Changing Impressions

As I am getting more and more used to the environment after these several months, I cannot really say that my impression has changed dramatically since I first arrived. The natural scene is still beautiful to me and I keep discovering more of it on my train when my train passes the very country-like area between Chushojima and Kuzuha station, as well as when I go into the night of Osaka and Kyoto. The beauty of urban and rural (if it is a correct term for it) areas are not in a big contrast, instead from time to time they tend to appear somewhere in the middle of each and not seem to disrupt the whole feeling. There is a feeling of unity in Japan.


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Is Japan disabled-friendly? I don't know. I also don't know if it is going to help: the Braille inside the outer product box.

However there are certain assumptions have been cracked as I getting more "truth" from the reality in front of me. Take the example of recycling. When we were still in the seminar house, each unit has several recycle  bins with English instructions of what should be put in each of them. As we were asked to do so, we may assume that Japanese are very strict about this and they require everyone to follow this environmental friendly action. and at the same time we were troubled by the fact that it keeps so long to do the correct decision of which the garbage should be put in. We may say it is a elaborate fact of Japanese culture. After I moved in to home stay, then everything changed. The only thing my host family recycles are cans and glass bottles, and at the beginning I believe I threw some of my PET bottles to that bin. When at one time I was collecting garbage and ask them for a special bag for the many PET bottles, they replied as "just put them with the garbage", “大丈夫”. So what I can do is just put all my PET bottles in to the garbage bag, and watch it brought out of the house put at the side of the road. 
As similar things keep happening, I have to think over what I have perceived before as the "absolute" knowledge about Japan. The truth is just as simple as at the first glance, individuals are so different, and how stupid it must to put stereotype on people just for what you think you know.

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Coins inserted for luck in Miyashima Itsukushima Shrines, the Red Shinto Gate. 

After all, it is a good experience to break the assumptions, what is even more important, is to break what I think I already know what I know. The truth is floating somewhere out there, we just trying hard to get close to it, and that is all.


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Another false sign. The English is OK while the Chinese is not...