When I applied for the exchange student program, I really wanted to go to Japan, especially Tokyo, because Tokyo is the capital city of Japan. Therefore, I hoped to know Japanese, Japanese culture and society, and everything about Japan more easily than in any other city. After I prepared to go to Japan, I left Korea for Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. For 11 months, I met many Japanese such as a famous creator of ads, a musician, a designer, and an ordinary housewife who likes Korea. They taught me the society of Japan that I couldn’t learn from books. Among them, I want to talk about one special guy who lived in Fukushima and experienced the tsunami on March 11, 2011.
In May 2013, I visited the seaside about 50km from Fukushima. There was a small village along the seaside. However, in the village many houses and concrete buildings had been broken. The village was in ruins. In this village, I met a man who is in his mid-forties and survived the tsunami, so I interviewed him.
“When the earthquake occurred, I think it was an ordinary day. I looked at the sea and waited for the earthquake to stop. However, the earthquake continued. Moreover, I saw a huge wave on the horizon. The wave was incredibly big and the speed was too fast. Then, the huge wave slammed into the village in an instant. When I regained consciousness, I was alive. However, the houses were broken by cars, signboards, or fragments of buildings. My wife and children died in my house.” I was surprised at his story and asked, “Aren’t you afraid?” He laughed at my question and answered, “A sense of fear is just in people at that time. I’m not afraid anymore because I’m a survivor of the tsunami. If an earthquake and tsunami happen again, I will shelter on the mountain. I’m not afraid.”
Most Japanese avoid expressing unwelcome thoughts. Therefore, he didn’t express sorrow and pain about that horrible day. Owing to him, I admired the national character of Japan. They don’t complain and do not wait for others’ help. They want to overcome difficult situations by themselves. I felt shame when I remembered my life complaining and requesting other people’s help easily. I learned that Korean people’s perspectives on the Japanese needed to change. Through this program, I experienced a new world which I didn’t know before. This experience was the biggest fortune in my life.
After returning to Korea, I see our society is passionate and dynamic. However, it seems messy and hasty. However, Japan is calm but strong. From now on, I will remember the Japanese man’s smile when I fall down. Then, I will wake up and run for my great life.
