Adventures in Japan

こんにちは。『GLOBAL MANAGER』編集部の岩楯です。

先日ご紹介したインターンのJackくんが、『GLOBAL MANAGER』Blogのために原稿を書いてくれました！ありがとう。

彼が前回日本に来たときに代々木公園で起こった出来事についてだそうです。興味深い内容ですので、ぜひぜひ読んでみてください。

「Jackの得意技 "Karate Chop"!」

I think that it's pretty obvious that there are some fairly major cultural differences between Japan and the United States. Despite this being my second time in Japan, I still can't seem to get a handle on how everything works. When to bow and when not to bow? What is the proper way to wait in a meeting room for your business guests? How does one say goodbye to their co-workers in the evening? These are only a few of the most recent questions I've wondered about, but I can assure you that the list goes on and on.

However, I think a more important topic is how American and Japanese people are similar. This brings me to the main topic, my embarrassing story from Japan.

Our story begins on a hot, humid day in July of 2006. It's my first time in Japan, I'm still 18 years old and, most importantly, I'm still in high school. You see, every fall I ran on my school's Cross Country Team. I began running Cross Country my first year of high school. By 2006 I was the oldest member and team captain of a squad which had slowly improved until it was ranked second in the state of California for Division 5 sports. This was quite an achievement and as is natural in guys my age, I believed myself invincible in any foot race that lasted more than 5 minutes. When your team is at the level of competitiveness that mine was, it is very important that you begin training long before the season starts. Thus, in July of 2006, I was training a few times a week in preparation for my upcoming Cross Country season.

It all started when I asked a fellow American student whether he would like to go on a training run in Yoyogi Park with me. I had been in Tokyo for around 2 weeks and had not done any real training due to the fact that I usually run with other people, and had not been able to muster up the motivation to go training alone. My American friend, whose name is Danny, agreed to go out, as he too had not done any exercise recently, and we were both feeling slightly lazy. Thus, we threw on some sports shorts and running shoes, quickly jumped down the steps of our hostel, and ran off in the direction of Yoyogi Park.

At the start of the run we were very enthusiastic, and as a result ran much faster. In a seemingly insignificant moment, we passed two college age Japanese women who were also running in the park. After a while Danny and I began to tire out. We slowed down to a lazy job and began to talk to each other. It was around 8 minutes into our run that the two women who we had passed before ran by, passing us back. I turned to Danny, a wicked grin on my face, and said to him "Are we going to let a bunch of girls beat us?". Being an 18 year old male no different from myself, Danny casually replied "Of course not. Let's sprint past them, that should do the trick." We had no idea what we were in for.

As we passed before mentioned girls, the tallest of which didn't even reach my shoulders, I looked over at one of them, locked eyes with her for a moment, and gave her my biggest smile. What we had just done what could be understood by anyone in the entire world who has ever raced on foot before. We had just given the international sign for "do you want to race?"

Being boys, we thought those girls had no chance at beating us, and we laughed at our silly antics as we sprinted the next 20 meters and slowed back down to a casual jog. We were still laughing when both Japanese girls went speeding past us, and the girl I had looked at took her turn to lock eyes with me and give me a big smile.

That, of course, sealed the deal. I looked at Danny, he looked at me, and we both set off as fast as we could. With all my experience in running, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to win. I was the captain of the second fastest team in Division 5! In the mighty state of California! How could I lose? With all these foolish ideas of invincibility in my head I set off at a breakneck pace, quickly passed my friend and both girls, and proceeded to barrel down the running path at full speed. After a few minutes, perhaps 4 or so, I decided that I had probably made my point and that I could slow down, let Danny catch up, and we would continue our slow jog.

Upon turning my head, I was greeted with a sight I never expected. One of the Japanese girls was not only hot on my heels, but she was gaining ground on me! Even worse, my friend Danny was nowhere to be seen!

My pride would not let me lose, and I began to run even faster. Surely this wonder woman would not be able to catch me now I thought. Wrong, once again. My pursuer not only proceeded to catch me, but she picked up the pace even more. After only a few more minutes I was forced to stop running altogether. My legs felt as heavy as lead, my lungs were begging for air and I couldn't run a foot further. That small female college student had not just beaten me. She had crushed me.

I love this story for a number of reasons. First and foremost, because I think that everyone can appreciate it, no matter what country you are from. A race in Japan is just like a race in America. Furthermore, both the Americans in my story and the Japanese perfectly understood each other without saying a single word. Secondly, I like it because it showed me that in every part of the world there is someone who likes to do the things that I like to do, and sometimes, they can do it better. Finally, I like this story because there is a moral to it, one which I have defiantly learned from.

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