two legit mountains in my life: Metzada, in Israel and Squaw Peak, in Phoenix, Arizona. Fuji-san will definitely be the tallest summit I will have reached in my life-that is if I can step up to the challenge. The challenge being 14 hours of climbing with 1 cup of rice, some trail mix, 2 liters of water, winter conditions and 2 hours of sleep. I have checked my list twice and am super pumped to climb. With my Mom, Pops, Grama and Chloe on my shoulders, I should be back at base camp soaking in an onsen (public bath) in no time. For now though, I have to finish making some onigiri (hand held rice balls) for tomorrow’s trek.
Shout out to John Hancock, beer, hotdogs and ketchup; dirty white t-shirts, spilled drinks, explosions and 332 years of freedom.
Until Next Time
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