Reasons

As promised, a post on the reasons why I choose Japan as my research topic.

Have you ever thought about why do you like to eat chocolate so much? Why you can't seem to take your eyes off that guy sitting at the other side of the class? Why your name is Chucky (you must really hate your parents for that)?

 I have never really wondered why I like Japanese culture so much, until I was asked by some Japanese exchange student. I don't really have an answer to that, but I thought about living there and the feeling was quite comforting. Perhaps Singapore is just too 'sub-cultured'. By that, I meant the 'rojak culture', Singlish, Kiasu and stuff. Don't get me wrong, I do love my home country. I just find living in a place where the public transport being late is a valid reason for you to be late for work or school comforting. Try telling your boss or teacher "the bus was late" in Singapore. 90% of them will tell you to take the earlier bus next time and sort of blacklist you for that.

In Japan, the buses and trains are hardly late. If the bus or train is scheduled to be at a certain stop at 7 a.m, they will live up to their promise. I was told by my tour guide that the total amount of times for a bus or train to be late is an average of three times every year. Every time a train or bus cause a commuter to be late for work or school, the commuter can request for a letter to give it to their employer or teacher to be excused for being late. Try beating that.

That is just one of their culture that I am totally in love with. Others like being respectful and responsible adds up my love for the Japanese culture. I guess I am quite strict with traditions and laws.

One of the other reasons I chose Japan is that I have made myself some interesting friends when I participated in the Chingay Parade 2010 as a dancer in the Japanese Association of Singapore. There were five Japanese, a German and a Canadian who have to live in Singapore as their husbands' company had dispatched them over here for a rather permanent period. They have induced me with all of their own culture and I have indeed had a rare experience.

Four of the Japanese mothers lived in Chiba back in Japan and one of them is from Nagoya. I have heard many stories of their past and it sort of enticed me to want to know more. Therefore, I have decided that this is a great opportunity for me to get to know the Japanese better and at the same time spend more time with my new friends. Trust me, the information I get from them is so much more valuable than Wikipedia.

I will try to keep this blog updated everyday from now. "Try" being the active word in the sentence, since this is getting really exciting for me. I am taking it as a little adventure of mine now, with some stress in doing it though (since, I can't mention enough that, this is a school work). Let's just hope this does not look like 'nothing' to my tutors. I have tried to introduce some of the Japanese culture here and there even in these two random posts and hope I get my message across, because I am usually, really, bad at that.

Introduction

Hello! This blog is part of my project assignment for one of the modules that I am currently taking in school now, namely Tourism, Culture and Society.

Honestly, I am still a little confused about what this module is about and how am I suppose to go about doing all the project and assignments (including this one). So I am just going to do it my way and hope it turns out well.

Basically, I am suppose to make this into some sort of a travel blog - something informative about the destination I choose to do on (some of you would probably have guessed the country already). I am to talk, comment and reflect about the culture and 'Disneyization' of the place. Wonder what's 'Disneyization' all about? I will talk about it more in some other posts.

Since we are suppose to do this assignment on a blog, I am just going to really blog-it-out. The tone that I will be using is semi-casual (if there is such a thing) and I will try (real hard) not to make any grammar or language-related mistakes. After all, this is a project... assignment... school-stuff... well, you get the idea. Some of you may already have an idea what am I talking about (semi-casual) after reading this post. To put it simply, this will be some sort of a little girl's diary, only with an aim - to pass this module.

Anyway, are you wondering what is the title of this blog all about? For those who have guessed it, great job. For those who didn't get it, I will be doing on the country Japan, particularly on Chiba Prefecture. I have been there once, last year, and it was an awesome experience. Itato has the meaning of 'was' in Japanese. I am trying to say that this blog is about my trip to Japan "was" -fill in the blank-.

"I" or "い" means "行った", which means "been (there)".
"T" stands for "Tabetta" or "食べた", which means "ate".
"A" stands for "Asonda" or "遊んだ", which means "played".
"T" stands for "Tanoshikatta" or "楽しかった", which means "enjoyed/had fun"
"O" stands for "Oboeteitta" or "おぼえていた", which means "remembered"

If you are wondering, my answer is no, I am not a pro in Japanese Language. I have only passed my Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 4/Number 5, something to be proud off but nothing to boast about - I know of one girl in my class who is much better in it than me.

Anyway, this post is getting longer, or too long perhaps? I guess I am quite excited about this assignment after all. Reason? Next post...