Good PR or just insignificant?

Australia signed the Kyoto Protocol. Australia is one of the world's lowest polluters. Australia has no racism or problems due to ethnic tensions.

For these and many more striking fallacies just like them just talk to your average Hiroshima resident. It really is hard not to laugh when I hear people tell me I'm wrong when I tell them Australia is in the top 5 polluters (per capita) in the world. A quick googling tells me we're actually on the podium in 3rd at the moment, go team!

Is it because this is just an extension of the lack of interest in world affairs that I touched on in my previous missive here? Is it because Australia has a wonderful PR team spear-headed by that adorable little mascot, KOARA-kun? or is it because Australia really doesn't matter squat on the world stage?

I have met the occasional student that has been to Australia (and not just Cairns) and has read a newspaper or two and does know that Australia pollutes a lot for our size. When I ask them how this makes them feel and would they ever consider something like a consumer boycott of the ever-present "oojii beefu" (see http://www.aussiebeef.jp) in order to send their message to Australia? (I realise that may be a stupid idea, I didn't really think it through very hard, it just came up in discussion) The answer is always the standard Japanese noncommittal neutral position so as to avoid any possible chance of inharmonious discord (ie, debate).

Getting anyone to debate a real issue with any passion or sincerity at all is a complete nightmare. Sure, they're using a second language if they're debating with me and I definitely cut people slack for that. However even really high level students are quite difficult to engage in an argument. I have to be pretty careful at work not to get myself in a position where I could endanger my job (the amount of power the student has over the teacher in the world of English schools in Japan is ridiculous). The only time I really got a few students fired up was when I raised the issue of the Imperial family and whether Japan should rid themselves of that institution. I got a talking to quite soon after that about avoiding controversial topics while at work. Fair enough from a business perspective, the school exists to make a buck not facilitate debate and such; it's a business not an educational facility, that's for sure. Still, it's depressing all the same that ninety percent of the time the "free conversation room" swings around to "where do you like to go shopping?" rather than anything remotely interesting.

To round out this, yet again, poorly edited, directionless diatribe I shall return to the topic of Australia. It still is the land of sunshine, barbecues, koalas, kangaroos, "beach parties" and beer. At first I felt a few pangs of guilt when I told people a few of the nasty facts about Australia (after all, every country has its negatives) but I'm pretty much over it now. I don't deny or downplay the good but it's only fair Australia cop its fair share of the negativity that gets hurled at the USA when issues such as the environment or the Iraq war come up.

Oh by the way, thanks to all the budding editors out there who kindly emailed me to let me know about all the errors in my previous entry. I apologise again for the poor standard but I don't intend to change it and you've been given fair warning. Nice to know at least a few people are reading, though!

I'm not dead, but I'm getting curmudgeonly

I'm sorry to have left this dormant for so long. I'm also sorry for returning on a negative note. I'm not sorry at all for what I have to say though.

I've been reading a hell of a lot recently. As you can no doubt imagine, works either focusing on or making use of the "ex-patriot condition" are of particular interest. One book especially has really gotten me thinking about Japan, my time here and how exactly my preconceptions of this country were just so misguided (as I suspect most of the cultural cliches and stereotypes about any nation are); Atomic Sushi by Simon May. It has one of the worst titles and cover illustrations I've ever seen but it really does beg the cliche about not judging them by those trappings alone.

I'll be trying to get my thoughts together on these topics more and more over the coming weeks. For now I'm just going to throw shit up randomly as I think of it. One reason I've resisted attempting anything like this for so long is that I really don't want to come across as some idiotic bigot who doesn't know humility from his elbow. I think there comes a time though where I have to at least begin to try to voice my thinkings on cultural matters and if, as is certainly possible, I look back on these writings in hindsight and fight them to be utterly cringeworthy and ignorant then so be it. I guess I can consider it part of maturing as an adult.

My bone to pick today is the lack of international news and general lack of international news awareness in Japan. This, like all of my observations are bound to be, is of course utterly anecdotal and lacking in any form of proper statistical analysis and control or any scientific method whatsoever. I don't watch a heap of TV, since at my current level of Japanese proficiency, I can only comprehend about 5% of it. However I do get exposed to a lot of it because Yuki watches it on and off throughout the day. I don't think I have ever seen a proper "current affairs" show once. Nothing remotely resembling Lateline or Dateline or The News Hour or anything like that. The newspapers carry some international stories but they hardly feature heavily.

Judging from general conversation with friends, students and the odd stranger, the average person's awareness (let alone opinion thereon) of world issues is staggeringly low. I know I'm not all that average in that I enjoy a huge variety of information sources afforded me by my laptop and extroadinarily fat Japanese internet tube. It just blows me away everytime I mention a news story in passing to some students, even one involving the Japanese Prime Minister, and get blank faces. Mr.Abe has recently done his best to fit both feet right in his mouth over comments relating to the "comfort girls" (a wonderful Japanese euphemism) during World War II. No chance of damaging his reputation with the average Hiroshima resident though. Nobody I mentioned it to had heard about the matter.

I have to stop now as I've just realised its time to get on my bike and head to work. I feel so old and bitter and pathetic having written the above, but I guess there comes a time for any ex-pat when they feel they have to shake off the extremely humble feelings of being a guest in another people's nation and realise they are a part of the fabric of this nation now and entitled at least somewhat to a critical opinion. I'm sure this is a nightmare to read and I don't have time to proof it even once but rest assured there's plenty more to come. Oh goody!