Deep Fried Canada

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Originally uploaded by Yasashisa.

I had to do this. A few weeks ago, someone brought this as a snack: deep fried maple leaves. Honest. The Japanese push the limits of good taste, literally. They will eat nearly anything in ways these things were probably never meant to be eaten. It's incredible. Some Japanese food is great, but some just makes you wonder. The deep fried maple leaves made me swell with pride inside. Well, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure it was pride...

This evening on the train back from Higashi Kishiwada, I met a guy from Ghana. As foreigners, we all kind of stand out. Ninety-five percent of Japan's population in ethnic Japanese. Another percentage are Korean and Chinese, who, despite the protestations of some of the more ethnocentric Japanese, do blend in fairly well until they open their mouths. I talked to him for a while. He's working for a company here, but he didn't say which one. I find it very interesting that there is such a wide variety of people in Japan. In Canada, it doesn't seem so strange for me, but here, I find myself asking why a person from Ghana would come here. Anyways, it was an interesting, but short encounter that got me thinking about what it means to be a foreigner in Japan. Here, more than anywhere else, a foreigner is an outsider. You can't blend in, no matter how much you try. People stare, but you get used to it. Foreigners in Japan are like a fraternity of brothers. When you meet another foreigner, you feel a connection. That person is like you: a gaijin. Often, you just glance at one another and try not to stare yourself, but from time to time, you talk a little. I tell you, it can be like music to your ears to a strange voice say "Hi, how're you doing?" You really start to appreciate the small things after you're displaced from your culture for such a long time. Just a few thoughts for today. Take care, everyone. Later.
-Joe.