Home on the Plane?

As I was responding to Marvin’s latest weblog entry about Japan and China, I realized something about identity that I wanted to get down.

I absolutely agree with Marvin that China has overtaken Japan as the modern economic superstar. Japanese these days are rushing to learn Chinese, taking business trips to China and Japan is increasingly relying on China’s growth. There are plenty of optimistic young people in Japan (Saya included) who might even decide to move to China to live and work.

However, I was reminded during my trip to Japan and China that language and location are important factors in creating and maintaining one’s personal identity. My friend Yasu, who went to high school in Taipei with me, speaks Mandarin, Japanese and English. Yasu told me this trip that despite the business opportunities in China, he wants to stay in Japan because he can truly BE himself there. He can express himself in Japanese language and among Japanese people in ways that he cannot in English or Mandarin despite being fluent in both languages.

At the end of the day, I think that there is a place for every person where they can feel most comfortable being themselves. The right environment somehow brings out the best and truest aspects of one’s personality. Hence, when I think about my own struggles with identity having lived in between two cultures, I come to the conclusion that home for me is really the confluence of friends, family and people living around me that allow me to best express who I am.

For this trip, the times I felt most comfortable were:
– introducing a local doctor to help my ailing grandfather in Shanghai
– meeting a useful business contact whom I liked personally in Shanghai
– eating with Saya and my family
– wandering around on my own in Japan
– writing new thoughts on my blog

I guess the only other thing I could have asked for from my trip would be to have more time to travel, read, think and write independently but I suppose I will get plenty of time to do that in South Africa

Unfortunately, sometimes the most comfortable “place” for me seems to be on an airplane going from one place to another.