First assignment

Hello! I'm Ash from Melbourne, Australia. I arrived in Kumamoto on April 2 and I'm planning to stay here for a year, which will be the third and final year of study for my Asian Studies degree at La Trobe University. This will also be the second time I've lived in Japan; a couple of years ago I lived in Tokushima for 18 months whilst I worked for the infamous Nova eikaiwa, although due to the poor way the company treated both its teachers and customers (especially leading up to its collapse in 2007) I'm often reluctant to mention that I worked there. ;) Aside from language study my interests in Japan also extend into Sino-Japanese relations (something I've admittedly not been keeping up to date with recently, although ethnically I'm half-Chinese and spent a few months studying in Shanghai) and music. I'm interested in both the more extreme forms of underground music here (such as metal and noise) and traditional music (I play in a Japanese taiko group back in Melbourne, an activity I'm hoping to continue here in Kumamoto).

One of the more pleasant surprises I've had concerning Japanese society and culture is that the majority of stereotypes presented to us in the West - such of that of the excessively reserved, timid and ambiguous person - were well and truly picked apart within a short time of coming here. Whilst there may be slivers of truth to certain stereotypes, it should have been obvious that no entire society of a developed nation embracing globalisation in the manner in which Japan is doing can be tarred with the one brush.

On the flip side, especially after having lived here for a certain length of time and having read articles and books by writers such as Alex Kerr and Arudou Debito, it was quite a surprise to discover how poorly Japan has approached matters such as the environment, immigration, minority groups, etc. It was all the more astonishing in light of the perceptions in the West that there is an absolute reverence for nature in Japan, and the nation's fascination and adoption (albeit occasionally fleeting) of foreign cultures and lifestyles.

Unfortunately I don't consider myself to be a terribly observant person, but over the coming year I'm hoping to become more understanding of this unusual and wonderful country.

日本語で書かなくて、すみません！日本語があまり上手じゃないので、この自己紹介の説明することは難しすぎるかもしれません。こんど、ね。;)