Sayonara Yokohama
Sunday was my last official day in Yokohama. I thought I would go out to one more place at some point but ended up never leaving the house. Which was a decision that I was eventually be glad I made.
My initial plan was to stay in until about 2pm doing laundry and just organizing my stuff for when I departed the next day. However, I ended up staying inside all day and just relaxing and taking everything in.
I thought about my trip thus far and about how many times I got lost and how kind Japanese people were about helping me and making sure I got to my destination. To be honest I never expected Japanese people to be kind to me. I was afraid about all the negative images they probably see of black people due to propaganda and this anti-black world view that has been set. I also thought about how my parents used to be scared for me to travel abroad because they were afraid that I might be attacked because I was black and because I was a United States citizen. However, I have never really received any negative attention while traveling abroad... Not once. I'm sure discrimination against foreigners exist but I just haven't experienced it yet.
***INNER THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS***
I'm a six foot tall, black woman, who wears all black or mostly black daily. I also switch between wearing my natural hair out (twist/tiny weeny Afro/etc.) or wearing pastel colored wigs. So I am the complete opposite from your typical person in Japan but people still are nice to me lol. It makes me think how silly it was to be so concerned about traveling due to things other people would tell me about how I should be cautious while traveling or that I shouldn't travel to some places at all just because I was black...
****Whether you're a minority or not. I say go travel the world... Be free. I think traveling will help change you and some of your world views and show you that the world isn't just what you hear from someone else or something you see about in the media. It's something you have to experience for yourself.******
Traveling has been some of the most eye opening experiences in my life. It made me realize how important it was to connect to others and how much more important people are than material things. I think coming from a capitalist society had made me forget this. So many times were are so concerned about material things that we forget out humanness. We value things that aren't important so highly and forget about other people and respecting differences. We no longer have the closeness and community we once shared and it's sad....
***BACK TO MAIN STORY***
I was happy that I stayed in because I actually accomplished doing my laundry and organizing my suitcases for the rest of my journey. I also did something unexpected and actually go out of my comfort zone and we to talk to Mio and Wataru and I actually had some really good conversations and Mio and Wataru actually invited me to have a family meal with them.
At first I thought that they might be too busy or that they didn't really have too much interest in me because they never came to visit me in my room like I expected them too. However, once I initiated talking to them I figured out that they were just trying to respect my privacy. They also never invited me to a meal previously because that thought that as an American I would be turned off by the smell of some of their food. I thought their food smelled and tasted amazing. However, I'm sure there are probably some Westerners who would say nasty things about the smell because they just aren't used to it and don't know how to use their words to express that and end up coming off offensive.
Mio and Wataru also took me to the dagashi shop on Sunday before dinner :) I had seen a dagashi shop on an anime called Dagashi Kashi. However, I have never actually been to a dagashi myself. I wouldn't even have know where to find one but that are so cool!! It was one right down the street from their house. It have a variety of inexpensive and delicious snacks!! We bought so much snacks and it was still lest than $5!! Umaibo are so good! If you ever get the chance to try it go for it! They have the a similar texture to Cheetos puffs but there are a variety of flavors you can choose from. The wasabi flavored one was an experience lol. I ended up liking it a lot. I also go to try this yummy blue ice cream that reminded me of the sea salt ice from Kindgdom Hearts because of the color and shape. I must ask Mio what flavor it was again. It was yummy ^^
My initial plan was to stay in until about 2pm doing laundry and just organizing my stuff for when I departed the next day. However, I ended up staying inside all day and just relaxing and taking everything in.
I thought about my trip thus far and about how many times I got lost and how kind Japanese people were about helping me and making sure I got to my destination. To be honest I never expected Japanese people to be kind to me. I was afraid about all the negative images they probably see of black people due to propaganda and this anti-black world view that has been set. I also thought about how my parents used to be scared for me to travel abroad because they were afraid that I might be attacked because I was black and because I was a United States citizen. However, I have never really received any negative attention while traveling abroad... Not once. I'm sure discrimination against foreigners exist but I just haven't experienced it yet.
***INNER THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS***
I'm a six foot tall, black woman, who wears all black or mostly black daily. I also switch between wearing my natural hair out (twist/tiny weeny Afro/etc.) or wearing pastel colored wigs. So I am the complete opposite from your typical person in Japan but people still are nice to me lol. It makes me think how silly it was to be so concerned about traveling due to things other people would tell me about how I should be cautious while traveling or that I shouldn't travel to some places at all just because I was black...
****Whether you're a minority or not. I say go travel the world... Be free. I think traveling will help change you and some of your world views and show you that the world isn't just what you hear from someone else or something you see about in the media. It's something you have to experience for yourself.******
Traveling has been some of the most eye opening experiences in my life. It made me realize how important it was to connect to others and how much more important people are than material things. I think coming from a capitalist society had made me forget this. So many times were are so concerned about material things that we forget out humanness. We value things that aren't important so highly and forget about other people and respecting differences. We no longer have the closeness and community we once shared and it's sad....
***BACK TO MAIN STORY***
I was happy that I stayed in because I actually accomplished doing my laundry and organizing my suitcases for the rest of my journey. I also did something unexpected and actually go out of my comfort zone and we to talk to Mio and Wataru and I actually had some really good conversations and Mio and Wataru actually invited me to have a family meal with them.
At first I thought that they might be too busy or that they didn't really have too much interest in me because they never came to visit me in my room like I expected them too. However, once I initiated talking to them I figured out that they were just trying to respect my privacy. They also never invited me to a meal previously because that thought that as an American I would be turned off by the smell of some of their food. I thought their food smelled and tasted amazing. However, I'm sure there are probably some Westerners who would say nasty things about the smell because they just aren't used to it and don't know how to use their words to express that and end up coming off offensive.
Mio and Wataru also took me to the dagashi shop on Sunday before dinner :) I had seen a dagashi shop on an anime called Dagashi Kashi. However, I have never actually been to a dagashi myself. I wouldn't even have know where to find one but that are so cool!! It was one right down the street from their house. It have a variety of inexpensive and delicious snacks!! We bought so much snacks and it was still lest than $5!! Umaibo are so good! If you ever get the chance to try it go for it! They have the a similar texture to Cheetos puffs but there are a variety of flavors you can choose from. The wasabi flavored one was an experience lol. I ended up liking it a lot. I also go to try this yummy blue ice cream that reminded me of the sea salt ice from Kindgdom Hearts because of the color and shape. I must ask Mio what flavor it was again. It was yummy ^^
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