The Weakness We Choose

ALLYSON ROBERTS

“Nihongo jouzu!” and “O-hashi jouzu!” – the bane of a JET’s existence. It is in these words, albeit complimentary in nature, that many of us find condescension and embarrassment, and often a realization that we are not truly being seen.

This February, I traveled to Taiwan to fulfill a childhood dream and, honestly, to escape the monotony of winter deskwarming. Ever since I first saw the Disney film Tangled, I’d dreamed of seeing the “floating lights” of the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, and it was that dream that drove me through the anxiety and stress of exploring somewhere brand new. A new country, a new culture, a new language – by all means, a new challenge. Partway through the trip, two friends and I woke before the sun to partake in a guided day trip down to the Taroko Gorge, a breathtaking national park full of towering, humbling cliffs. It was to be one of the highlights of the trip. We showed up at the station, ready to meet the rest of our group. Every other participant was Japanese.

The three of us, all JETs from across Japan, kept mostly to ourselves until lunch, when we were sat at a table with three friends from Tokyo. We had already established that the three of us all lived in Japan and spoke Japanese, and yet, over a traditional Taiwanese meal in the heart of the Taroko Gorge,