Saturday, December 3, 2011

There are still kind people in the world

Ok so I haven't updated in forever.
I really intended to keep a regular blog, but I just don't seem to have the time.
What free time I do have I tend to spend it sleeping or going places.
But today I feel like writing and I have something specific that happened that I wanted to talk about.

Whenever people ask me why I like Japan one of my common responses is "because people in Japan are so kind."  Yesterday, I experienced a perfect example of that.

In my classroom where I have my Japanese language class almost every morning, the desks have a cubby where you can sit books or your papers or whatever.  For me personally, it's a place where I sit my cell phone so I can access it easily to check the time (which is frequently because I'm usually starving and dying to be done with class).  Yesterday when Molly and I got to the cafeteria after we were done with class, I realized that my phone wasn't in my purse and we determined that I most likely left it in the classroom.  Instead of rushing immediately back to the room in a panic, praying that no one had found it and stolen it already, I remained sitting and talking with my friends until 3rd period was almost over.  Then Molly and I made our way back to the classroom and waited for the class that was in there to leave.  When the bell rang, we went in and began looking in the desks, but my phone wasn't in the desk I usually sit in.  As I began to retrace my steps of where all I had gone that day in my head, a guy walks over, reaches into another desk and hands me my cell phone.  This guy had not only walked away from his group of friends to help me, but also stopped in the middle of a phone call to show me where my phone had been moved to.  In America, my phone would have more than likely been gone long before I ever even realized it was missing.  And I -highly- doubt it ever would have been hand delivered back to me when I went looking for it even if it was still there.  That guy probably has no idea just how much he made my day.

I realize that there are good and bad people everywhere, but I feel like in general people in Japan just care more.  I've seen a woman drop her wallet as she was getting off a train and a man pick it up and chase her down just to give it back to her.  In the cafeteria everyone finds a seat and then leaves their purse or bookbag there to hold their seat while they walk away to go buy food without fear of someone stealing it.  There can be no one sitting at a table, but if there is a single folder sitting in the middle of it no one will sit there because it is claimed already.  In the dining halls at UGA you would come back to find your folder, purse, bag, whatever shoved off to the side and four people sitting at the table you were hoping to save.

There have been several times since I got here that I have been lost or confused about how to do something and had a complete stranger come up and, despite language barriers, attempt to help me.  It amazes and inspires me every time.  And I just wanted to share with everyone one of the many reasons I love this country so very much.

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