Osaka, Japan. Just the sound of it being said brought to mind all kinds of exotic images for the GSE team members, and even for me who has been in Japan on prior occasions. The reality, as they discovered, is certainly exotic, but that is somewhat buried under the hustle and bustle of a large city, not unlike large modern cities across the globe. Osaka is as modern as they come, and one needs to look carefully for signs of traditional Japan. We all nevertheless experienced a bit of culture shock, even though we felt we had prepared diligently for our trip. The most useful part of the training process was having Junko Suzuki, a language tutor originally from Kobe, meet with us several times to introduce us to the Japanese language and some of the finer points of the culture. After our sessions with her, even if we did not remember a lot of vocabulary, we at least understood basic sentence structure and how words should sound. More importantly, we developed an ear for understanding English spoken by a native Japanese speaker, which made our initial orientation in Osaka that much more valuable.
We were very well taken care of by the Rotarians of District 2660, both in the sense of our home stays (about four each) during the month, and in our daily activities. The host families all had distinct characteristics, and provided us with a variety of living experiences. Some of the families were obviously very well-to-do while others were more like what we would call "normal"...although what is normal or average in Japan is something we were not able to accurately determine. All the hosts went beyond the call of duty to provide comfort, warmth, and a feeling of belonging. The home stays were perhaps the most valuable of our experiences, and left us with many rich memories of family life, customs, and interesting foods. The host families were admonished to let us experience their "normal daily routine", but we have the distinct feeling that we were fussed over and pampered in a way that could hardly be characterized as "everyday". We left each host family reluctantly, but soon were caught up in new living experiences which were all-absorbing. Each host family was well informed about our daily schedules, and kept us on track and on time, and respected our need for time to rest and/or work on our daily logs or correspondence. Where e/mail access was available we were shown how to use it. In some cases the computer was in our sleeping room, which made it very convenient to keep up with things at home, and even have communication with GSE committee people in Japan.
Each day was different, and packed with activities ranging from general sightseeing
as a tourist might experience (but with the added advantage of having as many
as a half-dozen Rotarian escorts, translators along with us, and special treatment
wherever we went), to factory visits where we were able to meet oftentimes with
top management before being given tours, followed by sessions of Q & A,
along with many photos and gifts to remember our visit by. We also met with
high ranking government officials, including the Mayor of Osaka, and others,
who provided us with a feeling of being able to make meaningful contributions
as a result of our visits. On our "vocational" days we went separately
and had exposure to people who work in our individual fields, with opportunities
to share knowledge in both directions. Again, translators were provided, often
wives, friends, or children of Rotarians responsible for our daily schedules.
Each visit included the mandatory session of questions and answers, where the
skills of our translators were most taxed. They did a wonderful job, and our
visits would have been worth so much less without their care in aiding the communication
process. My profession is in the field of banking, and since I am partially
retired, I asked for "vocational" contacts emphasizing my special
interest in charitable non-profit types of organizations. These included sheltered
workshops for the mentally and physically handicapped nursing homes, rehabilitation
centers, and a hospital specializing in care for the disabled, among others.
A highlight was a visit to a huge trade convention, where products designed
to aid the handicapped were on display, ranging from chopsticks made so that
a severely disabled person could handle them (I wanted a pair!), to specialized
bathing fixtures, to car/wheelchair interfaces. I did visit one large bank,
and met with officials who freely discussed the financial situation in Japan
and their lack of optimism about the future, while at the same time relating
that steps are being taken to put the economy back on track. The nature of the
problems sounded much like what we have experienced in the USA from time to
time especially in the real estate field, except far more severe.
The overriding concerns on the part of our Rotarian hosts was that none of
us should get lost (!), and that we should have each day packed with events
and activities. We were given about 24 hours "off" each week, in the
form of a stay at the luxurious New Otani Hotel, where we could regroup, repack,
and rest up after each busy week. That meant mental downtime and a chance to
catch up on sleep, which we were generally short of during each of the four
weeks. After a few days we were well able to find our way around the city and
its environs utilizing the excellent subway and train system, but it took much
convincing of our hosts before we would be allowed to go somewhere by ourselves.
Imagine how happy I was when my last host, Dr. Nishimura, suggested that I spend
a (rare) whole free morning exploring on my own, with the use of his bicycle!
He suggested a lot of places for me to go, some fairly distant, but I wisely
elected to just do a little tour of the immediate neighborhood... which was
truly enjoyable. The biggest hazard appeared to be not the busy traffic, but
other cyclists I thought probably must be distracted while they used their "handy
phones" as they rode. I should have been less fearful. The Japanese have
mastered the concept of "multi-tasking" and it is almost unusual to
see someone in public without a phone!
A big part of the program involved making our presentation about Wisconsin
to various Rotary Clubs. In all we made about 10 such formal presentations,
mostly in English along with a "power point" slide show put together
by team member Paul Roback. Sometimes our talks were translated word for word,
and other times the audience followed our script in both English text and Japanese
characters, provided in advance to each club member, as we spoke. The majority
of the people could understand enough English to get something out of our talks,
but oftentimes were reluctant to express themselves in English beyond simple
pleasantries. Our command of Japanese was limited, but they appreciated our
nominal efforts nevertheless. Our presentation seemed to be well received, and
while it could not be characterized as comprehensive, at least it gave our hosts
a sense of what life in Wisconsin is all about. We concentrated on the ethnic
diversity of our area, a subject we were requested to cover by the District
2660 GSE Committee. We were fortunate to have an environmental educator on our
team who could provide some alternate material on the natural diversity and
beauty of our state. In addition to official Rotary Club meetings we were often
individually treated to dinners with small groups of Rotarians who were interested
in more contact with us. These informal get-togethers were entertaining and
valuable. We probably learned more about Rotary in Japan during these times
than at actual meetings, as we had time to thoroughly exhaust a particular subject,
before moving on to other things. It was amazing to me how much communication
was often accomplished without the benefit of common fluency of language. This
also occurred with our host families where wonderful evenings of "discussions"
occurred, in depth far beyond our (lack of) ability in Japanese or even theirs
in English. I was, however, amazed at the amount of English our Japanese hosts/friends
commanded, and also charmed that a lot of what they knew was recently learned
in preparation for our visit. They made very strong efforts to communicate,
which was wonderful.
It is difficult to express in words the gratitude we all would like to express
for the GSE program and to the Rotarians in both districts who worked so hard
to make the exchange possible. Our thanks also for the amazing hospitality of
our host families and those Rotarians
and others who helped us every day of our visit. Meeting the outbound team,
and having them show us the city and be at several GSE events during the month
(airport greeting, welcome banquet, alumni party with previous outbound GSE
teams, farewell party, and again at the airport to see us off) gave us a sense
of continuity. And of course not enough could ever be said for the tireless
concern and care we received from Mr. Nomura, Mr. Matsuoka, and Mr. Katoh, who
among others followed our progress as a group and individually for the entire
month. We also thank Rotary International, the officials of both districts 6270
and 2660, and all those who contributed to our
GSE experience. GSE is a fantastic program of the Rotary Foundation , but only
to the extent that those involved at the district and even participant level
take it seriously and work so hard to make it a success.
I feel very fortunate that we were able to field a team who all contributed
mightily and who got along so well, and who provided me, as "team leader",
with absolutely nothing to worry about during the month we were away. I was
proud of them as a team and as individuals, each doing a great job in his/her
own way of living up to the expectations we had for them, and providing our
Japanese hosts
and friends with a good representative look at us as Americans. We all feel
that the level of mutual understanding was enhanced, and that perhaps lifelong
contacts and friendships have been established. Again, we thank Rotary for a
wonderful program.
