The travel dude.

Im finding that the only time I really bother to write in my blog is when im miffed about something. I guess blogs have become a new age catharsis of sorts. I assume people did this in the old days by keeping a diary of sorts, or getting drunk on the weekends and beating their wives. O_O
So....on to the latest rant.
Japan is a country that has to be experienced to be understood. A few weeks ago I was at a bar and was chatting to an English guy. Top guy. Even though he was an accountant !! Anyways, top guy- he'd been in Japan for a massive 2 weeks. During the conversation he was telling me how awesome Japan was and how much he loved it.

Now, im not one to diss all things Japanese...I love the place. Of course I do, otherwise I wouldnt have been here for the last 2 years. But, to start to understand the annoying little idiosyncrasies of this place you have to live here and immerse yourself in the cesspool of culture.

One aspect of Japanese culture( which is intrinsic to it's future demise IMHO) is the Bushido way. Lemme explain a bit. Im not talking about the noble samurai bollocks. Im talking about the Japanese thought that an aspect of life must be practiced and practiced and refined and refined until you die.
Im not kidding. My brain is wanting to splurge and explode all that i know about this topic onto the screen- but that may not be conducive to an educational read- so im attempting restraint. Apologies if it becomes a bit tough to follow at times.

Karate is a good example. Any bushi aspect is (Judo, Kendo, Kyudo etc) . All of these forms rely on constant and never ending practice. They take an aspect and continue to do it and continue to try to refine it.

Now, while you may say that this is a fantastic approach that many more western people should adopt- im going to say I agree with you to an extent. It DOES however have a MAJOR drawback. This drawback is innovation. If you are told to do "X" followed by "Y" followed by "Z" - you can never evolve. This is the problem Japanese fighters are experiencing in world karate tournaments at the moment. They are being beaten by more interesting "quirky"fighters. Of course- in all fairness the current world champ is a Japanese man- an incredibly unexciting fighter than has absolutely incredible technique. Now- let it be said im not arguing the effectiveness of this ritualistic routine. But- when the top 6 places in the world tournament are held by westerners....you know...theres something afoot.

Now- on to my main story.

The travel dude.
I have 7 cards on my desk. 7 business cards.
They belong to the travel dude who comes in here once a week and places a card on everyones desk. Why ? Well- its promotion obviously. You know, in case the teachers want to go somewhere. And then we can have his card for reference to call him up and book shit. But i have 7 cards.
See....this is what i meant when I mentioned ritual and the inability to innovate or improvise. He knows that this is part of his job. hand out cards to everyone. BUT- get this little catch. I have now taken to splaying out the cards on my desk. In FULL VIEW. Thats right- i line them up along the right hand edge of my desk. HE CAN SEE I HAVE HIS FUCKING CARD....BUT

BUT !!!!!!

Guess what.

:|

He give me another one !

He's not stupid (well- its arguable) But- he gives me another card. There is NO reason on God's green earth that he needs to give me one more card- but he does. Why ? Simply because thats the process he must undergo to be a "good worker". Never mind his free thinking "okay - this white dude has my card- i wont give him another one". That doesnt happen.

Now- this is a huge problem when ritual overtakes logic. But its an intrinsic Japanese problem that they arent wanting to address on account of the fact that "its our culture".

Its making me angry just thinking about it.
AAAAAAAAARGGGH !!